The apparent homicide victim found late Friday afternoon at a rural Knox home after a high speed chase that started with a carjacking at Mark Bailey’s Discount Center and ended with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Interstate 65 in Lake County has been tentatively identified. Continue reading
Officials with the Starke County Sheriff’s Department have released the name of the man accused of stealing three vehicles and leading police from multiple agencies on a high-speed chase through Starke, LaPorte, Porter and Lake Counties Friday afternoon. Continue reading
Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells is scheduling a forensic autopsy for the victim of an apparent homicide at a California Township home. Investigators from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department found the woman late Friday afternoon after a high-speed chase that began with a carjacking at Mark Bailey’s Discount Center on State Road 10at 3:41 p.m. and ended on Interstate 65 in Lake County when the suspect apparently shot himself after police deployed stop sticks to end the pursuit. He is in critical condition at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. Authorities have not released his name and will not do so until proper next of kin notifications are made. Continue reading
The Starke County man police say carjacked three vehicles and led police from multiple agencies on a four-county high-speed chase this afternoon is in critical condition at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill. after shooting himself while trying to flee. Information released by the Indiana State Police, Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Starke County Prosecutor’s Office indicates the 57-year-old man was involved in a homicide at a home in Knox. Afterward, he drove his personal vehicle to Mark Bailey’s Discount Center and carjacked a motorist at gunpoint at 3:41 p.m. He then drove to English Lake, dumped his passenger and stole a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee.
A Starke County man police say carjacked a motorist at gunpoint at Mark Bailey’s Discount Center Friday afternoon led officers from multiple agencies on a high-speed chase through four counties before turning his gun on himself. Officials from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department will only say the man is 57-years-old. He took the car from the store at 3:41 p.m., according to authorities, and drove it to English Lake, where he left the owner of the first vehicle, stole a second car and fled. Continue reading
Indiana Conservation officers have not been able to locate Ron Wood, Jr. who went missing in Lake Michigan Saturday night.
Sgt. Shawn D. Brown from the DNR Law Enforcement Division said the United States Coast Guard and DNR officers responded to the an a mile off the shore of Mount Baldy in the Valparaiso area after a report came in of struggling swimmers. Knox High School graduate, Ron Wood, Jr., 29, jumped into Lake Michigan after some swimmers became separated from the boat and were struggling to stay afloat. A nearby boat came to help as well as members of the Coast Guard who were able to save all swimmers with the exception of Wood, Jr.
Telephone scammers are at it again. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department has received numerous reports from local residents of a variety of suspicious calls from people seeking to have money wired to them for various reasons. These include winning a Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes or other prize and having a grandchild in jail. Most of the calls seem to be targeting elderly people. Sheriff’s department officials urge anyone who gets such a call not to send money, no matter how persuasive the person on the other end of the phone is. Continue reading
The Starke County Commissioners voted unanimously to increase the meal allowance for Election Day vendors from $25 to $35 per poll worker. That cost covers breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m., and workers cannot leave during that time. Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski says she will need an additional $582.14 to cover the expense for the Nov. 4 General Election. She can transfer that money from her postage account. Skronski notes the council will need to consider the added cost when they craft future budgets. Municipal elections will take place next year, and 2016 is a presidential election year.
Since students are finished with classes, summer is the perfect time for renovations at the schools. Particular projects on the agenda for Knox Community Schools are the track repairs and the air conditioners at the middle school. Next week, weather permitting, the Knox High School track will be resurfaced and repainted. During the Monday evening Knox Community School Board meeting the the renewal of the Trane five-year service agreement was unanimously approved. Three air conditioning companies had bids submitted but Trane was the only company that allowed payments to be made over time instead of all at once. The agreement starts June 15. The middle school air conditioners will be shut down for a week in July in order for the compressors for the chillers to be replaced. The board assures this will not interfere with summer school courses.
North Judson-San Pierre High School will be hosting royalty this weekend. The annual Mint Festival Pageant will take place in the auditorium on Sunday, June 8 at 6 p.m. Admission for anyone over preschool age is $5. WKVI General Manager Jerry Curtis will be the master of ceremonies. Local contestants will compete in one of the following categories: Mint King & Queen, Jr. Mint King & Queen, Mint Prince and Princess and Little Miss & Little Mister Mint, depending on their age. The winners will ride in the Mint Festival Parade on Sunday, June 15.
