The Mail-Journal, Volume 22, Number 1, Milford, Kosciusko County, 2 January 1985 — Page 4

4

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., January 2,1985

Editorials

Walking a thin line The Milford town board is walking a thin line these days. Board members. Jean Treesh and Dennis Wuthrich decided last Thursday to hold executive sessions prior to future regular town board meetings. ‘ > Board members claim they are unable to take care of the town’s business because townspeople are attending meetings and taking up to much time. “We should take care of town business before we hear the citizens’ input,” said President Treesh. Bah, humbug! says this editor. z In opting for executive sessions, the Milford Town Board is walking a very thin line. The Indiana Open Door Act which went into effect on September 1,1979, says, “Public buisness IS the public’s business.” The input of the town’s residents is important. The town board should note that, according to the state law, a notice must be issued 48 hours prior to each executive session and that the state law limits what can be discussed during these sessions — regular town business is not on the list! If the town board needs additional time to attend to town business, And we can readily see it does, then meetings should be started earlier or another alternative found. Executive sessions are not the answer. This is America — not some Communist country. This newspaper, its publishers and editors believe strongly in the constitution and its amendments, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right to assemble. We think the town board should take another look at it’s planned executive Sessions. Knowing the town board members, we assume they mean well and are only attempting to get town business accomplished. We also assume from what our reporter says, they also want input of the citizens of the community and here too they are only trying to see that all of the town’s business is accomplished. We must, however, remind them to watch how they go about accomplishing this task. In our eyes they are walking a very thin line. 5 S' • • 11 What books? i Are you wondering what books to read — or what books to recommend to the young? * . The experts recently suggested a list which students at the high school level should consider. They were surveyed by William Bennett, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and were composed of writers, teachers and others. Thirty books were most frequently mentioned, all published prior to 1954. They are Shakespeare’s plays, notably Hamlet and Macbeth, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, the Bible, Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and A Tale Os Two Cities, Plato’s The Republic, John Stein Beck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter. Also: Sophocles’ Oedipus, Melville’s Moby Dick, Orwell’s 1984, Thoreau’s Walden, etc. Also on the list were Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, novels by William Faulkuer, Emetson’s essays, Miltori’s Paradise Lost and Tolstov’s War and Peace. ' . • ♦ \ For youngsters growing up in the South (and others who want to be objectively informed), additions should include Jefferson Davis’ autobiography, Douglas Freeman’s award-winning biography of Robert E. Lee. While these aren’t literary works in the usual form, they balance a sometimes unbalanced reading curriculum in many American schools, which should treat the South’s struggle for independence in 1861-65, the most turbulent upheaval in U.S. history, a cataclysmic social and military crisis. The memoirs of U.S. Grant are also recommended. What others say — Tax reform ■ ■ - j , If President Reagan accepts the major provisions of the tax-reform package recently proposed by Treasury Secretary Donald Regan and succeeds in getting Congress to enact them, it would be the biggest single change in the tax code since the introduction of the income tax in 1913, according to some tax experts. The odds against this happening are remote. The president, noticeably cagey, was at pains to declare that numerous changes might be made before he submits the pldn to Congress. And the initial rumblings from Capitol Hill are mostly negative, reflecting the opposition of powerful corporate interests mobilizing to do battle against the closing of tax havens and loopholes. The Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Association of Home Builders and the insurance lobbies are already in full cry. Besides, the very scope of the proposed restructuring testifies to the historic difficulty in legislating substantive tax reform. Too bad. The need to bring fairness and order to a tax system that is manifestly unfair and disordered is hardly arguable. Secretary Regan’s reform does just that, going far toward simplifying and improving the nation’s helterskelter tax structure. First of all, the plan expressed in Washington bureaucratese is “revenue neutral,’’ which is to say it does not increase revenues to the federal government and, therefore, is not an anti-deficit program. It is simply the tax reform president Reagan asked the Treasury Department to produce in his State of the Union address last January. « The average individual’s taxes would be reduced by 8.5 percent and 14 existing brackets would be Simplified into three:4s percent, 25 percent and 35 percent. The net loss of $37.7 billion from the modified flat-tax reductions to the poorand middle-class taxpayers would be more than made up by a net revenue gain of $44.8 billion in added corporate taxes. Although the corporate tax rate would drop from 46 percent to 33 percent, the net increase would come from repeal of investment-tax credits, accelerated depreciation and other corporate tax breaks that now permit some large and profitable corporations to get away without paying any taxes whatsoever. The proposals Secretary Regan has placed before the president and the country represent the consensus of our best tax and fiscal minds after a year of hard work. Actually, this reform is the very best we can hope for now and certainly in the foreseeable future. And the timing could not be more propitious following President Reagan’s electoral mandate. ' But nothing, or very little, will come of all this unless the president commits himself to an all-out effort to win congressional approval. Indeed, he should lose no time in putting the Treasury Department’s long-overdue tax reform on the books. This should become his first order of new business. - THE KOKOMO TRIBUNE

