The Mail-Journal, Volume 26, Number 3, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 March 1987 — Page 1

ieaquicentannial 1837-1987

Milford & ffic

VOLUME 26

■-.'- Il FWm "wllff llilte *- . ■ ■hi ' J BUILDING SLATED FOR DEMOLITION — The apartment building at 113 W. Main StSyracuse, known to many as the “Old McClintic Building,” is slated for complete demolition later this week. The building, now owned by State Bank of Syracuse, was destroyed by fire on September 28, 1984. It has been vacant since that time. The fire was determined to be of suspicious origin by the Syracuse Fire Department. The building was the location for Bob McClintic's Insurance Agency, along with various office space available, for a number of years. Prior to the completion of the Lakeland School Corporation Administration office and high school (now Wawasee School Corporation) the building housed several school corporation offices. The exact use of the lot, once the debris is cleared, is unknown at this time. (Photo by Deb Patterson) i ' ■ ’ ' ■ ■ r

— f t I. ' 'i'' - AWImBWBmMMSf-,.' ] f |i i|MßKjg i r > ij *"j** K _ jm ■ ' "*“ t 5 ,' "i—*- • '•-»■* »«•• ■ * ■ ■ . / DEMOLITION IN STAGES — Firestone Construction, Syracuse, began the demolition of the building at 113 W. Main St., on Wednesday, Feb. 25, when salvageable items were removed. A backhoe was moved in on Friday as the first stage of the demolition began with the tearing down of the rear wall. The remainder of the building will be demolished later this week. ' The removal of the back wall, shown in the photo, found items in the lower apartment, last occupied by Jack Dean, just as it was after the fire; and on the upper floor a gallon milk container with half a gallon of milk, now 2% years old, still in it could be seen on the floor. The building was boarded up following the fire for police investigation and never reopened. (Photo by Deb Patterson)

Tragedy averted as — 3 ice fishermen are rescued

Three ice fishermen were rescued from Webster Lake Friday afternoon, Feb. 27, around 2:30 p.m. Roy Spry, Sr., 77, North Webster, was admitted to Goshen Hospital in fair condition. Morris Fidler, r 1. North Webster, was treated and released. His son, Phil Fidler, was not hospitalized. Conservation office Dave Anderson stated that if it hadn’t been for other fishermen, Rodney Scott and Gary Dant, both of North Webster, who were fishing on the northeast bay of the lake, the three fishermen would have drowned. They grabbed two boats from shore and shoved them out to the men and tried to get them in the boats. They were ioined bv other people who were

» there. All helped in getting them > off the ice and into an ambulance. » The water where the three men » fell in is at least 20 feet deep. 5 They were not far from a sandbar 1 where the water is only five feet s deep, but were apparently fishing , over a drop-off. s According to Anderson, the t quality of the ice, even though it is still three inches thick in some areas, is very poor. He recome mends people stay off the ice. It is t extremely dangerous on any area y lake now. „ Assisting in the rescue were the “ North Webster Fire Department ’ and EMS, conservation officers, , Kosciusko County Patrolman i Gerry Moser and North Webster s Another Rescue » On Sunday. Paul Mrozek of

* a> Consolidation of THE MILFORD MAIL (Est. 1888) and THE SYRACUSE-WAWASEE JOURNAL (Est. 1907) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4,1987

Vandalia, Mich., and a companion fell through the ice at 11 a.m. on Lake Wawasee while he was walking back to shore after ice fishing. They were 300-500 feet from shore. Syracuse Fire Department and Syracuse Police Department assisted in the rescue. He was transported by North Webster EMS to Goshen Hospital where he was treated and released. 1 According to Don McCulloch of the Wawasee Boat Patrol, a rubber raft with a rope attached was thrown out to Mrozek, who held onto It while being pulled to shore. He was in the water for i about 10 minutes. As of Monday, the ice was gone from Dewart Lake and is gone around the edges of Waubee f Lake.

