When Sharon Reed opened her boutique, Esther's Place, two years ago, she thought it would just be something fun to do in retirement. With a pension and health benefits from Delphi, she never dreamed the business would have to serve as her primary income.

At 3:22 p.m. on June 1, Kokomo Police Department officers responded to 2128 N. Elizabeth St. regarding a family member discovering a body and items missing from the residence.

In the pages of these sports pages, you will find a nomination form of the Howard County Sports Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame board, of which I am a member and vice president, is preparing to select the 2009 class during a selection meeting in July. In the meantime, we still need your help. The list of people nominated is, quite honestly, rather long but at the same time too small. We still need to hear from you - the sports public - about who should be considered for the 2009 and future classes.

KPD

The United States Supreme Court denied Indiana state treasurer Richard Mourdock's request for a stay, and vacated the temporary stay issued by justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday.

Right now congress is working on legislation that would drastically affect energy production and cost in the country.

It seems like energy is the hot topic on everyone's minds these days. You can't turn on the news without hearing about rising energy prices and the need for renewable sources of energy. Both are important issues that will need addressed as this country moves forward, but utility companies and the rest of the Hoosier state will be facing another energy problem in the coming years if they do not act soon. The problem? The majority of utility workers in this state are at or near retirement age and it takes several years to properly train new workers. Utility leaders recently recognized this, and, as a result, the Indiana gas and electric companies have begun a collaborative effort with Ivy Tech to find and train tomorrow's energy workers and leaders.

Kokomo Police Department

Facing a shortfall that could exceed $200,000, the United Way of Howard County is seeking help in every way possible as well as from every person and organization. But it looks like it won't get help from We Care.

Myrtle Beach's Brandon Beachy pitched one-third of an inning in a 5-3 loss to Lynchburg on Wednesday night.

The county is still in negotiations with Chrysler to receive the bulk of the property taxes they are owed this year, but the company has agreed to pay 25 percent of what they owe.

KPD

Under the Pentastar is a quick video wrap of significant events at Chrysler LLC over the past week. This week's stories include: plants to re-open, coolest summer ride and CEMA Charity Car show.

Phyllis Ann Kauffman, 71, Kokomo, passed away at 5:30PM Friday, June 12, 2009 at her residence.

Ironically, many people who attend the Relay for Life to fight cancer see it as a chance to catch some rays, which can cause cancer.

From out of the past and into the Kokomo Perspective. We want to thank our readers for the many e-mails and phone calls. We always answer each one. We had many calls and people stopping us on the street and in restaurants to talk about the 1954 article from last week. It was fun talking to people, whom you had forgotten were a part of the class.

Brent and Ruth Foster celebrated their 40th anniversary on June 14, 2009.

Northwestern's Ben-Marvin Egel shot an even-par 72 at the IHSAA Lafayette Jeff Regional but lost a sudden-death playoff for medalist honors last Friday. It was the second time in a row the regional ended on a bittersweet note for the Northwestern sophomore. In a sudden-death playoff, Twin Lakes golfer Blake Russell made par on the first hole while Egel was one over.

The Kokomo Board of Parks and Recreation meet on Tuesday, June 9, at 7 a.m. at Kokomo Beach. The next board meeting will be on Tuesday, July 14, at 7 a.m. at the Kokomo Arts Pavilion in Foster Park.

A special session of the Howard County Board of Commissioners resulted in very little clarification of what beautification projects would be done with the downtown courthouse lawn, but the one thing that was made clear is that no county dollars will go toward the project.

The Howard County Highway Department will close a section of County Road 00 North/South (Old Sycamore Road) 9 miles west of Kokomo for repairs. County Road 00 N/S will be closed from the entrance to the Green Acres subdivision to County Road 900 West for replacement of a culvert pipe. The short section of road will be barricaded from 7 a.m. Friday morning until approximately 3 p.m. Friday afternoon. Commuters will have to use County Road 750 West or County Road 820 West for access into Green Acres from Ind. 22.

David Hurst was crowned the winner of the Rent-A-Center Street Stock Shootout at the Kokomo Speedway on Sunday night.

Welcome back to Culinary Corner! This issue, just in time for the summer season, we will explore the best locally owned patio spots in town. The categories are Best Patio for People Watching, Best Patio for Morning Sun, Best Late Night Patio, and Best Patio Atmosphere.

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar today reintroduced the Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Extension Act to make permanent provisions that allow farmers and small business owners to receive a tax deduction for donating food products to food banks, pantries and homeless shelters.

The Kokomo LadyKats soccer camp for youth in kindergarten through eighth grade will be from 6-8 p.m. on July 27-July 31 at the Kokomo High School soccer fields.