Week in Review for May 16th-20th, 2011

Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:

The Knox-Center Township Fire Department responded to a fire at Sibo’s Grill shortly after 2:00 a.m. Monday. Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, said that an electrical issue caused the fire.

The Starke County Commissioners are moving forward with repairs on bridge #156 over the Robbins Ditch. They leaned toward the selection of a concrete box beam bridge with an estimated cost of $116,000. A DNR permit will be the only one needed for this project.

The Starke County Council approved $4,230 to be transferred within funds in the Starke Circuit Court Budget for trials and appeals.

Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer

The Pulaski County Council will need to move appropriations within the Sheriff’s budget to pay for a $23,000 Dodge Charger ordered by the Sheriff to be utilized by the department as a unmarked car. Funds for the car were inadvertently placed in the wrong fund.

The owners of the First Choice Pawn and Loan of Knox objected to a regulation stated in a proposed pawn shop ordinance saying that a demand to hold purchased items for 10 days is unreasonable. The Knox City Council is currently discussing this ordinance.

The Knox Community School Board appointed Dave Miller as the new Knox Middle School Principal. He will take over from Steve Cronk who is retiring after this school year.

The phone numbers for the City of Knox offices were inadvertently left out of the newly published phone book. The Mayor will be publishing those numbers in the paper and those numbers will be available at City Hall and online at cityofknox.net.

The Pulaski County Commissioners approved a rate increase for childhood vaccinations to help gather funds for the Pulaski County Health Department for a full-time nurse.

Gas prices are dropping. Don Good from the Good Oil Company in Winamac said the prices will continue to go down throughout the summer and many stations have gas under $4.00 a gallon for unleaded gasoline.

The Knox Community School Board members approved a lease agreement with Apple, Inc. to provide a one-to-one computer program for students in grades six through twelve.

Residents who attended the Pulaski County Airport expansion project public hearing Thursday night did not participate in a question and answer period, but were directed to put questions in a comment box or tell them to a court stenographer and the answers would be answered in an Environment Assessment report to be released later.

The Starke County Commissioners and Council approved the transfer of $108,514 to the Sheriff’s pension fund.

And that is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week.