MMMMMMHMMBWMMaHMMMM Biomet asks for sewer hook-up — County commissioners consider pre-tax savings of $5,399.38 for county employees

(By CARLA GAFF Staff Writer A possible savings to Kosciusko County employees of $5,399.38 annually by pretax paying for insurance benefits was discussed by county commissioners Monday morning. The county has 92 employees and their families covered under the present policy, 37 employees with single coverage, seven with term life and one employee with additional other insurance. If a change is made each employee would have three choices: He may leave his insurance witholding as it is now; may pay pre-tax and receive more in his payroll check; or may chose to add additional insurance benefits with the extra cash saved by paying pre-tax. Auditor J.D. Geiger questioned why an employee would chose to leave his witholding as it is now when he could have a savings. He also expressed a concern about the possible change and whether it poses a problem with recent congressional changes. Colonial Life and Accident Insurance representative Don ' Whitley, assured commissioners that, insurance paying pre-tan will remain as it has, regardless of 1987 congressional changes and that the proposed change is already widely used by businesses in the county. He also explained that Colonial would provide this insurance change to the county at no cost, though the firm would ask to be able to continue servicing the county and possibly secure added coverage. He added that as an example, if an employee had a biweekly salary of S6OO and an insurance premium of S4O for that time, he would take home $437.22. Whereas, if he had his S4O insurance payment taken out pretax, he would take home $448.08. Commissioners did not ntake a decision on the matter at this time. They will be reviewing it with their attorney and make a decision at a lateajdate. Accept Proposal Also during the meeting, commissioners accepted a proposal by Biomet to hook into the Warsaw city sewer system. Two alternative locations for connecting with the city sewer were

See election activity in three area towns

1 By CARLA GAFF Staff Writer Nine town board seats and all three clerk-treasurer positions will be up for re-election this year in Milford, North Webster and Syracuse. Persons interested in running for a town board position in Syracuse will have the opportunity to be elected to the seats currently held by Joe Morganthaler, Steve Butt or Bill Hess. Though Syracuse has a five-member board, only three positions are up for re-election this year since Syracuse board members serve staggered terms. Voters in Syracuse will also be electing a clerk-treasurer. The position is currently held by Jenny Lewis— In Milford all three seats on the board need to be filled. The positions are now held by Jean Tresch, Charles Bird and Dennis Wuthrich. A town clerk-treasurer will also be elected. The current Milford clerk-treasurer is Monica Bice. The three town board positions in North Webster, currently filled by Myron Clark, Sid Markley and Bob Jones will also need to be refilled this year. A clerktreasurer will also need to be elected. Evalee Payne is the North Webster clerk-treasurer. Persons interested in running Arte A* »Uwwa ■ ■■Ml — i -■in-- ' —w • fHoonw«sMMntoF~UMHR3 r ~

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discussed with the exact decision < being left up to Biomet officials. , Approval has already been j received from the city of Warsaw for the hook up. It is planned that the connection will be made by running lines I east along Bell drive to Cessna Drive, then south to CR 200N, where lines will go east to 100E, and south on 100E to the city limits. Or, lines will go south along Aztec Drive, from the north side of Bell Drive to CR 200N, then east to county road 100E, and south on 100E to the city, limits. Though it would be closer, at this point, Biomet is not planning to connect at Uniroyal, though that possibility would affdrd the lowest expense to the company. “We contacted Dr. Etzel at i Purdue,” explained Biomet’s ar- f chitect Jim Malcolm, “and found that he is not planning to get ( Uniroyal on to the city sewer for a ; year. Biomet can’t wait that ' long.” He went. on to explain that Biomet would be allowing for its J growth only, and plans to go with a two-three inch pipe. We can't say we’ll solve everyone’s problem who’s out there, stated Malcolm, because allowing for , too much growth can create a flow problem. Geiger added that smaller >TpCs make for cleaner, easier flow, while larger pipes are clogged frequently and cause problems. Other Business The commissioners signed a statement of transfer of Kosciusko County Welfare funds in the amount of $129,729 to the state level. They granted permission to Stonehedge Golf to cut CR 275E in approximately five . places and'the Pierceton Road in approximately seven places. This will be done so that they may install irrigation and culvert passes under the roads. “We’ll monitor it,” said county I highway engineer Richard Winebrenner. He went on to explain that Stonehedge Golf officials will be responsible to be I sure that the road is repaired and j left in good condition. A discussion was held by com- I missioners concerning the public I phone in the courthouse. It has I been reported the phone is hot paying for its self and should be removed. Inasmuch as the coun- I ty is also paying for three phones ! in the Justice Building, it was g

