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Covering Milford, Syracuse & North Webster, Indiana
Excited For College Softball
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
One Nation Under God
Page 7 themail-journal.com
Fish sculpture result of birthday celebration By LAUREN ZEUGNER Staff Writer
Continued on page 2
REFLECTIVE FISH — On a bright sunny day, John Peterink’s fish sculpture reflects the light around it. Here it’s shown on a bright sunny day with blue skies. Photo by John Peterink.
Garcia killed in early morning crash, two others injured Ricardo L. Garcia, 26, North Webster, was pronounced dead at the scene of a single vehicle crash, by the Kosciusko County Coroner’s Office. The crash occurred at 3:29 a.m. today, Wednesday,. Nov. 29,. in the area of 8679 E. Epworth Forrest Road, North Webster. Victor J. Waikel, 21, Milford, driver of the vehicle, was treated and released from Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital and transported to the Kosciusko County Jail. He was booked on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Juan C. Acuahuitl, 22, of North Webster was a front seat passenger had a complaint of pain and refused medical treatment at the scene. Garcia was a rear seat passenger and was not wearing a seatbelt. When emergency personnel arrived at the scene they located a 2017 Audi, driven by Waikel. A preliminary investigation determined Waikel was northbound on Epworth Forrest Road and, for an unknown rea-
NORTH WEBSTER MAN KILLED — Ricardo L. Garcia, North Webster, was killed when the vehicle he was a passenger in struck a tree on Epworth Forrest Road, North Webster. The crash was reported at 3:2 a.m. today, Wednesday, Nov. 29. Victor J. Waikel, 21, Milford, driver of the vehicle, was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated after being treated and released from the hospital. A second passenger, Juan C. Acuahuitl, North Webster, refused medical treatment at the scene. Photo by the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office. son, left the roadway striking a tree at a 90-degree curve. The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by Kosciusko County Central Dispatch, North Webster Police Department, Kos-
ciusko County Coroner’s Office, Tippecanoe Township Fire Territory, Reichert & Knepp Wrecker Service. The crash remains under investigation by the Kosciusko County FACT team.
Milford Town Council hires two new town employees By LILLI DWYER Staff Writer The Milford Town Council held a special meeting Monday, Nov. 27, to approve the hiring of two new town employees. Present at
the meeting was Tad Freed, who the council hired on as a general maintenance worker; and Anthony Hicks, who was hired as a skilled laborer for the wastewater department. The council also approved two
Syracuse man plays ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Lifelong Syracuse resident and Wawasee graduate Austin Lutz will make his television debut on the television game show “Wheel
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of Fortune.” His episode will air at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1. Wheel of Fortune is aired on CBS, ABC and NBC.
Inside
Residents around Waubee Lake have grown used to seeing neighbor John Peterink’s latest creations pop up somewhere on his property. There’s the two concrete eggs in the lot across the street from his house, the large chess board off his back patio and a large wooden fish he sculpted. But lately, his newest project has taken up nearly the expanse of his driveway. It’s a 42foot sculpture of a fish. “This past July 23, I turned 71,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate, but I was also suddenly feeling old.” He decided to try doing something big “before my brain turned to pudding and Lisi (Llewellyn, his fiance) would have to be pushing my wheelchair. That’s how this fish business started. “It wasn’t so much a plan as an impulse.” The project was also supposed to be temporary. Peterink’s first attempt was with spray foam and scrap vinyl siding. “What a mess!,” Peterink said. “The neighbors and gawkers had a splendid time razzing me.” He developed a frame of rebar and put together a patchwork of recycled aluminum printing plates from The Papers inc. and RV panels screwed together. “Those reflective sheets are amazing,” he said. “On a single day, the fish can look blue as the clear sky above, be as blinding as the noonday sun and wind up a glowing harvest sunset orange. That fish is a chameleon.” A small fan club of neighbors have come by to watch the progress since Peterink started this project in July. Currently half is done and Peterink plans to stop working on it for the winter and possibly finishing it next spring. When he started, Llewelleyn told him he had to leave room for her to pull the garbage bin out to the curb as well as get the lawn mower out so she wasn’t dragging both through the house. While the fish looks sturdy, it isn’t. “It’s just too flimsy to move,” Peterink said. “We don’t have a place to move it to anyway.” And right now, it’s decked out for the holidays with Santa riding onboard. Peterink was up on the roof making adjustments to Santa when The Mail-Journal showed up for an interview. “Considering the fact I’m just dabbling, I’m surprised this birthday adventure looks as good as it does,” he said. Peterink, a native of Fort Wayne, discovered this area as a young man while hitch hiking his way to California. The Beers took him in for lunch — they owned the restaurant at US 6 and SR 15 at the time. They provided him a place to stay
new town ordinances to change the salaries offered for these town employee positions, effective that day. The first ordinance sets the salaries for maintenance personnel at $42,000. Specific department salaries are set at $25,000 for the motor vehicle highway department, $14,700 for the water department and $6,300 for the park department. The second ordinance sets the new wastewater personnel salary at $50,000.16. The next regularly scheduled Milford Town Council meeting is 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, in the Milford Community Building.
Warrior Winter Sports Teams See Pages 7-9 See Public Notices On Page 13
TREE LIGHTING — This tree was lit in front of Oakwood Saturday night, Nov. 25 in Syracuse.
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