Minnich makes egg donation

Minnich Poultry of Indiana recently made a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana.
The rural Portland company donated 21,000 eggs to the food bank on Wednesday.  “We are happy to team up with Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana once again this year to help the community around us,” said Michael Willman of Minnich Poultry.
The Second Harvest Food Bank provides food assistance to about 70,000 low-income people in Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph and Wabash Counties.

Mercer County first
According to data from the USDA Ohio Agricultural Statistics Service, Mercer County ranked first among Ohio’s 88 counties in total farm income in 2011.
Cash receipts for all commodities in the west central Ohio county totaled $577.8 million in the most recent data, up almost 20 percent from 2010.
Darke County ranked second in total farm income with $479 million.
Mercer County also led the state in the hogs/pigs and poultry/other livestock categories, with totals of $106.3 million and $214.2 million respectively.
The average income per farm in the county increased almost 20 percent, from $482,789 in 2010 to $577,769 in 2011.

DePuy awarded
A Jay County High School alumnus was involved in efforts that resulted in DePuy Synthes Joint Reconstruction receiving the Governor’s Workplace Safety Award.
Craig Evans, a 1996 JCHS graduate, is the Environmental, Health and Safety team leader at the facility. A prevention campaign at the facility led to it reducing its slip-and-fall incidents by 30 percent at its Warsaw location.
DePuy was chosen for the award based on its commitment to the health and safety of its employees, its exceptional safety performance, and its 2012 Slip, Trip and Fall awareness campaign.
“We hope to make DePuy Synthes Joint Reconstruction an even safer place to work by pointing out the most likely causes and hazards to help avoid injuries,” Evans said in a press release.

Gas station closing
Jay Petroleum recently announced it will be closing its Shell gas station located at the corner of Votaw and Meridian Streets in Portland on March 31.
The company decided to close the site due to the expiration of its supply contract with Shell and the location’s declining sales. Jay Petroleum will continue to operate the car wash at the site.

Chamber breakfast
The Jay County Chamber of Commerce will host a networking breakfast April 10 at 7:30 a.m. at the Dunkirk Elks Lodge, 1026 S. Main St.
Curt Burnette, naturalist at Limberlost State Historic Site, will present a program titled “Wildlife and Critters in the Limberlost Wetlands.” The cost for the breakfast will be $5. Reservations should be made by Friday.

Expecting loss
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently said it is likely the store will incur a loss due to an ongoing bribery investigation by itself and government agencies.
Wal-Mart Stores has been facing allegations that surfaced in April that the company failed to notify law enforcement that company officials had authorized millions of dollars in payment in Mexico to speed up the process of receiving building permits.
The company has said it does not expect the loss to be material.

Tyson donation
Tyson Foods, parent company of Tyson Mexican Original in Portland, and KFC donated 29,700 pounds of Cornish game hen this week to Neighborhood House and the Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville, Ky., as part of an effort to promote public awareness of hunger in America.
Last year the food bank distributed 13 million meals to people in need in 13 counties in Indiana and Kentucky.

Paper closes
The Gary Post-Tribune's newsroom and advertising offices in Northwest Indiana are now closed, according to a notice posted on the building's door., according to The Times of Munster.
"This office of the Post-Tribune only closed effective Wednesday, March 27, 2013," reads a sign on the door at the offices at 1433 E. 83rd Ave. Another business is currently housed in part of the building.
Closures of 39 other suburban newsrooms within the Post-Tribune's parent company, Sun-Times Media Group, were scheduled to take place by month's end as well.
The move follows a notice of planned layoffs filed with the state of Illinois in January regarding the Sun-Times Media Group. Published reports indicate a host of longtime suburban editors were laid off March 15.
Haddix was affiliated with The Post Tribune during her 40-year career.
In a memo to employees in December, Sun-Times Media Group Editor-in-Chief Jim Kirk said all suburban newsroom would be closed, editors would be transferred to the Chicago headquarters and reporters would work from home.
The Post-Tribune, which has operated in the region for 105 years, transferred all of its printing from its former headquarters on Broadway in Gary to the Chicago Sun-Times Media Group plant in 2008. The printing now takes place at the Chicago Tribune Media Group's Chicago plant.[[In-content Ad]]