North Judson Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann addressed a few important dates that residents should keep in mind in the coming weeks at last Monday’s town council meeting.
In response to a citizen question, he stated that the town utility department will start brush pick-up on Thursday, April 26th. Horstmann said they won’t be able to accomplish it all in one sweep, so additional brush pick-up will need to take place after today. Continue reading
Starke County Emergency Management Agency Director J. Nier hosted a meeting with community members who interested in participating in a group focused on local disaster preparation and response efforts.
Church representatives, members of the medical community and concerned citizens were among the individuals who attended the first Community Organizations Active in Disaster or COAD meeting on Tuesday night.
Director Nier explained that Starke County COAD was actually established a while ago. However, she said when she took the position in October of last year, the group had been inactive for some time. During the flooding event in February, she realized that there were certain needs that were being unmet so she’s attempting to revive the organization. Continue reading
Knox residents are being asked to remain patient as Reith Riley crews conduct sidewalk reconstruction as well as roadwork in the downtown area.
During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, Mayor Dennis Estok informed members and meeting attendees that ‘no parking signs’ have been placed in various spots around town and they will be moved to other areas as work continues. Continue reading
Requests pertaining to the date and permit fee for the North Judson town-wide yard sale were brought before the town council during their meeting last Monday.
Billing Clerk Jennifer Vanek asked council members if the annual sale could be held on the first Saturday in August, which will be the 4th. She also requested that the yard sale permit fee, which typically costs $10, be reduced to $5 for the event. Continue reading
The Knox High School Life Skills Class is hosting their 2nd annual Color Run this Saturday and there’s still time to sign-up!
The Color Run is an untimed 3-mile fun run for all ages and fitness abilities. Along the route, runners pass through vibrant “color zones” where powered-dye if playfully thrown at the participants. The course will end with a “finish fest” that will feature a DJ, door prizes and a cook-out hosted by the National Guard.
Event organizer Tiffany Hoar, said they’re already expecting two times more participants than last year! As the teacher for the Life Skills class at Knox High school, she works with students who have mild and moderate cognitive disabilities. Continue reading
Community members aimed at addressing needs during a natural disaster will be meeting this evening to establish some guidelines for emergency events.
The Starke County Community Organizations Active in Disaster group will be looking at future needs and reviewing some things that may have been overlooked during the most recent mass emergency when we experienced major flooding in February.
Emergency Management Agency Director J. Nier, Starke County Council President Brad Hazelton and other officials will be obtaining and delivering information about where individuals can be adequately housed during a disaster, potential donation locations and establishing the chain of command for certain issues. Continue reading
North Judson-San Pierre Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin recently informed school board members that the school’s existing debt is about to drop significantly in 2019. First covered during their work session on April 4th, Zupin reviewed the matter during last Tuesday’s school board meeting.
She said in order to maintain the school’s current rate, additional debt has to be taken on.
She explained, “The debt service fund is for annual debt obligations and really is helpful for schools because it’s a way for us to maintain our school facilities, buy some equipment and make sure that we have what our students need.” Continue reading
An appropriation hearing will be held over the 2018 General Obligation Bond issue when Knox City Council members meet tonight at 7 p.m.
Additionally, members will consider two ordinances on second and final reading. One ordinance is to authorize the sale of the general obligation bond for the fire truck and the other will approve the appropriation of the bond. Continue reading
North Judson Town Council members considered the purchase of 30 new banners from OTES Signs and Graphics when they met last Monday.
Councilman James Young explained that the town already has the mounting brackets and hardware needed to hang them, so they would just need to buy the banners themselves. He said the price for all 30 banners came to $960, which breaks down to $32 per banner.
He added that the look of the new banners would be consistent with existing signage, “With a design that would look similar to what we have coming into town, it just says ‘Welcome to North Judson’, something bright and colorful.” Continue reading
Motorists are reminded that work will begin today on the US 35 railroad crossing in Knox. The Mayor’s Office recently issued a press release to alert residents that Norfolk Southern will be closing the crossing for repairs and maintenance.
This closure will be in effect beginning today, Monday, April 23rd at 8 a.m. Depending on weather conditions, the crossing is anticipated to re-open on Thursday, May 3rd at 5 p.m. Continue reading
North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Andrew Rowe and Code Enforcement Officer Joe Leszek plan to go over the town’s book of ordinances soon to check for any necessary revisions or amendments.