Our poll —

What The Mail-Journal readers like to read

We have no figure on how many people renewed their subscriptions during December, however, 24 took the time to fill out the survey cards. Leading the list of most read items were School News, Hospital Notes, Obits and Sports with 14 each. In second place were ’Cruzin, Editorials and the ■ Syracuse Old News column with 13 each. Feature Stories and Classifieds were third with 25 each. For the year 1984, The Hospital Notes appeared to lead the list, being'the most read item during four of the 11 months (August and September figures were put together). Leading the list during two of the 11 months were School News, Letters to the Editor and Cruzin. On top for one time each were Feature Stories, Obits, Sports, Syracuse Old News and School/Town Board Meetings. The complete break down follows: Feature stories 12 School news 14 Letters to editor 11 Main Street 07 Hospital Notes 14 Obits 14 Editorials 13 Court news ............. 11 Cruzin’ 13 Political reports 6 Weddings anifingagements . 08 Extension news 5 Sports .... X.. .< 14 North Webster 11 King Arthur ................. 06

Letter to the editor

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter was mailed to the Syracuse Town Board president and given to The Mail-Journal for publication.) Dear Mr. Myrick: A recent article id The MailJournal suggested the town Board is considering the adoption of a town ordinance restricting the sale of glass containers in outside vending machines. I am in

Court news

Superior Court The following complaints have been filed in Kosciusko Superior Court, Judge Robert Burner presiding: Complaint For Damages Beverly L. Hawn and Phillip L. Hawn versus Lakeland Sanitation, Inc., and Kenneth L. Bellman, North Webster. Plaintiff Beverly L. Hawn is seeking judgment in the amount of $5 million dollars ana plaintiff Phillip L. Hawn is seeking judgment in the amount of $500,000 plus pre-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and all costs of action and proper relief for injuries and damages received in an automobile accident on SR 13, April 12, 1983. Claim Against Estate Bernice I. Klink versus Alice Herbison, Syracuse, as personal representative of the Estate of Gerald Herbison, deceased. The plaintiff is seeking judgment asking that the defendant be ordered to either remove the building erected on land of the claimant, or that the court award claimant damages in the amount of $25,000, the reasonable value of the land, plus pre-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and all costs of action. Promissory Note First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Wabash versus Bernice P. Boakye, 207 Catherine, Milford. The plaintiff is seeking judgment against the defendant for the sum of $4,750 plus pre-judgment interest, foreclosure of security interest, attorney’s fees and all costs of action. County Court The following persons have been assessed fines and have paid those fines in Kosciusko County Court, Judge James Jarrette presiding: Speeding — Paying S4O fines and costs were: Charles Packer, North Webster; Scott B. Moore, Syracuse

THE MAIL-JOURNAL (U.S.P.S. 3258 4000) Published by the Mail Journal every Wednesday and entered as Second Class matter at the Post Office at Syracuse, Indiana 46567. ’ Second class postage paid at 103 E. Main Street, Syracuse, Indiana 46567 and at additional entry offices. Subscrption: slsper year in Kosciusko County; $lB outside county. POSTMASTERS: Send change of ad dress forms to The Mail Journal, P.O Box 188, Milfor<L Indiana 46542

