Starke County’s most recent Henry F. Schricker Award winner will be the commencement speaker at Ancilla College on Saturday. Community Services of Starke County Executive Director Joan Haugh was honored earlier this year for her embodiment of the two-term governor’s philosophy of service before self. Ancilla College President Dr. Ron May attended the Schricker Awards dinner and knew when he heard Haugh speak that he had found this year’s commencement speaker. He adds commencement is a special time for faculty, staff and especially students. “You celebrate the achievements of the students who have completed their degree programs and are ready to move on to what’s next in life,” May says. Saturday’s ceremony marks Ancilla’s 47th graduating class.
The Culver Community School Corporation will take part in the Summer Food Service Program. It’s funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and offers free meals to all children 18 and younger. The program was created to ensure children have access to nutritious meals when the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs are not available. Meals are also served to persons over the age of 18 who are enrolled in a state-approved educational program for the mentally or physically disabled.Free meals will be served beginning Tuesday, June 3 and continuing through the summer. All meals must be eaten on site. All nutrition sites are closed on Friday, July 4. Click here to view locations, dates and times Culver Nutrition Sites.
West Central School Board members are getting ready for the next school year. Items on the agenda for their board meeting tonight include setting school breakfast and lunch prices, considering changes to the student handbook and discussion and possible adoption of a student accident insurance plan for 2014-2015. Board meeting and pay dates for the upcoming year will also be set, as will a budget calendar. Discussion and possible approval of classified staff contracts is also listed on the agenda. The board will also continue the discussion of insurance for the school corporation’s wind turbine when they meet this evening at 7:30 p.m. EDT in the board room at the school corporation office in downtown Francesville.
The Starke County Youth Club teaches life skills to the 600 youngsters enrolled in their after-school programs. Executive Director Irene Szakonyi says the cooking class is one of the most popular enrichment activities they offer. She says it teaches nutrition, kitchen safety and self-reliance. Even the youngest participants can learn basic terminology like what it means to dice or core. Szakonyi says youngsters learn how to prepare food and also how to make healthy food choices. She says youngsters learn that filling their bodies with sugar and other harmful things will compromise their ability to learn well and will make them feel sick.
“The cooking class is a lot of fun because kids get to eat, but they also get a lot of information that is important for their lives, Szakonyi says. Learn about the cooking class and more during tomorrow’s 7th Annual Starke County Youth Club WKVI Radiothon. It starts tomorrow at10 a.m. CDT right here on WKVI. They hope to raise $40,000. Find more information about the club on their website, http://www.thescyc.org/index.html.
The LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office may file child neglect charges against three adults after a 12-month old was reportedly seen wandering outside the Country Acres Apartments Tuesday wearing only a diaper. When officers from the LaPorte Police Department arrived, they found the child’s father holding the boy. The man told the officers he came to the apartment the night before to visit a female friend. A second woman was also there, according to a news release from the LaPorte Police Department. The adults drank together, and all three grownups and their four respective children spent the night. Continue reading →
Police in LaPorte are on the lookout for an older red truck with a black bed cap after a passenger in a vehicle matching that description reportedly tried to lure a 12-year-old girl into the vehicle. The child told police she was walking her dog around 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon on Bosserman Street near Oberreich Street when the truck pulled up. She said the passenger claimed he knew her mother and encouraged her to get into the vehicle. The girl told the man she did not know him, according to the police report, but he continued to urge her to come with him. She refused, walked back to her grandmother’s nearby house and told officers she saw the truck leave the area. The suspect is described as an older white man with gray and brown curly hair and a beard. Anyone with information about the vehicle or suspect is asked to call the LaPorte Police Department at 219-362-9446 visit their website at www.lpcitypd.com to submit a crime tip.
An area company is set to receive one of Ivy Tech Corporate College’s 2013 Partner Awards. Ivy Tecn Community College President Thomas Snyder will present the award to officials at Polygon Company in Walkerton on Friday, May 9th at noon. Recipients are chosen based on their level of commitment to workforce training and development programs. Ivy Tech also looks at their adoption of standardized and portable workforce credentials and the use of assessments in the hiring of new workers and determining skills gaps. Other factors include their commitment to financially supporting worker training and ongoing partnership with Ivy Tech Corporate College for continuous improvement and development of programs and services. Continue reading →
Students at Knox High School are staging a popular musical this weekend. Catch “Guys and Dolls” on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5 in the high school auditorium. Saturday’s show starts at 7 p.m., and Sunday’s performance begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $7. The play made its Broadway debut in 1950 and won a Tony award for Best Musical. It’s an adaptation of several Damon Runyon short stories written in the 1920s and 30s about gamblers, gangsters and others in the New York underworld.
