Two Sentenced in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

Two women were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Natasha Long pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the State to a charge of Theft as a Class D felony. She was sentenced to 24 months in the Department of Corrections with all of that time suspended to be served on probation. She also pleaded guilty to a charge of Possession of Marijuana as a Class A misdemeanor. Long was sentenced per the terms of the agreement which called for 12 months in the Starke County Jail. That sentence was suspended to be served on probation. The sentences will run concurrently for a total of 24 months on probation.

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Watch out for a Microsoft Scam

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Better Business Bureau is urging consumers to beware of callers claiming to be from Microsoft.

In this latest scam, a “Microsoft caller” randomly calls consumers and explains that a computer that is in use in their possession has a virus or needs an update. The caller then gives instructions on what to do to fix the problem. Eventually, the scammer will ask for credit card information so the proper software can be purchased or the caller will “fix” the problem if you follow instructions.

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Use Common Sense When Celebrating This Graduation Season

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Graduation season is upon us.

Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer says it’s easy to get caught up in celebrations and make poor decisions when getting behind the wheel of a car.

“Sometimes that excitement gets out of hand and it leads to traffic accidents, people being arrested for alcohol abuse at parties and things like that,” said Sheriff Gayer. “We would just encourage all of the seniors graduating that they exercise due caution in their celebrations.”

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7th Annual Starke County Youth Club WKVI Radiothon Begins Today

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Starke County Youth Club participants, volunteers, members and community leaders will take over the WKVI airwaves today to share information about and raise money for the nonprofit organization. The club provides enrichment programs for local youngsters. Executive Director Irene Szakonyi says they are tied to the state’s curriculum standards. and lesson plans accompany every activity. They stress Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, STEM for short, activities in a outside-the-box type of way.

“It’s everything from science experiments like you might remember from middle school, to teaching kids, even young ones, what engineering is about. How do you engineer a bridge? What kind of materials can you use? What’s stronger, this material or that material? All of those skills help prepare the next workforce.”

Szakonyi says careers in STEM fields are the wave of the future and adds its an exciting time to be teaching youngsters about math and science concepts. Continue reading →

Practice Safe Driving Habits during Motorcycle Awareness Month

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

All motorists and motorcyclists are reminded to share the road and to practice safe driving habits. Motor vehicle operators are urged to be aware of motorcycles especially at intersections and while making turns and lane changes. As it is difficult to accurately judge the time, speed and distance of an approaching motorcycle, make sure you check the position of an oncoming motorcycle two or three times before driving through an intersection or making a turn.

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Officials Determine Cause of House Fire

Posted on Author WKVI
Thank you to WKVI listener Marcia Lockner for the photo of Sunday's fire on 175 N. at U.S. 35
Thank you to WKVI listener Marcia Lockner for the photo of Sunday’s fire on 175 N. at U.S. 35

The cause of the house fire on 175 North just east of U.S. 35 in Starke County on Sunday was determined as arson.

Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Kenny Pfost said there were many areas of origin. The home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene. Firefighters were battling a woods fire at the time the house fire was called into the Sheriff’s Department. Hamlet and Washington Township firefighters assisted at the scene along with water and manpower support from the Koontz Lake Fire Department.

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Marshall County Sheriff’s Office Investigating Multiple Thefts

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department is investigating two thefts reported Tuesday evening by residents in the 16,000 block of 12th road. Dan Miller told deputies two bicycles were taken from his home. Joseph McKee said items were taken from his unlocked vehicle.

A Culver man got an unpleasant surprise Wednesday night when he returned to his home after being away for the winter. He told deputies from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department that someone broke into his pole barn in the 16,000 block of 20th Road and stole several tools and other items. He’s not sure when the crime occurred.

Plymouth Man Arrested on Drug Charges Following Traffic Stop

Posted on Author WKVI

 

David Rhoades
David Rhoades

A Plymouth man faces felony drug charges following a traffic stop early Saturday morning. An officer from the Marshall County Police Department stopped a car driven by David Rhoades, 25, at the on Oakhill near the intersection of Nutmeg Road around 2 a.m. County Police K9 Arras indicated the presence of drugs in the vehicle, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department. Officers searched the vehicle and reportedly found a substance believed to be heroin, needles and other paraphernalia. Rhoades refused a certified drug test and was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a syringe, operating a vehicle while intoxicated controlled substance and operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person.

 

Schricker Award Winner to Speak at Ancilla Commencement

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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.

Culver Schools to Participate in Summer Food Service Program

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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 Plans for Next Year

Posted on Author WKVI

west central logoWest 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.

Starke County Youth Club Cooking Class Serves Life Skills

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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.

 

 

 

 

LaPorte County Prosecutor’s Office Investigating Child Neglect

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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 →

Child Says Suspicious Men Tried to Lure Her Into Pickup Truck

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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.

Ivy Tech Corporate College Honors Area Company

Posted on Author WKVI

Polygon LogoAn 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 →

Knox High School Stages Guys and Dolls

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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.

 

Community Invited to N.J.-S.P. Grand March

Posted on Author WKVI

NJSP High SchoolNorth 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.

Traffic Stop Ends With Drug Bust

Posted on Author WKVI
State Police reportedly recovered 136 baggies of heroin from Kelly A. Koranda, 36 of Logansport, at IU Health Starke Hospital.
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.

DNR Arrests Knox Woman on Drug Trafficking Charge at State Park

Posted on Author WKVI

DNR law enforcementA 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.

 

 

 

 

Medaryville Biodome Project Clears Procedural Hoops

Posted on Author WKVI

Medaryville Town HallThe 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:

  1. How many members are in your household?
  2. 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 →