Saturday, September 24, 2011
N-B Video — House fire on South Indiana Street
Friday, September 23, 2011
N-B Video: How to move a bride — in one piece
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Possible projects in the Northern Wells district.
The Northern Wells school board approved a list of tentative plans for its capital projects fund. To learn more about the capital projects budget, see the Wednesday, Sept. 21, News-Banner. To learn more about the specific projects, contact Northern Wells Superintendent Scott Mills at 260-622-4125.
Year/School CPF project Cost
2012 OES Roof recoating $325,000.00
2012 OES Light fixtures $10,000.00
2012 OES Classroom $15,000.00
2012 OES New circuit and board $15,000.00
2012 OES Water Softener $3,000.00
2012 OES Restripe parking lot $2,500.00
2012 OES Brick wall replacement loading dock $5,000.00
Andover Energy & security
2012 OES management system $10,000.00
2012 LES General Painting $18,000.00
2012 LES expansion joint $2,500.00
2012 LES Restripe parking lot $3,500.00
2012 NMS Restroom upgrade $30,000.00
2012 NMS Painting & Carpet $24,000.00
2012 NMS Security cameras $15,000.00
2012 NMS Light fixtures $10,000.00
Andover Energy & security
2012 NMS management system $10,000.00
2012 NHS Re-seal 2 gym floors $7,500.00
2012 NHS Restroom remodel $35,000
2012 NHS AC Power upgrade $35,000.00
Andover Energy & security
2012 NHS management system $10,000.00
2012 NHS Restripe parking lot $7,500.00
2012 CO Parking lot repair $150,000.00
Future projects
2013 NHS Update Kitchen $1,600,000.00
2013 NHS Auditorium remodeling $650,000.00
2013 NHS Restroom remodel $35,000.00
2013 NHS South gymn doors $30,000.00
2013 NHS Painting and carpeting $24,000.00
2013 NHS Building security camera $15,000.00
2013 NHS Lighting efficiency $10,000.00
2013 NHS Replace all drinking fountain cooler $10,000.00
2013 NHS Parking lot reseal and restripe
2013 NMS Pool filtering and pump system $150,000.00
2013 NMS Painting and Carpet $24,000.00
2013 NMS Lighting fixtures to T-8’s $15,000.00
2013 NMS Security cameras $15,000.00
2013 OES EFIS Moisture repair $75,000.00
2013 OES Classroom $15,000.00
2013 OES Security cameras $15,000.00
2013 OES Sidewalk repair $15,000.00
2013 OES Lighting fixtures to T-8’s $10,000.00
2013 OES Re-key building $3,000.00
2014 CO Re-coat roof $20,000.00
2014 LES Gas fired boiler to aid Geo loop $30,000.00
2014 LES Reseal gym floor
2014 LES Reseal parking lot
2014 NHS N&W sidewalk replace $75,000.00
2014 NHS Domestic Hot water storage tanks $50,000.00
2014 NHS Replace all hot water lines $25,000.00
2014 NHS Re-key building
2014 NMS Girls Locker room remodeling $60,000.00
2014 NMS Painting and Carpet $24,000.00
2014 NMS Lighting fixtures to T-8’s $15,000.00
2014 NMS Security cameras $15,000.00
2014 OES Air cooled condensing unit $185,000.00
Heating hot water system
2014 OES renovation $150,000.00
2014 OES Student lockers in hallways $150,000.00
2014 OES Ductwork and fittings $35,000.00
2015 OES South Parking lot resurface $80,000.00
2023 NMS Exterior wall system replacement $680,000.00
2023 NMS Air handling units $235,000.00
2023 NMS Window Repair and replacement $185,000.00
2023 NMS Interior wal system $175,000.00
2023 NMS VAV boxes $175,000.00
2023 NMS Music room acoustics $65,000.00
2023 NMS Music instrument storage $48,000.00
2023 NMS Gym bleachers upper level $32,000.00
2023 NMS Exhaust fans $15,000.00
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Where the money goes
The state makes available how public schools spent their revenue, broken down by categories such as "student academic achievement," "school administration," and more. The following graphs show how Wells' public schools used their revenue from January to December 2009 and January to December 2010.
Northern Wells Community School
Click on the following links for more detailed reports for each school.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
N-B Video: Raider royalty
Friday, September 16, 2011
Good, clean fun for the family — with garbage
Participants can take the garbage home to build games similar to those games in the television show "Minute to Win It." The library will give a list of accepted tools and items to use when building games.