Clerk-Treasurer Rowe said that the last time ordinances were put together was in 2007, so the codes are overdue for some review. Aside from retracting any outdated or unneeded codes and updating existing ones, Leszek said there also needs to be something added that implements consequences for repeat offenders or people who fail to comply after a warning has been issued.
The Code Enforcement Officers explained, “We write somebody a ticket, that person doesn’t pay the ticket and they don’t take care of the violation or they do the pay the ticket but they still don’t take care of the violation, so where do we escalate from there? Is there a fee? First offense is $50 and the second offense goes up to whatever amount Marshal Fisher or the board finds appropriate.”
Three researchers from the Center for Health Policy at Indiana University’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health presented their findings from the La Porte County Opioid Study at the Purdue Northwest Westville campus on Thursday.
Among the researchers was Policy Analyst Harold Kooreman who discussed the staggering statistics that were gathered while working on the study. He shared the most recent snapshot of what the opioid crisis looks like in America. Continue reading
In March of 2017, the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day had the highest number of crashes involving impaired drivers.
Last year, the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration purchased more than 1,755 portable breath tests for Indiana law-enforcement agencies and an additional 836 devices are being purchased this year. Continue reading
The NJSP Elementary School Bluejay Fun Fair, which was recently revived after years of not being held, was a huge success, according to the school superintendent and town officials.
Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin said a total of $4,000 was raised and while some of that money will be set aside for next year’s fun fair, a portion of it will go to new playground equipment. During Monday night’s town council meeting, Town Marshal Kelly Fisher and Fire Chief Joe Leszek talked about their experiences pitching in at the event. Continue reading
The Healthcare Foundation of La Porte (HFL) hosted a presentation over the La Porte County Opioid Study at the Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex at Purdue Northwest’s Westville campus on Thursday morning.
The study was commissioned by the HFL through the Center for Health Policy at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. And while researchers conducted this particular study for La Porte County, the opioid epidemic extends beyond county lines, as it unfortunately impacts the lives of people across the state, the nation and the globe.
At Thursday’s presentation, the keynote speaker was Dr. Jennifer Walthall, the Secretary of Family and Social Services Administration of Indiana. She emphasized the steps that are being taken to directly combat the crisis here in the state. Continue reading
North Judson Building Inspector Jeff Abrams appeared before the town council requesting to establish a permit for gas line inspections when members met Monday.
“When there is a house vacated and the gas has been shut off, Nipsco wants an inspection done so I think that we should be able to charge for that because I have to go out and look at it.” He explained, “They have to do a pressure test it and it has to hold pressure for a day.” Continue reading
North Judson-San Pierre School Board members considered multiple corporation plans on first reading when they met this week.
In early April, a work session was held to establish what to include in the school’s technology, wellness and strategic and accountability plans. When members met on Tuesday, Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin reviewed the content with board members.
Dr. Zupin said the two major focuses of the technology plan are professional development and the implementation of eLearning. Continue reading
A matter that has gone unresolved for more than 30 years was brought before the North Judson Town Council Monday night.
North Judson Resident and former town council member, Tim Cummins informed the council that even though the North Judson Plan Commission and Town Council took steps to vacate a 16-foot alley between Dahlke and Lyle Streets back in the 1980s, the final step of sending the documentation to the Starke County Recorder was not completed so the alley was never officially vacated. Continue reading
North Judson-San Pierre School Board members held the first readings over the revisions to the certified and non-certified handbooks when they met Tuesday night.
Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin shared that the certified handbook is a fairly recent addition, as state laws changed what is allowed to be included in the master contract for teachers. She noted, “The teacher contract can only have monetary issues but there are a lot of things to answer outside of what is monetary and so a handbook was created and we just need to update those.” Continue reading
A North Judson native was chosen from thousands of truck drivers to represent his profession and his company at an event in the White House Rose Garden last Thursday.
Jeff Tetzloff has been a truck driver for 34 years and has been an employee of Crete Carrier for the last 27 years. He has over three and a half million miles of safe driving under his belt, has won driver of the year multiple times and serves as trainer and mentor.
Because of his impressive resume, the CEO of Crete Carrier Tonn Ostergard approached Tetzloff with a unique opportunity to attend an event with “senior government officials.” He said it wasn’t until he received an email from the White House that he realized he would be attending an event where the president would be speaking. Continue reading
