All posts by Jacque Ryan

At the Eastern Pulaski School Board meeting Monday evening, board members discussed and considered information pertaining to proposed paving and concrete projects.

Superintendent Dan Foster explained that there are some safety concerns with the current drop-off locations at the schools. Foster said, “The afternoon pick-up procedures aren’t too bad but the morning drop-off procedures, we’ve really struggled with coming up with a good way to do that with the layout of our campus. So we’ve had a committee working this fall.” Continue reading →

Knox City Council Members Start Process to Revamp Side Walk Obstruction Ordinance

Knox City Council members reviewed changes to the city’s sidewalk obstruction ordinance when they met Tuesday night.

Mayor Dennis Estok stated that no official action would be taken on the ordinance last night, but he wanted to submit it to council members prior to first reading incase they had any suggestions.

Issues with vehicles parking on sidewalks and large vehicles blocking the roadways have been brought up as council items during various meetings over the past few months. Councilman Jeff Berg recently showed fellow members that a sidewalk obstruction ordinance is on the books for the City of Knox.

However, the ordinance only covered structures and didn’t directly address vehicles. Council members agreed to amend the existing ordinance to cover the topics that have been discussed. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council Members Approve Truck Purchase for Electric Department

Winamac Town Council members approved the purchase of a Digger Derrick Truck for the Electric Department when they met Monday night. Town Manager Brad Zellers explained that Digger Derrick Trucks are utilized by electric departments to dig holes for light posts.

Zeller explained that initially, they wanted to go with the least expensive truck bid which was submitted by the company Altec. However, he said they had issues getting anybody from that company to come out to go over the details of the sale. Continue reading →

Community Foundation of Pulaski County 2018 Lilly Endowment Scholarship Recipient Announced

Winamac Community High School Senior Peyton Newman has been named the Community Foundation of Pulaski County 2018 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar.

Peyton is the daughter of Arthur and Melissa Newman. She has been involved in a plethora of school activities including student council, FFA, Sunshine Society, SADD, Key Club and drama. She is also active in golf and cheerleading.

Outside of school, Peyton has been a member of 4-H for 9 years. She is also a 5-year Junior Leader member and has volunteered as a camp counselor, a fair board representative and council representative. Continue reading →

La Porte County Sheriff’s Office Responds to Two Vehicle, Single Fatality Crash Along U.S. Hwy 20

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017Jacque Ryan

Shortly after 11:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday, deputies from the La Porte County Sheriff’s office were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash that occurred on US Highway 20 at the intersection of Range Road in rural Kankakee Township.

A media advisory explained that Kankakee Township Firemen were the first to arrive on the scene and they determined that the driver of a Honda passenger car involved in the accident was unresponsive. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council Members Unanimously Pass Water Rate Ordinance after Removing Section about Backflow Testing

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017Jacque Ryan

A public hearing was held over water rate adjustments prior to last night’s Winamac Town Council meeting.

The adjustments to the water raters are being proposed as a way to cover the town’s water project. Eric Walsh from Umbaugh and Associates was present and provided some details about the $1.6 million water project.

He explained that the town has been planning for this project for many years, which assisted them in receiving a grant from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs in the amount of $550,000. He added that the remainder of the project will be covered by borrowing from the electric utility at 1% interest rate. He said this will cause water rates to rise slightly.

Walsh said, “It is resulting in about a 9 percent, little less than 9 percent increase on your water bills. So to an average residential customer [using] about 5,000 gallons a month, that’s a $3 a month of an increase.”

Walsh said if the town hadn’t pre-planned or received the OCRA grant, rates could have increased by about 20 percent, costing the average customer to pay $6 to $7 more. He said no one likes to increase rates, but he commended the council members for the proactive steps they took to keep the increases from being doubled. Continue reading →

Humane Society Agreement & Side Walk Obstruction Ordinance on the Agenda for Tonight’s Knox City Council Meeting

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017Jacque Ryan

The Knox City Council members are anticipated to act on the agreement between the Starke County Humane Society and the City of Knox when they meet in City Hall at 7 p.m. tonight.

The agreement states that the Starke County Humane Society is the official housing center for the city’s stray animals. Mayor Dennis Estok explained that there has been a verbal understanding between the city and the Humane Society for quite some time, but this agreement puts all expectations and responsibilities into writing.

Council members will also discuss amendments to the city’s existing sidewalk obstruction ordinance. The ordinance will be amended to address vehicles more specifically. Continue reading →

North Judson Code Enforcement Officer Provides Update to Town Council, Suggests Removing Outdated Ordinances

North Judson Code Enforcement Officer Joe Leszek provided an update about the code enforcement program that was implemented in mid-July.

Leszek said that they’ve seen good results and they continue to make improvements. He alerted council members that Town Marshal Kelly Fisher is currently working on a procedure to “put a little more teeth” into the abandoned vehicle policy.

He also mentioned that for the first few months, they were being more lenient by giving warnings and allowing people a few weeks to deal with citations. However, he said now that they’re more than six months into the code enforcement program, they’ll cut that down to 48 hour warnings and then ticketing if the issue is not handled.

North Judson’s town photographer Peggy Bohac presented a concern that she received from a fixed-income resident who was worried that stricter code enforcement could result in fines that would potentially be unmanageable.

Marshal Fisher responded, saying as long as citizens are making a noticeable effort to correct the violation, then they will not be continuously fined. Continue reading →

Winamac Town Council to Hold Public Hearing Over Water Rates Tonight

A public hearing will be held over adjustments to water rates in Winamac prior to the regularly scheduled town council meeting tonight. The council’s regular session will commence immediately following the public hearing which is set for 6 p.m. ET.

