MUNCIE — Mayor Sharon McShurley recalls that when she took office nearly two years ago, “No one handed me a book and said, ‘Here’s the plan.’”

The local economic development alliance, Ball State University and other organizations have long-term plans, “but the city of Muncie didn’t have one when I took office,” McShurley said during a recent orientation meeting for the three dozen members of the steering committee for the Muncie Action Plan.

With no direction on how to spend limited city resources, “we are holding ourselves back,” the mayor said.

Besides not knowing where the city is going or what it wants to become in the future, the lack of a comprehensive plan hurts the city’s chances of receiving its full share of federal funding for community development, transportation and other improvements, McShurley said.

She said she has been asked several times by federal agencies from which the city seeks funding, “How does this fit into your comprehensive plan?”

The city has awarded a $125,000 contract to ACP Visioning+Planning, a Columbus, Ohio, consultant, to help create the plan or vision for Muncie’s future. ACP is a firm that focuses on creating better places and on “action-oriented” plans.

The plan is supposed to give clear direction to developers and citizens, establish a blueprint for coordinated development/redevelopment, serve as a foundation for grant-seeking and improve quality of life.

Virginia Nilles, director of the Muncie Public Library, and George Branam, president of East Central Indiana Pathologists, co-chair the steering committee.

“There has got to be a vision of where we want to go,” Nilles has said.

By KEITH ROYSDON

Click here for the interactive graphic.

Drug-resistant swine flu cluster probed

ATLANTA — Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.
The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks make up the biggest cluster seen so far in the U.S.
Tamiflu — made by Switzerland’s Roche Group — is one of two medicines that help against swine flu, and officials have been closely watching for signs that the virus is mutating, making the drugs ineffective.
More than 50 resistant cases have been reported in the world since April, including 21 in the U.S. Almost all in the U.S. were isolated, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The BBC reported another cluster of five Tamiflu-resistant cases this week in Wales.
The CDC has sent three disease investigators to North Carolina to help in the investigation there, said Dave Daigle, a CDC spokesman.

CDC testing confirmed the Tamiflu-resistant cases.
All four cases at the hospital were very ill patients in an isolated cancer unit on the hospital’s ninth floor, and it is believed they all caught the flu while at the hospital, said Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.
Three of the four patients died and one is recovering, he said. Flu seems to have been a factor in each death, but they were very sick so it was hard to say that it was the primary cause, he added.
North Carolina health officials did not disclose details about the four patients, other than that three of them — including the survivor — were women and their flu illnesses occurred last month and this month.
The first patient had been given Tamiflu before becoming ill with the virus, as a preventive measure. The three others were given Tamiflu after developing flu symptoms, Sexton said.
The case is under investigation, but hospital officials said they have no evidence the cases represent a hospital-wide concern.
The North Carolina cluster is unusual, but “at this time we don’t have any information that should raise concerns for the general population,” said Dr. Alicia Frye, epidemiologist in the CDC’s flu division, in a prepared statement.
The only other reported U.S. instance of Tamiflu-resistant swine flu spreading from one person to another occurred about four months ago at a summer camp in western North Carolina, where two teenage girls — cabin mates — were diagnosed with the same drug-resistant strain. Health officials said at the time that the virus may have spread from one girl to the other, or it’s possible that the girls got it from another camper.
Why did both Tamiflu-resistant clusters occur in North Carolina? It could be coincidence, or perhaps North Carolina’s disease surveillance is unusually good, said Megan Davies, the state’s epidemiologist.
Overall, CDC officials said Friday that swine flu cases appear to be declining throughout most of the U.S., with reports of swine flu illnesses widespread in 43 states last week, down from 46 the week before.
CDC officials also said reports have been increasing in a few states, including Maine and Hawaii. They said it’s hard to know whether the epidemic has peaked or not.
Thanksgiving and the holidays may not help matters, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
“All the kids get together with their grandparents and there’s a lot of exchange of warmth and love, but a little exchange of viruses, too,” she said.
Swine flu has sickened an estimated 22 million Americans, hospitalized about 98,000 and killed 4,000 since it was first identified last April. It has proved to be similar to seasonal flu but a much bigger threat to children and young adults.
Also on Friday, CDC officials said they are aware of a new report from Norway of a distinct form of swine flu seen in three patients that seems to have an unusual ability to settle deep into the lungs and therefore could potentially be more dangerous.
The Norway report isn’t the first time that particular mutation has been seen: About 15 others have been reported around the world, including four in the United States. Some cases proved fatal, but others caused only mild illnesses, CDC officials said.
The swine flu vaccine and antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza all seem to work well against it, CDC officials also said.

