Dems’ Lafayette Two more museums Norwell girls get HQ hit by gunfire for a ‘must-see’ list victory over Leo Area State Entertainment Guide Page 2 Sports Page 6 The News-Bannerwww.News-Banner.com SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2021 BLUFFTON, INDIANA • Wells County’s Hometown Connection $1.00 Interesting numbers APC’s annual report indicates 2020 was a pretty good year By DAVE SCHULTZ homes — 12 in the Norwell Many people will not school district, five in the look back fondly on 2020, Bluffton-Harrison school but the year did have its district, and nine in the bright spots. In the midst Southern Wells school dis- of a pandemic and an eco- trict. nomic shutdown, the items The 65 new home starts that the Wells County Area was up from 51 in 2019 Plan Commission monitors and indicate a remark- — permits, APC and Board able bounce back from the of Zoning Appeals petitions, 10-year low of 25 in 2012. One building is partially completed on the Premier Flats apartment complex on North Main Street in Bluffton. The development of and so forth — 2020 was an Lautzenheiser said the 65 160 units is an example of growth in Wells County during 2020. (Photo by Dave Schultz) unexpectedly good year. new home starts in 2020 The APC office pro- was the highest number in • At the time of Thursday number is somewhat mis- exemptions. starting to see larger scale night’s meeting, there were leading, he said, because • There were 109 peti- residential projects become cessed 427 permits last about 20 years. 22 violations on the APC’s one of those major subdivi- tions handled by the APC’s a possibility in our com- year, a 36 percent jump over If that trend continues, books. One of them dates sion petitions actually came Plat Committee. Of those, munity, which is a blessing, 2019, according to the annu- Lautzenheiser said, a prob- from 2014, and involves a before the APC twice. Seven the majority — 56 — were but also shows some of our al report presented to the lem could be looming. flood plain issue that the were for development plans for minor subdivisions of process weaknesses that we 11 Area Plan Commission “Do we have 65 lots to county is waiting for the handled by the APC and six property. can work to improve into members during their first build on next year? The Federal Emergency Man- were for development plans • The APC office coor- the future. meeting of the new year answer is no,” he said. agement Agency to resolve. that were handled by staff dinated one town clean-up “As long as we continue Thursday night. The estimated value of Two date from 2018, two members. There were five day, in Liberty Center. Laut- to work towards the goals of Michael Lautzenheiser the construction indicated from for 2019, and there rezoning requests and one zenheiser expects that two the comprehensive plan and Jr., the APC’s executive on those permits was nearly were 17 active from 2020. request for a confined feed- other communities will be continue to make improve- director, said that those $56 million, the report said One of those 2020 vio- ing operation. assisted this year. ments so that our ordinanc- included permits for 39 — an 83 percent jump over lations, however, was • There were 12 peti- Lautzenheiser said that es work the way that they urban homes — 25 in Bluff- last year’s value of approxi- resolved during Thursday tions before the BZA in 2020 “is one to remember in should, and adequately plan ton, 13 in Ossian, and one mately $30 million. night’s meeting. 2020. Nine of those peti- many ways.” for the future, we are set in another Wells County Summarizing the other • The APC dealt with 23 tions sought variances from Beyond the resurgence for another positive year in municipality. There were 26 numbers in the APC’s annu- petitions, including three development standards and of new home starts and per- 2021.” building permits for rural al report: major subdivisions. That three of them sought special mits, he said, “We also are [email protected] State has laws to follow in regulating grain companies Concerns remain over handling of Salamonie Mills, Agland Grain failures as farmers, officials hope to fix the issue By JESSICA BRICKER R-Berne, said perhaps it should become ing and off. The fail- The Indiana Farm Bureau has identi- a matter of urgency across Indiana. auditing need ure date also fied improving the “transparency and The session priority of IFB, which to be updated affects the functionality” of state agencies oversee- includes addressing the Indiana Grain for the sake corn price for ing the failure of two local Indemnity Corporation and of transpar- people who grain companies as a priority the Indian Grainbuyers and ency. Cum- receive pay- for this legislative session as A News Warehousing Licensing