Participants should bring their games Tuesday, Sept. 27, to play with others. Games can be set up anytime from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Games go from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Prizes will be awarded for the creativity of the games. People can also attend to just play the games or create their own that day. Registration needed for the family if making a game.
The main branch will be closed the week of Street Fair. Garbage can be picked up during the Street Fair's "Storytime with Clifford and Madeline" on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 4 pm or the following week. Please sign up online at www.wellscolibrary.org or call the library at 260-824-1612. Program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
For inspiration, check out the News-Banner's Friday, April 15, "On the Beat" blog entry, when Bluffton Elementary School held its own "Minute to Win It" contest. Click here to go to the blog.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Need help with homework?
Students calling the hotline will need to provide their first names, their schools' names and be prepared with necessary materials:
- Homework assignment
- Textbook (if available)
- Paper
- Pen or Pencil
- Calculator (if necessary)
Responses to online questions are given during the Homework Hotline's hours of operation, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Tutoring is provided by college students who were recommended by their professors. Tutors are chosen based on technical and communication skills. They are trained on how to best answer questions and explain difficult concepts to younger students.
In order to provide help with questions, tutors are armed with copies of state-recommended textbooks and Internet access. While they are not to give students the answers to problems or assignments, tutors will help students analyze questions and come up with solutions.
Teachers may access lesson plans, articles, a summary of Indiana's academic standards and other educational resources when visiting www.AskRose.org.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
What does Indiana mean to you?
The winning student will read his or her essay at the Statehouse on Friday, Dec. 9, during the birthday celebration there.
The contest is open to Indiana fourth-grade students in public or private schools or who are home schooled.
- Entries need to range from 100 to 400 words.
- They can be handwritten or typed.
- Essays must include the student's name, teacher's or parent's name, school's name and contact information, including address and telephone number.
- Students should convey what living in the state of Indiana means to them and highlight things that make them glad to be Hoosiers.
- Essays must be postmarked no later than Friday, Oct. 28.
Jennifer Hodge, Coordinator, State Capitol Tour Office
200 W. Washington St., Room 220
Indiana Statehouse
Indianapolis, IN 46204
For more information, contact Hodge at 317-233-9830 or jhodge@idoa.in.gov.
Statehouse events begin at 9 a.m. and include tours and activities hosted by the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, legislature, Indiana Supreme Court, state museum, state library, historical bureau, history center and other state agencies. Students, their parents, teachers and principals can also visit with representatives of the state's executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Officials will also display the original state constitution.
WCLA starts 4th year of classes
The largest class in the short history of the Wells County Leadership Academy gathered for their first session Wednesday morning to hear retired Franklin Electric executive Kirk Nevin’s presentation on “The Art of Listening.”
The group of 23 will meet the second Wednesday of each month through next May.
Here are a few photos from the event. More information in Thursday, Sept. 15 News-Banner.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
letter from a former student
Dear Mr. Baker ~
Greetings from the Middle East. I just returned from a trip to Afghanistan and wanted to present Bluffton High School with this U.S. Flag that was flown at Forward Operating Base Shank in the Loghar Province of Afghanistan as a small and long overdue token of appreciation for the education I received there between 1983 and 1987. What I was taught and learned there has served me well while attending West Point and conducting the business of protecting our great nation.
Among the buzz of helicopters and the occasional incoming mortar, not a day goes by that for a brief moment I don't look back fondly at my time attending Bluffton High School. I recognized a few of the staff that was there almost 25 years ago when I graduated and would appreciate if if you could please pass my warmest regards to them. GO TIGERS!!
Sincerely,
Edward W. Bayouth,
Lieutenant Colonel, US Army
Chief, Postal Operations Division
N-B Video: Politicizing food prices
Monday, September 12, 2011
N-B Video: Bluffton remembers
N-B Video: Touring hope
N-B Video: Bluffton goes Green and Norwell moves on the "Banks of the Wabash"
Friday, September 9, 2011
N-B Video: Homecoming highlights at Norwell High School
N-B Video: Would you like some cockroach with that?
N-B Video: Rhythm and moves at Bluffton High School
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Preventing burglary
To prevent burglaries, State Farm Insurance lists the following recommendations:
- Do not have money or jewelry lying out in view from a window. If possible, keep jewelry and other small valuables and important documents in a safe deposit box. Thieves who otherwise would have passed up your home might attempt a “smash and grab” to get at your valuables.
