Senator Joe Donnelly and Congresswoman Jackie Walorski will be honoring area veterans along with Blue Star Mothers this coming weekend.
A parade will be organized for veterans and their families to assemble behind Five Star at 8 a.m CDT. The start time for the parade is 10 a.m. and will run from Five Star to the courthouse.
Strong storms packing high winds are possible across the Kankakee Valley today. Starke County Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Bombagetti says the full oliage on the trees will cause them to act like kites and blow in the wind. As a result, the potential for lost power will be high. Continue reading
Starke County’s annual bridge maintenance program is almost complete. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler says the county is awaiting the final inspection on each of the 58 bridges. Crews cleaned the deck and drains on each bridge, sealed all of the concrete decks, made minor repairs and added rip rap to about half of the structures to help prevent erosion. Once the inspections are complete a full report will be posted on the county’s website.
The Pulaski County Council approved the purchase of a generator for the health department.
Terri Hansen had been asking for a generator for the department for several years. After working with county maintenance director Jeff Johnston, Hansen said they are ready to make the purchase.
“Jeff Johnston, I talked with him a couple of times and he said the generator that would run our office is about $2,900. I’m asking for an additional in equipment for $3,500 for the generator and for any cost for the hookup,” said Hansen.
The Knox City Council held the public hearing for the 2015 budget last night.
The city advertised a $2.8 million budget which is a little less than what it was last year.
There were no citizens in the audience that commented on the budget and the hearing concluded.
With the 2015 budget approved, the Marshall County Council looked at the insurance impact to the budget and how it will affect employees.
In the past, county employees paid $1.00 for their insurance. With the analysis of premium rates for next year, the county braced for a 20 to 25 percent increase in premiums for 2015.
A Plymouth woman was arrested on Monday after allegedly presenting a counterfeit identification card at a medical facility.
When Plymouth City Police Department officers arrived at the facility in the 2800 block of Miller Drive in Plymouth, they reportedly saw Xiomara Duarte, 40, sign a document with the fictitious name on the counterfeit identification card.
Duarte was questioned and reportedly admitted to signing the fictitious name. She also admitted to purchasing the counterfeit card, according to police.
The Pulaski County Council discussed a salary ordinance change request with the sheriff’s matron, Carrie Avery, Monday night.
The situation is unique in that a dispatcher and his wife work at the department and officials want to move one into the chief dispatcher role. That would create a nepotism law violation. To get around that, Avery went before the county council to request that they approve the creation of co-assistant chief deputy positions and put the pair into those roles.
The ADM, or Average Daily Membership, count for all schools in Indiana is Friday, Sept. 12 and administrators are urging all students to be in school on that day.
It’s imperative that students show up for school as an official enrollment will be taken which will be given to the state. It’s that enrollment count that will determine how much money the state will give each school per student for operating costs.
The Grovertown man accused of backing into a Starke County Sheriff’s Deputy during an attempted traffic stop before leading officers on a high-speed chase through two counties last week is jailed on a $250,000 surety bond. Paul Thomas Coffin, 34, of Grovertown, pleaded not guilty to the charges during his initial hearing in Starke Circuit Court. Continue reading
A Medaryville man whose sister says he over-stayed his welcome faces strangulation and battery charges in connection with the brawl that ensued. Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a home in the 100 block of East Pearl Street Sunday evening after a fight broke out between several men. Continue reading
The Marshall County Council members approved the 2015 budget after making over $300,000 in cuts.
They initially cut $177,654 out of the General Fund with the sheriff’s budget and the prosecutor’s budget getting hit the hardest. The council also decided to move $216,859 in the sheriff’s pension to the certified shares portion of the budget. With those changes, the $9,041,321 all-funds budget was approved.
The Pulaski County Council approved an additional appropriation for the EMS for the purchase of an ambulance and new cardiac monitors.
EMS Director Nikki Lowry requested $88,000 in an additional appropriation in order to pay for the new ambulance. The insurance company will be paying $82,000 to the county after totaling the ambulance that was damaged in a fire on Feb. 7 at Wagner’s Towing. The cost of a new ambulance is approximately $150,000.
Fuel prices across the state of Indiana took a large scale hike at the end of last week. The state average price ended up around $3.59 a gallon prompted by a gain in wholesale prices that caused a double digit per gallon increase. GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan says spikes in prices can be predicted ahead of time.
“What we see across Indiana is that prices generally spike like they did last week, every one to two weeks, so it’s quite predictable that these spikes happen,” said DeHaan.
Officials met last week to look into composing a new five-year comprehensive plan for the city of Knox.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers said a company will be hired to design a plan.
“We have hired a company from Indianapolis called Green Three and this company will be hired from a grant that we have obtained from the State of Indiana from OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs) to update Knox’s five-year plan and give us a direction of where we want to go,” stated Chambers.
The West Central School Board held the hearing for the 2015 budget during their recent meeting.
The board opened the floor for comments on the budget, capital projects plan, transportation plan and bus replacement plan. Superintendent Don Street went over the line items and said there are no significant changes in the budget for 2015.
The 49th Annual Francesville Fall Festival is back next weekend. Festivities get under way Friday, Sept. 19 with the American Legion Fish Dinner starting at 4:30 p.m. EDT and ending at 8. The Master Cracker Jack and Miss Candy Korn pageant starts at 6:30. Later learn to dance with the Tri County Kickers at 7. Continue reading
A Medaryville man was sentenced in U.S. District Court this week.
James Huddleston, 42, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $53,790.49 in restitution after pleading guilty to the felony offense of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and forfeiture allegations.
According to documents filed in this case, from August 2011 through April 2013, Huddleston, while employed as the business manager for the Lake Ridge Public Schools in Gary, embezzled $134,054 which caused Lake Ridge to incur associated fees. Court documents indicate that gambled with much of the money he embezzled. Huddleston failed to report the embezzled income to the IRS and owes the IRS $25,000 in taxes as a result of the crime.
A Plymouth man will serve 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine.
Brock Biddle pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to the charge and was sentenced in Marshall County Superior Court 1 on Thursday. He admitted to manufacturing the drug at his home on Loon Court which is near Webster School in Plymouth. Continue reading
Hamlet and Davis Township officials will open bids on Monday, Sept. 15 for the new fire station they plan to build next to the Starke County Fairgrounds. Bids are due by 2 p.m. CDT to the clerk-treasurer’s office and will be opened and read. The Davis Township Building Corporation will take them under advisement. Continue reading
