The Indiana Department of Education released graduation rate data Wednesday for the 2012-2013 school year.
The graduation rate is up from 2012. The average rate for all schools was 88.6% and most of the local schools are above that rate.
John Glenn Schools had the highest graduation rate of the local schools at 96.6% and Culver Community Schools had the lowest graduation rate at 77%.
Area adults who want to take their high school equivalency test or brush up on some other skills can register now for classes in Starke County offered through the Center of Workforce Innovations Adult Learning Centers. Courses prepare individuals for the new Indiana High School Equivalency test, which replaces the GED. Courses in basic reading, math and language are also available. Some sites offer English as a Second Language instruction as well.
Classes in North Judson meet at the North Judson Wayne Township Public Library on Keller Avenue. Registration for that site is Monday, April 21 at 10 a.m. Call 574-896-2841 for more information. Registration for classes in Knox takes place each Monday and Wednesday except Monday, April 21 at the Starke County WorkOne office on North Shield Street. Call 574-249-8720 for more information.
The month of April is an opportunity for the community to come together and help children who have been victims of abuse.
There are 49 children in Starke County that are being served by the Department of Child Services who have been in abusive or unhealthy situations.
Child Abuse Awareness Month is a time when all individuals and organizations can play a role in making the community a better place for children and families. By ensuring that parents have the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to care for their children, it can promote children’s social and emotional well-being and prevent child maltreatment within families and communities.
With the spring season finally upon us, cleaning of our highways and byways will be getting underway.
INDOT’s annual Trash Bash will be running throughout this month and coincides with National Earth Day to aid in raising awareness of litter. Over 20,000 bags of trash were collected by INDOT maintenance crews, Indiana Department of Correction offender crews, and Adopt-A-Highway volunteers last year.
Indiana’s Four Star schools for the 2012-2013 school year were announced Tuesday.
Among the 331 schools named, four local schools achieved the status. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz announced that John Glenn High School, Kingsbury Elementary School in LaPorte, Webster Elementary School in Plymouth and Tri-Township Consolidated School Corporation in LaCrosse reached Four Star School status.
IU Health is aggressively recruiting primary care physicians in order to keep up with demand in Starke County. Vice President for Strategy Brian Donnelly says there are nine currently practicing here.
“By 2017, four of those nine physicians will have reached age 72. I personally am not aware of any retirements pending. I don’t know that we’ve gotten a firm date from any of these folks. That’s not up to me to decide how long doctors practice, but at least in terms of looking at reality four of the nine physicians will be late in their careers when we get to 2017. This to us looks like a shortage,” Donnelly told the Starke County Commissioners.
A German auto components company will be setting up shop in LaPorte.
Governor Mike Pence was recently in Germany and met with the executives of Jäger Group and its subsidiary Jaeger-Unitek Sealing Solutions, Inc. will be expanding operations in LaPorte. The expansion will include 52 new jobs by 2016.
Three Rensselaer residents were killed in a semi vs. car accident Monday night on I-65 south near the 227 mile marker.
A semi driver hauling 28,000 pounds of apples from Washington was slowed in the right lane to avoid backed up traffic for a previous crash. An SUV driven by Dr. Mallik Chaganti of Rennselaer failed to slow for traffic and rear ended the semi trailer.
Today is the deadline to either file your federal and state income taxes or electronically file an extension request in order to avoid hefty penalties and interest from the IRS and Indiana Department of Revenue. If you’ve waited until the last minute and won’t be able to get your return done, H&R Block senior tax advisor Michelle Bachtel says you have an option if you act quickly. “File the extension, because the extension alone is going to save you money. Even if you can’t afford to give them a penny, just file the extension,” Bachtel says. That extension will need to be filed electronically. It will give you six months to complete your return without late filing penalties, but Bachtel says any taxes you may owe still need to be paid today if possible in order to avoid failure to pay penalties and interest. Continue reading
The Starke County Building Corporation may have been able to save $29,000 had the water line extension from Henry Drive east to the new Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center been finished by its April 1 deadline.
The existing water lines to the building on State Road 8 at County Road 550 East are not wide enough to provide enough pressure should the building catch on fire. The county and city opted last fall to run new lines to the facility and contract the work out. The Knox City Council accepted a bid from Mark Milo Enterprises to do the work.
This week is National Telecommunicators Week.
When you call 911, the dispatcher is the first person you speak to in an emergency. The dispatcher helps communicate emergency services to police officers, ambulance services and fire departments.
In one second, a dispatcher may be relaying license and registration information to an officer and the next second that dispatcher may be signaling fire, EMS and police to the scene of an accident or coordinating communication for a high speed pursuit.
The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson will be giving Easter Train Rides beginning on April 19th.
The excursion is a round-trip from the depot and crosses the Kankakee River and English Lake in a trip that goes over five miles. The trip also travels to a park along the tracks where passengers disembark to take part in an Easter Egg Hunt.
