The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department recently purchased a machine to help spot evidence with any sort of investigation.
Major John Boyd told WKVI that the sheriff’s department partnered with the LaPorte County Prosecuting Attorney’s office to purchase a 3D crime scene and accident scene forensic scanner.
The Knox Board of Public Works received an update on the water project for the new Starke County Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers said the project should be complete today.
“The weather has finally broken so we have gotten caught up,” explained Chambers. “The contractor has gotten in there and pretty much finished his job. The water line has been de-sanitized and pressure checked. There will be some additional work to be done. The line will have to be moved – it’s been deflected too much so we will go in and correct that problem, but should be up and operational within the next day or so.”
Pulaski County EMS is down one ambulance until one damaged during a recent fire can be either certified and put back into service or totaled and replaced.
Director Nikki Lowry told the county commissioners Monday that the county’s insurance adjuster asked her to inspect the truck. Lowry said she’s not qualified to do anything more than determine whether it’s clean. The vendor from whom the county bought the most recent ambulance is willing to help if the county will bring the truck to Iowa.
The Oregon-Davis School Board members approved a three-year technology plan during their regular meeting Monday night.
Superintendent Greg Briles said a computer will be in the hands of every student.
“We’re looking at putting iPad Minis in our Kindergarten through second grade students’ hands, full-sized iPads for three through eight and laptops for nine through twelve students. In doing so, we will also have portable labs with the full-size computer laptops for the students to utilize if they need to for testing and other activities throughout the school year,” explained Briles.
The Knox Community School Board met Monday where the members approved several personnel items.
In addition to the appointment of Neill Minix as the high school girls basketball coach, Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the board approved two retirements.
Marshall County Building Inspector Chuck DeWitt had some good news for the county commissioners this week.
March was a good month for permit applications. Twenty-four applications were issued in March which brings the permit count to 61 so far this year. Over $4.6 million in value of construction was noted in March to bring the quarter total to $8.375 million.
The Oregon-Davis organization, Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD, are raising awareness about the dangers are texting and driving this week.
The school resource officers are helping the students in learning the dangers of texting and driving. The officers have a course for the kids to drive to show what impairment is caused when a person texts and drives at the same time. Students will have to maneuver a golf cart through cones while texting to complete the course.
Plymouth High School has made the U.S. News and World Report as one of the top schools in Indiana.
The high school is ranked as a Silver Medalist High School. The school came in 12th place.
The U.S. News and World Report used a three-step process to determine the best high schools. The first steps ensured that the schools serve all of their students well, using performance on state proficiency tests as the benchmarks. The third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.
Firefighters from three departments spent four-and-a-half hours battling a house fire southwest of Winamac Tuesday afternoon. A neighbor called 911 at 3:30 p.m. and told dispatchers the home at 7948 South 475 West was fully engulfed. The Star City Volunteer Fire Department responded and requested tanker support from the Winamac and Buffalo Fire Departments. They ended up filling their trucks at the boat launch in Pulaski in order to more quickly get water to the scene. Pulaski County REACT also assisted by directing traffic. There’s no word yet on a cause. No injuries were reported. The firefighters left the residence at 8 p.m.
Deputies from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office arrested an accused child molester following a joint investigation with the Department of Child Services. Formal charges are pending against Joshua Sanders. He’s accused of inappropriately touching a juvenile in Marshall County during the past six weeks.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of a truck from a property west of Winamac. A bronze 1994 three-quarter ton Chevrolet truck was stolen from the area of State Road 14 and 400 West sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. Monday, according to a news release. The truck has tube step sides, a sticker on the tailgate that reads “Get Hooked on Fishing, Not Drugs” and a Bass Master sticker in the window. The truck’s license plate number is TK181MCC. If you see the truck, call the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office at 574-946-3341 or contact the closest law enforcement agency.
A North Liberty woman faces drunk driving charges after her abandoned car was struck by a train Monday night in Marshall County.
The 2001 Honda registered to Malory K. Schmucker, 30, crashed into the tracks on southbound Redwood Road north of 1st Road just after 10 p.m., according to a report from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.
A man and woman from Knox face felony drug charges in Marshall County after being pulled over for speeding Tuesday.
A sheriff’s deputy stopped their SUV near the intersection of Harrison Street and Oak Road. The police report indicates Marshall County K9 Jax indicated the presence of narcotics inside the vehicle. Officers reportedly found Crystal Singleton of Knox to be in possession of heroin and found drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. The officers reportedly found heroin on passenger Earl Beem as well. He also had two outstanding arrest warrants, including one for a felony parole violation.
Singleton and Beem both face numerous charges in Marshall County.
The Attorney General will be representing Starke County in an oral argument to be heard in the Indiana Supreme Court Thursday at 9:45 a.m. ET.
This hearing surrounds the case of Robert Corbin.
Corbin was arrested in April 2012 on two charges of Attempted Child Seduction, as Class D felonies. It was alleged that a then-sixteen-year-old student had been receiving inappropriate Facebook messages from Corbin who at the time was a teacher at the Knox Community School Corporation.
Houston-based SYSCO Corporation still plans to build a regional hub in Hamlet, according to Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Charlie Weaver. He told the county council he talks to SYSCO officials every two months.
“They say this is still part of their plan, as is the facility in Texas, but the people I talk to don’t have any idea when.”
A young man from Winamac has the blessing of the Pulaski County Commissioners to make his ambitious Eagle Scout project a reality. Clark Gudas wants to turn Rhinehart Park next to the Pulaski County Family YMCA into a skate park. He says it will give area youth a safe place to participate in activities like skateboarding, rollerblading and BMX biking.
A Hamlet man faces multiple drug charges in LaPorte after his arrest following a Monday morning traffic stop.
Officers from the LaPorte Police Department got a tip that a man in a white car in the 400 block of G Street was possibly using drugs. They responded at 8:41 a.m. and saw a white Pontiac Grand Am leaving the area. The car pulled across 4th Street in front of a vehicle that was northbound on I Street and nearly caused an accident, according to the police report.
The Knox City Council tabled burn permit request from IDEM and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF).
SCEDF Director Charlie Weaver explained that several trees need to be felled in three sites covering 32.8 acres in the industrial park and in order to economically rid the area of the timber debris it would be burned. The area left would be seeded with a portion left for greenspace and the other for economic development. Plans to expand industry and to create jobs is in the future thinking of the development foundation.
The Oregon-Davis School Board approved the purchase of buses through the Central Indiana Service Center during their meeting Monday night.
Superintendent Greg Briles said the board approved the purchase of two buses.
“We will be purchasing a new bus and then we are also going to be looking at the possibility of purchasing a one year off-lease bus in order to stay within our funding formula that the state has given us for bus replacement,” said Briles.
A jury trial is set for today in Starke Circuit Court.
Donald Frazier will be on trial on charges of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated (OVWI) and Possession of Paraphernalia. The OVWI charge is broken up as two counts: OVWI and OVWI with a prior conviction in the past five years to elevate it to a Class D felony.
