The Starke County Historical Society received a check for $5,000 from the Starke County Genealogical Society on Sunday at the annual museum open house on Sunday. The gift will be added to the museum’s building and acquisition fund. The museum is currently using only the Main Street home of former Gov. and Mrs. Henry F. Schricker. Continue reading
A second fund has been set up on the website GoFundMe.com to cover funeral expenses for the victims of a Friday house fire. Lucas Finn Fisher, 2, was pronounced dead of smoke inhalation at the scene of Friday morning’s blaze. Contributions for his funeral and burial expenses can be made at http://www.gofundme.com/littlelucas. Continue reading
A local soldier got a heroes welcome home last night after a six-month tour of duty in the Middle East. The Starke and Pulaski County Sheriff’s Departments and firefighters in both counties escorted Cody Foust and his mother up U.S. 35. He’s with the Indiana National Guard’s 1413th Engineer Company, 81st Troop Command. The unit spent the past several months in Afghanistan performing base-closure and retrograde operations in support of the drawdown of Operation Enduring Freedom. Continue reading
Pulaski County is one of six finalists for a new statewide program. The Hometown Collaboration Initiative seeks to help small communities expand their pipeline of local leaders, strengthen and expand jobs by building on existing economic assets and and improve attractiveness and quality of life of their hometowns. Continue reading
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers is running for reelection. He notes much progress has been made in the city during his seven years in office and adds a process is under way to develop a long-range plan with citizen input to continue growth and prosperity.
Chambers also cites his experience running the city on a reduced budget due to state funding cuts. During his tenure as mayor, Knox has been awarded nearly $2 million in grants. Continue reading
A LaPorte man now faces an attempted rape charge in connection with a Monday morning incident. Police there were called to a home in the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue at 1:45 a.m. Witnesses told officers they heard a disturbance coming from a bedroom.
The effort to regulate the placement of construction dumpsters within the Knox city limits took a step forward last night with passage of an ordinance on first reading. It sets limits on how long dumpsters can be kept on a property and establishes registration requirements for the sake of accountability and liability should an accident occur. Continue reading
The Culver Town Council will interview prospective town manager applicants tomorrow. The town has been without a manager since Dave Shoeff stepped down in mid-October. The council has been working with consultant Mitch Ripley to seek qualified candidates. Continue reading
The Town of Winamac now owns the triangle lot at the intersection of 13th Street and U.S. 35, having recently purchased the property from the state. Continue reading
Ron Powers has attended his final regularly-scheduled meeting as a member of the Pulaski County Council. He’s retiring at the end of the month after two four-year terms, as is Pulaski County Sheriff Mike Gayer. Tensions between the two have frequently spilled over into meetings. Monday night Gayer set that aside. Continue reading
A vacant Culver Town Council seat currently occupied by Bill Githens has been filled. He was recently elected to the Marshall County Council. Continue reading
An Eastern Pulaski School Board member was honored Monday evening for 22 years of service. John Kwiatkowski is retiring from the board at the end of this year. He served two stints on the board as the representative from Franklin Township. The first was from 1968 until 1978. During that time the elementary school was built. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Human Services Food Pantry is closed until Monday, Dec. 15 in order to prepare for the holiday season. Staff and volunteers are getting ready for the annual toy store and food basket distribution this weekend. Regular food pantry hours are 9:30 until 11:30 a.m. or by appointment for people with emergencies or who are working, in school or training. Those hours will resume on Monday.
Employees of a Knox business exceeded their food pantry donation drive goal for the second straight year. Last year MPI set a goal of collecting 263 items for the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry, one per employee. They nearly tripled it, with 700 items donated last year.
A local soldier is returning home from Afghanistan this evening. Cody Foust will be welcomed home with a police and fire escort and a salute at the Knox VFW. Continue reading
Funeral services are Thursday, Dec. 11 1 p.m. at Braman & Son Memorial Chapel in Knox for the two people killed in a Friday morning house fire. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Council is moving forward with plans to close Pleasant View Rest Home. Councilman Doug Roth’s motion for a one-time additional appropriation of $204,846 to keep the home open through 2015 in order to transition toward closure did not pass.
“There’s a big difference between the legal way and the right way. I have no doubt we’ll do it the legal way, but I’m going to say right now we haven’t done it the right way from the start,” Roth said. Continue reading
The Eastern Pulaski School Board did not adopt a final design for the proposed $14 million building renovation project when they met last night. Superintendent Dan Foster says around 80 percent of the final design is complete.
A Winamac man police say asked several Walmart patrons for gas money faces panhandling charges in LaPorte County. Officers responded to a report of suspicious behavior at the store on Boyd Boulevard in LaPorte around 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Several patrons described the suspect as a tall, white man with tattoos on his hands. He was said to be with a teal Dodge Neon with a heavyset white woman with red hair in the passenger seat. Continue reading