— The Associated Press

MUNCIE — City council took the first step Tuesday toward imposing a hydrant fee that would add $2.01 to the average household water bill.
The council voted 7-2 to introduce an ordinance that would add a surcharge onto the monthly bills of Indiana-American Water Co. customers to pay for Muncie’s fire hydrants.
A final vote is expected Dec. 16 after a 5:30 p.m. public hearing at city hall.
Muncie rents its hydrants from the water company at a cost of about $630,000 a year, which has traditionally been paid through the city’s general fund by property taxpayers.
State statute, however, also allows cities to pay for hydrants by adding a fire protection surcharge, or hydrant fee, to the bills of water utility customers.
In an effort to balance the 2010 budget, city council eliminated all funding from the fire hydrant line item, leaving the city little other option except to impose the hydrant fee.
According to figures provided by Indiana-American Water, the average household would pay $2.01.
The fee is based on the size of a customer’s water meter.
Advocates of the hydrant fee argue that it forces non-profit organizations, which don’t pay property taxes, to contribute financially toward fire protection.
A handful of people spoke at Tuesday’s meeting.
One person said he was against it while two members of the Citizens of Delaware County for Property Tax Repeal said they support it so long as the council didn’t impose a local option income tax in the future.
The council’s two Republicans, Brad Polk and Mark Conatser, voted against the introduction, saying they weren’t necessarily opposed to the idea, but had too many unanswered questions.
Conatser questioned whether it was fair that Muncie residents on well water receive fire protection without paying the hydrant fee.
“I don’t know that there’s any solution that’s perfect,” council President Alison Quirk said.
If passed, it is unclear when the hydrant fee would take effect because that date is contingent upon approval of the new rate by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

By KEITH ROYSDON
kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Delaware County’s first “green” street lights are here.
The first of 23 wind-and-solar-powered street lights have been installed at Park One/332, the business park at Interstate 69 and Ind. 332, and another 27 will be placed at locations to be determined by local officials.
The lights are the product of VAT, a German company chosen by Delaware County officials for a $1 million contract for the lights. In exchange, VAT has promised to employ more than 100 people at a Park One facility by 2011.
VAT has ties to Brevini USA and Brevini Wind, and the first of the 24-foot-tall street lights are being installed near Brevini buildings at Park One.
Greg Winkler, director of project development for Brevini Wind, said the lights began converting wind and sunlight into electricity to power the lights as soon as they were installed.
When fully charged, the two batteries inside each light can run five days without wind or sunlight, Winkler said.
“That’s part of the appeal,” he said. “In the dead of winter, there’s not much sun, but there’s still five days of battery life.”
Brevini Wind will have a “topping off” ceremony for its new building at Park One at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

By NICK WERNER
nwerner@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — It only took five votes, but Delaware County Council on Tuesday authorized the emergency borrowing of up to $10.5 million to avert a potential crisis.
According to Council President Chris Matchett, the borrowing was necessary for two reasons.
First, the county is required by law to repay before the end of the year $7 million it borrowed from an excess levy fund to stay in business.
Second, the county is about to go bust.
“We didn’t have any money to run the county,” Matchett said afterward. “Our only other option was to lock the doors and turn the lights out.”
The county’s financial straits are due in large part to delays this year in the collection of property taxes and are worsened, Matchett said, by the economy.
The Tuesday meeting wasn’t without drama.
The ordinance to authorize Auditor Judy Rust to borrow the money passed 6-1 in an introductory vote with the council’s only Republican member, Ron Quakenbush, dissenting.
Given the urgency of the situation, Rust asked the council to suspend the rules, which would allow for a final vote at the same meeting.
While suspending the rules requires a unanimous vote, Quakenbush voted against the measure, upsetting the remaining board members who wanted the situation resolved Tuesday.
After some discussion, Quakenbush relented and agreed to revote in favor of suspending the rules.
With that out of the way, the council moved on to the final vote to pass the ordinance, where Quakenbush again casts the only nay vote.
At this point, the council was confused on whether a 6 to 1 majority was enough in this situation to pass the ordinance.
The council recessed, apparently to review laws governing the legislative voting process.
During the recess Democrat Brad Bookout left the meeting for a prior engagement and Quakenbush left out of protest.
The council returned from recess and again took a final vote, passing it this time 5-0.
Matchett said later in the day that he believed the 5-0 was legally unnecessary because the previous 6-1 vote met the requirements for passing the ordinance.
Quakenbush told The Star Press that he understood the county’s need to borrow money and cast his nay votes out of frustration with council Democrats on other issues.
z Contact news reporter Nick Werner at 213-5832.

These recipes are courtesy of:  Chef Jason Reynolds CCC

Turkey Pineapple Curry

Serves 6

1 med. onion, chopped

1/3c. butter

1c. flour

2tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

4c. turkey or chicken broth

3c. leftover turkey

8oz. pineapple tidbits, drained

Cooked white rice

1.  In a large skillet cook onion in butter until soft.

2.  Sprinkle in flour, curry, and salt.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes.

3.  Add broth and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.

4.  Add turkey and pineapple and heat until mixture is hot.

5.  Serve over white rice.

Sweet Potato Bisque

Serves 4-6

6 slices bacon

1 med. onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

4c. leftover cooked sweet potatoes

4c. chicken broth

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves

1c. heavy cream

1.  In a large stock pot, cook bacon until crisp.

2.  Drain bacon on paper towels and set aside.

3.  Drain off all but two tablespoons of the bacon fat.

4.  Cook onion and garlic in bacon fat until crisp and tender, about 5 minutes.

5.  Stir in sweet potatoes, chicken broth, salt, white pepper, and thyme.

6.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are falling apart.

7.  Using a potato masher or immersion blender, mash the vegetables.

8.  Stir in heavy cream and heat through.

9.  Crumble bacon and garnish each serving.

Cranberry Brownie Pie

Serves 12

4-1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate

2/3c. butter

2c. sugar

4 eggs

1 1/4c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4c. heavy cream

3T. powdered sugar

1c. whole berry cranberry sauce

1/2c. chopped pecans

1/3c. hot fudge

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Grease a 10″ spring form pan and an 8×8″ square pan and set aside.

