If you have business with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, you need to take care of it today or wait until Tuesday. BMV branches across the state are closing tomorrow and Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday. Normal business hours will resume on Tuesday. More information about BMV branches and services offered is available online at www.MyBMV.com.
The Knox City Police Department is working with Hamlet Police Chief Frank Lonigro in introducing a new app to school corporations for emergency purposes.
Chief Clint Norem told the Knox Board of Public Works members Wednesday morning that Chief Lonigro learned about this app in training and both of them are finding out more information on how to provide the app to the schools that will allow teachers to hit a panic button on their smart phone if there happens to be an emergency.
The Monterey Days Festival gets under way tonight at 6 p.m. EDT with the Mister and Miss Monterey Days Pageant. Music will be provided by DJ Ruff Kutt Entertainment at 8 p.m. This marks the 17th year for the festival with “Bridge to the Future” being the theme. The festival continues on through Monday. Visit the Monterey Days Facebook page for a complete schedule.
If you’re looking for something to do this Labor Day Weekend there will be plenty going on at the 48th annual Marshall County Blueberry Festival.
The fun gets under way this evening. The Little Miss and Mister Blueberry Contest will start at 5:30 p.m. EDT and will be followed up by Daphne’s Dolls. Country music duo Montgomery Gentry with Frankie Ballard will cap off the first night’s festivities with an 8 p.m. show. Blueberry Festival activities continue through Monday.
Click here for a complete schedule of events.
The Friendship Quilters group will hold a quilt show beginning Saturday, Aug. 30 through Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Heartland Artists Gallery.
The club members will display their traditional and modern quilts plus fabric art during their sixth quilt show.
Besides getting together on the second Monday of every month to discuss quilting, to schedule workshops and to offer demonstrations, the Friendship Quilters support community organizations and donate quilts to the Linus Project, a blanket program for children; Memorial Hospital Children’s Ward; Quilts for Kids; and Quilts of Comfort and Quilts of Valor for injured military personnel.
Three long-time employees at the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department will be honored today in recognition of their retirement.
Detective David Walters and dispatchers Susie Hemphill and Connie Haschel are retiring after serving the Pulaski County community for many years.
The staff will be holding an appreciation gathering today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET at the sheriff’s department in the training room. A baked potato bar will be featured and cake will be served.
A two-week long Indiana State Police investigation into drug activity in Fulton County ended with six arrests last night after officers served search warrants at three Rochester homes. A state police news release indicates the officers found methamphetamine, a meth lab, drug precursors and paraphernalia. They searched homes at 1124 Bancroft Street, 317 West 11th Street and 4729 Camp Shahola Drive in Rochester. Continue reading
The grand opening of the new U.S. 31 highway between Plymouth and South Bend was held Wednesday afternoon with Governor Mike Pence and Congresswoman Jackie Walorski in attendance plus the engineers behind the project and the crews that worked on the highway.
Governor Pence said the new U.S. 31 will be a great asset to the economy of not only Northern Indiana but the whole state.
“I think it’s really incalculable,” said Pence. “When I say that roads mean jobs, I mean that having the right infrastructure creates conditions that invite more investment that will put Hoosiers to work for generations to come. The vision for what used to be called the expressway that now is the Mangus Memorial Highway is a result of decades of effort here in Indiana. I believe that it’s going to put not only Northern Indiana, but all of Indiana in a position to attract more investment, create more jobs and opportunities in addition to creating a safe and more accessible thoroughfare.”
Marshall County police are investigating a recent report of a police impersonator in the area.
The victim told police that he was pulled over for erratic driving after he swerved to miss a dog in the roadway. The vehicle the impersonator was driving was a tan Ford Taurus with an older style full light bar on top which displayed flashing red and blue lights. There were no grill lights, spotlights or decals on the vehicle.
The impersonator was described as a Caucasian male, 5’11”-6’ in height, muscular build with short blonde hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a uniform with brown pants with a dark stripe down the side, but there were no patches, badges or other law enforcement identification on the uniform.
