Tuesday, June 3

FSA loans

Jay County and several other area counties were declared eligible for Farm Service Agency Loan Program loans on Oct. 17, 2002 due to damages and losses caused by drought that occurred from June 1 through Aug. 25.

The other counties included in this declaration are Blackford, Delaware, Grant, Hamilton, Howard, Madison and Tipton.

Farmers who suffered production losses are eligible for FSA loans. Proceeds from insurance and other compensation are taken into account when determining eligibility.

FSA farm loan manager John T. Simmons urges farmers who are interested in receiving an emergency loan to get their applications into FSA as soon as possible. The deadline to submit applications, which are available at any FSA office, is June 18.

The FSA farm loan program office is located at 1115 E. Fourth St., Marion, IN. The office phone number is (765) 668-8983.

Shooting

A U.S. soldier was shot and killed while on patrol in central Iraq early today, a military spokesman said.

The shooting took place near the town of Balad, 55 miles north of the capital, said Maj. William Thurmond, a spokesman for the U.S. Army’s V Corps.

Thurmond said he had no further details on the incident and that the soldier’s name was being withheld pending notification of the family, The Associated Press reported.

The area around Balad is under control of the 4th Infantry Division.

There has been a series of hit-and-run attacks on U.S. troops across the central region of the country since the end of ground combat almost two months ago.

Girl safe

A tipster helped police recover a 5-year-old girl who police say was abducted from her home by a roommate of the girl’s father and driven 450 miles to Utah.

Anabella Jade Clark, who vanished from her Riverside, Calif. home Monday, was found later in the day when a passer-by saw her eating lunch at a Richfield, Utah, park with Charles William Mix, 48.

The passer-by, Leisa Hilton, 32, of Richfield, told KCAL-TV in Los Angeles that she had an intuition Anabella and Mix did not belong together, The Associated Press reported.

“I hate to be judgmental but in my book he looked scary, he just looked like the wrong person to be with a little girl,” Hilton said.

Mix did not resist arrest, Deputy Police Chief Andy Pytlak said.

Deaths

Deborah L. (Hardwick) Green, 50, Farmland.

Marjorie Nadine Perry, 80, Salamonia.

Details on page 10.

Weather

Tonight will be cloudy with a 50 percent chance of light rain this evening, then drizzle after midnight. Lows will be near 50. Wednesday also will see drizzle with highs in the upper 50s.

Monday’s high was 68, the low was 47 and the temperature at 7 a.m. today was 51. Rainfall overnight totaled .70 inch, the Portland weather observation station reported.

Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and highs in the lower 70s, according to the National Weather Service.

On Friday, look for mostly cloudy skies with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows will be 55 to 60, and highs will be in the mid 70s.[[In-content Ad]]