3.  Melt unsweetened chocolate and butter together in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until blended and smooth.

4.  Remove from heat; beat in the sugar and eggs until smooth.

5.  Add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.

6.  Spread half of the batter in the spring form pan, and the other half in the square pan.

7.  Bake for 15 minutes, until just set.  Don’t over bake.  If they are under baked a bit, that’s just fine.  The spring form pan brownies will probably bake faster than the square pan because they will be thinner, so check frequently.  Cool both completely.

8.  Cut the brownies in the square pan in the cubes.

9.  In a large bowl, beat the cream with the powdered sugar until stiff; fold in cranberry sauce.

10.  Spoon half of the mixture over the spring form pan brownies.

11.  Top with half of the brownie cubes and half of the pecans.

12.  Repeat layers.

13.  Drizzle with the hot fudge sauce.

14.  Chill for a few hours in the fridge, then cut into wedges.

By NICK WERNER
nwerner@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009) MUNCIE — City council could take an “introductory vote” tonight on an ordinance that would increase bills for Muncie water utility customers to pay for fire hydrants.

The council is expected to act on the ordinance in a special meeting called for 5:30 p.m. today at city hall. The ordinance would introduce a hydrant fee to pay for the rental of 1,396 hydrants owned by Indiana-American Water Co.

Previously, hydrant rentals were paid for by property taxpayers through the city’s general fund.

The city council, however, recently eliminated the $630,000 line item originally appropriated for fire hydrants in 2010.

It was unclear Monday how much the average residential bill would increase as a result of the hydrant fee.

Democrat Mary Jo Barton said the council had no other choice but to institute a hydrant fee.

“We are down to nothing,” she said. “We have no other resources. We had nothing else we could look at.”

The ordinance was introduced on Friday by council president Alison Quirk, also a Democrat.

The ordinance might have bipartisan support, which has been unusual in city council lately on significant issues.

Both Democrats and Republicans like that a hydrant fee would spread some of the burden of fire protection to all property owners in Muncie, including non-profits, which do not pay property taxes.

Brad Polk and Mark Conatser, the only Republicans on city council, spoke favorably about the concept of a hydrant fee. Both also added, however, that they have unanswered questions about the fee that are keeping them undecided for now.

Conatser said he worried about Muncie residents on well water who would be receiving fire protection without paying for fire hydrants.

“That’s something that’s going to have to be looked at,” he said.

Polk said he believed a final vote would likely come at the regularly scheduled Dec. 7 council meeting.

If passed, it is unclear when the hydrant fee would take effect because that date is contingent upon approval of the new rate by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

City council rejected a hydrant fee in 1997.

Previous hydrant fee proposals in 1994 and 2007 were withdrawn before the council even took a vote.

Contact news reporter Nick Werner at 213-5832.

By KEITH ROYSDON
kroysdon@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009) MUNCIE — Who wants a turkey the day after Thanksgiving? Nobody.

As Thursday — a day in which we all have the opportunity to gorge ourselves like that guy on Man vs. Food — approaches, local stores still have a good supply of turkeys and all the trimmings, including the Holy Grail of this year’s feast, canned pumpkin pie filling.

Now they just have to sell it all.

At Fisher Meats, owner Greg Fisher estimates he’ll sell as many as 600 fresh and freshly-frozen turkeys at his North Walnut Street store this Thanksgiving season and, with luck, he’ll sell the last one on Wednesday.

“I hope, because come Friday they don’t sell,” Fisher said Monday as, not far away, stood a refrigerated case half-filled with turkeys.

At Lahody Meats, owner Ron Lahody feels good about how many fresh turkeys he’s been able to sell.

“We sold 315,” said Lahody, clad in a long white butcher’s coat. “I’m absolutely shocked. I didn’t think I would sell that many with 57-cent birds at Marsh, but they’re frozen and injected.”

Prices locally compared pretty well to prices around the state as reported in Indiana Farm Bureau’s annual Thanksgiving Day dinner survey.

Nobody’s turkey price topped Marsh’s 57-cent throwdown, which was available to shoppers who spent at least $35. Otherwise, Marsh sold its frozen turkeys for $1.49 a pound.

Indiana Farm Bureau said the average Hoosier price was $1.26 a pound. Locally, Lahody sold fresh turkey for $1.49 a pound and Fisher had prices ranging from 99 cents for frozen to $1.39 for fresh.

In other Muncie stores, frozen turkeys ranged from 99 cents a pound at Aldi to $1.48 at Walmart.

Farm Bureau said the cost of Thanksgiving dinner was $39.66 (or $43.93 including $2.50 in miscellaneous ingredients not itemized plus $1.77 for whipping cream). The group said that total was down from $45.57 last year.

In news that will make many Thanksgiving diners’ hearts leap, a national shortage of canned pumpkin apparently hasn’t reached local store shelves. Although Aldi was out on Monday, both Marsh and Walmart had cans of pumpkin and pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling on their shelves.

The New York Times and many reputable news sources have reported in the past week that heavy Midwestern rains had decimated pumpkin crops. Libby was among the manufacturers who said shortages could result.

Locally, shoppers pushed their carts past the ample supply of canned pumpkin, oblivious to its rarity.

Contact business editor Keith Roysdon at 213-5828. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keithroysdon.

