Following the trend of cities and towns that have passed similar ordinances, the Hamlet Town Board this week held a public hearing to gain input on the proposed idea of an ordinance regulating urban chickens – that is, chickens within town limits. Board President Dave Kesvormas printed a copy of the small livestock ordinance currently in place for South Bend which regulates how many chickens are allowed at a residence and the requirements that must be met to house any livestock.
The pile of surplus concrete behind the Pulaski County Highway Department does not pose an environmental hazard, according to an official with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. That was one of the claims disgruntled employees made against former highway superintendent Kenny Becker. New superintendent Mark Fox presented a letter from IDEM to the commissioners during their Monday meeting.
“This material is excluded from IDEM’s solid waste rules because it is all material that is found in roads, with the exception of possibly some of the material that is painted in there. If we run into a large quantity of painted material, it cannot be used,” said Fox.
Each of the teachers have more than 30 years of experience and have spent most, if not all in some cases, of their teaching career at the Oregon-Davis School Corporation.
The town of North Judson received help from state representatives Douglas Gutwein and Tom Dermody, as well as Senator Ed Charbonneau and INDOT Representative Robert Alderman with the goal of obtaining funds to proceed with the repairs to the railroad crossing on U.S. 30 near Hanna. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry said the town has been working on getting the project under way since last summer.
An overgrown, unmaintained alleyway near the Bass Lake Property Owner’s Association building was a topic of discussion at the Starke County Commissioners meeting this week, as James Mol of Bass Lake approached them with a simple request: let him purchase the dilapidated alleyway which he currently maintains. However, nothing in government is that easy, and Mol learned that he would have to file a petition with the county, who would then be required to send notices of the petition via certified mail to all owners of property abutting the alleyway, hold a public hearing, and await a decision from the county as to whether or not they would vacate the property. To his dismay, Mol would be responsible for all related expenses.
Nyers told the commissioners that the plan performed well in 2012. He noted at there were fewer ER visits, but the rate was higher than the national benchmark. Those who are involved on the county’s insurance plan utilized 72 percent of generic medications which Nyers said is excellent; it’s higher than the national average.
It’s National Walking Day today! In light of today’s observance, Julie Butus, health and human sciences educator at Purdue Extension in Starke County, is asking you to take part a walking challenge.
“What we want to do it get people up and moving,” said Butus. “We want them to get out and walk, run, jog, and bike and we will have a contest from Memorial Day to Labor Day.” If you have limited storage and you want to try cycling, there is a great range available from UK folding bike brand Ecosmo.
Bills will be going up $2.93 for a local broadcast station surcharge. Mediacom officials indicated that they were reluctant to raise prices, but pressure to pay more for the channels they carry prompted this rate increase. Their overall programming costs rose by over 12 percent in the past year.
Mediacom claims that the fees they pay to retransmit local broadcast stations are the fastest growing programming cost component.
The new rate for Family Cable will be $72.95 and the new family rate will be $75.88. These new prices will be effective May 1.
Two Plymouth residents were arrested Tuesday morning after a raid at 1112 South Michigan Road in Plymouth, which is located across the street from Webster Elementary School.
Shortly before 6 a.m. ET, members of the Indiana State Police Emergency Response Section and the Meth Suppression Unit raided the home acting on a search warrant. The warrant was the result of a month-long investigation by the Plymouth Police Department and the Indiana State Police detectives.
Firefighters from five area departments spent the morning battling a pole barn fire in the 1500 block of 500 N. Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andy Lawrence says they received the call around 5 a.m. and remained on the scene until around 9:30. No injuries were reported, but Lawrence says the pole barn and its contents were a complete loss. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
LaPorte County property owners have a new layer of protections and payment options thanks to a bill authored by Rep. Tom Dermody and signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence. The measure offers flexible repayment options and plans along with incentives to make early or on-time payments. It authorizes the Department of Local Government Finance to delay the payment of tax bills imposed for the March 1, 2012 or Jan. 15, 2013 assessment dates. The bill also creates a 2 percent discount for those who pay their property taxes on time. If payments are delinquent, the bill creates an additional 12 month period before a property is put up for auction. Continue reading
Pulaski County has a new maintenance supervisor. The commissioners voted unanimously last night to hire Winamac native Jeff Johnston, contingent on his passing a pre-employment drug screening. He will oversee maintenance and upkeep of all of the county’s buildings. Commissioner Larry Brady noted that a number of qualified individuals applied for the job and says their resumes will remain on file with the county. Johnston replaces longtime maintenance supervisor Morry DeMarco, who was fired last month by the commissioners.
The lone quote for a truck chassis and body for the Plymouth Waste Water Department is well under budget. Oliver Ford bid $52,685 for a single axle truck with the tool box and a hoist to raise lift stations. Utility Superintendent Donnie Davidson told the Plymouth Board of Works he had budgeted $58,000 for this year’s vehicle.
The board also ratified the award of quotes for three new police vehicles. The Plymouth Police Department will purchase a Dodge Charger from County Auto for $20,357 and two all-wheel drive Ford Interceptors from Oliver Ford for a total of $45,397. The total cost for all three vehicles is nearly $2,000 less than Police Chief Dave Bacon has budgeted this year.
A former 1999 Ford Crown Victoria police car will be traded in to offset the cost of the new cop cars. It’s currently being used by the Plymouth Board of Aviation and will be replaced by a 2006 unmarked Ford Taurus Police Department vehicle that was designated as surplus by the board.
An investigation is underway into the Michiana Behavioral Health Center after a number of former employees claimed the center has committed a number of employee discrimination violations and maintains an unsafe work environment through consistent understaffing. Dominique Smith, a former employee at the center between November 2010 and April 2012, said that she was witness to a number of incidents involving sexual misconduct and physical abuse and that she was discriminated against while employed at MBHC. She also claimed that the administration ignored her health issues her supervisors intentionally mistreated her specifically.
Recently appointed Starke County Highway Director Stephen “Rik” Ritzler this week presented the commissioners with an update on the Bridge 43 project, and informed them that the preliminary plans for the bridge are nearly complete with the help of engineering firm Jones Petrie Rafinski. Ritzler told the commissioners that JPR is designing the bridge on County Road 1000 East over the Robbins Ditch, and they will soon be able to send the project out for bids.
“Plans are almost done. We need to get the permits and the next step is to put it out for bid for construction and then starting a construction schedule after that,” said Ritzler.
In his report, County Attorney James Clevenger explained to the commissioners that the plan commission reviewed the proposed amendment changes to the ordinance and it came to a vote of 4-4 to approve them. The changes would virtually make it impossible to place a wind turbine farm anywhere in Marshall County.
A four-year study of the current laws by the Criminal Code Evaluation Commission found that legislation needed to be drafted to change the four classes of felonies into six classes. Felonies are currently classified as A-D and will be revamped to classes 1-6. This better defines the perimeters of the classes of felonies. The legislation also changes the credit time system requiring offenders to serve at least 75 percent of their sentence instead of half of the time under current law.
If this legislation is enacted, the revised criminal code would be effective July 1, 2014. This would give law enforcement and corrections officials one year to prepare for the implementation of the changes.
