Archive for the “Current Affairs” Category

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Evan Bayh, Marlin Stutzman and John Hostetler walk into a bar.

They belly-up and the first one says, “I’m Marlin Stutzman and I’m running for Senate, give me a drink.”

The second one says “”I’m John Hostettler and I’m running for Senate, give me a drink”

The third one says “Hmm.. I’m Dan coats and people tell me that sounds like a good idea. Me, too.”

In the next seat was the RNSC representative. “Great, so it’s official!”

By Jim Sack

There is a sale going on in Europe, thanks to financial problems in Greece, Ireland and a couple more European countries, that can benefit you but won’t help our economy much.

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All the talk about improving schools getting federal Obama money has brought to the forefront the idea of “What makes a good school?” Is it changing for change-sake?

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Should we hold 3rd graders back because they don’t pass a reading test? I have another idea…

Senate Bill 258 is being debated by our lawmakers would hold third graders back if they don’t pass the ISTEP reading test.

I can see some sense in this, but at the same time, I think students should be remediated while still in their same age group. In the high schools, students who don’t pass the end-of-course assessments keep moving up with their peers, but they repeat the one course and have remediation in the one subject. There is a mix of age groups in most classes–based on the level of need.

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By Jim Sack

One of my heroes died just before Christmas. I found out minutes ago and have been seeing him in my memory for the past couple of hours.

Manfred Reussner was in his 50s. He died suddenly. That’s all I know. The message from his wife in Gera, our sister city in Germany, was terse, to the point, restrained. I cried.

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TRF board president Becky Butler and treasurer Jane Surbeck quit on Monday.

UPDATED: Number 3 takes a dive. Crystal Jones, who was the Allen County representative member resigned yesterday.

Jane Surbeck is quoted in a local rag:

“This festival is a group effort,” Surbeck said. “Every sponsorship, every committee, everything needed to be worked on as a group. But as a general rule, you have some people who go off half-cocked and want to do their own thing and spend the money, even when you don’t have the money.”

Amazing. Now what? Who’s next? They should hire Jim Sack.

By Jim Sack

Brandon Seifert is running for the Lake Township Advisory Board. Not exactly a marquee office in politics, out there around Arcola, with a budget a fraction of the Wayne Township office, with none of the highly charged issues that surround a mayor’s office or a commissioner’s future. It is a quiet place where raising money for fire protection is paramount.

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By Jim Sack

Rally for Rail was big success today. Somewhere around 400 people jammed the Baker Street Train Station to hear speaker after speaker sound upbeat notes about the possibility of Fort Wayne being a midway stop between Chicago and Cleveland for trains cruising at 100 MPH and then some.

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For the fourth consecutive year, Lt. Governor Becky Skillman is accepting submissions for her annual Celebration of Hoosier Women Artists competition. Winners of the art competition will be announced in March to coincide with Women’s History Month.

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The Historic West Main Street Farmer’s Market indoor Winter Farm Market opens from 9:00 AM – 12:30 p.m. today.

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