Church page 08 Milford Old News 08 Syracuse Old News 13 School and town boafed meetings 07 Policelog 10 Crossword ................. .03 Calendar Club news 03 Classifieds 12 Following are comments and suggestions written by those who filled out the survey cards: More Warsaw and Goshen prominent deaths and happenings. Historical items covering the area. We would like to see more news about Lake Webster and the town of North Webster. Would like to see freshman and JV line up and scoring in basketball. We’re senior citizens. We like to hear what’s going on. The sports are wonderful.

support of establishing such an ordinance. Picking up discarded empty bottles in front of our office and in the nearby parking lot is a daily task. Some bottles are broken and a real nuisance as well as a safety hazard. Aluminum cans serve the sdme purpose and seem to.be an acceptable alternative. Robert F. Westfall Local Manager

No registration plate — Peter T. Gawthrop, Leesburg, SSO No operator’s license — Paying SSO fines and costs were: Daniel J. Mock, Syracuse; Michael J. Stump, North Webster; Sharon L. Clevenger, North Webster; Anthony C. Geronpiez, North Webster False registration — Brian R. Sfbuder, Syracuse, SSO No cycle helmet — Brian R. Stouder, Syracuse, SSO No illuminated headlamp — Brian R. Stouder, Syracuse, SSO Carrying passenger on learner’s permit — Briah R. Stouder, Syracuse, SSO Violating cycle permit — Scott A. Burk, North Webster, SSO Unsafe start — Daryl L. Gans, Syracuse, SSO City Court The following fines have been levied and paid irHhe Goshen City Court: \ Speeding — Wanetia F. Cripps, 35, Syracuse, S4O Altered drivers’s license — Katherine G. Wirt, 18, Milford, $65, all but $5 of fine suspended, defendant ordered to show proof of new license within 60 days Improper tires — Debra S. Hoover, 20, Syracuse, s6l Registration violation (primary residence) —James G. Pangburn, 30, Syracuse, $36 Operating on beginners license without licensed operator — Debra S. Hoover, 20, Syracuse, $36 Marriage Licenses The following couples have applied for marriage licenses in the office of Kosciusko County Clerk Jeanne Weirick: * Reese-Heilman Michael Buryi Reese, 39, r 3 box 407A, Syracuse and Deborah Lynn Heilman, 25, r 3 box 407A, Syracuse. Archer-Snyder Denzel L. Archer, 36, box 13 Sidney and Mary Ann Snyder, 44, box 339 North Webster t Pelto-Wright Darrell John Pelto, 32, Bolliver, Mo, and Catharine Merne Wright, 31, P.O. Box 311 Milford Piper-Beller Gene Lee Piper, 33, Deßary, Fla. and Debra Kay Beller, 32, r 4 box 738, Syracuse Hire-Howell Jon Mark Hire, 28, r 4 box 409, Syracuse and Susan Gayle Howell, 28, r 4 box 409, Syracuse • f Marriage Dissolutions The following couple has filed for a marriage dissolution in Kosciusko Superior Court: Rohlfing — Robert A. Rohlfing and Kathie L. Rohlfing, 301 Medusa, Syracuse. The couple was married April 28, 1984 and separated Dec. 21, 1984. There are no minor children.

