Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
The third annual Turkey Tracks event held last weekend and was deemed a success with over 30 hunters taking part in the event.
Nathan Origer has been named the new Director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission. He says he’s ready to help businesses with information, grants or tax abatements in order to locate in Pulaski County. Continue reading
During the Spotlight on Success portion of the Knox Community School Board meeting Monday night, the Board honored 4th grade teacher, Sherry Wakal.
Martin’s Supermarkets, along with television station CW 25 and radio station Sunny 101.5 out of South Bend run a yearly program on Teacher of the Month,” explained Superintendent A.J. Gappa. One of our 4th grade teachers, Sherry Wakal, was the February Teacher of the Month and she was presented a certificate. She is planning to attend a luncheon on May 19th at the Martin’s in Granger, where they announce the Teacher of the Year. It was quite an honor.”
The Starke County Youth Club Radiothon is underway! Call 772-6241 to call in your pledge for the youth club that helps children in Knox, North Judson-San Pierre and Oregon-Davis schools.
The Youth Club is running the Summer School program at the Knox Middle School this year. They also help kids throughout the school year with homework help, arts and crafts and enrichment activities. Students meet after school, get a snack and get the help they need to help with their studies.
North Judson Police Chief, Doug Vessely, told the North Judson Town Board this week that a recent search warrant conducted at the scrap yard in Knox by the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Knox City Police Department and the North Judson Police Department may have uncovered stolen property from the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson. Museum staff had reported joint bars stolen plus other items worth thousands of dollars. The incident remains under investigation.
The Indiana Department of Education has released a preliminary budget estimate for schools and according to Superintendent, A.J. Gappa, the Knox Community School Corporation looks to be in better shape than its neighboring schools. He said that the School Corporation could see an increase in the next two years.
The Starke County Youth Club will be holding its annual Radiothon today from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Youth Club volunteers will be taking pledges at the WKVI studios to help support the after school program.
“We are a youth development organization serving children and families since 2001,” said Irene Szakonyi. “We’re really excited about our fourth annual Radiothon. The phone lines will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. CT for you to call in your pledge to support Starke County children.”
A bill for the purchase of a new police vehicle for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department was brought to the Commissioner’s attention this week, and to their annoyance, they discovered it was a purchase they had not approved. The Commissioners had previously passed a resolution that required they approve all purchases over $500 before they can be made, but the new vehicle, a 2011 Dodge Charger with a total price tag of $23,000, had not even been brought to the Commissioners attention before it was purchased.
The Annual National Day of Prayer Service was held yesterday morning at the Knox Community Center. Sponsored by the City of Knox, and Love Inc., over 200 people attended and heard an address by Pastor James Adcock of the Bible Baptist Church.
“The World Day of Prayer is a day of reflection of where our nation is, was and where it’s going,” said Pastor Adcock. “Everything in our nation has come as a result of prayer, from George Washington to our current President, Barack Obama. Everything happens as a result of prayer and I think this is the day we reflect on that.”
Starke County Community Corrections Director, Bob Hinojosa, has announced that he has been notified that the Starke County office has been awarded a state Community Corrections grant for $183,718. The funds will be used to staff and maintain the office from August 1st, 2011 until July 31st, 2012.
This is the fourth year the Starke County Community Corrections has received the grant.
This is Correctional Employees Week and Hinojosa wanted to bring it to the attention of the Starke County Commissioners at their recent meeting. Hinojosa pointed out that the offender population has become more aggressive in the past decade and he thinks all law enforcement personnel deserve recognition during this special week. The Commissioners agreed and complimented Hinojosa of the exemplary work done by Starke County Community Corrections.
A rainy and cool spring season has caused planting problems for farmers in Starke and Pulaski Counties.
“Those things combined have made for a very wet season which, in general, has delayed planting and we’re well behind the average planting for this time of the year. I’m specifically talking about corn planting. For example, the information that we had this past week indicated that across the state, we had planted two percent of the corn, compared to sixty-nine percent at the same time last year,” said Alan Kurtz, Ag and Natural Resources Educator at Purdue Extension.
An Anchor Writers luncheon celebration was held Thursday, May 5th at the Knox Middle School.
