The Kelly Miller Circus was in Knox yesterday and performed two shows under the big tent at the corner of Roosevelt and Culver Roads. Pony and elephant rides were offered and a good crowd was on hand to watch the acrobats, tigers, a zebra and other acts. Tom Berg was the honorary ringmaster!
The Knox City Council this week approved the use of $15,000 from the Economic Development Income Tax fund to purchase the property at 64 E. Lake St. in Knox, better known as the old laundromat.
The city had been interested in purchasing the property several years ago, but at that time, the property was tied up in court litigation and consequently unable to be transferred to the city, but Mayor Rick Chambers says they believe that litigation has been settled. He says the city would purchase the property for $15,000 and demolish it to expand the small park area adjacent to it.
An in-home care provider was arrested in Starke County this weekend for allegedly manufacturing methamphetamine on her client’s property. Jannine Clemons of Knox told police that she had found a strange container of drain cleaner in her laundry room on Aug. 17, and when she looked inside it, she found several strange items including battery pieces and medication wrapping.
Clemons says she then hid the container in her garden and purchased a motion camera, which she placed on a table aiming towards the back door in an effort to see who may have left the items – and she could not believe what she discovered.
A wrongful death suit is headed to a jury trial in Pulaski Circuit Court.
The family of a minor who died as a result of the ingestion of medication prescribed to Barbara J. Gilden of Medaryville and provided to the minor by her grandson is filing suit against Gilden. The family is claiming in a civil suit that Gilden was prescribed narcotics to treat a medical condition and that she knew narcotics were missing from her home and being provided to minors.
Friday, Aug. 31 will be a busy day in the Starke Circuit Court as at least two heated court cases proceed to their initial hearing before Judge Kim Hall.
Former Knox High School Basketball Coach Todd Boldry will appear for his initial hearing at 9 a.m., where he faces charges of Child Seduction and Official Misconduct as Class D felonies. Starke County Prosecutor Nick Bourff says each of those counts carry a sentence between six months and three years, as well as up to a $10,000 fine. Boldry was arrested on school grounds Friday amidst allegations of sexual misconduct with a student that occurred as early as 2007.
A LaPorte man was arrested yesterday as part of a LaPorte County Metro Operations surveillance operation.
LaPorte police say 40-year-old Garry Cox was traveling along Factory Street where Metro Operations investigators were conducting surveillance when they observed his vehicle. Knowing that Cox is an Habitual Traffic Violator, a traffic stop was conducted at approximately 1 p.m. Cox was arrested and taken to the LaPorte County Jail, where a search was conducted, revealing a Schedule IV Controlled Substance in his possession.
Cox is being held at the LaPorte County Jail with no bond, pending his appearance in LaPorte County Circuit Court. He faces preliminary charges of Operating a Motor Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator, and Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, both of which are Class D felonies.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department K9 is retiring. K9 officer and handler, James Upsall, said the two-year certification is coming up at the end of the month and the decision was made not to renew that certification and Fritz will be retired.
Upsall said Fritz had several narcotics busts during his three-year tenure at the Sheriff’s Department.
“He has had a lot of narcotic busts with traffic stops and that varies from any variety of pills, marijuana and meth,” said Upsall.
Several school board races have surfaced since the Friday filing deadline in the Starke County Clerk’s Office.
For Knox Community Schools, voters will select three members from a ballot of eight candidates for Center Township Seats 2, 3, and 4. Those candidates include incumbent members William Kirk Bennett, Gerald (Jerry) Fletcher and Harold A. Welter, and candidates Dawn M. Bailey, Jeffrey B. Fosler, Wendy McIntire, Larry D. Sennert and Valarie Williams. Incumbent Nathan Marcum and challenger Kurt A. Kemble have filed for the California-Washington Township seat.
IU Health LaPorte Physicians are now offering InQuicker, an online tool to speed up your wait at the doctor’s office.
Visit iuhealth.org or iuhealth.org/starke to book an appointment online at Pedatric Care at Founder’s Square and Primary Care at LifeWorks Business Park in LaPorte and in Michigan City, or hold your place online to be promptly seen by a healthcare professional at After Hours Care at Founders’ Square and Urgent Care at LifePlex in Plymouth using InQuicker.
Travel is expected to increase this year for the Labor Day holiday.
Despite a sluggish economy and recent rises in gas prices, the increase in travelers is driven by improving consumer confidence compared to last year.
About 85 percent of holiday travelers will journey by car and the average distance traveled by Americans is expected to be 626 miles, with a great deal of those miles to be traveled by air.
Many travelers in this area will headed to the Blueberry Festival in Plymouth and to the Monterey Days Festival this weekend. Remember that the Indiana State Police the Starke County Traffic Safety Partnership and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department will be out in full force patrolling for unrestrained motorists, impaired drivers and those who drive at unsafe speeds.
Formal charges have been filed against Paul A. Burke of Royal Center in Pulaski Circuit Court. Burke faces charges including Aggravated Battery as a Class B felony after he allegedly attempted to throw a hazardous liquid chemical on a police officer during a traffic stop.
A Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Dana Candlish of Kokomo on June 22, but when the officer pulled the vehicle over, he noticed the passenger – later identified as Burke – open his door and set something outside of the vehicle. When the officer detained Burke and began examining the container, Burke reportedly grabbed the Styrofoam cup and threw it at the officer. Fortunately, he missed, and the chemical began to bubble and smoke on the pavement.
A Crawfordsville man was arrested in Pulaski County on Monday, August 20 after police found him picking marijuana near a cornfield.
The Pulaski County deputy was patrolling on State Road 39 near 600 North and found a man, later identified as Joshua Allen, reportedly picking marijuana from a plant in the field. After the officer detained Allen, Allen stated that he was working with a construction crew building a grain bin and was not feeling well. He left to go for a walk and saw a huge marijuana plant growing in the field. He stated that he knew the area was known for its marijuana plants.
A Tippecanoe man was injured in a single vehicle accident in the early morning hours on Saturday.
Andrew N. Meloy, 22, was driving westbound on State Road 10 east of State Road 331 in Marshall County when a small animal ran in front of the vehicle. Meloy told Marshall County police that he swerved right, then back left, lost control and ran off the road. He was injured but refused medical attention.
The Starke County Community Foundation is heading into their fall granting cycle, in which the organization has the flexibility of granting funds to a number of different groups and a variety of programs. Director of Development Sarah Origer says the foundation is passionate about helping local organizations and projects that make a difference in Starke County, and now is the ideal time to provide that support.
The program and communications director for the Northern Indiana Community Foundation, Inc., Corinne Becknell, administers the granting program. She says the foundation offers grants to charitable organizations, and it has awarded over $1.7 million in community grants.
Drivers traveling on State Road 8 near Knox may want to plan a different route, as Norfolk Southern Railroad has temporarily closed the railroad crossing on the highway approximately 1.7 miles east of Knox. The crossing was closed early Monday morning, and officials say it will remain closed until Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
A detour is in place directing drivers from U.S. 35 to U.S. 30, then to State Road 23.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department has announced they will be stepping up efforts in cracking down on impaired drivers in their area, alongside law enforcement throughout the nation for the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign Aug. 17 to Sept. 3.
The nationwide effort will include high-visibility enforcement, high-profile events, and will be supported by national paid advertising to create a comprehensive campaign to curb alcohol impaired driving in August and through the Labor Day holiday weekend. Police will be aggressively looking for impaired drivers during the campaign and will arrest anyone caught driving impaired.
Democrat State Senator Jim Arnold of LaPorte was recently endorsed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s non-partisan political action program for his reelection in November. Arnold represents Senate District 8 in the Indiana General Assembly, a district which encompasses the majority of LaPorte County including the City of LaPorte and the eastern part of Michigan City as well as portions of St. Joseph and Starke counties.
The selection decision was made based on Arnold’s voting record and support for issues important to improving the business climate in Indiana. Arnold was first elected to the Indiana State Senate in 2007.
This year, Arnold is serving on the Interim Study Committee on Economic Development. Sen. Arnold serves as the Ranking Democrat of three Senate Standing Committees: Appointments and Claims; Homeland Security, Transportation and Veteran Affairs; and Public Policy. He is also a member of the Elections Committee as well as Pensions and Labor.
Ten counts have been filed in the Starke Circuit Court against former North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller. The charges, which were filed Aug. 22, allege that Miller took unauthorized control over cemetery lot sales, utility receipts, and other deposits and payments from the town during her time as clerk-treasurer.
The charges stem from a special report for the Town of North Judson filed by the State Board of Accounts earlier this year citing alleged financial discrepancies totaling $74,408.67 during the period of time between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2011. Miller was asked to reimburse the town for the alleged discrepancies.
Special Deputy Prosecutor Michael P. Krebes filed the charges against Miller, which consist of nine counts of Theft and one count of Official Misconduct as Class D felonies. The counts of Theft allege Miller kept money from equipment purchases, employee reimbursements, police department receipts, ordinance violation payments, utility customer deposits, and a number of other receipts from the town of North Judson.
Miller’s initial hearing is set for Aug. 31 at 9 a.m. in the Starke Circuit Court.
A 46-year-old Argos man was killed this weekend in a fatal moped accident.
Marshall County Coroner Bill Cleavenger says Jack R. Moriarty was fatally injured Saturday evening when his moped left the roadway and struck a farm fence post. Moriarty was not wearing a helmet and was killed instantly when his moped struck the post at 7:36 p.m., ejecting him from the bike.
Cleavenger attributed the cause of death to blunt force trauma. The family was notified shortly after the accident.
The accident remains under investigation by the Argos Police Department and Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, and toxicology reports are pending. Argos Fire and EMS Departments also assisted at the scene.
The Starke County Council last week passed a motion to approve a proposed ordinance to allow American Oak to develop property in the North Judson Industrial Park.
Council President David Pearman says this is a great opportunity to expand the development in the industrial park. He says next to the American Oak property is some land with a lot of scrub trees, and American Oak is interested in putting some money into that property.