By IVY FARGUHESON
ifarguheson@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009) MUNCIE — Competition may be the name of the game during the NFL’s annual Thanksgiving games, but it’s not on anyone’s minds during Muncie’s two community Thanksgiving dinners.

Given the decrease in resources and the increase in need over the last year, some might think the dinner organizers at the Muncie Mission and on the Feed My Sheep committee would be fighting over canned food, frozen turkeys and plates of pumpkin pies, but that’s not been the case in this or any year.

“We’re both serving a critical need and we’ll be successful in meeting those needs,” said Micah Maxwell, organizer of the Feed My Sheep dinner held at Muncie Central High School on Thursday. “I know there tends to be competition for resources, but I wouldn’t think that one event alone could serve the number of people that need Thanksgiving dinners. It’s about meeting those needs.”

Maxwell expects to serve at least 800 meals Thursday afternoon, between the community dinner at Central and the delivered meals for families that request them. Despite a late organizational start, the Feed My Sheep committee collected over 7,000 cans of food, registered over 400 volunteers and matched the $4,000 budget from last year.

For the 79th year, the Muncie Mission will host another community dinner held on their year-old site.

Historically, the Mission volunteers have fed mostly their clients and their families during the Thanksgiving meal with fewer community residents attending the Mission meal than the Feed My Sheep dinner.

That may change this year, though.

Between 50 and 60 community residents have been attending the free Mission lunches during the week, numbers staff haven’t seen in years.

They expect some of those folks will come back for the dinner Thursday afternoon.

“People are just in need. They’re hungry and there a lot more hungry people out there,” said Paula Raines from the Muncie Mission. “We’re just trying to make sure everybody gets a good Thanksgiving meal. We see it as everybody that needs a meal will get a meal.”

Muncie Indiana Transit System will offer free bus rides to both locations on Thursday afternoon.

Last year was the first time it added the Muncie Mission to its Thanksgiving bus route, but as has been the case between the two dinners, it hasn’t been much of a problem.

“It’s worked out pretty well. We just added an extra hour to what we already were doing,” said Mary Gaston of MITS. “This is just a huge way to give back. It isn’t a huge expense, not a huge deal, but it’s a big deal to the people who can use the rides that day.”

Contact reporter Ivy Farguheson at 213-5829.

By OSEYE T. BOYD
oboyd@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Monday, Nov. 23, 2009) MUNCIE — In a little strip mall on McGalliard Road, a few doors down from Domino’s Pizza, women can get prenatal care and free pregnancy tests, and patients who are diabetics can receive information and education.

Community Hospital Outpatient Services, a new clinic that specializes in prenatal and diabetes care, has opened in Muncie and is open four days a week. The clinic also is an enrollment site for Medicaid, is a doctor referral service and offers a prenatal substance abuse prevention program (PSUPP).

Community Hospital was scouting locations for the clinic along McGalliard earlier this year, The Star Press reported in February.

Diabetes among young adults and children is on the rise, as is drug use among pregnant woman, which makes services the clinic offers more vital than ever.

“We see a need,” said Marianne Spangler, clinical director for Diabetes Care Center. “There’s a lot of people in this county who are uninsured and underinsured … There’s just no way all the needs are going to be met by one agency.”

The clinic opened just as Open Door/BMH — newly renamed Open Door Health Services — plans to expand. Open Door Health Services also is hiring more doctors and already has more nurses compared to a year ago, CEO Toni Estep said.

“Our plan is with the new building that we can take care of everybody that needs care in the community,” Estep said. “If there’s a choice, I think that’s good a thing.”

Community Hospital’s move to Muncie makes sense because many of the clinic’s patients drove to Anderson from the East Central Indiana region. Being closer will cut down on drive time and money, social worker and PSUPP Director Priscilla Engle said.

It’s a perfect setup for new mom Misty Tooley. Tooley works in Muncie, but lives in Anderson. She no longer has to worry about doctor appointments being such a major disruption in her schedule.

“It’s really convenient because a lot of the times my appointments were when I was at work,” Tooley said.

Contact news reporter Oseye T. Boyd at 213-5830.

By KATHY KIRBY
kkirby@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Monday, Nov. 23, 2009) FARMLAND — Lonna Long of Farmland isn’t too happy.

In fact, like other breast cancer survivors and experts, she’s downright worried and upset.

This past week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that most women don’t need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at age 50.

The recommendation is a break with the American Cancer Society’s longstanding position that women should get screening mammograms starting at age 40.

“It’s like taking a step backward,” said Long, 59, a breast cancer survivor who is now fighting bone cancer. “They need to think about the one woman that could be affected.”

Diagnosed in 1982 with breast cancer at age 32, Long had a mastectomy on her left breast. The cancer was detected with a mammogram after she experienced itching in one spot.

“I had no idea it could happen to me, especially at such a young age,” she said.

Cancer-free for 23 years, Long was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2005.

Her mother, Juanita Long, died in 2001 after battles with breast, lung, bone and colon cancer.

“I hope that insurance companies continue to fund mammograms for women before age 50,” she said.

Years too late

At Ball Memorial Hospital, cancer experts were taken aback.

“We were rather appalled,” said Colleen Madden, physician and director of the BMH Breast Center. “We are very passionate about it, but someone needs to be.”

About 230,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, she said, 50,000 of them younger than age 50.

