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Todd Carteaux, right, of ReStore Avilla, holds the ribbon as Camille Crump, left and Vinnie Crump, center, prepare to cut the ribbon to open the dog park.. The Crumps were the largest donor to the park and had the honor of naming the park.

Lexi Keener, center, is congratulated by the other contestants in this year’s Miss Corn School contest after she was crowned Miss Corn School 2022 Thursday night in LaGrange. Keener, a sophomore at Prairie Heights High School earned a $1,000 scholarship to go with her Miss Corn School crown.

The Impact Institute’s welding program designed and put together this target stand which will be used for training and qualifying shoots at the Kendallville Police Department’s shooting range. From left, are Kendallville Police Department Sgt. John Dixon, Dominick Keen (DeKalb High School), Mason Wilson (Eastside), Zach Harris (DeKalb), Lucas Colin (East Noble), Wayne Targgart (East Noble), welding instructor Rex Rawles, KPD Detective Sgt. Angela Handshoe, Kendallville Patrolwoman Sidney Shartzer, Patrolman Ben Jones and Kendallville Police Chief Lance Waters.

Todd Carteaux, right, of ReStore Avilla, holds the ribbon as Camille Crump, left and Vinnie Crump, center, prepare to cut the ribbon to open the dog park.. The Crumps were the largest donor to the park and had the honor of naming the park.

Lexi Keener, center, is congratulated by the other contestants in this year’s Miss Corn School contest after she was crowned Miss Corn School 2022 Thursday night in LaGrange. Keener, a sophomore at Prairie Heights High School earned a $1,000 scholarship to go with her Miss Corn School crown.

The Impact Institute’s welding program designed and put together this target stand which will be used for training and qualifying shoots at the Kendallville Police Department’s shooting range. From left, are Kendallville Police Department Sgt. John Dixon, Dominick Keen (DeKalb High School), Mason Wilson (Eastside), Zach Harris (DeKalb), Lucas Colin (East Noble), Wayne Targgart (East Noble), welding instructor Rex Rawles, KPD Detective Sgt. Angela Handshoe, Kendallville Patrolwoman Sidney Shartzer, Patrolman Ben Jones and Kendallville Police Chief Lance Waters.

ANGOLA — Indiana State Police is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred while investigating a homicide in the city early Sunday morning, ISP Sgt. Ted Bohner said.

Three men died in what is believed to be two separate incidents: a shooting that occurred at a residence then the ensuing pursuit of the suspect.

At approximately 1:07 a.m., officers with the Angola Police Department responded to a home in the 400 block of North Elizabeth Street for a shots-fired call. Two men were found dead at that location.

Later in the morning, during the course of the investigation, Angola and Indiana State Police had an exchange of gunfire with the suspect in the case and eventually struck him with one shot. The suspect later died at Cameron Memorial Community Hospital.

It is not yet known which officer shot the suspect.

The two deceased victims at the Elizabeth Street residence have been identified as Francisco Javier Velazquez Martinez, 23, of Angola, and Fernando Reyes Fernandez, 21, also of Angola.

The deceased male involved in the police action shooting, which began at the Elizabeth Street residence and ended on Felicity Street, has been identified as Bryar Everett Wolfe, 19, of Fremont.

This remains an active criminal investigation by Indiana State Police.

FORT WAYNE — Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry took responsibility for his actions after being arrested and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated following a crash Oct. 8.

Henry, a Democrat who his seeking a fifth term as mayor during next year’s election, had issued a statement Sunday before meeting with media a few hours later. In that statement, his spokesman wrote, “Mayor Tom Henry was involved in a motor vehicle crash late Saturday. Upon arrival, officers determined that the Mayor appeared to be impaired. After tests were conducted, that was confirmed.”

In his statement read to media, Henry again took responsibility and read in part:

“I am here for a single purpose, and that is to express my heartfelt and sincere apology to all of the citizens of the City of Fort Wayne,” he said.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions.

“I am relieved that no one was hurt in the incident. I want to praise the men and women of the Fort Wayne Police Department who handled this situation with professionalism and followed all of the correct procedures and protocols. I am sorry that I put you in such a situation last evening as I can assure you that I know better.”

SPENCERVILLE — Organizers of a large Amish horse-drawn wagon parade — which made its way through Spencerville on Sept. 30 — may be receiving a bill from the county for the damages to a freshly refinished roadway.

The parade, which made its way through Spencerville and across the historic Spencerville Covered Bridge, damaged a freshly refinished Mill Street on the west side of the bridge. A double layer of micro-seal was applied to the roadway on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22, which wasn’t given adequate time to harden before the parade made its way across the roadway.