“CRUZIN AROUND 'CUSE“

ALL MAJOR ROADS LEAD TO MUNCIE High**} •/ 98.2% SSX: 96.9% Tool lOhm, laprand Miloft. JjM, M. ! • ~' x | i" T«- , ______ jW I E S [ mor> Are on Improved Ii X. P I "Mootpel. er ; i ts? JpC, N T cK I * hfo -..pcsr i - “rfciL* -ch 'I H evElwood I t - 1 -’ -y—l airs*. 4 • ft.k I t ! I E n| ; R X I _ — ; [blew Castle: Legend i | “■" r-nl kh. rIL * C Tele. Brxk or Axh«lt ... C-jAdl , f7 |* "7 V Vi J !\ J \ | •••••••• tidddumlo I fy” V \ »tate j \ rfi- 1 Pvjmd •Wroad* ■ •• 4e Imoum St»t» Commmom CMTtMV TNHHKilftr (EDITOR’S NOTE: Muncie is shown as the center of an eight-county retail trading area in this map from a 1930 brochure issued by The Muncie Morning Star to‘attract advertising. The state highway system was in its early stages of development.) I WILEY W. (“BILL”) Spurgeon, executive editor of the Muncie Star and the Muncie Press — and well known in the Syracuse and lakes commurifiy as* well — has come out with a 144-page book on his favorite city and county —Muncie and Delaware County: The book has received considerable publicity over the state, including a large story and the above map, in a recent issue of The Indianapolis Star. Bill is not only a good and concise writer, but he has a historian’s knack for digging up little known facts. The people of Muncie should delight in this book. 1 When people think of Muncie they think of the Ball Brothers and the university they founded, now the prestigious Ball State University; or they think of the Muncie Bearcats, and their championship-winning ways on the basketball court; or they even think of the two studies made by sociologists who found Muncie as the typical American city. But Muncie and Delaware County are more than this to Bill Spurgeon. He takes his story from its native wilderness to a thriving industrial and educational community. Bill even traces his own family history back five generations in that changing area. Included are the Mound Builders, the Delawares, including the Munsee (Wolf) clan, and the early white settlers — Goldsmith C. Gilbert, Lemuel Jackson, William Brown, William Van Matre, John and Lewis Rees, Peter Nolin, Dr. Dickinson Burt, Dr. Levi Minshall. Also the county’s first school (in Perry Township), Muncietown’s first church, its first newspaper, Yorktown’s sawmill. "The Age Os Agriculture” — the 1850 s, ’6osand '7os — and the beginnings of industry are discussed. The first discovery of gas was in 1876 on George Carter’s Union Township farm. However, as Spurgeon puts it, “The drillers, who were bor-, ing for coal, actually feared they had penetrated the reaches of Hell and that the foul-smelling" substance which they had tapped was a warning from Lucifer. They capped the well and took their coal-boring crew elsewhere. ’ ’ With * the encouragement of entrepreneur James Boyce, the Ball brothers arrived in Muncie in 1888. The auto industry made itself felt after the turn of the century — Delco Battery and Warner Gear retain their importance, while the- Interstate, Durant, Star, Sheridan, Feeny, Albany, Cory and Feeny have disappeared. The post-World War II boom was a springboard for Ball State Teachers College (now Ball State University). Today we see a vital community, in Spurgeon’s view poised for continued growth in manufacturing education and agriculture. Spurgeon’s book is published by Windsor Publications, Inc., and retails for $22.95. SPEAKING OF writers, outgoing WHS superintendent Don Arnold proved-something of an editor himself, when he conceived and implemented the idea of issuing a mid-summer tabloid “newspaper” germane to the beginning of each school year. With school news “getting scattered” in the news columns of The Mail-Journal and other area papers reaching into the Lakeland area, Arnold conceived the idea of collecting all pertinent news pertaining to the school into one issue, to be mailed directly to all school patrons. Photos used were from Mail-Journal files.

By EDWARD THORLVND Interest rates continue to ease downward — the good news everyone was waiting for during 1984. So why hasn’t* the stock market roared ahead? Many/are still forecasting a hefty rise in the average price of stocks this year and some are even casting eyes on such magic numbers as 1500. *

Interest rates x

The drop in interest rates is certain to boost car and home sales and if itls true — as the latest indicators hint — that there’s to be no recession in 1985, the outlook is bright. Z Treasury Secretary Donald/ Regan reiterated just before Christmas that inflation is definitely under control and that everyone will be surprised in 1985 how docile the annual rate of inflation turns out to be.