If women wait until age 50 or older to get mammograms, “those cancers are going to be much more advanced,” she said. “We see so many patients under age 50 diagnosed with breast cancer on a regular basis, and a lot of patients in their 30s.”

Madden pointed to one case on Friday, in which a 47-year-old woman was diagnosed with breast cancer at her facility.

“If she had waited three more years to be screened, the likelihood is great the cancer would’ve metastasized to her lymph nodes or other parts of her body,” she said, adding it also would have reduced the woman’s rate of survival and increase her cost of treatment and care.

The American Cancer Society predicts 3,710 Hoosier women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, with 860 dying from the disease.

The society continues to recommend annual screening using mammography and clinical breast examination for all women beginning at age 40, according to Otis Brawley, the group’s physician and chief medical officer.

“As someone who has long been a critic of those overstating the benefits of screening, I use these words advisedly: this is one screening test I recommend unequivocally, and would recommend to any woman 40 and over, be she a patient, a stranger or a family member,” he said this past week.

Vicki Pritz, 56, Albany, started getting annual mammograms in her mid-30s.

At age 54, breast cancer was detected.

“I had two lumpectomies,” said the two-year breast cancer survivor. “They (the lumps) were small enough I didn’t need a mastectomy.”

Pritz disagrees with the task force’s new recommendation.

“You definitely need to start sooner than age 50,” she said. “I have lost an aunt on my mother’s side and another on my father’s side to breast cancer. You just can’t take chances.”

‘Worrisome’ advice

Cheryl Mathews, education and client services coordinator at Cancer Services of East Central Indiana/Little Red Door, said screenings should begin at age 40. She said the new recommendation “is worrisome.”

Her agency helps a lot of uninsured or underinsured women in their 40s get a screening mammogram through a grant-funded program, “Reaching Out Breast Health.”

“With some, problems wouldn’t have been found had they not been screened,” she said. “At this point, we aren’t changing what we do, and encourage women to be aware of changes in their own breasts. If a physician is going to write an order for a woman to have a mammogram, our grant funds will provide that regardless of her age.”

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urged women to continue getting regular mammograms starting at age 40. She said the task force does “not set federal policy and they don’t determine what services are covered by the federal government.”

She advised women to “keep doing what you’ve been doing for years: talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you.”

Another change?

And if the mammogram issue weren’t enough of a concern, new guidelines this past week by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of annually to catch slow-growing cervical cancer.

Locally, Madden is a little less concerned about this recommendation.

“This is a different matter,” she said. “With the new vaccine, cervical cancer is becoming less and less common. And since it’s also related to having multiple partners, people are also changing their behavior.”

Contact feature writer Kathy Kirby at 213-5821.

By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Monday, Nov. 23, 2009) MUNCIE — The city is seeking to certify some 225 properties as abandoned structures, one of the steps being taken to transfer them to a land bank for redevelopment or demolition.

Delaware County commissioners and Muncie City Council recently adopted ordinances defining abandoned structures.

The definition includes unused public nuisances whose owners have ignored demolition orders, municipal liens, taxes and civil penalties imposed by the city’s unsafe building hearing authority.

The city has received funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program to establish the land bank.

A land bank is like a non-profit real estate company. Land banks in other cities do planning and outreach, brownfield redevelopment, development, adopt-a-lot, greenspace, demolition, housing renovation, sales, side-lot transfers and foreclosure prevention.

“I don’t know that we’d want every single one of them,” said Gretchen Cheesman, administrator of the unsafe building hearing authority. “When our inspector comes on, we’ll know more about those properties that are land bankable. Those that are not will be torn down.”

The city plans to hire a land bank inspector and a land bank director. The Muncie Redevelopment Commission will oversee the land bank.

“We’re looking to have a meeting on Dec. 8 to talk about the land bank with the mayor and the director of the redevelopment commission,” Cheesman said. She anticipates a land bank director being hired after the holidays.

“County commissioners have indicated they are supportive of the land bank concept,” Cheesman said. “The county commissioners have to certify these properties as abandoned structures so they can go into a special tax sale. The properties that don’t sell in the tax sale, the commissioners can give deeds for those properties to the land bank if they choose.”

This story is part of a weekly series looking at blighted properties around Muncie. To suggest a property for the series, e-mail the address and a brief description to blightwatch@muncie.gannett.com or mail it to The Star Press, Local News Desk, P.0. Box 2408, Muncie, Ind. 47307.