North Judson-San Pierre High School students and their dates are putting the “prom” in promenade on Saturday. For the first time, the school is hosting a grand march in the high school gym from 6 until 7 p.m. The community is invited to come see the prom goers in their formal finery before they head off to the main event at Chesapeake Run Golf Course east of town.
State Police reportedly recovered 136 baggies of heroin from Kelly A. Koranda, 36, of Logansport, at IU Health Starke Hospital.
A Logansport woman faces numerous drug charges in Starke County following a traffic stop late last week by a LaPorte County Deputy and Indiana State Trooper on U.S. 35 near Hamlet. The deputy pulled Kelly A. Koranda, 36, of Logansport, over just south of Starke County Road 500 North on Thursday, April 24 for an unspecified traffic infraction. According to a news release sent this afternoon by the Indiana State Police, Koranda appeared to be under the influence of drugs and was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for blood and urine tests.A nurse there reportedly found several packets of heroin in Koranda’s underwear. Officers say she admitted eating 10 packets of the drug before being pulled over and hiding more in her underwear. They recovered 172 baggies of heroin weighing about 36 grams from Koranda. She was admitted to the hospital for observation. Officers arrested her there Sunday when she was released. She’s charged with felony dealing a narcotic drug, felony possession of a narcotic drug over 3 grams, felony maintaining a common nuisance and misdemeanor operating while intoxicated on a controlled substance. Koranda was taken to the Starke County Jail.
A Knox woman is jailed in Porter County after reportedly trying to slip drugs to a work release inmate at Indiana Dunes State Park. Indiana Department of Corrections Police noticed a suspicious vehicle yesterday near where their crew from the Westville Correctional Facility was working. They detained Christy Chavez, 38, of Knox, who was arrested by Indiana Conservation Officers. She was booked into the Porter County Jail on charges of trafficking a controlled substance to a prisoner. Chavez was trying to drop off synthetic marijuana and cigarettes, according to a news release from the DNR Division of Law Enforcement.
The Town of Medaryville is a few steps closer to applying for a grant to offset the cost of a major project. They are looking to build a biodome structure into their current lagoons to meet Indiana Department of Environmental Management standards. Town Council President Derrick Stalbaum tells WKVI news the project will cost around $800,000. The town is applying for a $450,000 grant and hopes to fund the remaining $400,000 by selling bonds. As part of the grant process, an outside agency is completing an income survey of Medaryville residents. Stalbaum says they have already been contacting residents and asking the following questions:
How many members are in your household?
Do you have a total income of $38,000 or less?
Stalbaum stresses this information is necessary, as the town is applying for a need-based grant and needs to prove it qualifies. He encourages all Medaryville residents to cooperate and answer the questions honestly. Stalbaum adds door-to-door surveys will be conducted in a few weeks. Continue reading →
The tornadoes that have ravaged the the plains and southeastern states this week serve as a grim reminder of Mother Nature’s wrath. Marshall County Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery reminds families to develop an emergency plan. He says it should include contact numbers for work, school and a relative outside the area for everyone to check in. Also establish a designated meeting location. Avery says you should also review and practice your plan to make sure everyone knows what to do in case of an emergency.
He also recommends putting together an emergency preparedness kit. It should include flashlights, batteries, water, a first-aid kit, canned or dried food, prescription and over-the-counter medications, personal hygiene items, an extra pair of glasses, clothes and any items you may need for your pets. Homeowners may also take this chance to prepare their homes by hiring roofing contractors to inspect and reinforce their roofs. Local roofers can also help if you need to completely replace your roof. In addition, conducting a through gutter cleaning is also recommended to protect your gutters from accumulating debris.