This weekend only, Hoosiers have the opportunity to fish without a fishing license. The Department of Natural Resources has declared all Indiana waters okay to fish in with no license on June 7 and 8. To celebrate free fishing weekend Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac is hosting a plethora of special events. Continue reading
State Road 23 between Toto Road and Ober is open to traffic this morning. INDOT closed the highway yesterday afternoon after a sinkhole was discovered in the roadway. Agency officials advise repairs have been made, and the road is once again safe for travel.
A Winamac man faces multiple charges after police say he beat up his girlfriend and wreaked havoc in the emergency room at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a home in the 600 block of 300 West Monday night by neighbors. When they arrived, they found Guy Harlan, 24, covered in blood splatter standing in the yard, waving his arms and screaming at his girlfriend. According to the police report, Harlan beat and strangled her in front of their young children. She and the kids escaped and ran to the neighbor’s house. Continue reading
Contractors or subcontractors doing business in or with the town of North Judson must obtain a permit from the town and be properly insured. That’s the gist of the contractor permit ordinance passed on final reading Monday night by the town board. The new policy does not apply to homeowners who perform their own renovations. However, anyone hired to build, remodel or renovate a structure is subject to the law. Continue reading
There are so many ways that people can scam you and it’s the season now where you have to be mindful of door-to-door sales representatives – or those who claim to be selling products.
If an unsolicited sales person comes to your door, ask to see their peddler’s permit. Look around for a vehicle that may have a company logo or other description of the business. Although the person may have a uniform on that suggests the person works for the company, ask for proper identification like a business card or other credential. If that person cannot produce the items you asked for, send them away.
This weekend is the kickoff for the Knox Farmer’s Market at Sandy Acres Park on South Heaton Street. Food and craft vendors are welcome. Individuals interested in participating can sign up for free at the mayor’s office. All food must be homegrown, and crafts have to be handmade. Participants keep all the money they make. Even if you aren’t a vendor you are still encouraged to attend the launching event this Saturday June 7. The farmer’s market will be open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It runs from June until the end of October.
Conservation officers have suspended their search for missing Knox High School graduate Ron Wood, Jr.
Wood went into Lake Michigan Saturday night to help struggling swimmers who went into the lake and drifted away from the boat that they were in. All swimmers were rescued by nearby boaters and the United States Coast Guard but Wood was nowhere to be found.
A fire that forced the evacuation of hundreds from a Bremen factory remains under investigation. Multiple departments responded to Charleston Corporation on Dogwood Road around 1:30 p.m. yesterday, according to our reporting partners at WNDU-TV. Employees say they heard a loud explosion, which was followed by flames and dark smoke. A few employees were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. No other injuries directly related to the fire were reported. At the time of the fire, 12 people were working inside the building. The entire Charleston campus was evacuated as a precaution. Charleston’s president and CEO says the remaining five buildings will be up and operational today. Only two of the company’s 60 clients will be directly affected by the fire. Charleston Corporation makes fiberglass roofs for high-end RV motorhomes.
Gas prices remain close to $4 per gallon of regular unleaded in the Kankakee Valley. GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan says they should have dropped by the middle to end of May. He says there’s no specific reason but notes wholesale prices are higher. DeHaan says he’s been waiting for prices to drop or trends to shift. He says the tipping point that should revert to a downward trend should occur at any time, but it hasn’t happened yet. Meanwhile, he says refineries are looking good and production is up, so he doesn’t expect gas prices to go up considerably more before they eventually drop.
The Starke County Highway Department will be busy throughout the summer making improvements to 145 miles of county roads. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler says the projects are based on the PASER, or Pavement, Surface, Evaluation and Rating, system and average daily traffic.
“All of the townships are well-represented on the list,” Ritzler told the county commissioners. “The San Pierre area now has the most roads. Most of the roads we added we’re adding in that area because they had the lowest PASER ratings and were a little under-represented on the previous list, and now we’ve put those on there. We’re probably going to chip-seal all of the roads in town and probably a couple of the roads out west of there.” Continue reading
