Sept. 21, 1972
Employees of the 24-hour Tourist Cafe at 1234 Main St. went on strike and are picketing along the sidewalk at its entrance.
Dwight L. Fleury, leasor and operator of the cafe since Feb. 1971, said the union contract expired in June and that wages asked in the new contract would amount in one year to more than the business profit of the last year.
The employees’ spokesman said they’re asking a 30-cent hike in minimum pay, plus time-and-a-half pay for overtime and holidays. Present minimum wage is $1.45 an hour.
Mrs. Amelia T. DuVal died after being struck by a car.
Police said they cited Carmen E. Gailey for driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor.
DuVal was attempting to walk across Main Street when, police said, Gailey struck her. She was thrown 43 feet from the point of impact.
The pedestrian fatality was the first in the city since 1968, when Milton LaMourey was struck as he tried to cross the highway near the former Skyline Club.
Prior to that incident, the city had a “clean record” for 15 years, with no pedestrian fatalities between 1953 and 1968.
Sept. 17, 1997
Tom Imel was injured while trying to stop a thief who stole beer from Safeway.
An employee said they saw 15-year-old Douglas Wise grab a case of Hamm’s beer and walk out the door with Christopher D. Zurcher, 18.
Imel chased them to their car, a red Fiero driven by suspect Christopher James Child, 18. Imel attempted to grab one of the suspect’s arm, but the open car door flipped him over and caused a tire to run over his hand while his other hand was wedged in the door frame.
He was also dragged at about 30 mph through the parking lot. Imel sustained soft tissue and muscle damage, with possible fractures in his hand and arm.
Eight Hewlett Packard engineers spent a work morning painting and sprucing up the SHEM office as their company’s “Day of Caring project.
SHEM director Rachel Vanderlip jumped at the opportunity to get some help and was able to gather up donated materials for the project.
She said food stamps have been cut back. SHEM helps around 240 families a month, and they handed out 200 back-to-school supply packs this year.
A bulldozer slipped from its flatbed as Dean Ray Yoder, of Lebanon, tried to turn from Highway 228 onto Highway 20. It’s believed the bulldozer shifted from the wet and slippery wooden planks of the flatbed and caused the trailer to flip over.
Jeff Elliott, 18, is recovering from a neck injury after a hit and run incident. Elliott was driving on Ames Creek Drive when a full-size white pickup with a cab-level canopy had run the stop sign at Mountain View Road. Elliott t-boned the pickup and slid underneath the vehicle, and was dragged through the intersection.
School District Supt. Bill Hampton and board members Nan Seiber and Robert G. Danielson locked horns over district information policies during the school board meeting. Seiber left the meeting during the verbal engagement. The argument ensued because Seiber requested whether the district had qualified electricians, why the district contracts with Pacific Crest, documentation justifying the maintenance supervisor’s need for a school vehicle “for his own use full time,” names and grades of all Crawfordsville and Oak Heights students, as well as all grade-school students with their addresses and boundary areas.
As district staff started compiling the answers, Hampton realized it was taking a lot of time, so he brought the matter to the board along with a copy of the policies that indicated information requests or reports requiring extra expense must come before the board for consideration. Seiber left after Hampton brought up the fact she’s bypassed him and requested the information directly from personnel.
The Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church dedicated its new building, followed by a 50-year anniversary the next day. The church began work on the new building in 1995, and tore the old building down when the new one was ready for use. The church maintains a membership of about 40 persons but has seen about 76 attendees since it opened its new building.