Commissioner William Hartman presented photos of the damage during the Oct. 3 DeKalb County Commissioners’ meeting.

Commissioner Mike Watson said sending a bill for damages would “send an appropriate message.”

DeKalb County Highway Superintendent Ben Parker presented the commissioners with a $24,220.80 quote from Pavement Solutions to apply a single layer micro-seal to the portion of the roadway that was damaged. The repair work would stretch from the covered bridge west to S.R. 1. The price tag includes a $10,000 mobilization fee from the company.

The issue will be on the agenda for Monday’s meeting where an official motion will be made.

AVILLA — Dogs of all sizes spent the morning of Oct. 8 getting acquainted, running and playing in the Avilla’s brand-new dog park, even as their owners shivered in the low 40-degree temperature and brisk breeze.

A small group of people and their dogs attended ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially opened Crump’s Canine Corral.

Dogs and their owners received goody bags, courtesy of the library and the Avilla Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s been a countywide effort for the first dog park in Noble County,” said Todd Carteaux, president of ReStore Avilla.

It took ReStore Avilla two years to raise the $40,000 for the dog park, with the greatest expense being the fence that surrounds the park and divides it into two sections, one for large dogs and another for small dogs. The park also has a convenient waste disposal station at the entrance.

The park has a double gate system at the entrance to prevent escapees. The entrance area has benches for owners to sit or chat with each other while they watch their pets play.

The dog park is open to the public with normal hours from dawn to dusk. All owners must be attentive to their dog, and no handler may bring more than two dogs at any one time. The complete curls are online at avilla-in.org/dog-park.

LAGRANGE — Lexi Keener, a sophomore at Prairie Heights High School, was crowned Miss Corn School Oct. 6 at the annual LaGrange County festival from a field of 12 contestants.

The contest was staged over two nights and held on the stage at the LaGrange County Courthouse lawn.

Contestants participated in the talent portion of the contest the first night then answered questions drawn from a fish bowl the following night before Keener was announced as the contest’s winner.

Keener is the daughter of Anna Smith. She performed a baton twirling routine for the contest’s talent competition.

Keener had nothing but praise for the other 11 young women in the annual scholarship competition.

“We really love each other. They are amazing and we’re already planning to get together soon for coffee,” she explained.

ANGOLA — Tom’s Donuts, a fixture in the region, will have additional space to make and sell doughnuts after the Angola Plan Commission gave permission to vacate two lots, allowing parcels to be combined and giving the business a storefront.

The move will vacate the lots at 807 and 807 N. Wayne St., and combine the parcels. Attorney Latriealle Wheat said the owners of the business own the real estate under one name and operate the business under the Tom’s Donuts name.

“By vacating the lots, we can combine that into one parcel to have more space for our business,” Wheat told the Plan Commission. One building will be used primarily to make doughnuts and the other will be for sales.

KENDALLVILLE — At some point in the future, a piece of machinery on Zach Harris’ farm is going to come apart.

Harris, a junior at DeKalb High School, will be able to fix the problem himself thanks to the Impact Institute, the area’s vocational cooperative, and — the Kendallville Police Department.

Tuesday, the Impact Institute handed over a large metal target rack it had designed and fabricated to the KPD for use on its range. The rack has five metal targets, three smaller targets which will automatically reset themselves, and center-mass targets capable of taking rounds from an AR-15 or a .308 rifle.

The all-metal structure will likely last the lifetime of the students who designed and welded it together as part of Rex Rawles’ welding course.

Rawles has 48 students enrolled in his welding program.

“We try to take them to where they can go right into the workforce,” Rawles said.

The instruction for the students is very much hands-on. “I love that part of it, too,” Harris said.

The project brought to the school by the Kendallville Police Department wasn’t simply a matter of welding metal to metal — though there was plenty of that.

The target stand presented multiple challenges for the students. The top metal piece which holds the target had to be parallel to the ground, and the targets had to be installed at an angle so the bullets would not ricochet back at the shooters.

“Some welds were difficult,” Harris said. “You have to figure some stuff out on your own.”

The rack is built on wheels, making it easy for officers to maneuver.

The old rack had been donated by Kendallville Police Chief Lance Waters. The framing consisted of an old wooden swing set Waters had owned.

The shoots, drills and qualifying shooting done by his department had decimated the wooden frame. When shots hit the target, brass and metal fly off in all directions.

Kendallville Police Department Patrolman Ben Jones and Detective Sgt. Angela Handshoe connected the police department with Impact Institute.

“I thought it would be good experience for them,” Jones said. “They did an awesome job.”

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