Monitor the forecast, and be prepared to take shelter in a basement or interior room if a tornado watch is issued. Avery suggests residents of mobile or modular homes find a more sturdy structure. A watch means conditions are favorable for a tornado. A warning means one has been sited, and you should take shelter immediately. Take a portable radio along so you can monitor conditions. Continue reading →
Planting season means it’s time for motorists and farm machinery to share the road. Motorists are reminded to be alert for slow moving farm implements that can turn unexpectedly from a field or driveway onto a public road. Tractors and other farm machinery travels slower than other traffic, often at speeds of 25 miles-per-hour or less. These vehicles are required to display a slow-moving vehicle emblem on the back and make sure all lights are in working order. Whenever possible, slow moving vehicles are required to pull off to the right when three or more vehicles are blocked and can’t pass on the left. Some farm machinery may take up more than half of the road in order to avoid road signs and other obstacles. Continue reading →
The Starke County Youth Club provides more than homework help for the 600 students it serves at four after-school sites. Executive Director Irene Szakonyi says health and wellness is a critical component of the Starke County Youth Club’s mission.
“When we survey our kids about how much time they would be watching television or how much time they’d be playing on their game systems or video gaming, we know that’s significant, and it’s way more time than is healthy for them,” Szakonyi says.
She adds the Starke County Youth Club is constantly looking for ways to help the students they serve be more active. Instructors try to balance technology-based learning with physical activity, nutrition classes and life skills that help them to be healthier in all aspects. Continue reading →
These are some of the medications collected by the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office.
Nearly 29 pounds of unused and unwanted medications were collected in LaPorte County on Saturday as part of National Pill Take Back Day. Medications were received personally by officials from the sheriff’s office and placed in the pill drop box in the lobby. This includes 7.2 pounds of liquid medicine and 21.6 pounds of pills. The liquids will be disposed of in cat litter and taken by a licensed waste hauler. The pills will be incinerated at a licensed facility. Department officials are pleased with the results of Saturday’s effort and the public’s willingness to safely dispose of unwanted and expired medications. This keeps them from falling into the hands of children or others who may wish to abuse them. The pill drop program also prevents medications from contaminating groundwater and is an environmentally safe and responsible way to get rid of them.
Attention bargain hunters, the annual City of Knox yard sale is next week. Organizers have expanded the popular event from one to four days. They are Thursday, May 8 through Sunday, May 11 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Residents can host sales on any or all of those days without paying for a permit. Sale signs are limited to the ones available for purchase at city hall for 50-cents each. Maps will be available each morning of the sale at 7 a.m. at the Knox Moose Lodge. If you are hosting a sale and would like to have your information included on the map, the deadline to do so is Tuesday, May 6. Call Danna at 574-772-5712 for more information. Spaces are also available for residents outside the city limits who would like to participate. Environmental Days will once again be held in conjunction with the sales. This is done so unsold and unwanted items can easily be thrown away.
The North Judson-San Pierre drama department will present Grease: The Musical on May 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Director Erin Sprouse said the musical will mirror the movie.
“The movie was actually based off the play,” said Sprouse. “It’s a lot of fun. We’re doing a lot of the costuming from the movie and trying to keep it as true to form so that everybody is really excited about it.”
The Pulaski County Commissioners will meet tomorrow in executive session to interview five candidates for the assistant EMS director job. The meeting will take place at 3 p.m. EDT at the courthouse. EMS Director Nikki Lowry asked the commissioners to conduct the interviews so she can avoid the appearance of favoritism, since she knows each of the five applicants personally. If the commissioners do the hiring, they must do so during a public meeting.
Funeral services for a local soldier killed last week in Germany are this weekend in his home town. Army Spc. Ryan P. Grandstaff of Winamac, died in a single-vehicle accident in Ansbach, Germany last Wednesday morning at 4:45 a.m. He was 24. Grandstaff graduated from Winamac Community High School in 2009, where he ran track and was a co-record holder on the four by 100 relay team. He loved playing football and continued his career at Anderson University. Grandstaff then attended Vincennes University and studied aviation technology. He worked for Plymouth Tube and the Braun Corporation before joining the Army on Oct. 2, 2012. Grandstaff became a crew chief on a Blackhawk Medivac Helicopter. He was stationed to Ansbach, Germany on April 27, 2013. Continue reading →