Published Nov. 21, 2009

By JOHN CARLSON
jcarlson@muncie.gannett.com
MUNCIE — Even as kids courting, there was never any doubt in James and Dortha Watters’ minds how they would end up.
“They kind of grew up together,” their daughter, Flora Jean McCoin, recalled in a phone call from her Hartford City home on Friday. “Dad was Mom’s only boyfriend, the only one she ever held hands with. She was a true lady, through and through.”
Last Saturday, the Watterses’ time together on Earth ended, when 83-year-old Dortha, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died in Miller’s Merry Manor in Hartford City. On Thursday, 85-year-old James — a dialysis patient — rejoined his wife of 66 years, dying in the same rest home from the effects of a fall he took earlier this month.
There’s no doubt in their daughter’s mind that their deaths were tied.
“I think so, because she saw him fall,” McCoin explained, noting the accident was a bloody, traumatic thing. “Dad fell on the 8th, and Mom went into renal failure on the 8th.”
For the most part, the timing of her parents’ deaths didn’t surprise her.
“I had always kind of thought it would happen, in the back of my mind,” McCoin said, “but I never thought that Mom would go first.”
Married as teenagers during World War ll when he was a GI headed overseas, James had retired from Indiana Grain in Dunkirk and had also worked at Indiana Veneer in Montpelier. A mother of 10, Dortha, who enjoyed quilting and camping, had been a homemaker.
There was never an abundance of money in the family, McCoin recalled, but there was always food on the table, supplemented by her father’s hunting and her mother’s knack for gardening.
In later years, the native Kentuckians called Montpelier home.
“They came this way hunting for work,” their daughter said.
McCoin believes her mother was traumatized by witnessing her husband’s fall, and likely thought him dead.
“I think she just gave up,” she said, noting James had cared for the ailing Dortha for six or seven years.
When it came time to tell her father of his wife’s passing, McCoin whispered the news in the dying man’s ear.
“I said, ‘Dad, Mom is gone,’” she recalled. “I told him, ‘She’s probably up there tapping her foot, saying where are you?’”
Passing on together, she thinks, was their ultimate plan. Joint funeral services are set for noon today at Montpelier’s Walker & Glancy Funeral Home.
“It’s hard to lose them that close together,” McCoin said, “but they wanted to be together. It was meant to be, I guess.”
For their daughter, the truth of that came when she visited their grave site in Gardens of Memory, and read the marker that will grace their final resting place.
“They already had that on their plaque,” McCoin said. “Together Forever’ is what it says. I just wanted to cry.”

Published Nov. 21, 2009

By NICK WERNER
nwerner@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Delaware County Commissioners have severed ties with the city of Muncie in their lobbying efforts, drawing the ire of Mayor Sharon McShurley.
The commissioners this week hired Elizabeth Rowray to lobby state and federal lawmakers on behalf of Delaware County government, ending a longstanding agreement between the city and the county to lobby together under the same consultant, a firm known as BKSH and Associates.
“We wanted to get a little more one-on-one attention,” commissioners president Todd Donati said.
Donati said having the same lobbyist representing the two largest government bodies in Delaware County presented a conflict. He also cited a desire to have more lobbying at the state level than BKSH provided.
The split, Donati said, had nothing to do with ongoing tension between the city and the county.
McShurley, who did not know about the county’s withdrawal until after the fact, disagreed that the existing arrangement presented a conflict. She argued the split would end up hurting the Muncie-Delaware County community.
“The unfortunate part is that now we’ll be competing against the county and the county will be competing against us,” she said.
Donati responded that having one more lobbyist would benefit the city and county.
All three commissioners are Democrats.
McShurley is a Republican.
The commissioners this week signed a two-year contract with Rowray and her Grace James Consulting, effective Jan. 1, at a cost of $50,000 a year.
The previous arrangement cost the county $72,000 a year.
Commissioners said they are working on a plan in which the town of Yorktown would pay Delaware County up to $2,000 a month to use Rowray’s services as well.
While Muncie presented a conflict in the commissioners eyes, Donati said Yorktown was different because it was smaller and had fewer needs.
Rowray has served for the past few years as vice president of technology and advancement at the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance.

Published Nov. 21, 2009

By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE — Inspectors recently found mold, rusty walls and employees handling ready-to-eat food with their bare hands at local restaurants.
Buffalo Wild Wings, Richards Restaurant, Hoosier Pete and IHOP were cited for multiple critical violations of sanitation regulations during recent inspections by the Delaware County Health Department.
A critical violation is more likely than other violations to significantly contribute to food contamination, illness or an environmental health hazard.
Richards, 2601 N. Martin Luther King Boulevard, was cited for three critical and four non-critical violations, including employee drinks stored above unprotected food on the preparation line, a line cook handling ready-to-eat food with bare hands, eggs stored in the temperature danger zone, buildup of grease, food and dust, a leaking dishwasher that caused mold to build up, severely rusted walls and shelves in the walk-in cooler, and open Dumpsters.
In response, the restaurant instructed employees to keep lids on their drinks and away from food; made tongs available on the cook line; cleaned; repaired the leaky dishwasher, promised to replace walls and shelves in the cooler in 90 days, and instructed employees to keep Dumpster lids closed.
The Hoosier Pete at 2535 Hoyt Ave. was cited for four critical and three non-critical violations, including an employee handling ready-to-eat cheese slices with his bare hands, storage of raw hamburger with ready-to-eat lettuce and tomatoes, undated food, cups stored on the floor, and a floor not being clean or in good repair.
The convenience store responded that the hamburger and fixings were being temporarily stored together because a freezer had just broken down, 95 percent of the cups were up off the floor, and there were already plans to repair the floor.
Buffalo Wild Wing’s three critical and three non-critical violations included employees not being unaware of the requirement to stay home if they are suffering from certain illnesses, mold on bar-beverage dispensing wands, no soap or paper towels at a handwashing sink, and a leaking bottle of cleaner in a box with cups.
In response, BW3, 838 E. McGalliard Road, tossed out the cups, filled the hand towel and soap dispenser, cleaned the mold and instructed employees to disassemble, clean and re-assemble the soda guns, and made all employees aware of the illness-reporting policy that is posted on the bulletin board.
IHOP, at 3300 N. Chadam Lane, was cited for a temperature violation in the salad cooler, an unlabeled bottle of liquid in the dishwashing area, and the dishwasher not properly dispensing sanitized solution. The restaurant said it would repair the cooler and dishwasher and labile the bottle.
Lee’s Famous Recipe, 300 W. Memorial Drive, was cited for an abundance of mold growing on a wall beside the three-compartment sink, food scoops not being washed at least once every 24 hours, and a cooler in need of repair.
Other establishments cited  for critical violations: Jack’s Donuts, Yorktown, lack of chlorine sanitizer; GPS Oil Co., 105 W. McGalliard Road, inside of ice machine not clean; Heorot Pub and Draught House, 219 S. Walnut St., reach-in cooler not at correct temperature; Wendy’s, 2620 W. Jackson St., reach-in cooler temperature violation; Marsh Hometown Market, 1900 N., Walnut St., expired baby food; Pete’s Duck Inn, Albany, server did not wash hands after smoking; Denny’s, Daleville, egg temperature violation; Doc’s, 215 S.Walnut St., no certified food handler.
z Contact senior reporter Seth Slabaugh at 213-5834.

