Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Fugitive William Newman has been captured. Marshall County officers learned that he was at a home in Argos and Wednesday night, police gained consent to enter the property and took Newman into custody. He was wanted on a Marshall County warrant after fleeing a traffic stop on December 11th and he was also wanted on several felony drug warrants in Fulton County.
LaPorte County police are enlisting in your help to locate a sexually violent predator. 28-year-old Maurice Ward is convicted sex offender and failed to register his residence in Michigan City. A warrant has been issued for his arrest for failure to register. He is described as a black male, 6’3” and 215 pounds with a tear drop tattoo under his right eye. He is considered dangerous as he may try to harm himself and others if attempts are made to take him into custody. If you see this man, call your local law enforcement agency.
Bruce Garrett’s death has been ruled natural causes. The Pittsburg man was found dead in the cab of his semi-truck earlier this month at the Pilot Truck Stop in Marshall County. Marshall County Coroner Bill Cleavenger said that Garrett had pre-existing medical conditions which led to his death. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system.
$13,695 was awarded to the LaPorte Hospital Foundation on behalf of IU Health LaPorte Hospital. The grant, provided by the Indiana Breast Cancer Awareness Trust, will fund the LaPorte Hospital Foundation’s Breast Cancer Project which will help low-income uninsured women over 40 and women of any age who are at high risk for breast cancer receive mammogram screenings through a physician’s referral.
Republicans Kathy Norem and Kent Danford will be sworn into their elected positions on the Starke County Board of Commissioners on Monday, December 31 at 3:00 p.m. CT. Bryan Cavender will also take the oath of office as Starke County Councilman during the ceremony in the Circuit Courtroom in the Starke County Courthouse. Judge Kim Hall will administer the oaths.
The IU Health Starke Hospital Emergency room staff received a donation of sweatshirts and sweatpants from the Starke County Tri Kappa organization. The clothes will be given to victims of sexual assaults. The victims’ clothing is often kept for evidence purposes by the police department and they don’t always have proper clothing to wear out of the hospital. ER Nurse, Nikkole Frazier, who helps gather the victims’ clothing for the police was excited to receive the donation.
Ryan S. Mounts of LaPorte was arrested Thursday morning after he allegedly robbed a Fifth Third Bank branch in LaPorte. Bank employees were able to give LaPorte City and LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department detectives a description of the suspect and Mounts was quickly identified and arrested. Police also searched his apartment after a search warrant was obtained and evidence of the robbery was reportedly found. Mounts has a preliminary charge of Robbery, a Class C Felony.
The Starke County Council was able to transfer $192,700 into a Rainy Day Fund. The leftover money from this year’s budget was found in several funds, but a large sum of the funds came from the EMS department as an ambulance was not purchased in the 2012 budget. Council President Dave Pearman said the money can be used for the purchase of a new ambulance and a number of things that may come up next year.
Starke County ADA Coordinator Ted Bombagetti has been busy making sure the county has an ADA compliance plan by December 31. The Commissioners Thursday passed a resolution to adopt the ADA procedures and self-evaluation presented by Bombagetti. The county’s website will soon offer links for the ADA procedures along with the grievance procedure and self-evaluation findings. The plan shows a long list of priorities that will be need to be addressed to make the county ADA compliant.