“About five or six years ago, we decided that as a K-12 system we needed to promote good writing,” explained Middle School Principal, Steve Cronk. “Four times year, we ask students to provide us with writing samples and then from those samples the teachers select the best ones. We then have those kids come in for the luncheon. They get a free lunch with their parents and their teachers, and they get a booklet that contains their essay as well as the other winning essays.”
I.T. Director Bob Smith appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week. Smith notified the Commissioners that he needed to make some “tweaks” in the Video Arraignment Program and the Starke County Jail monitoring system to make them work more effectively.
“We found out there were a few glitches that was missed, so this is an additional requirement we need to meet for the law that Judge Hall informed me of,” said IT Director, Bob Smith. “We just want to make sure that we are covering everything and getting it up to par.”
Roberta Clemons was scheduled for jury trial on Wednesday in Starke Circuit Court, but instead, she plead guilty to all charges. There was no plea agreement. The potential jurors watched the defendant plead guilty and then they were free to leave the courtroom.
The Sentencing Hearing took place shortly thereafter. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Clemons to the maximum of three years on each of the three counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, a Class D felony. The sentences will be served concurrently. She was ordered to participate in an intensive drug treatment program in the Indiana Department of Corrections. If she successfully completes the treatment program, she may petition the Court to modify her sentence.
The courthouse is now a weapon-free zone, thanks to the ordinance passed by the Starke County Commissioners at their recent meeting. A public hearing was held regarding the proposed ordinance that would restrict firearms and other weapons at courthouse facilities as well as other public meetings. There was no public comment, and the Commissioners voted to approve the ordinance.
“We’re just trying to protect our court, protect our judge, protect the people who work at the courthouse, and also us,” said Commissioner Dan Bridegroom.
With the death of Osama Bin Laden, many people are remembering back to September 11th, 2001. That was the awful day that planes attacked the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. At the time of the first attack, President George Bush was in Sarasota, Florida. He was visiting a second grade class promoting education at the Emma Booker School. He was reading “The Pet Goat” to the students.
When the news of the tragedy hit, we were all notified of the President’s whereabouts. It was then that we, here, realized that the Principal of the school was the daughter of a Koontz Lake resident.
The Knox Community School Board member discussed entering into a lease agreement with Apple computers at their recent meeting.
“That program would involve having an Apple Macbook computer for each of the students enrolled from grades six through twelve,” said Superintendent, A.J. Gappa. “We’re looking at a four year lease program that Apple promotes through different school corporations throughout the State of Indiana and also throughout the country. Apple representative, Joseph Lee, was here to help answer questions that the Board members had about the program. Many questions have been answered, but there are some other items that the Board wants to look at before they make a commitment because it is such a large commitment. We anticipate getting some of those questions answered before the next Board meeting.”
On “Ted Hayes Remembers” this week, he’ll feature an interview with the late Almo Smith.
In his days in Knox, Almo Smith worked at the Kingsbury Ordinance Plant, sold insurance, served on the Hospital Board, and was the City Court Judge. He was also one of the founding fathers of WKVI radio. Mr. Smith hired both Harold Welter and Ted Hayes to get the station “off the ground.”
A generation of kids went down the curly slide in Wythogan Park. Now, the old curly slide has gone the way of many rides that have seen “better days.”
A new slide has been erected.
“We bought a brand new swirl slide that will replace the old one that he had installed on August 2nd, 1977,” said Park Superintendent, George Byer. “This one will be a blessing for us. We wanted new playground equipment so this is going to fall right in place.”
Knox City Democrats went to the polls yesterday and re-elected Mayor Rick Chambers, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, and City Councilman Ron Parker in the contested races.
Chambers defeated challenger Mark Smith 401-288 in the mayoral race, and at party headquarters, he thanked his supporters.
“It’s been an exciting four years and I’m just humbled by the public coming out and voting and supporting me,” said Chambers. “We’re here to support the public. I’ve got to thank my family. My Mother-in-Law, my kids, everybody else that helped me, and the City workers who have made me look good for the past four years. We’ve got to thank them.”
A litany of complaints have been filed by an attorney for Starke County Jail prisoner, Jack Haut. The Class Action allegations were made on behalf of Haut and those similarly situated pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Most of the complaints have to do with alleged overcrowding. Specifically, the Haut suit claims that because of overcrowding prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor in dayrooms for months at a time.
