Wheat harvest big surprise amidst worsening drought

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

Area farmers, whose concerns are growing daily in the midst of a deepening drought, received a big surprise last week when they discovered one of the best wheat crops in years in the fields.

Jeff Lehman of Lehman Feed Mill noted that most yields exceeded what was anticipated, and in some cases returns were in the 80 and 90 bushel per acre range. Even more important, Lehman said, was the exceeding high quality of the wheat.

"What a surprise," said Lehman. "For one thing, the harvest was two weeks ahead of schedule. It is already pretty much done. It turned out really well; the quality of the grain is just excellent.

"A lot of the wheat was over 60-62 test weight," continued Lehman. "In a good year we are happy with a 59-62 test weight. This was a beautiful surprise to all of us."

Hospital to take big tax hit

Decatur Daily Democrat:

It was a case of the proverbial good news vs. bad news delivered to members of the Adams Health Network Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting on Wednesday night.

In discussing the financial situation of the hospital, Chief Financial Officer Dane Wheeler gave board members the good news first: Hospital officials recently completed a cost settlement report for Medicare which should net the hospital approximately $759,000 in Medicare money. But it is not known when the dollars will be deposited in AHN coffers.

"Maybe in August sometime," Wheeler offered. "We'll know for sure when it's here."

SA administrator contracts renewed

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

The South Adams School Board wrapped up the 2011-2012 school year business during their board meeting on Tuesday and approved some business looking forward to the upcoming school year.

Upon the recommendation of superintendent Scott Litwiller, the board approved the renewal of the administrative contracts for Trent Lehman, Jeff Rich, and Brian Strauss for the 2012-2013 school year. This renewal is for a 2-year contract.

“All three principals have proven to be effective instructional leaders,” said Litwiller.

ACentral evaluations on RISE

Decatur Daily Democrat:

In an effort to ensure the staff at Adams Central continues to strive to give students their best efforts, the AC Board of Education, at its meeting this week, adopted a new system of evaluating teachers.

Superintendent Mike Pettibone said that Indiana law mandates teacher evaluations and under this new system, RISE, he feels teachers and principals alike will benefit from the more detailed process.

Pettibone said the RISE model is similar to the current method of evaluations used by the school and is research based in the high standards of solid teaching practices.

SA board discusses long-term use of facility

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

Due to a request by The Bridge Community Church to use the school for a new church in southern Adams County, the school board has been looking at School Board Policy #7510 School Facility Usage. The Bridge requested the use of the auditorium and six classrooms every Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning September 9 for an unspecified period of time.

After holding an hour long work session prior to the regular school board on Tuesday evening, discussion of the policy continued during the regular session. Some of the concerns brought up were student privacy issues in classrooms, the schools energy saving contract, difficulty heating/cooling depending on location, use of the sound system and projector, and custodians needing to be present on the weekends.

“I have a problem with long term use of property unless it is school related,” stated school board member Tony Mellencamp.

Volunteers to feed NA hungry kids

Decatur Daily Democrat:

A private organization of local volunteers with a unified goal of alleviating child hunger throughout the North Adams school system gained public support on Tuesday when the school district's board of education agreed to provide a physical location to assist in those efforts.

Karen Carty appeared before the board during its regular monthly meeting on behalf of the HERO Meals: Feeding Families in North Adams committee. According to Carty, the group has "taken as its personal mission" the goal of reducing the number of students in the community "who live with chronic hunger."

The HERO Meals program, Carty said, is modeled after similar efforts in Wells County involving Norwell Elementary School students, and at the Pleasant Dale Church, which serves students at Adams Central.

Ground broken for Geneva School memorial

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

Geneva High School 1936 graduate Kathryn Strickler sat on the grounds where she had received her education on Saturday morning when community leaders gathered to break ground for a memorial to the former Geneva School.

In her lifetime, Strickler witnessed the demolition of two school buildings, including the one from which she graduated and the one that was most recently demolished.

"It's progress," said Strickler. "I hated to see the school go down but it's progress. I graduated from the old school and they tore it down. I saw both schools come to an end."

Strickler said that she attended school as Kathryn Cole and lived in a house across the street from the old school building where a car dealership now stands.

Downspout cuts being demanded

Decatur Daily Democrat:

Seeking to come into compliance with orders set forth by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), the city of Decatur has informed some downtown businesses and a few residences in other areas that they will have to disconnect their downspouts from the city's sanitary sewer system.

Approximately 25 businesses and homes have received letters spelling out the needed change, according to Ann Butcher, who heads the city's sewage treatment plant and wastewater department.