A Knox man will continue to serve parts of Starke and Marshall County as a member of the Kanakee Valley REMC Board of Directors.
Ronald Singleton was reelected to the District 4 seat for another three-year term during the cooperative’s annual membership meeting Tuesday night. He’s served on the board since 1987. During his tenure he has held numerous leadership roles, including secretary-treasurer from 1988-2003 and 2008 to 2010. Singleton received his Credentialed Cooperative Leadership Certificate in 1991 and Board Leadership Certificate in 1996.
Now that spring is finally here, many people are taking walks, jogging and riding bicycles on local roadways. In doing so, they may inadvertently come across the toxic remnants of a methamphetamine lab. The byproducts of meth production are also flammable, corrosive and acidic and could cause an explosion or burns if they come into direct contact with the skin. Officers with the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Section say people who cook the drug are using a variety of containers. One that’s become popular is the 1.5 gallon gas can. If you find one that looks new along the roadside, there’s a good chance it’s a working meth lab.
Plastic pop bottles and glass or plastic jars are also used to make meth. An empty container with granular material and possibly a tube coming out of the top is extremely hazardous. Battery casings, zipper sandwich bags and empty cold medication blister packs are also signs of recent meth production. Continue reading
As temperatures continue to improve and we move further into the spring season, construction projects are beginning and pothole patching continues. The asphalt plants will soon open to create product.
Asphalt plants will be opening a little later this season due to the unusually difficult winter. INDOT representatives have been told that the cold and poor traveling conditions have delayed prep work for the summer paving season. The prep work is necessary before the plants can open.
The Hamlet man whose trailer was destroyed by an early morning fire Tuesday is jailed on numerous drug charges after local police officers reportedly found a meth lab in the rubble. Hamlet Police arrested David Salyer, 45, at 2:10 Tuesday morning on preliminary charges of manufacture and possession of methamphetamine, possession of two or more precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, false informing and maintaining a common nuisance. The Hamlet Volunteer Fire Department responded at 12:34 a.m. to 504 North Starke Street, lot 10 and left at 2:18 a.m., according to dispatch records. The Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department was called in to assist. Continue reading
The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department is on the lookout for a wanted sex offender.
James W. Adams, 31, is wanted on a charge of Failure to Register, a Class D felony. Adams was convicted in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin of third degree Sexual Assault of a Child in 2001. He was identified as an Offender Against Children with lifetime requirement to register with law enforcement.
Adams first registered in LaPorte County in 2009 and in October 2013 he told the sheriff’s office he was homeless. Since October of 2013 he had been registering as homeless every seven days as required but he last registered in mid-February but has not been seen or heard of since. He was last seen in the Michigan City area.
None of the Pulaski County government buildings have fire alarm systems tied in to the 911 system to immediately notify the fire department in the event of an emergency, and the courthouse does not have any sort of sprinkler system in place. Those issues were raised during Monday’s county commissioners meeting when Teri Hansen from the health department asked why the fire alarm system at the annex building on Riverside Drive does not go anywhere. Maintenance supervisor Jeff Johnston says he will look into the cost of doing hard-wiring it to the dispatch center. He says the annex building at least has a zoned sprinkler system in place. “If there’s a fire on the third floor, only the third floor suppression goes off,” Johnston said.
That’s more than the courthouse has in place, according to Johnston. “Over here, there’s nothing. If there’s a fire downstairs in the hallway, this is going to be a nightmare. This is something we’ve looked at. We’ve got battery- powered smoke detectors stuck on like you’ve got in your house.” Continue reading
Voters who cast ballots in one Starke County precinct will do so in a new location, starting with the May 6 primary. Clerk Evelyn Skronski told the commissioners Wayne Township 4 was previously located at the North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation Administration Building. School officials said it’s becoming too crowded and offered an alternative.
“They told us that we could use the atrium area at the high school,” Skronski said. “The east side has the handicapped parking and a lot of space. It’s got what we need. The only thing is we have these big, open windows that let in lots of light. That’s fine. They’re going to cover them so that candidates cannot stand out there and do whatever they do.” Continue reading
Attention sports fans. Don’t miss your chance to hang out with Chicago Tribune sports writer David Haugh and bid on some exclusive Chicago sports SWAG Saturday night. He’s headlining a tailgaiting party Saturday night at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center to benefit a nonprofit organization close to his heart. His mother, Joan, is the executive director of Community Services of Starke County. Proceeds from “Tailgaiting with David Haugh and Charlie Adams” will all benefit the agency. Haugh says the organization was a part of his life when he was growing up in North Judson and is very important to Starke County because of all of the services they provide. He and former WSBT sportscaster Charlie Adams will be at the 5 p.m. event, which will include a live auction of a lot of sports memorabilia. Items up for bid include items from the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks and footballs signed by Chicago Bears players. The Chicago White Sox also donated items, and a signed Notre Dame Football will be sold as well. Continue reading
