Thursday, June 19

Bike fatal

A former Portland man died Wednesday at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie from injuries received Monday when he was struck by a pick-up truck while riding his bicycle in Muncie.

Rick Money, 51, Muncie, was riding on U.S. 35 on the city’s southside. Investigators said Money had been drinking, and alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Services are pending at the Baird-Freeman Funeral Home, Portland.

Files

A Salamonia resident filed this week to run for a seat on the Salamonia Town Board.

Donald M. Shauver, 3972 South 500 East, Portland, joins a field of four other candidates in the race for three town board seats. Shauver filed to run as a People’s Choice candidate.

The field includes two independents, a Democrat, a Republican and a People’s Choice candidate.

Although Shauver’s mailing address is Portland, he lives inside the town limits of Salamonia.

The deadline for filing as a minor party candidate for town or city election is June 30. The deadline for major party candidates is Aug. 1.

Legal fight

Former members of the board that governs Conner Prairie have created a nonprofit group to help them gain control of the living-history museum from Earlham College.

“Conner Prairie needs an independent trustee with no vested interest and no conflict of interest,” said former chairman Berkley Duck, one of 27 board members fired by the president of the private college in Richmond, Ind., last week.

Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett, who also fired the museum’s president, John A. Herbst, cited operating deficits as the reason for the shakeup, The Associated Press reported. But Duck said Earlham has improperly shifted to itself about $30 million donated by industrialist Eli Lilly that was intended for the museum north of Indianapolis.

“In the past week alone, Conner Prairie has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in private contributions. Major fund-raising events have been canceled because sponsors pulled out, and there were no board members to organize them,” Duck said Wednesday.

He said donations to the new group, Save the Prairie Inc., will fund its legal battle with Earlham.

Deaths

Rick Money, 51, Muncie, a former Portland resident.

Details elsewhere on this page.

Gary Wayne Cales, 56, Farmland, a former employee of a Portland company.

William J. Bruss, 77, Union City, relative of Portland resident.

Details on page 2.

Weather

Tonight will be partly cloudy with lows near 50. Friday also will be partly cloudy, and highs in the mid 70s are expected.

Wednesday’s high was 84, the low was 64 and the temperature at 7 a.m. today was 66, the Portland weather observation station reported.

Saturday’s outlook calls for mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecast for Sunday calls for partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid 80s.

On Monday, look for partly cloudy skies with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows will be in the lower 60s with highs in the upper 80s.[[In-content Ad]]