Crews remain on the scene of a train derailment near Ligonier which spilled nearly 200,000 pounds of molten sulfur and toluene. The car that was carrying the molten sulfur had burst into flames after the derailment of 27 cars of the 59-car train. Crews have smothered the burning train cars with clean soil, and officials say that once the fires are completely extinguished, they will get rid of the dirt and remove the cars.
A sex offender residence check resulted in the arrest of a suspect on drug charges.
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department went to 11060 E. 400 N. in Grovertown and once on scene, they found several items on the property and inside a camper that are commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Police obtained a search warrant and the warrant was executed with officers confiscating sulfuric acid, lye, solvent, methamphetamine, a one-pot method meth lab and an HCL generator.
To date, Mayor Rick Chambers has been unable to fill the Water Superintendent position with the city, so this week he told the Knox City Council members that he has come to an agreement with a part-time person.
“His name is Bob Johnson, and he lives just over the Marshall County line near Koontz Lake,” reported Mayor Chambers. “He will come in five days a week and take the water samples. Since I’ve been unable to find a Superintendent, Gordon Burger has filled in, but he wants to be done by the end of March.”
Tomorrow is Doctor’s Day, but a recognition breakfast will be held today at IU Health Starke Hospital. David Hyatt, Vice President of Operations at the hospital, talked with us earlier in the week about the doctors here.
Kindergarten Roundup for students entering the Knox Community Elementary School is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25th.
Four sessions will be held beginning at 9:00 a.m. Open registration is at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Elementary School. Parents should bring a birth certificate, social security card and an immunization record for each student that enrolls.
Sylvia Zerbini, the recent star of Cavalia from 2008 – 2011, will bring her Arabian horses and her “Grand Liberty Tour” to the Vaughn Equestrian Center at the Culver Academies on April 21st and 22nd for two performances.
She will perform in the Jud Little Riding Hall on the campus at 7:30 p.m. ET on April 21st and at 3:30 p.m. ET on April 22nd. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Academies’ Eppley Auditorium Box Office at (574) 842-7058, with general admission tickets carrying a cost of $10 and a number of reserved seats are available as well, priced at $15.
Plea agreements have been filed in open court for Murriah Dailey and Robert Reed. Dailey was previously charged with two counts of Attempted Murder as a Class A felony, Attempted Escape, Robbery, Receiving Stolen Property, two counts of Resisting Law Enforcement, and Striking A Law Enforcement Animal. Reed faced charges of Robbery, Receiving Stolen Property, two counts of Resisting Law Enforcement, and one count of Habitual Traffic Violator. Murriah Dailey appeared in front of Starke Circuit Court Magistrate Jeanene Calabrese on March 26th 2012 and the plea agreement was found to be acceptable.
The continuing dispute between two adjoining property owners passed another procedure recently when the Starke County Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously rejected an appeal by Betty and George Dotlich of rural Grovertown. The Dotlich appeal was that a permit issued to place a double wide structure on property owned by Julia Ford was in error.
Two people have been arrested in the battery of Dennis Howard, of Winamac.
On March 16th, Pulaski County Sheriff’s officers were notified by personnel at the Pulaski Memorial Hospital about a man wanted on an active arrest warrant and he had just been beaten by two subjects.
If you are unemployed and are finishing the first 26 weeks of regular state unemployment insurance and moving to federally funded extended benefits will now be required to go to WorkOne for an in-person interview of your work search records.
All unemployment insurance recipients must report three places they looked for work each week, but only those who receive a notice are required to go to WorkOne. In April, you will begin receiving notices in the mail. Make sure your address is up to date in Uplink, Indiana’s online unemployment insurance filing system, to ensure you get the notice.
Two were arrested on drug charges Monday afternoon after police responded to a suspicious vehicle call.
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department were called to the area of 200 South, east of 800 East. This area is known to police as a drug activity area. Police waited for the suspect vehicle to exit a wooded area and they were able to conduct a traffic stop on 200 South just west of State Road 23.
The recent Operation Pullover Blitz conducted by the LaPorte City Police Department netted 11 alcohol-related arrests, plus other misdemeanor activity.
Agency officers dedicated 140.5 hours of overtime towards Indiana’s annual mobilization against impaired and dangerous driving, 71 hours for impaired driving patrols and 69.5 hours for aggressive driving patrols. One felony and 10 misdemeanor DUI arrests as well as three misdemeanor and two felony criminal arrests for other charges were made during the 17-day effort.
The Indiana Farm Bureau celebrated it’s 93rd Anniversary on March 25th.
The Starke County Farm Bureau held it’s annual meeting last week, and we asked the Director of State Government Affairs, Bob Kraft, to give us an overview of farming. He talked first about the bright side.
The Lincoln Township Volunteer Fire Department in Walkerton is the recipient of a $684,864 Operations and Safety grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
Congressman Joe Donnelly made the announcement and he thanked the fire department for their tireless effort in protecting the community and for their dedicated service.
What does the Superintendent of your school district receive in salary and compensation? Beginning July 1st, school corporations will have to hold public meetings before signing contracts with Superintendents where they disclose the total annual compensation in the contract. The boards will then have to take public comment and post the contract on their websites.
Applications are currently being accepted for the first annual Winamac High School/Winamac Community High School Alumni Association scholarship worth $250.
The scholarship will be awarded to a Winamac High School senior who is planning to attend a post-secondary school or college. One scholarship will be awarded during the alumni banquet on June 16th at the Church of the Heartland in Winamac.
The City of LaPorte, in partnership with the LaPorte County Family YMCA and IU Health LaPorte Hospital, will be marking the inaugural Fitness Friday on March 30th, at 4:00 p.m. CT.
Everyone in the city is invited to join in a 5k run or walk every Friday afternoon until September with Mayor Blair Milo. Milo says this is part of an effort to provide positive community events that brings people out into the city to “enjoy some fun and fellowship together” while also promoting healthy lifestyle choices. She says that shorter distances will be marked as well, and everyone is invited to participate at whatever level they are comfortable.
The state Department of Transportation is asking Adopt-A-Highway groups to help in the annual spring cleanup of Indiana’s highways.
INDOT and Adopt-A-Highway groups are planning a statewide effort to clean up Indiana’s highways during Trash Bash 2012. The event runs from April 7 through April 22.
Three fire departments battled a house fire at 200 E. and 500 S. in the Bass Lake area yesterday afternoon.
Firefighters from the Bass Lake, Knox-Center Township and North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Departments responded to the location where a 100-year old structure was fully engulfed in flames before crews arrived on scene. No cause has been released yet. A representative from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office was scheduled to meet with Bass Lake fire officials to determine a cause of the fire.
Weaver and Boos Consultants had a brighter report for the Starke County Commissioners this month. The company has been contracted to monitor and provide solutions to problems at the old Starke County Landfill located at 625 East and 550 South. In monitoring the groundwater at the site, it was found that there is no significant impact on the water quality. The report stated that another test will be done in June or July and if that test proves negative, Weaver and Boos will contact state authorities about only monitoring the site once a year, or discontinue groundwater monitoring altogether.
