The effort teachers at North Judson-San Pierre schools have put into preparing students to take ISTEP tests is paying off. Superintendent Lynn Johnson says test scores from 2009 to 2014 reflect steady gains. Math scores have gone from 62-percent proficiency in 2009 to 81 percent in 2014 for grades 3 through 8. During that same time period English/Language Arts scores have improved from 66 to 77 percent. Continue reading
A fire seriously damaged the LaPorte License Branch over the weekend.
Don Snemis, Commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said the employees at the branch will be conducting transactions in a mobile unit at the site to handle credential and registration renewals only. All other transactions may be conducted at other branches in Michigan City, Valparaiso, South Bend, Walkerton or Knox.
LaPorte residents can complete transactions online at www.mybmv.com or call 1-888-692-6841.
The Knox City Council will meet tonight where the members will continue in a discussion with the usage of the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox by area churches.
At the last city council meeting, the members discussed drafting a memorandum of understanding for Deb McIntire and the churches to sign to make sure that all entities are on the same page regarding the intention and use of the building. That document is expected to be presented tonight. All churches involved would need to provide a certificate of insurance to the city.
The LaPorte City Police Department will be continuing in its partnership with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) with a $21,150 grant for Operation Pull Over which expires in September of 2015.
Operation Pull Over is an initiative by officers to reduce traffic crashes and related injuries and fatalities with planned enforcement. The officers work toward monitoring dangerous driving behavior such as speeding, sign/signal violations, following too closely, reckless driving, texting while driving, and other unsafe driving behavior to reduce crashes. Police also conduct seat belt and child restraint enforcement to increase restraint use.
Parents who have kids with food allergies need to be cautious this Halloween when trick or treating. A bag of Halloween candy isn’t all treats for the one in thirteen U.S. kids who suffer from certain food allergies. Continue reading
Ancilla College is rewarding high school students who finish at the top of their class. Beginning in 2015, Ancilla College will be offering full tuition scholarships to the top high school graduates from schools in 10 north-central Indiana counties. Ancilla’s Val-Sal Scholarship offers free full-time tuition, as much as $13,500 each year, to local graduates who attend Ancilla. Continue reading
A Marshall County man ended up in jail there Sunday evening after a scuffle with police responding to a report of a stabbing. Officers were called to a residence in the 7000 block of 11A Road around 4:30 p.m. When they arrived they learned nobody had been stabbed but a fight had taken place between the residents. The police report indicates a knife had been used, but no injuries were visible. The officers asked Audie Bolinger to step outside the house. Continue reading
A major Starke County road project is substantially complete. Members of the county council and commissioners and officials from the Starke County Economic Development Commission will celebrate the reconstruction of the intersection of State Road 8 and 300 East later today. The intersection has been rebuilt to accommodate traffic to and from the Knox Industrial Park. It now features a turn lane and acceleration and deceleration lanes to help trucks more easily navigate the corner. Continue reading
A public hearing will be held in Culver on proposed water and sewer rate increases. Sewer rates have not gone up since 2005, and water rates were last raised in 2009. Culver Clerk-Treasurer Karen Heim says the proposed increases will happen in two phases. Continue reading
Pulaski County is the recipient of a Blight Elimination Program grant from the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority worth $147,000.
Dave Weber from the Pulaski County Building Administrator’s office said the grant will help rid the county of blighted structures.
“The funds are designed to demolish vacant, blighted or abandoned housing,” Weber explained. “This grant will last for a period of three years. In the grant application, we had to identify an end use. That end use could be anything. It could be the construction of a new home on that same lot or a community garden. At the end of that three year period, we’ll be left with a positive, constructive end use instead of a vacant lot where those abandoned homes once stood.”
This is the last full week to vote absentee in the General Election.
So far, Starke County has reported 661 walk-in, mail-in and travel board votes. Marshall County has reported 730 absentee votes and Pulaski County has reported 278 machine votes this far.
In Starke County, in-office absentee voting is today through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the second floor meeting room in the courthouse. The same hours will apply for Saturday, Nov. 1. Evening voting hours are available tomorrow and Thursday, Oct. 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. CT.
A man and woman from Rochester each face multiple felony charges after state police reportedly found an active meth lab and drugs at their home early Saturday morning. They discovered them at the residence in the 3100 south block of 150 East in Rochester while serving a search warrant in connection with an illegal narcotics investigation. Continue reading
Addict turned triathlete Todd Crandall will share his story of overcoming a 13-year addiction to drugs and alcohol with the community during a program tonight at LifePlex in Plymouth. Crandall is the founder and president of Racing for Recovery. It’s a nonprofit organization that strives to save lives and improve the quality of life for addicts and their friends and family by promoting a lifestyle of health, fitness and sobriety. Crandall first tried alcohol at age 13 to cope with the depression and confusion of his mother’s suicide 10 years earlier due to her struggles with addiction. For the next 13 years Crandall says he tried every type of drug he could get his hands on before making the decision to quit.
“By the grace of God – that sounds so cliché, but it’s true – and I wasn’t raised in a religious upbringing, but I do believe that God, and I’m going to say my Mom, had something in there that told me on April 15th of 1993, after getting my third drunk driving charge, that’s it. I wanted something better, and that was all it took was that notion in my head that I wanted something better. Then I put the work into rebuilding my life,” Crandall said. Continue reading
Property taxes are due soon in the Starke County Treasurer’s Office.
Treasurer Kasey Clark told WKVI News that taxes are due in her office on Monday, Nov. 10.
Taxpayers may mail those payments or visit the office on the ground floor of the Starke County Annex building Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to make a payment. A drop box is also available outside the office.
Property taxes may also be paid online at www.starketax.net. Follow the instructions carefully.
Fire hydrant flushing in the City of Knox will take place this week. This is done as routine maintenance and to operate and test the fire hydrants. Continue reading
The death of a Knox man is under investigation.
Knox City Police Department officers were called to a residence on south Main Street in Knox on Thursday where a 23-year-old man was found in cardiac arrest. CPR was initiated on the victim by the officers until paramedics arrived on the scene.
The victim, identified as Nicholas Harmon, was transported to IU Health Starke Hospital in Knox, according to a news release from the Knox City Police Department. He was subsequently airlifted to Memorial Hospital of South Bend where he later died.
The Gary man police say confessed to killing seven women, including a former Knox resident, is due in court next week for an initial hearing. Darren Vann, 43, of Gary, faces murder charges in two of the seven murders. He’s due in court Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. in Lake County. Formal charges have been filed against Vann in connection with the deaths of a woman found strangled in a Hammond motel room last week and Merrillville woman discovered in an abandoned house in Gary. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director gave the commissioners some food for thought in their meeting this week.
Nathan Origer said the third and final site study has been done on a west side rail industrial development. Preliminary work will be sought to make sure the landowners are on board to move forward with efforts for economic development.
Origer presented a contract for a company to overhaul the county’s zoning ordinances.
The standardized tests given to North Judson-San Pierre students are locked in a room that cannot be accessed by anyone else during the school day. That is one of the 17 state-mandated safety protocols the corporation is required to follow to ensure the integrity of the tests they administer. The school board this week approved an amended test security policy. Continue reading
