All Bluffton Icon News

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By Cort Reynolds

The Bluffton High School boys basketball team lost to visiting Carey 47-43 in a close non-league bout Saturday night, January 14.

The Blue Devils trailed 26-21 at halftime, but turned the game around with a 17-8 third period. Five Carey players hit baskets in the momentum-changing quarter.

The teams played to a taut 9-9 tie in the fourth quarter. 

The combatants were tied 13-13 after the first period, but Bluffton spurted to a five-point intermission lead behind a 13-8 second quarter. 

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Dr. Melissa Friesen will present the Colloquium “Tina Howe’s Unproduced Plays” at 4:00 p.m. on January 20 in Centennial Hall’s Stutzman Lecture Hall on the campus of Bluffton University.

During the presentation, Friesen will share discoveries from the collection of contemporary American playwright Tina Howe archived at Harvard University. Evidence from Howe’s writing notes, unpublished plays, letters and essays illuminate Howe’s writing process and her understanding of playwrights as “strip-tease artists of the soul.”   

This event is free and open to the public.

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Should Bluffton install a traffic light at Main and College? Do you yield to pedestrians?

A January 10 accident on Main St. near College Ave. has village residents talking about long-standing concerns regarding traffic and pedestrian safety at this location. The police report has not yet been released, but preliminary information indicates that a youth was struck by a vehicle and then transported by EMS to Lima Memorial Hospital. It is expected to take several days for a report to be filed by the Bluffton Police Department.

The incident has reheated anxiety that has simmered since the traffic signal at Main St. and College was removed in 2009. Those most affected are the children who attend the schools on one side of Main and use the Bluffton Public Library and school sports facilities on the other side.

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Those interested in attending the presentation should register by contacting the Bluffton Public Library at 419-358-5016.

“Before we were Pirates,” the story of Bluffton sports teams and fans before 1929 is the topic of a presentation by Fred Steiner at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Bluffton Public Library, 145 S. Main St.

The Pirate did not become the school mascot until 1929. Prior to that the school had no mascot. This presentation is about the earliest teams in the history of the. The origin of the mascot will also be explained. 

“If you can imagine in 1893 jumping on a railroad box car, riding to Lima and back to watch a Bluffton baseball team play a Lima team, then this lecture is for you,” says Steiner. 

“You do not need to be a sports fan to appreciate this presentation,” he notes. “The talk will include many stories like the railroad box ride to Lima.” 

The presentation includes stories about Bluffton teams as early as 1893 and photos of both girls and boys athletic teams as early as 1900. 

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Head coach Todd Boblitt wins 200th game

By Cort Reynolds

The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team defeated Leipsic 73-64 in a Northwest Conference battle Friday night, January 13.

The Pirates led 19-15 after the first period, and extended their margin to 39-30 at halftime. 

The Vikings cut their deficit to 53-49 heading to the fourth period.

But in the final stanza, the Pirates prevailed 20-15 to win by nine.

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Lima-Allen County Safe Community Coalition reports that there was one fatal traffic crash during December on Allen County roads.

A total of 15 fatalities occured in Allen County in 2022. In 2021, there was a total of 25 fatalities.

The attached chart shows impaired driving and restaint data for the 2022 fatal crashes.

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