There are fewer inmates in the Fulton County Jail these days and a new approach by court judges may be part of the reason.
As of Friday morning, 55 inmates were held at the Fulton County Jail, which has 76 general population beds. Thirty-two inmates were held elsewhere – most at the Miami County Jail.

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Riddle Elementary School students and staff are coming together in a big way.
Principal Luke Biernacki announced during a school convocation Thursday students will be joined by faculty in reading “The Wild Robot” by Peter Brown for a new program called One Book, One School.

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On Oct. 30, 2018, Michael Schwab and Brittany and Shane Ingle lost their three grandchildren and children respectively.
Twins Mason and Xzavier Ingle, 6, and Alivia Stahl, 9, were killed when they were hit by a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck driven by Alyssa Shepherd, 24, Rochester. They were crossing Indiana 25 from their home at River Park Properties to board their Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus.

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Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. welcomed Deputy Rick Shepherd, its new school resource officer, on Monday.
Shepherd is no stranger to Tippecanoe Valley as he is a 1986 Tippecanoe Valley High school graduate. After high school, Shepherd received an Associate of Applied Science degree and played basketball for Joliet Junior College in Illinois.

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Athens Community Church has a new pastor, whose face may be familiar to some in the community.
Luke Vasicek’s first service in the pulpit at Athens was Jan. 6. He came to Athens from Whippoorwill Community Church, Rochester.
He said he, wife Sarah and children Jack and Sophia accepted the pulpit at Athens because it is “a special church.”

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Republican mayoral candidates Ted Denton and Mark Smiley have been unable to come to an agreement on two of three debates proposed ahead of the May 7 primary.

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FORT WAYNE — Rugged but poised, tough in mind and body, survivors and achievers, Rochester’s Drew Sailors and Zane Gilbreath advanced to the IHSAA state wrestling finals from the New Haven semistate at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Saturday.

Sailors finished second at 160 pounds. Gilbreath finished second at 170 pounds. The top four in each weight class advanced to state.

A Marshall County grand jury has decided there should be no criminal charges in the Dec. 5 U.S. 31 school bus accident that claimed the life of 13-year-old Owen Abbott.
Marshall County Deputy Prosecutor Matt Sarber presented the evidence to the grand jury, which convened Monday and spent three hours deliberating on the wreck. It also considered a potential arson case in Culver.

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Details are being ironed out between Republican mayoral candidates Ted Denton and Mark Smiley for debates ahead of the May 7 primary.
Mayor Denton, who is seeking his second term in office, has invited Smiley to participate in three debates. Denton’s campaign chairman Rick Figlio, who is also a member of the Rochester Board of Public Works and Safety, sent an open letter of invitation to Smiley and three local media outlets including The Sentinel.

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Caston School Corp. received a hefty donation for stop arm cameras Wednesday.
Caston currently has one school bus equipped with a stop arm camera.
The school hopes to, at a minimum, equip all of its school buses that regularly travel and stop on state highways to have the cameras.

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Fulton County Prosecutor Mike Marrs says an additional charge of criminal recklessness will be filed against Alyssa Shepherd, the driver who struck and killed three siblings and severely injured an 11-year-old boy while they were boarding a school bus.
The incident occurred Oct. 30, 2018, on Indiana 25 at River Park Properties – 3 miles south of Talma. Twins Xzavier and Mason Ingle, 6, and their sister, 9-year-old Alivia Stahl, were killed when struck by Shepherd’s pickup truck. Maverik Lowe, 11, who was also hit, was airlifted to Parkview Memorial Hospital in Fort Wayne.

For the complete story go to: Rochester Sentinel E-Edition.

Those who noticed something missing at the Fulton County Courthouse Monday have nothing to fear.
Major the limestone lion is receiving good care at his new temporary home.

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Parkview Health’s Samaritan 2 medical helicopter based at the Fulton County Airport has transported more than 8,000 critical patients in the area since Feb. 1, 1999.
Parkview Health Flight Services on Saturday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Samaritan 2 medical helicopter, based at the Fulton County Airport.

For the complete story go to: Rochester Sentinel E-Edition.