He recalls the first issue of The Reporter, as the new publication was named, as an eight-page tabloid mailed out in July 1968. A second eightpage issue came out in November of that year. From the start the little paper was well received for its broad information about the new school and its new programs, as well as news of the three elementary and junior high schools. Three page 1 photos were of construction in progress at the new high school. In March 1969 was dedication time and The Mail-Journal put out a three-section, 24-page tabloid, done up in color and featuring advertising from area merchants and industry. It was given away free at the high school doors as patrons came to look over the new school and hear a talk by Phil Eskew, IHSAA commissioner. Also in 1969 Arnold put out an eight-page Reporter in August and a 12-page paper in December. In 1970 Arnold went to one paper per year. “It became a lot of work,” he recalls. In 1973, he garnered help from department heads and expanded the size of The Reporter to 16 tabloid pages, usually issuing the paper in the summer, about a month before school started. Other area school corporations quickly saw the merit in the Lakeland schools’ paper and copied the idea. The first to follow was the Fairfield School Corporation, then Tippecanoe Valley. Others followed. Arnold said the once-a-year newspaper for the school is now generally accepted as a good and valuable feature to getting the school off to a start each year. THE LADY Warriors can boast one of the youngest fans of most any ball team around. It’s in the person of three-year-old Jeffrey Sherman, son of Allen and Beth Sherman of Green Acres, a Warsaw suburb. Jeffrey is a real fan, wears a special hat and sweater in school colors. He knows the players and has met them all but his favorite, who happens to be Anita Swope. His parents are Wawasee High School graduates, and grandparents, Beverly and Larry Spry, of North Webster, North Webster graduates, are also big fans of the Lady Warriors. IF YOU were watching football on television New Year’s Eve, and happened to turn the dial to the Blue Bonnet Bowl game at Houston, TX, between Texas Christian University and West Virginia University, you might — you just might! — have seen a familiar face. In all probability it would have been the face of Gary Smith, son of Merl and Maggie Smith of the Syracuse community, who is also director of the marching band and basketball band at the University of Illinois at Champaign. Gary is well known in college band circles and was invited to be coordinator of that game’s halftime pageant —a salute to Houston, past, present and future. Included in the TV gala will be two high school bands, the Texas Christian band, and 400 auxiliary units (what brother Greg likes to call “frontal organizations”), with all kinds of regalia, balloons, that sort of thing. Gary is the new owner of the Smith-Walbridge Camp on East Shore Drive, where he has big plans brewing for next summer’s camp. THE (BOUNTY is slated to get a new bridge in 1985 over Grassy Creek on State Road 13, 4.8 miles north of US 30. The contract, for $247,797.54, is to R. L. McCoy, Inc., of Columbia City. A detour will be posted. Completion date is set for May 24,1985. IT’S NOT everyone who has a letter of com-' mendation in his file from one as important as William H. Webster, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But one person who has is Lieutenant Jay Rigdon 111, who is attached to the Monroe County Sheriff’s'Office at Plantation Key, Florida. Jay is the son of Mrs. J. A. (“Billie”) Rigdon of r 4 Syracuse (Waco Drive, Lake Wawasee). and is well known around the Syracuse community. Jay is “very good at what he does,” according to his proud mother. What he does is track down drug smugglers in the Florida Keys. We’ll let Director Webster’s letter to Rigdon speak or itself: "Please accept my thanks and those of my associates in Miami for the outstanding cooperation and assistance you furnished'in connection with the “HI-BAND” investigation. v ‘‘l understand that you assisted in surveillances, interviews and in four marijuana seizures resulting in the confiscation of over 50,000 pounds of marijuana. With your help, the investigation has culminated in the indictment of 20 individuals and the seizure of property valued at over ten million dollars. You can be proud of your contributions to the successful conclusion ofyhis case. My colleagues join me in thanking you and in . wishing you continued success. "Sincerelyyours, ,William Ij, Webster Director” Rigdon is 46 years of age, having graduated • from Syracuse High School in 1956 and from I Florida Atlantic University. His wife Donna is a ; native of Fort Pierce, Florida.

As interest rates fall. the cost of « carrying the huge federal debt • also falls. But big annual deficits ■ continue. ; | The belief here is that if Con- * Egress cuts spending significantly • in the next six months, and also I reduces defense spending ; (almost certain), the market will ; make its biggest move then — • assuming the economy is not .* moving into a recession.