The Knox City Council members held discussion on the use of the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center by area church groups.
The request was to use the facility free of charge once a week to provide enough space to serve meals to community members in need. The great room or executive room would be used along with the kitchen in order to prepare the meals for service. A different church group would use the facility once a week to host the meals and four hours would be set aside for preparation, service and clean-up.
The Knox Board of Public Works approved a change in the drug testing policy for employees.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers explained that the policy is outdated. The current policy requires all employees to be drug tested when the state only requires employees with a CDL to be tested. The requirement for all employees to be tested takes time away from their daily duties and the mayor suggested that it’s “overkill”.
Mayor Chambers suggested to the board that an ordinance be drawn up by City Attorney David Matsey that requires prospective employees be drug tested and those with a CDL to be randomly drug tested throughout the year.
The Knox Park Board will consider suggestions offered recently to curb vandalism at Wythogan Park when they meet this evening. Mayor Rick Chambers recently hosted a community discussion to gather thoughts on the issue. Afterward he said several good suggestions were offered, including a stronger police presence and writing more curfew tickets to juveniles who are in the park after hours. Continue reading
An investigator from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office will be in Knox tomorrow to determine the cause of the fire at Standard Pallet on 300 East on Friday. Firefighters from four different fire departments were on the scene for nine hours to ensure that the fire was extinguished.
On Tuesday night, the Knox City Council members expressed their gratitude to the firefighters for their dedication to the safety of the citizens of Knox. It was noted that the firefighters are volunteers and it’s their life and time they put on the line to respond to a fire and to assist the needs of residents. Some firefighters made sure to notify employers of the situation last week and stayed on the scene to make sure that the area was secure before leaving.
Adults who want to learn to weld or enhance their skills can take advantage of opportunities offered through the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning. Classes offered through the SCILL Center’s Adult Welding Technology program meet two evenings per week for four hours at a time for 12 weeks. Continue reading
The 17th annual Monterey Days Festival is back this weekend.
Festivities get under way Friday with the Mister and Miss Monterey Days Pageant.
Saturday’s events include the Knights of Columbus pancake and sausage breakfast at 8 a.m. EDT and free carnival rides at 10 a.m. while the tractor pull will start up an hour later at 11. Later on Saturday The Monterey Days Parade will begin around 5 p.m. and will be followed by kiss the pig contest.
A Starke County man was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Monday morning on several drug charges.
Corbin Gayheart pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to three charges in two separate cases. Judge Kim Hall accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Gayheart per the terms of that agreement.
Gayheart will serve 10 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with two years suspended on a charge of possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a public park as a Class B felony. He was given an 18-month sentence with no part of the sentence suspended on a charge of possession of precursors or chemical reagents with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine as a Class D felony. Those sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time.
Authorities in LaPorte believe a Sunday night fire at a McClung Street residence was deliberately set. The LaPorte Police and Fire Departments responded just before 8 p.m. to a home at 159 W. McClung Road, Apt. A and found the structure in flames. Continue reading
The investigation into the origin of a recent fire at a Knox business has been delayed. Knox-Center Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kenny Pfost says they will look into the cause of the Aug. 22 blaze at Standard Pallet on County Road 300 East on Friday. Continue reading
Rain is hampering efforts to repair a culvert that collapsed Monday, forcing the closure of a Starke County Road. County highway superintendent Rik Ritzler tells WKVI News the culvert on 125 West just north of 250 North collapsed Monday. A county highway crew is making repairs but was unable to finish the work yesterday due to the rain. Ritzler hopes they can wrap up the work today so the road can reopen. Until then 125 West is closed between 250 and 300 North. Continue reading
The Winamac Town Council members held a public hearing recently to discuss an increase in electric rates.
Customers that reside in the city limits will have a new minimum payment of $122.09 based on 1000 kw of use. Those who reside outside the city limits will have a new minimum payment of $127.09 based on 1000 kw of use. This is not average usage, but an example of how rates would increase. The billing will be decided on how many kilowatts are used in the household. The increase is 11.2 percent.
