A look at one of the dressing rooms at the Rustic Barn at Hopewell. Photo by Joseph Slacian

By Joseph Slacian

jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Deb Conner has a lot of memories from her childhood about her grandparents’ dairy barn.

Today, she’s trying to help others create memories, not of watching the dairy cows be milked. Rather, the memories she’s helping to create are of the most important day in a couple’s life.
Conner and her husband, Steve, have converted the barn into a reception hall named the Rustic Barn at Hopewell.

Work began last summer and as of Saturday, June 16, two wedding receptions have taken place there. Many more are planned later this year, with nearly every weekend in September and October already booked.

Conner said she and a variety of work crews, the majority of which were local, put in hundreds of hours of work to get the barn in the condition it is in now.

By The Paper staff

Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 52 Wells Fargo Bank branches in Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, including the Wabash branch.

The sale will provide Flagstar Bank with approximately $2.3 billion in deposits and $130 million in loans, along with certain related assets. Flagstar will pay an effective deposit premium of approximately 7 percent based on balances as of Dec. 31, 2017. Management expects the transaction will be moderately accretive to 2019 earnings per share.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

Large pork supplies, rising costs, and potential trade retaliation from both Mexico and China continue to cast a shadow over the pork industry, as losses are expected for the rest of 2018 and 2019.

According to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt, losses will be small this summer, but then the bottom will fall out.

Losses of more than $25 per head are estimated for the last quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.

“There is a lot of pork,” Hurt said. “Production so far this year is up nearly 4 percent with the number of head coming to market about 3 percent higher and weights up nearly 1 percent. Domestic demand and export demand have been good this year, but not strong enough to offset the higher supplies. As a result, live hog prices have been down 3 percent.”
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

Looking to maintain and expand its current facility, the Wabash County Animal Shelter recently requested an increase in its funding from the county commissioners.

Representatives from the shelter attended the commissioners' Monday, June 18, meeting to present a budget allocation request. Representatives from the Purdue Extension Office also presented a request.

Shelter Manager Doug Bogart asked that the commissioners increase the shelter's funding from $65,000 to $70,000-$75,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, citing needs such as a new roof and a quarantine space for canines.

“Bottom line is, we lost a significant amount of money the past several years,” Bogert said, later adding: “I guess I'm here to say, we desperately need every dollar we can get.

“We do everything we can to save money. All the vaccines and stuff, I buy direct from the manufacturer and get special pricing on them – I buy them cheaper than the vets can buy them. It's that way with everything we purchase there.”
 

A semi-trailer carrying hogs is seen overturned on its side on County Road 200 West on Tuesday, June 12. Some hogs got loose through the roof after the crash. Photo by Josh Sigler

By Josh Sigler

jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

A semi-trailer carrying a load of hogs to market overturned in rural Wabash County Tuesday, June 12, causing some of the hogs to get loose in an adjacent field.

At about 12:07 p.m. on June 12, Wabash County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a single vehicle accident on County Road 200 West near County Road 200 North.

An investigation revealed that Travis D. Crist, 29, Rossville, was traveling south on County Road 200 West south of the intersection with County Road 200 North in semi-trailer which was hauling 160 hogs.
 

By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com

Working with a local business, North Manchester is on track to annex a small section of land south of the town.

With no visitor comment during a public hearing, the town's council approved 4-0 (Laura Rager absent) the first reading of an ordinance annexing 8.945 acres of land along the Eel River during its June 6 meeting.

Per the town council's by-laws, the ordinance must pass two additional readings.

Midwest Poultry Services recently purchased the land being annexed, which, if approved, will be combined with a tract of land on the western edge of town along Wabash Road, forming a parcel of about 19 acres on which the company plans to build its new headquarters.
 

By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com

The Community Foundation of Wabash County was one of 17 entities chosen as recipients of the Indiana Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning’s early education capacity building grants.

The 17 applicants represent 54 pre-kindergarten programs in 16 counties.

“We have been working for the last couple of years to build capacity in Wabash County for more high quality early education opportunities for families,” said Julie Garber, Program Director, Community Foundation of Wabash County. “This will help us go a long way towards meeting our goals. And it really means the most, probably, to working families who need a place for their children to learn and play and be ready for kindergarten when it comes along.”
 

By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com

Officials with the Wabash Board of Aviation would like to see the Wabash Municipal Airport one day become a corporate class airport.

But that day, they admit, is still years, if not decades away.

That was the take away Monday night, June 11, from a presentation by Mike Evans of NCG Corp. to the Wabash City Council.

The plans, what Evans called “the ultimate build out,” includes expanding both the north-south and east-west runways, as well as expanding the terminal, demolishing some hangars and rebuilding new ones for corporate aircraft.

The work is part of a 20-year master plan that started about 2013, Evans said.