Knox Mayor Rick Chambers recently received the new Waste Management contract and presented it to the Knox City Council. Waste Management is the City’s contracted waste hauler for household trash and recycling. According to Mayor Chambers, he is working with Attorney David Matsey on the legalities of extending that contract without rebidding.
Starke County Prosecutor, Nicholas Bourff, made the announcement yesterday that there is a new Deputy Prosecutor in the office.
“Autumn Ferch has joined our office as a Deputy Prosecutor,” said Bourff. “I’ve known Autumn for a very, very long time and I see value in bringing someone into the office who grew up in Starke County and who calls Starke County home. She will be handling everything in the Knox City Court, as well as several ‘D’ felonies in Starke Circuit Court. She will also handle child support cases too.”
We asked Autumn Ferch why she decided to go into law.
The Knox National Honor Society is planning on distributing food baskets to families in need this holiday season and the organization is looking for donations to aid in the effort.
Donations of new toys and non-perishable food items can be dropped off in the High School’s Main Office until Thursday, December 15th. Canned or packaged food will be accepted, along with new or very clean toys and baby food and formula. The National Honor Society will also accept cash donations so certain items can be purchased for the cause.
The WKVI/Five Star Food Drive was a great success. Joan Haugh, Director of Community Services of Starke County, called with the totals yesterday morning. Over $1,000 was collected in cash donations, and that includes $500 from Five Star.
Joan said that over 300 pounds of food was collected during the five hour food drive. She said that she’s appreciative of the help and that food will help feed families in Starke County for the holiday season.
A county-wide Thanksgiving Eve Service is scheduled at the Eagle Creek Community Church, on Wednesday November 23rd., at 7:00 p.m. CST.
Rich Wallen, Worship Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Griffith, will bring a Thanksgiving message in music.
In case you haven’t heard:
The Annual Starke County Historical Society meeting was held at the Knox High School Cafeteria on Thursday, November 17th with over 100 people attending. After the dinner and business meeting, Gary & Susan Brown, from Valparaiso, provided the program. Since 2011 is the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Browns presented a musical program of songs of that period in our nation’s history. They are accomplished musicians. Susan performs on fretted dulcimer, guitar, zither, autoharp, piano, penny whistle, recorder and various rhythm instruments. She is known for expressive vocals; from ethereal Celtic tunes to hard-hitting country songs and has performed for hundreds of audiences all over the Midwest. -submitted by Jim Shilling. Continue reading
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department arrested two after one pot method meth labs were found in a residence in North Judson on Thursday.
Officers received information about the whereabouts of Traci Jacobs who was wanted on two warrants for Failure to Appear. A detective from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department contacted the bonds company and sent agents to 6190 S. 250 W. in North Judson. The agents said that they had Jacobs in custody as well as Richard Warner, of North Judson. They also notified the Sheriff’s Department that there were several pop bottles in the bedroom closet that appeared to be one pot meth labs.
A representative of Skillman Corporation out of Merrillville will be in attendance at the Starke County Commissioners meeting tonight. After listening to a presentation from Scott Cherry last week, the Starke County Jail Committee voted to invite him to the Commissioners’ meeting to discuss jail construction and remodeling. Cherry oversees all operations from the Merrillville office.
The SCILL Center students have collected quite a number of coats during their coat collection drive.
“At this point in time, we collected over 400 coats! It’s unbelievable! We put together a little contest for our kids and it looks like our winner is a young man from LaVille High School, Tyler Wickizer, and he went door-to-door in his neighborhood in Lakeland and collected 147 coats by himself,” said Director, Jerry Gurrado.
The thought of snow is certainly not appealing, but the thought that the County Highway Departments and the City Street Departments are ready for the snow is very appealing.
The Starke County Highway Department told us that they’re ready for winter weather. The salt shed is full with road salt and sand and the snow plows have been serviced and ready to tackle the roads.
After spending eight years as a member of the nursing faculty at Ancilla College, Janeen Berndt is ready to move on—much to the sadness of her coworkers.
Berndt was the first full-time nursing faculty member that was hired at Ancilla, and currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Nursing. She recently found an opportunity to work at Western Governors University as a Student Mentor, and she feels that’s an opportunity she cannot pass up.