- Don’t tell strangers your daily routines, and avoid telling others about the valuables in your home. If you’re at home working outside, leave all other doors that are out of sight locked.
- Be wary about posting your vacation plans and updates on social media websites—even though you trust your friends, you never know who might learn that you’re not home.
- If you have children, discuss home security with them, such as not talking with strangers about their home, its contents or family schedules.
- When moving into a new residence, have the locks changed.
- Consult a good locksmith to make sure you have the right types of locks on your doors and windows and that they’re all functioning. Don’t make assumptions. It’s always possible that previous owners or tenants improperly installed a lock, or that your locks are broken and need replacing.
- Secure your exterior doors and any doors from attached garages by installing good quality deadbolt door locks, doorjamb reinforcement, security-type door strikes, and strong, properly installed doors and doorframes that cannot be spread apart.
- Even if a garage is not attached, lock it. A burglar in your garage has access to tools to steal and ladders that can be used to gain entry onto the second floor.
- Use ANSI Grade 1 locks—look for the designation on the packaging.
- Secure your windows by installing additional locks and installing impact-resistant glass on any windows within 42" of a door lock. This will make it more difficult to break the glass, reach in, and unlock the lock.
- Prune lower branches of trees near your house if they could help a burglar gain access to a second story window. Plant sharp and thorny bushes in vulnerable spots like under windows and around exterior doors.
- Secure your patio door with a pin-type lock, a key lock, or a steel rod inserted into the door channel.
- If possible, have your telephone calls forwarded when you are away from home. Burglars sometimes check to see if someone is home by making a telephone call.
- Have a trusted neighbor pick up the mail and newspaper.
- If away for an extended period, have a plan in place to have the grass mowed or snow shoveled.
- If you are away from home on garbage pickup day, ask a trusted neighbor to put your garbage cans out to the street and take them back in. You may wish to have your neighbor use your garbage cans while you are out. Burglars sometimes check for empty cans as a sign the family is away.
- Never leave notes your door such as "Gone shopping."
- Use gravel or lava rock around your home instead of beauty bark. Gravel makes noise when stepped on.
- Basements usually have the casement-style windows and are vulnerable to entry. Young people most responsible for burglary need very little space through which to enter a home, and poor window catches offer little resistance. Metal window bars or grills should be fastened to the inside of the window frame with an emergency latch release, to aid in exiting your home should a fire occur.
However, the News-Banner did find two creative ideas from www.homesecurityadvice.com to hide spare keys in plain sight. We won't say that they necessarily work, but they are unique.
- I heard about this family who gathered over 75 house keys and painted them different colors to make a wind chime. Only the family knew which color would allow them to open the front door. It’s an obvious location, but it’s creative and more than likely a criminal isn’t going to sit there and test 75+ keys to gain access.
- I heard about another family who hid numerous keys around their property, but only one key allowed them access indoors. The point is to frustrate the criminal, and play a sort of mind game with them, so that they’ll eventually give up and go away.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
N-B Video: Saying goodbye — and hello — at Northern Wells
Retired teachers present at the Northern Wells' reception were, front row, left to right, Judy Harkless, Ossian Elementary third-grade teacher; Phyllis Phipps, Lancaster Central fifth-grade teacher; Linda Baller, Ossian Elementary music teacher; and Debbie Darnell, Norwell High School business teacher. Behind the retiring teachers were, left to right, Superintendent Scott Mills and board members Gene Donaghy, Michele Brown-Stohler, Donna Spears, Marc Fillers and Scott Elzey.
Follow the funds
The county budget funds the operations of multiple organizations:
- Extension office
- Assessor
- Auditor
- Clerk
- Election
- Probation
- Tobacco
- Custodian (courthouse)
- Treasurer
- Coroner
- Veteran's
- Health PHP
- EMA/LEPC
- Highway
- Prosecutor
- Recorder
- Community Corrections
- Circuit Court
- Superior Court
- Sheriff and jail
- Area Plan GIS
- Surveyor/Drainage Board
- E911
- Commissioners
- Bridges
- Communication Corrections
- Soil and Water Commissioners
- Solid Waste (Recycle)
- Soil and Water/Rockcreek
- Wells County Public Library
- Towns (not including the City of Bluffton)
- Townships
- City of Bluffton
Until then, you decide, using the following links to see if the two organizations requesting contributions are the same or if they offer similar services.