A representative from U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski’s office will be in Starke, Pulaski and Marshall Counties next week to help local constituents who need to access federal government services. Continue reading
High school football season starts tonight. Rivalries are renewed and a clean slate means anyone can make the impossible happen. WKVI and sportstothemax.net will be broadcasting a combined 20 regular season football games. Entering his 50th sports broadcasting season, Harold Welter will be ready to go tonight along with sports director Nathan Welter. They will have the call from Winamac, where the Warriors are taking on the Knox Redskins. Their broadcast starts at 6 p.m. CDT on WKVI FM. Continue reading
The cause of the fire at K-Fex in New Carlisle that claimed the life of Assistant Fire Chief Jamie Middlebrook can not be determined.
State Fire Marshall Jim Greeson said the facility sustained too much damage so a definitive cause of the fire could not be established. He noted that reasonable accidental ignition sources could not be ruled out, but also could not be proven as the cause of the fire.
The Starke County Council is in the process of crafting the 2015 budget. Once it’s finished, it will be published for taxpayer review. Council President Dave Pearman says that process is changing after this year. Continue reading
The executive director of the Pulaski County Community Development Commission updated the county commissioners this week on plans to revamp the zoning ordinances.
Nathan Origer explained that the county council approved the transfer of funds from the CDC land acquisition account for the project and plans are progressing.
“Once I have the CDC’s formal approval and the plan commission’s formal recommendation to the commissioners, I will bring it to you. I will get a copy to you in advance as soon as we tweak any details. I sent a list of minor concerns to the company that has submitted the proposal. They don’t anticipate starting the project until mid-November and finishing in early spring. We are still negotiating with Francesville and Winamac to see if either of them want to adopt that same ordinance so that even though they’ll retain their same jurisdictions the rules will be the same across the county,” said Origer.
Starke County officials are seeking nominations for volunteers to serve on the county park board. Starke Circuit Judge Kim Hall and the Starke County Council each have two nominations – one Democrat and one Republican. The Starke County Commissioners will select the fifth member. Political affiliation is not a consideration for the commissioners nominee. Continue reading
The proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations of coal-fired power plants could hit Hoosier energy consumers hard in the pocketbook. That’s the contention of organizations like Kankakee Valley REMC, NIPSCO and even Gov. Mike Pence, who are all opposed to what they say is an overreaching proposal by EPA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Two sentence modification requests were brought before Judge Kim Hall in Starke Circuit Court on Wednesday morning. Continue reading
Expect traffic delays today as traffic shifts to the new U.S. 31 between South Bend and Plymouth.
INDOT crews will begin changing traffic to the new alignment of U.S. 31 after 9 a.m. ET. Traffic may be slowed or stopped as crews move barricades, barrels and other traffic control devices. To avoid delays, avoid access points for the new U.S. 31 until after 1 p.m. ET today.
Three interchanges will open today. Those interchanges are located at Kern Road in South Bend, State Road 4 in Lakeville and U.S. 6 in LaPaz. A fourth interchange will open once construction at 7th Road near Plymouth is finished later this year.
The Executive Director of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation will serve as one of 13 judges for the South Shore Wall of Legends and Legends Scholarship Project.
Charlie Weaver will help select inductees from among several who are nominated each year. The Wall of Legends is located at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond and honors people from northwest Indiana who have changed the world and reflect the values of exploration and courage and innovation.
This year’s induction ceremony will be held on Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. CT at the welcome center.
Davis Township property owners who live outside the Hamlet town limits will see a property tax increase of about 14-cents per $100 of assessed valuation to pay for the new 9,300 square foot, $750,000 fire station. That’s an estimate provided by officials with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates during Monday’s public hearing on the project. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Commissioners approved a quote for a new ambulance during their meeting on Monday night.
EMS officials announced last week that the ambulance damaged from a February fire and subsequently repaired did not pass state inspection so it was totaled by the insurance company.
During this week’s meeting, EMS Director Nikki Lowry presented the commissioners with four quotes for a new ambulance. They approved a quote from Arrow in the amount of $130,700. Since the insurance company totaled the truck, an $82,000 settlement will go toward the purchase of a new ambulance.
The Metronet project is expected to finish ahead of schedule.
The Marshall County Commissioners noted that the installation of conduit has been going smoothly for the most part and the installation should be complete in mid-September. The Metronet officials will then install the dark fiber and companies should be able to connect to high-speed internet soon after the construction.
Roland Houin with Fourway Computer Products at 12700 4A Road told the commissioners that he’s ready to tap into the service to run to his facility as soon as possible. He plans to lay down conduit and to be prepared once the fibers are lit. He said he wants to experiment running the conduit and fibers to a communication tower and to homes in that area which is by the Tri-Way Theatre and the state highway garage.
The Oregon Davis School Board members approved the revised firearms policy during Monday’s meeting.
As per state law, firearms may be in a school employee’s locked car out of the sight of the public, which Oregon Davis’s policy will reflect. School Superintendent Greg Briles said the only person or persons who would be allowed to have firearms in the buildings would be the schools resource officers or police officers.
Starke County’s local option income tax rates are not going up. The county council Monday set the rates for the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax (CAGIT) and County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) Funds and the Starke County Jail CEDIT. Continue reading
he North Judson Town Council members held discussion on a number of topics during their Monday meeting.
Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann told the council members the new maintenance building should be completed by the end of the month. The project was to be complete a few months ago, but the weather and other unforeseen circumstances delayed the start of the project until late March. The town employees have been working on the building’s interior.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers informed the city council members last week that a fundraising concept has been nixed at a few businesses in the city because there is some confusion with the outdoor storage ordinance.
Mayor Chambers explained that a non-profit organization attempted to have a port-a-pit chicken sale at a business but the organization members were told it couldn’t be held at the location because it conflicted with the outdoor storage ordinance.
The Kankakee Valley Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #129 held a shop with a cop event prior to the start of school.
FOP President Chris Kisela told WKVI News that they were able to assist 40 children with $125 in school supplies this year. On Aug. 10, the kids got to shop for clothes, shoes or whatever school supplies they needed with officers, dispatchers and officials from the Starke County Prosecutor’s Office at a department store in Valparaiso.
A Michigan City native with extensive hands-on welding experience is set to join the staff of the SCILL Center welding technology program. Starting Monday, Elizabeth Tylisz will be teaching the morning vocational welding class and some of the adult welding classes. Continue reading
Many local preschools still have openings for children to ensure your child is ready for kindergarten.
Full and partial scholarships are still available at several local preschools through the Starke County Community Foundation’s Preschool Scholarship Program. Preschools participating in the scholarship program that still have openings include Foundations Preschool and Little Lambs Preschool, both located in Knox plus adventure Island Preschool and St. Peter Lutheran Preschool in North Judson.
