A jury of eight women and four men deliberated for about 90 minutes Friday night before returning guilty verdicts against Gary Chavez. He’s the Knox man accused of murdering his estranged wife, Kimberly Chavez of Portage, at his rural California Township home last June 6th, kidnapping an employee from Mark Bailey’s Discount Center and carjacking a couple in English Lake. Continue reading
Iconic Starke County Native American Sculpture Damaged
An area general merchandise and surplus store says one of its iconic business draws has been vandalized.
Richard’s of Toto says that on the night of July 29th, video evidence seems to indicate that two individuals climbed the pedestal of its “Muffler Man” sculpture – a Native American fiberglass statue standing about 30 feet tall – and broke the arm. The sculpture is placed in front of the business.
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Immediate Area Included in Gov. Pence Disaster Declaration Request
Indiana must now wait following a formal request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for a Disaster Declaration.
Governor Mike Pence sent the letter – which states 53 of Indiana’s 92 counties are in need of assistance due to rains and flooding that damaged crops across the Hoosier State. Indiana experienced record rainfall in June of this year, with the first half of July showing strong precipitation in the immediate area.
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Starke County Posts Lowest Unemployment Rate Since 2007
Starke County’s June unemployment rate is the lowest its been since November of 2007. Back then it bottomed out at 5.5 percent, according to officials with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation. June’s jobless rate hit 5.7 percent, which is down slightly from May’s 5.9 percent number. Continue reading
Starke County CASA Seeks More Volunteers
In Starke County, on average , 27 children who have been abused or neglected are involved in the court system every year. The main goal of a CASA is to ensure the needs of those children are met. CASA stands for court appointed special advocate and the program provides volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children involved in the court system. Starke County CASA is searching for more volunteers for their upcoming training class scheduled to commence August 11. Continue reading
Starke County Youth Club Receives Generous Donation from 1st Source Bank
The 1st Source Corporation, the parent company of 1st Source Bank is the largest locally controlled financial institution headquartered in the northern Indiana-southwestern Michigan area and has assets of $5.01 billion. For more than a century, 1st Source has been committed to the success of the communities it serves. Continue reading
Medaryville Town Wide Yard Sales Today
Author Susan Lewis Scheduled to Re-Visit her Place of Inspiration
Best-selling British novelist Susan Lewis is set to return to Culver. It has been about a year since her initial visit to the area to gather information and inspiration for her novel “No Place to Hide”. She plans to celebrate the release of the book with the community which inspired its backdrop. Continue reading
Record Amount of Rainfall Leads to Boating Restrictions
The Department of Natural Resources had to restrict motorboat traffic from certain public freshwater lakes in Northern Indian due to the abundance of summer storms. The DNR created a web page with boating advisories to keep boating public and lakefront property owners informed of current restrictions or closures. Continue reading
Looking for S’More Summer Fun?
If you’re not already following the DNR Division of State Parks on Twitter or Facebook, you may want to as soon as possible. By doing so you can participate in the sweet ‘S’mores in the Outdoors Adventure’ that will be taking place throughout the entire month of August. Continue reading