Berndt said it would give her the extra time to spend with her children, and she’s excited for the position because it will give her the opportunity to work with graduate students. Berndt said she will miss the faculty and the students more than anything, and said leaving Ancilla will be like leaving her family.
The Winamac Town Board, Safe Routes to School Task Force and Friends of the Panhandle Pathway are getting together to make the Panhandle Trail accessible to the residents of Winamac.
A plan is in the works to extend the Panhandle Pathway north to Winamac, connecting to Superior Street. This will allow the Pathway to connect to the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation. It will be paved with stone and later paved with asphalt. This will be a safe route to school for children and it will also be a safe walking and bike route for everyone.
The Pulaski County United Fund is still collecting donations for the 2012 campaign.
The Pulaski County United Fund gives money to the Sagamore Council Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Pulaski County Scouts, Pulaski Memorial Home Health Care and Hospice, Pulaski County Human Services, Pulaski County Family YMCA, North Central IN Rural Crisis Center-Pulaski County Residents, PEAK Community Services-Winamac, Salvation Army-Pulaski County Service Extension, Pulaski County REACT and the West Central Educational Foundation.
The United Fund is now encouraging you to participate in its holiday season campaign, “Sharing with United Fund”. Now through Christmas, join them in their “Share” a $1.00 campaign. With nearly 13,000 people in Pulaski County, $1.00 can make a difference. For more information, visit this website.
The 2nd Annual WKVI/Five Star Food Drive was a success Saturday! Several carts of food were donated from patrons in the community who helped make the holidays a little better for those in need this season. Food and cash donations were accepted and totals will be announced next week. Thank you to all who contributed and Happy Thanksgiving! Continue reading
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
The Pulaski County Prosecutor’s Office has filed two counts of Theft against Jennifer A. Wallace who was recently arrested after allegedly stealing tanning product inventory and cash from Ladybug Laundry and Tan in Winamac.
Dispatchers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and surrounding departments encourage you to remove batteries from old cell phones before giving them to children to play. This will help reduce accidental calls to 9-1-1 centers. Continue reading
Republican Donna Henry increased her victory margin to six in the North Judson Municipal Election for Clerk-Treasurer today. The provisional votes were inspected and of the four votes examined, two were approved and two were rejected. The two votes for Henry gave her a 223-217 victory over Connie Miller, the Democrat Incumbent.
Also picking up two votes was Tim Cummins, Republican, for the Town Council Ward 3 race. His new vote total is 278. The vote total for his opponent, Democrat Daniel Anderson, stayed the same at 162.
Officers from the Plymouth Police Department are investigating burglaries that occurred at the Remembrance Center and New Attitudes Hair Salon on North Michigan Street in Plymouth. Police say that unknown suspect(s) had made forced entry into the two businesses in the overnight hours of November 18th and removed a large television and an undisclosed amount of money. These two businesses had also been burglarized on November 9th. Anyone with information regarding these burglaries should contact the Plymouth Police Department at (574) 936-2126.
Heather Wilson was arrested by officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday after she allegedly filed a false police report.
On November 11th, Wilson reportedly told police that a male subject asked her for jewelry and other items. She said that he came into the house, grabbed her, hit her in the face, and held up a knife to her before taking prescription medication that belonged to her mother. Wilson gave police a description of the suspect and said that he left the scene on foot. Wilson was later taken by ambulance to IU Health Starke Hospital for having a panic attack.
The Provisional Board will meet this morning at 10:00 a.m. in the Starke County Clerk’s office to determine if provisional ballots in the North Judson Municipal election will be allowed. Four votes were deemed provisional in the election, which is the number of votes that separates the outcome of the Clerk-Treasurer’s race between Republican Donna Henry and Incumbent Democrat Connie Miller. Henry won the election by a vote of 221 to 217.
A Starke County jury found Fred Boggess II guilty of all five counts filed against him. The jury found him guilty of Dealing in Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with the Intent to Manufacture, Driving While Suspended and False Informing.
The two-day trial had several witnesses called to the stand in Starke Circuit Court, including an Indiana State Police officer who specializes in Clandestine Lab Team investigations.
