Pulaski County Justice Center, Courthouse Internet Capability to Increase

 The Pulaski County Justice Center and the Courthouse will be getting an upgrade in bandwidth.

Willie DeGroot from DeGroot Technologies explained that the Indiana Office of Technology is requiring a higher speed connection. DSL modems are in the offices, and the county is paying $700 a month for those. DeGroot proposed bringing in a direct fiber optic connection to be installed by Lightstream and a network switch would be installed to branch out to the routers. He said it would provide a much faster connection. It would save money in the process, he reported.

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Starke County Highway Department Adds Four-Way Stop

4-way_stop_signStarke County has a new four-way stop. County highway crews added stop signs at all four corners of the intersection of 350 South and 200 East this week. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler says they’ve also installed “new traffic pattern ahead” signs about 200 feet before the four approaches as well. The additional stop signs were added after a Purdue University engineering study found a need for a four-way stop due to safety concerns and traffic counts.

Knox Community School Board Approves School Calendar

CalendarThe 2015-2016 Knox Community School Corporation balanced calendar was approved by the School Board this week.

Classes will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The last student day will be June 1. Commencement is scheduled for June 10.

The new calendar includes a number of extended vacation periods. The first occurs in October, fall break, from the 19th to the 23rd. A three-day Thanksgiving break is scheduled November 25-27.

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Video Conferencing, Technology Upgrade Approved

  Marshall County Superior Court No. 2 Judge Dean Colvin asked the commissioners this week to assist him in improving the video conferencing system between the courthouse and the Marshall County Jail.

A system was put in place years ago, but it’s time to upgrade, according to Judge Colvin.

“Over the last several years, we’ve run into a couple of issues with the video conferencing as a result of, as I like to call it, planned obsolescence with the regards to technology,” said Judge Colvin. “We’ve worked through the lifetime expectancy of the video conferencing and we’re having technical problems with video conferencing. We need to address those and bring them back up to date and back up to speed.”

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LaPorte Police Crack Down on Seatbelt Use

Seatbelts are For EveryoneClick it or ticket. That’s the message LaPorte Police sent to motorists during a recent Operation Pull Over-funded enforcement blitz. They wrote 51 seat belt and three car seat violation citations during a mid-February campaign. During the past 11 days the LaPorte Police Department responded to 46 property damage and five personal injury crashes, affecting a total of nine people. Of the personal injury crashes, two occupants were not restrained, and two were injured. Continue reading

State Board of Accounts to Answer Severance Questions

Pleasant View Rest Home
Pleasant View Rest Home

Severance pay for the employees at the Pleasant View Rest Home will need to be brought before the State Board of Accounts before any formal action on the issue can be taken.

The request was made to the Commissioners by Larry Rausch at Monday night’s meeting. Commissioner Terry Young had mentioned the possibility of severance pay in a previous commissioners meeting. Rausch said the employees will be out of a job at the end of the month and will be searching for work that is creating a hardship for their families. He is concerned that some employees may not be able to draw unemployment as they may not qualify.

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Starke County Sheriff’s Department Adds Crime Mapping to County Website

Starke County Sheriff's Department BadgeVisitors to the Starke County government website now have access to information about incidents reported to the sheriff’s department. County information technology director Joe Short recently added the Crime Mapper tool to the existing Starke County GIS on the website. Visitors can click the crime button and view calls from the last seven or 30 days or can search a customized date range.

Sheriff Bill Dulin hopes sharing this information will raise awareness of the types of incidents his department deals with on a daily basis. Continue reading

ISTEP Testing Delayed at Knox Schools

 
 

The icy conditions yesterday, causing cancellation of a school day, also delayed the start of ISTEP testing in the Knox Middle School. Testing there was scheduled to start Tuesday.

At Monday’s meeting of the Knox School Board, Superintendent A.J. Gappa reviewed the constant changes in the ISTEP provisions by the State. In a visual presentation, he compared last year’s testing plan with the current year.

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Local Students Compete In Auto Skills Contest

SCILLSeveral students from a local career center were able to test their skills after participating in a regional auto competition.

It was the first time participating in the SkillsUSA Regional Auto Service competition for four of the students. They attend the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning – which partners students, educators, and industry to enhance workforce skills.
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K9 Assists in Warrant Arrest in Medaryville

 

 

Shantelle Vierke
Shantelle Vierke
Eric Wireman
Eric Wireman
Sadie Wireman
Sadie Wireman

Three people were arrested on Monday after officers attempted to take Eric Wireman into custody on a warrant.

Officers received information that Eric Wireman, 31, was at 15385 W. 160 N. in Medaryville. He was wanted on a Starke County warrant for failure to appear. He did not appear in court on a felony charge of dealing in methamphetamine and a misdemeanor charge of visiting a common nuisance.

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