During the clerk-treasurer’s report, the council will hold the second reading over the water rate ordinance. Adjustments to the water rates are being proposed in order to help cover costs for the town’s water project. Continue reading →

Culver Community School Students Receive Career Pathway Presentations

Last week, while Culver Community Schools were conducting NWEA testing, they concurrently held career pathway presentations for some junior and senior high school students.

Superintendent Karen Shuman shared that one of the speakers was school board member Bill Sonnemaker. He came and spoke to students about working as an engineer for 40 years. He told them how he worked in the aero-space industry and provided some details about particular projects he tackled within that field.

Continue reading →

Be a Santa to a Senior this Year

This holiday season, Home Instead Senior Care is giving you the unique opportunity to be Santa to elderly individuals who may otherwise go without gifts.

The ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ initiative intends to bring holiday cheer into the lives of local senior citizens who may not have family around this time of the year. If you bring in a donation to the Plymouth or LaPorte locations today around 10 a.m. ET, you will have a chance to enjoy some soup and chili thanks to Home Instead Senior Care staff.

Some gift suggestions include hats, scarves and gloves as well as blankets, robes socks and slippers. Some other potential present ideas are stationery, pens, stamps, puzzles, word searches and playing cards. Monetary donations may also be made to help cover the cost of big ticket items.

The deadline for drop-offs has been extended; donations will now be accepted through December 18th. Continue reading →

U.S. Marshal Phone Scam Alert

If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Marshal, be wary of their instructions. The Federal Trade Commission is warning people about a recent scam involving impostors threatening individuals with arrest in order to get money from them.

Consumer Education Specialist Bridget Small said that U.S. Marshals do a lot of things, they protect the federal courts, track down dangerous fugitives and transport thousands of prisoners. What they don’t do is make calls and threaten to arrest people or fine them for missing jury duty. Continue reading →

North Judson Town Council Members Receive Update About Addition to Norwayne Field

December 9, 2017December 9, 2017Jacque Ryan

The ball is rolling on a new addition to Norwayne Field, according to North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe.

Prior to her resignations, former Clerk-Treasurer Alicia Collins alerted town council members that the $12,000 raised by the community center committee would go toward a cover for the stage at Norwayne Field.

During the clerk-treasurer’s report at Monday’s town council meeting, Rowe explained that he received the preliminary plans for the stage cover and now the North Judson Park Board will be working with them to finalize decisions. Continue reading →

Starke County Youth Club Seeks Funds to Expand Programs

December 9, 2017December 9, 2017Jacque Ryan

The Starke County Youth Club is able to provide after-school programs to students K-12 across the county thanks to grant funding.

One grant the club utilizes is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant. SC Youth Club Executive Director Irene Szakonyi said they’re reapplying for that grant this year and the deadline for it is coming up soon.

Szakonyi explained that and a part of the grant process, Youth Club representatives are working with their partners to determine particular needs. She said their partners include all the county schools, the public library system, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation and Purdue Cooperative Extension Services.

“We really do work together to make sure that there are high quality programs for kids in this community that address academic outputs, and personal success for kids.”Szakonyi continued, “Things like homework help and tutoring, science, technology engineering, and math, life skills, college and career readiness. All of those things that make sure that a kid is prepared to be successful in school and in work and in life.” Continue reading →

Pre-K Program at Culver Community Schools Will Not Be Implemented in January, Could Possibly Start Next School Year

December 9, 2017December 9, 2017Jacque Ryan

A decision has been made to not move forward with a Pre-Kindergarten program at Culver Community Schools in January of next year. However, according to Superintendent Karen Shuman that doesn’t mean it is completely out of the question.

Shuman said, “We do hope to come next school year, when we do kindergarten round-up we’ll be doing a pre-k round-up at the same time.” The superintendent explained that they’ll determine whether or not to implement a program depending on the number of people who attend the round-up for children who would be heading into preschool. Continue reading →

First Public Hearings Held over Knox Parks 5-Year Master Plan

Despite a fairly small turn out, last night’s public hearing resulted in several notable suggestions for the Knox Parks 5-Year Master Plan. Knox currently has three parks, Wythogan Park, Sandy Acres and Heritage Park and last night it was revealed that a fourth park is being proposed across from Wythogan on U.S. 35.

The public hearing was led by Landscape Architect Mike Reese from the Troyer Group. He explained that the Troyer Group is the firm facilitating the planning process. He said they also helped install the performance stage in Wythogan Park and assisted Starke County with their 5-year master plan. Continue reading →

North Judson Town Council Members Approve Purchase of New Camera for Utility Department

North Judson Town Council members approved the purchase of a new push camera at the request of Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann during Monday evening’s town council meeting.

Horstmann explained that a push camera is an inspection tool that can be utilized for their fee ordinance where water and sewer lines are inspected at the request of homeowners for a $100 fee. He added that it could also be used for checking the town’s lines in general.

He said the current camera is more than 10 years old and they’ve had consistent problems with it not turning on. He added that there were also issues with the way that material was recorded and stored on to discs. Continue reading →

Culver Community School Board Establishes System to Review Policies

Policies adoption was the main focus of the Culver Community School Board meeting that took place Monday night.

Superintendent Karen Shuman said that some of the policies and procedures were already in place but the board needed to have a first reading in order for them to be entered into the system. She said one policy that was noticeably changed had to do with background checks.
Continue reading →

Salvation Army Bell Ringers Needed!