notify past party chairmen in | their respective towns. In Syracuse contact Democrat < Jack Elam or Republican Betty I Dust. Milford residents may make I their interest known to I Republican Bill Knowles, | however, past Democratic chair- I man Daryl Orn has recently I retired from Chore-Time and is | wintering in Florida. A replace- I ment has not yet been named. i North Webster residents may I contact Republican Gary I Eastland or Democrats may con- I tact Wayne or Diane Jernigan. 1 The election this year will be on | November 3 with each town | holding a caucus in the summer. I Interested persons should be pre- I sent at that time. Caucus dates I and names of new party | chairmen will be announced as | they become available. Leesburg man I arrested on muftiple charges I Duane C. Wiggs, 51, r 1, I Leesburg, was arrested at 2:11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, and charged with driving while intoxicated, fleeing law enforcement officers, knd speeding M mph ink 45-mile speed zone. Goshen City \ Police gai* chase from the 2600 \ block of South Main Street to SR 15 and CR 13, just north of New Paris /

'Joif mill

decided to keep the one in the courthouse, and eliminate the one in the basement of the Justice Building. Therefore eliminating

Cite driving hazards — Two killed in Saturday p.m. accident on U.S. 6

A near head-on collision on US 6, a half-mile east of CR 25 in Union Township south of New Paris, resulted in the death of two men and injured a third person. Killed were John Christopher Scarbeary, 28, 707 S. Huntington St., Syracuse, and Daniel A. Odem, 31, r 3, Albion. According to investigating Elkhart County officers PtL Fred Mock, Cpl. Randy Cripe, Sgt. Milt Montandon, Capt. Dennis Bechtel and Major R. Terry Snyder, Scarbeary was driving west on US 6 when his 1981 Mazda crossed the centerline and crashed into the eastbound 1983 Mercury Cougar driven by Odem. At the time of the accident, 7:07 p.m. - Saturday, driving conditions were hazardous due to rain and gusty winds. Investigation continues as to what caused Scarbeary’s car to cross the centerline. After the collision, the two cars overturned and came to a stop more than 100 feet apart on opposite sides of the highway. Both

J wkm THE SOLID ONES — Pictured above are four members of The SoiM Ones — Wawasee High School's cheering section. Every sectional ticket holder received a free Solid Oues T-shirt. compliments of merchants comprising the Wawasee Community School Corporation, and win be wearing H at the Triton Sectional in support of the Warriors. In the front are Krissy Eisenhour and Rich Freeman. Pictured in back are Danae Whetten and Janie Leach. Wawasee will meet Warsaw at 7:30 tonight (Wednesday) in the opening game of the Tritan «•*- - “ • . > •¥ .& i- ■''IHES»dSK3®S

• part of the expense but keeping » the needed phone accessibility. i Kosciusko County Commis- ’ sioners will be meeting on March

See accident photo on page 2. cars were demolished. US 6 was blocked for several hours due to glass and other debris scattered over a wide area. Bonnie Odem, 32, a passenger in her husband’s auto, suffered rib fractures and other injuries and is listed in good condition in Goshen Hospital. According to Elkhart County Coroner Carl Yoder, Scarbeary suffered a skull fracture and broken neck and Odem died of a broken neck. Blood tests could not be taken to determine if either driver had been drinking according to Capt. Bechtel. A tissue test was taken ’ but results have not been determined as yet. Funeral Services John Christopher Scarbeary was born on September 10, 1958, in Goshen, the son of Richard A. and Alice E. (Nolan) Scarbeary. On September 10, 1978, he married Sabrina Hatfield. She survives.

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5, to rule on rezoning matters, and receive reports from the county highway department and the'bowen Center.

He had resided in the Syracuse area most of his life and was employed at Syracuse Rubber Co. as a line foreman. Surviving with his wife are two sons, Richard A. and Justin M., both at home; his mother, Alice Scarbeary; a sister, Jodi Scarbeary; grandparents, John and Bessie Scarbeary and Opal Nolan, all of Syracuse. Services were held yesterday, Tuesday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m. in Harris Funeral Home, Syracuse, with Rev. Max Martin officiating. Burial was in Syracuse Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Koala Center at St. Joseph Hospital, Fort Wayne. Odem Services Services for Daniel A. Odem will be held this afternoon, Wodnonday, .nt 3 p.m. in the Apostolic Church, Albion, with burial in Rose Hill Cemetery, Albion. Brazzeil Funeral Home, Albion, was in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be made to the church.