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New sheriff takes over ‘well-oiled machine’

Chris Newton (left) and Chad Hammel are the new sheriff and chief deputy, respectively, of the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department. Newton takes over the sheriff’s role from Terry Stoffel, whom he served under for eight years as chief deputy of the sheriff’s department.
Photo by Steve Clark.

As Chris Newton’s tenure as sheriff of the Huntington County Sheriff’s Department begins, he describes the department as a “well-oiled machine.”

He credits that to his predecessor, Terry Stoffel, whom he served under for eight years as the department’s chief deputy. Stoffel was a mentor to him during that time, shares Newton, and his tutelage prepared him for the opportunity to succeed him.

Creative Abilities move creates new market and friendships

Marsha Sommers works on a needlework project in the new Pathfinder Services Inc. Creative Abilities studio, located at Café of Hope, 900 E. State St., Huntington. The Creative Abilities artists have been working out of their new home, which also features a gallery store, since Nov. 1.
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.

A move by Pathfinder Services Creative Abilities has led to not only new digs, but a new market – and new friendships.

The art studio, the clients of which are artists with primarily developmental disabilities, moved from its former home on Theater Avenue after the lease ran out on its building Nov. 1, and landed at Café of Hope, a ministry of Life Church, located at 900 E. State St., Huntington. Those with Creative Abilities, Café of Hope and Life Church say it’s a partnership made in heaven.

Having reached lofty goal, Crispen says he’s retiring from shuttling Shriners’ patients

Bob Crispen shows the logbook he’s kept since 1982 of the more than 365 trips he’s driven to take patients to the Shriners Hospital for Children. Each trip is a minimum of 12 hours long, and an average of 356 miles of driving to either Chicago or Cincinnati. Crispen says.
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.

Over the past several decades, Bob Crispen has literally put the rubber to the road in helping people – namely, children in need of specialized medical services.

Recently he reached a milestone and his personal goal, making his 365th trip chauffeuring kids and their families to a Shriners Hospital for Children.

On Dec. 3 he surpassed that goal with trip No. 367 – one for each day of a leap year plus an extra for good measure.

Roanoke youth on comeback trail after scary medical ordeal

Alayna Stroup (right) sits with her mother, Sarah, in their Roanoke home. Earlier this year, Alayna spent almost two months at Riley Hospital for Children, in Indianapolis. The cause of her ailment was a medical mystery. While Alayna has since returned home, she is in the midst of a lengthy recovery process.
Photo by Steve Clark.

As the season drew to a close for the Huntington North High School girls’ swim team this past February, Alayna Stroup had reason to smile. The sophomore had qualified for the second day of competition at the formidable Warsaw Sectional. Competing in the 100-yard backstroke for the Lady Vikings, she achieved a clocking of 1:13.51.

It was her fastest time ever.

New Decuis employee gambled and won in world of high-stakes pro poker broadcasting

Tatjana Pasalic Karr covers the Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, for CBS Sports in 2016. Karr now works for Joseph Decuis, in Roanoke, but prior to that, she spent 10 years covering poker professionally around the world.
Photo provided.

Tatjana Pasalic Karr once played in a poker tournament where there was a lot more at stake than money.

Karr currently works for Joseph Decuis, in Roanoke, but before that, she covered poker events all over the world, working for poker tours and media outlets.

Commissioners send off new sub with cuisine from local eatery

Displaying the famous tenderloin sandwiches of Nick’s Kitchen, Huntington County Commissioners lead the effort to send 150 tenderloins to the USS Indiana submarine (SSN789) to celebrate the sub’s entry into active service. Pictured are (from left) Commissioners Larry Buzzard and Tom Wall; Nick’s Kitchen owner Jean Anne Bailey; Julia Surber, of VS Engineering; and Commissioner Rob Miller.
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.

Members of the newly launched USS Indiana will enjoy some northern Hoosier hospitality when they dine on hand-breaded tenderloins from Huntington’s Nick’s Kitchen, compliments of Huntington County’s commissioners.

A ceremony marking the Virginia-class nuclear submarine’s entry into active service in the U.S. Navy was held Sept. 29, in Port Canaveral, FL, and each of the Hoosier state’s 92 counties sponsored its commission.

Leadership Academy idea may help fill vacancies

The members of the Huntington County Vacant Buildings Committee are (from left) Terry Miller, Malcolm McBryde and Dessie Krumanaker, who founded the group from a project birthed during a Huntington County Leadership Academy class. They seek to find occupants for the county’s vacant commercial buildings.
Photo by Rebecca Sandlin.

An idea that grew out of a Huntington County Leadership Academy think tank is taking aim at filling empty buildings in Huntington and throughout the county.

Simply called the “Huntington County Vacant Buildings Committee,” the group is looking for commercial buildings that are without occupants, with the idea of connecting them with businesses that are seeking a spot to land.
The group is made up of three Leadership Academy graduates, Dessie Krumanaker, Malcolm McBryde and Terry Miller, who came together during the 2018 academy in March.

Parkview Family YMCA sees plenty of growth in new facility’s 10 years

Jill Gradeless (left) and Todd Latta, the senior program director and associate executive director, respectively, at the Parkview Huntington Family YMCA, pause from their work at the facility on Monday, Nov. 5. Today, Thursday, Nov. 8, the YMCA celebrates 10 years in its new building. Photo by Steve Clark.
Photo by Steve Clark.

The Parkview Huntington Family YMCA celebrates its 10th anniversary today, Thursday, Nov. 8.

While the facility has been around for a decade now, there are still some items in it that trace their origins back to the establishment that it replaced, the Huntington YMCA.

Among those items? The spin bikes.

“Those have been holdovers from the old Y,” notes Ben Davis, CEO and executive director of the Parkview Huntington Family YMCA. “So, we have spin bikes that are more than 10 years old – which is way longer than their anticipated lifespan.”

UB Block coming back to life from edge of demolition

Restoration Specialist Julio Cruz works on the stained-glass window outside the Odd Fellows Hall building in the UB Block, in Huntington, on Friday, Oct. 12. Cruz’s work is a part of a rehabilitation project that commenced at the UB Block this past March. The project, which will see the UB Block refurbished and house apartments, plus spaces for Huntington University and Pathfinder Services, is almost halfway complete.
Photo by Steve Clark.

Jon Anderson’s favorite projects are the ones that almost don’t happen.

Anderson is the president and chief executive officer of AP Development LLC, an Indianapolis-based real estate development company that is overseeing the rehabilitation of Huntington’s UB Block. It’s a project that qualifies as one of Anderson’s favorites because it has saved historic buildings for which demolition loomed.

Huntington County Extension Homemakers celebrate state week Oct. 15-19


Photo provided.

Indiana Extension Homemakers Week is Oct. 15 to 19 and a display was used during September to highlight the local homemakers’ activities for Huntington County at the Huntington Branch of the Huntington City-Township Public Library.

This month members of the Huntington County Extension Homemakers will read books to the preschoolers at Head Start. The organization reads to the children four times a year. In preparation for the event, the extension homemakers made 72 book bags to give to the children at the first reading to keep their books in.

Animal abandonment rising in county, sometimes with fatal result

The Huntington County Humane Shelter says animal abandonment is on the rise in the county, sometimes with dangerous or even fatal consequences.

“Abandoning animals at the shelter is a very big problem, and a lot of people don’t realize that the majority of them do not stay there,” says Huntington Animal Control Officer Jean Wilson. “If they do not bring them in during our business hours when we ask them to and they just leave them on the property, we can’t guarantee that they are safe.”