By JESSE TEMPLE
jtemple@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Friday, Nov. 20 2009) YORKTOWN — For the six seniors on Yorktown’s boys basketball team, a head coaching change just before their final season of high school hoops could’ve spelled trouble.

New coach. New rules. New system. And by the time they finally would’ve adjusted, their varsity careers would be nearly over.
Thankfully, a familiar face — with a familiar approach — stepped in to save the day.

Blake Everhart, Yorktown’s assistant basketball coach the past five seasons, quelled any fears by filling the vacancy left by former Tigers coach Judd Moulton, who resigned in June to spend more time with his family.

Trouble averted.

Since taking over in July, Everhart has made a point not to make any major changes to the Tigers’ basketball strategy.

“The great thing about me coming into this system is we’re not overhauling everything and having to teach everything new,” Everhart said. “That, to me, is the greatest thing and the greatest advantage for myself. They know it. So when we hit day one, they were on the ground running.”

For the Yorktown seniors — and the rest of the Tigers, for that matter — the transition has been as smooth as satin sheets.

“It’s really good,” senior guard Nick Conte said. “We have the same offense, same stuff we were running last year. Everyone on the varsity knows him pretty well just because he’s been around since we were freshmen.”

The Tigers once again will pattern their offense after Butler University’s men’s basketball program. The offense features ball screens with guard penetration and a focus on kicking out to the open shooters.

Everhart spent parts of the last five seasons as either the head freshman or head junior varsity coach, all while working closely with players and coaches at the varsity level.

“He’s just kind of filling in for Coach Moulton, doing the same stuff,” senior point guard Elliott Kampen said. “He acts like a head coach. We’re pretty confident in him and feel it’s going to be a good year.”

Kampen, a 6-foot-5 All-Hoosier Heritage Conference selection as a junior, begins his senior season as the Tigers’ only returning starter off a 10-12 team that lost five of its top six players to graduation. This will be Kampen’s third year in the varsity starting lineup, and Everhart said he expected Kampen to have an increased role in the offense, learning every position on the floor, including the post — perhaps one of the only major changes to this year’s offense.

“What we don’t want from him is to feel like he has to do everything,” Everhart said. “He’s a good player. He needs to be able to do things for our team. But at the same time, he doesn’t have to do everything. We have some guys that can make some plays where Elliott doesn’t have to.”

Other seniors on this year’s team include Jordan Collins, Christian Campbell, and Kyle Weiss — the Tigers’ quarterback during football season. All three will occupy forward slots. Conte will fill a guard role, and Jason Martin, a 6-7 senior playing his first year of organized hoops, could play some at center.

Kampen, Conte, Campbell and Weiss represent the only Tigers to have already seen much varsity playing time.

Juniors Dan Clevenger, Zach Roberts and Alex McCartney also are expected to contribute to the varsity rotation this year as the season plays out.

“They know what I expect of them,” Everhart said of his team. “I think that’s key. Any time you have a new coach or change, the question is, ‘How long does it take for them to figure it out?’ ”

Everhart and the Tigers will soon find out. Yorktown’s first game is Nov. 28 at home against Central.

Contact prep sports reporter Jesse Temple at 213-5807.

By RICK YENCER
ryencer@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Friday, Nov. 20 2009) NEW CASTLE — A day after his arrest on racketeering and ghost employment charges, Douglas Sheets was back at work Thursday as director of Henry County Community Corrections program.

Sheets, 57, a retired Indiana State Police detective, is accused of altering and approving time cards of employees, allowing them to be paid for more hours than they worked. He also allegedly allowed HCCC employees to use vehicles and equipment belonging to the program for personal use, such as attending sporting events and traveling to a gambling casino and golf courses.

Sheets is also accused of allowing an HCCC employee to use an office computer to run a private business.

Also arrested Wednesday after a state police investigation of alleged corruption within the HCCC, which operates under the supervision of Henry County law enforcement and criminal justice officials, were James D. Heffernan, 39, the program’s home detention manager and Matthew Patterson, 38, a community corrections field officer.

Both Heffernan and Patterson are veteran New Castle police officers, and were suspended without pay from those duties by Police Chief James Nicholson after Wednesday’s arrests.

Heffernan was back at work in the HCCC office Thursday, while Patterson reportedly no longer works there.

The police officers are accused of clocking in for work when they were playing golf, exercising at a local gym or conducting other personal business. The program oversees criminals placed on home detention and work release.

