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Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
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BRAYDON CHATTERTON SNAPPED A PHOTO SHORTLY AFTER A TREE FELL ON HIS VEHICLE AT HENRY AND SYRACUSE STREETS, MILFORD.
AN UPROOTED TREE FELL ACROSS MAIN STREET IN MILFORD
Downed trees, power outages, damage in overnight storm Monday By DEB PATTERSON Editor-In-Chief Kosciusko County was placed in a tornado warning at approx-
imately 11:55 p.m. Monday evening as the National Weather Service of Northern Indiana tracked a severe squall line that could have produced a tornado.
Etna Green, Atwood and Huffman Lake was in the line of the storms. Residents in Milford reported hearing the town’s warning si-
rens going off shortly after the warning was issued. While no tornadoes were reported, trees and various sized Continued on page 2
A LARGE TREE WAS UPROOTED ON MAIN STREET IN MILFORD, FALLING ON THE SIDEWALK.
County commissioners question providing nonprofits with funding By DAVID SLONE Times-Union The future of Kosciusko County government providing funding to local nonprofit organizations is uncertain.
After some discussion Tuesday, July 16, on the appropriateness of the county giving taxpayer dollars to nonprofits, the Kosciusko County Commissioners approved recommending to the county council that seven nonprofits receive the
same amount of funds in 2025 as they did in 2024. An eighth nonprofit – Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center — that requested funding ($20,000) for the first time will not be granted any dollars. In 2024, Kosciusko County
4-H Council was approved for $46,589.91 from the county; Cardinal Services, $108,129; Stillwater Hospice, $50,000; Kosciusko County Historical Society, $23,230; Beaman Home, $33,425; Kosciusko County Senior Services,
North Webster Town Council vacates right of way By KEITH KNEPP Staff Writer In an expected move, the North Webster Town Council approved the vacation of a public right of way in the parking lot of the North Webster Community Center. This paves the way, literally, for the building of outdoor pickleball and basketball courts in part of the parking lot behind the NWCC. The new athletic facilities are being funded through a $242,500 donation given to the NWCC by the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation in memory of Jon Sroufe, who was active in both organizations and in the town of North Webster. The council also heard from Gwen Fuchs regarding the previously discussed “Jay Day” memorial celebration. During its April meeting, the council agreed to honor Jay Montalbano, a beloved UPS
delivery driver who died in March. A bench utilizing private funds will be dedicated in his honor and a proclamation declaring Wednesday, Aug. 28, Jay Montalbano Remembrance Day. A celebration and dedication of the bench will take place at 6:30 p.m. that day. Council President Dan Thystrup
updated the council on the ongoing North Webster Trail project. He noted two bid proposals were submitted for the first stage of construction. Those proposals were forwarded to the Indiana Department of Transportation for review and approval. He hopes to have a response from INDOT by
the end of the week so that the project can continue to move forward. Thystrup noted Sept. 1 is the final deadline for all proposals to be finalized. The next meeting of the council will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, inside the NWCC. The public is invited to attend.
$33,425; and St. Joe River Basin, $3,794, according to information provided at a previous commissioners meeting. Commissioner Cary Groninger said, “A couple meetings ago, we heard from all the nonprofits in our community, trying to sort through what their requests were. I know this is something that I think all three of us up here have struggled with … whether or not it’s the county’s job to fund some of these nonprofits and what we should do and how we are being the stewards of taxpayer dollars that we receive.” All the nonprofits on the list are
very good nonprofits that provide services to the community that are very important, Groninger said, “So I think we need to be careful about how we look at that, but in my opinion, I think we’re going to try to reduce the funding that we give to them.” He said there’s conversations that need to be had with the nonprofits “prior to doing it without notice.” He said they definitely wouldn’t be adding any additional nonprofits to the list of seven on their list. Commissioner Brad Jackson said, “I’ve always had that same theory that they’re all fantastic Continued on page 2
Kip Tom present during Trump assassination attempt By KEITH KNEPP Staff Writer and DAVID SLONE Times-Union Ambassador Kip Tom, Leesburg, had a front row seat, literally, to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, July 13. Tom served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, and chief of the United States Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome, from 2019 to 2021. Tom was attending a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., when a shooter, later identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened fire from an elevated position. Secret Service agents assigned to protect Trump killed Crooks, but not before his bullets managed to graze Trump’s right ear, kill one of rally’s attendees and wound two others. Prior to the assassination at-
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tempt, Tom briefly met with the former President and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee for the White House. Temperatures rose to around 95 degrees Saturday. Tom said everyone got in lines to go through security. The former ambassador took his seat about 3 to 3:15 p.m. Saturday. His front-row seat was up by the podium. The program started at about 4 p.m. with a blessing from a reverend. There were four to five speakers after that. “Following that, security detail came and got a few of us people who were planning to have meetings with the president, and took us back into his special area. We got up and went back there and met up with the president. Once we got done, they escorted us
back out and then just moments after that, the president walks out on the red carpet to the platform, waving and signaling to people,” Tom said. During the meetings prior to Trump coming out on the stage, Tom said Trump was “highly charged, highly motivated. I think he enjoys rallies such as this, and this was no different than any in the past. It showed when he walked out on stage. He was highly charged again when he started giving his speech.” Trump’s team put up a graph on the big screen about illegal migration into the United States. “It was about the time that he turned his head to look at that and that’s when the first shot rang out,” Tom said. Trump’s upper part of his right Continued on page 2
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