mins used ment.” farmers continue to have ques- Agency, was reported in the to work as Hundreds tions about how the failures Analysis group’s legislative outlook the general of area farm- that cost them millions were published Oct. 30 in the Indi- counsel and director of public affairs for ers lost more than $9 million when the handled. ana Agri-News publication. For a piece the Indiana State Department of Agricul- companies’ doors closed. For months Now there is work being done to fix in this month’s edition of Indiana Prairie ture. several have urged the agency to estab- what happened in an attempt to prevent it Farmer, an Indiana Farm Bureau official “… What’s central to the current Sala- lish an earlier failure date — and it was from happening to other Hoosier farmers spoke with opinion writer Tom Bechman monie Mills failure is if Indiana grain already changed once. in the future. about the need for new legislation. warehouse licensing auditors should Duties of the stateagency Conversations about the failures of Jeff Cummins, associate director of have caught signs of failure sooner,” and the laws that regulate it Salamonie Mills and Agland Grain, with policy engagement for IFB, said they Bechman wrote. “An earlier failure date, The Indiana Grain Buyers and Ware- locations in Wells and Huntington coun- have been kept updated on the situation by anywhere from three to six months, house Licensing Agency was created in ties, are spreading statewide. In preview- and it’s clear to him that certain areas of would prevent more farmers from being 1975 after a commercial grain company ing his session goals, Rep. Matt Lehman, state law that deal with grain bin licens- left in the cold due to the 15-month cut- (Continued on Page 2) Trump won’t be at Biden’s inauguration and Biden’s good with that By JILL COLVIN and unity.“ things we have ever agreed on.“ change of leadership. olive branch to the country,” he and ZEKE MILLER Trump, who has not appeared “It’s a good thing him not Biden will become president wasn’t surprised by the decision. Associated Press in public since a violent mob of showing up,” he added, calling at noon on Jan. 20 regardless “Donald Trump doesn’t want WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi- his supporters besieged the Capitol the president an ”embarrassment” of Trump’s plans. But Trump’s to be in Washington as the second- dent Donald Trump said Friday on Wednesday and tried to halt the to the nation and unworthy of the absence represents one final act fiddle loser standing on stage with he will skip President-elect Joe transfer of power, will be the first office. of defiance of the norms and tra- Joe Biden,” he said. Biden’s inauguration, refusing to incumbent president since Andrew Traditionally, the incoming and ditions of Washington that he has While Trump stays away, for- fulfill the outgoing president’s tra- Johnson not to attend his succes- outgoing presidents ride to the flouted for four years. mer Presidents Barack Obama, ditional role in the peaceful transi- sor’s inauguration. U.S. Capitol together on Inaugura- Historian Douglas Brinkley George W. Bush and Bill Clinton tion of power, a day after talking Biden said he was just fine with tion Day for the ceremony, a vis- said that while attending the inau- will be there to stand witness to of the need for “national healing that, calling it “one of the few ible manifestation of the smooth guration “would be a wonderful (Continued on Page 2) Indiana has 6,000-plus deaths even as virus sign-ups are expanding INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indi- which occurred over the last sev- The state agency also reported vaccinations are available to Indi- for a vaccine appointment, accord- ana health officials reported 6,199 eral days, raised Indiana’s toll to that 2,769 Hoosiers were hospital- ana residents 80 and older starting ing to the state health department. new coronavirus infections and 69 8,892, including both confirmed ized with COVID-19 on Thursday. Friday. Until now, health care per- Thousands signed up in the first additional COVID-19 deaths Fri- and presumed infections, the Indi- Of those being treated, 584 were sonnel and residents of long-term 90 minutes. day as the state expanded COVID- ana Department of Health said. in intensive care, according to the care facilities were the only eligi- In the coming weeks, the plan 19 vaccination availability to all The number of Indiana resi- daily statistic update. ble recipients for the shots. is to further expand availability of Hoosiers over the age of 80. dents known to have had the coro- Health officials announced By Friday afternoon, more than the vaccine to those 70 and older The newly confirmed deaths, navirus is now up to 552,594.