According to probable cause affidavits, Heffernan was found at the Anytime Fitness  gym numerous times between January and July 2009 while he was supposed to be working. He also allowed Patterson to play golf while he was on the program’s clock.

Sheets and Heffernan declined comment when approached by a reporter Thursday, but they did provide the name of their attorney, John Tompkins of Indianapolis. Tompkins did not return phone calls later in the day.

Sheets, Heffernan and Patterson all surrendered at the Henry County jail on Wednesday afternoon and were released after posting $1,000 bonds.

The racketeering charge, corrupt business influence, is a Class C felony carrying a standard four-year prison term. The men are also charged with official misconduct and three counts of ghost employment, all Class D felonies with standard 18-month sentences.

Henry Superior Court 2 Judge Robert Witham, president of the HCCC advisory board, on Thursday declined to comment about the investigation, the allegations or the prompt return to work by Sheets and Heffernan.

The board, whose members also include County Sheriff Butch Baker, Circuit Court Judge Mary Willis, Prosecutor Kit Crane and other officials, intends to meet Monday behind closed doors to discuss the situation. Sheets serves at the board’s pleasure and earns $46,504.

Willis found probable cause of the crimes on Wednesday and then excused herself from the case because she sits on the advisory board. Hancock Superior Court 1 Judge Terry Snow was appointed special judge in the cases. Crane also excused himself, and Special Prosecutor Julie Pottenger of Hamilton County will take over.

Willis said she was aware of the investigation, but declined to speculate on what the advisory board might do while the criminal cases are adjudicated.

The state police investigation began last spring after Henry County commissioners began receiving complaints about possible ghost employment within the HCCC program.

Commissioners President Kim Cronk, also captain of investigations for the county sheriff’s department, said other employees raised concerns that were forwarded to both state police and the State Board of Accounts.

The ISP’s white collar crime unit investigated the case and interviewed employees, kept the suspects under surveillance and used information from a mobile GPS system to make their case.

The SBA filed an initial audit last month that found differences in what auditors calculated as hours some employees worked and what appeared on time cards.

If there was a difference, the calculated hours were always less than what Sheets documented.

Cronk said he believed Sheets and Heffernan should be suspended while the criminal charges are pending, although the decision rests with the advisory board.

Contact news reporter Rick Yencer at 213-5833.

By JOY LEIKER

jleiker@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Friday, Nov. 20 2009) Muncie Community Schools is pushing its top students to achieve more, and inside Advanced Placement classrooms, it’s working.

These are the toughest courses high school students can take. From English to biology to chemistry to U.S. history, students are expected to do more than just read and absorb a textbook. And at the end of the year, students are eligible to take an AP exam on the subject matter. If they earn at least a 3 (the top score is 5), then that high school class earns them college credit.

AP courses also are weighted, which means they count more when figured into a student’s grade-point average.

“It just gives them a glimpse of what college will be like,” said Jackie Samuels, associate principal at Central High School.

At Central, 40 percent of the 101 students who took the AP exams scored at least a 3 on the test. It’s nearly double the 21 percent of students who did that well in 2008.

At Southside, the number of students who took the AP test more than doubled. And their scores improved too, with 20 percent scoring high enough to earn college credit, up from 16 percent a year earlier.

Juniors Alicia Henman and Jamie Davis like the challenge. In their first-period AP biology class, they worked as a team to track how cells reproduce. Craft sticks decorated with matching lines represented like cells, and the girls moved the sticks across the table top at each step in the process. Their quiet cheers interrupted the silence as they figured it out along the way. They said in unison, “Yeah! Two cells!”

All the while, teacher Wes Lyon walked through the classroom. This is the first of three AP biology classes he teaches every day.

“They’re expected to figure things out on their own,” Lyon said. He estimated that 75 percent of the work students do is dependent on their own recognition and comprehension.

By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com

(Published Friday, Nov. 20 2009) MUNCIE — As soon as Ball State University students finished installing their reBarn project in Westside Park on Sunday, a group of 10 little kids showed up out of nowhere.

“The kids figured it out,” said Eric Brockmeyer, one of the students. “It was intuitive to them that it was something to climb and sit on. Their parents were more curious as to how they were supposed to use it.”

Measuring 38 feet in length, 18 feet in width and nearly five feet in height, the object is both a sculpture and a large park bench, as well as playground equipment for children.

It is made out of salvaged barn siding from Cambridge City and aluminum panels assembled at all kinds of angles.

“Hopefully, people will assume that it’s OK to climb on,” Brockmeyer said.

He added: “Hopefully, because it is a beautiful object, it will be somewhat respected. We hope people will respect it as an art piece.”

The value of the object, which overlooks White River and the newly constructed White River Greenway trail, has been estimated at $80,000.

Architecture students who designed, assembled and installed the object celebrated its completion at an event on Thursday afternoon.

The finished product slides together with slots, multiple angles, wood glue, aluminum clips, ridges, tongue and groove joints and dovetail joints. It all slides into place, and there is only one way to put it together, like a puzzle.

The students used no nails or screws because they wanted to innovate, test and research.

The project is made of 34 panels of barn siding and five panels of aluminum. The aluminum was included to show that the project is the result of a marriage of old and new technologies, including digital processing, spreadsheets and artistic patterns cut into the aluminum by water jets.

The old barn siding is one-inch-thick boards of poplar, white oak and some beechwood.