Officers from the LaPorte City Police Department were called to an armed robbery incident yesterday morning at the First Trust Credit Union on J. Street just before 10 a.m.
Witnesses told police that a man wearing a gray hoodie with a blue bandana over his face displayed a knife and demanded money. He then fled the scene in a vehicle.
Starke County deputies have arrested two on warrants for drug charges.
On Friday, information was received that Timothy Barnette was in possession of a dangerous drug and was on probation through Starke Circuit Court. Police from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, the probation department and the Knox City Police Department arrived at a home on Denny Street in Knox, conducted a search of the residence and found drugs and other paraphernalia at the scene.
The Starke County Commissioners this week approved a motion to authorize a representative of Weaver Boos Consultants to contact the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in the hopes of revising their remediation plan regarding the county landfill.
Brian Horvath presented the commissioners with a report detailing the results of the company’s groundwater monitoring at the landfill, and said nothing stood out too much. While he has no major concerns, he did note that the gas monitoring did show some upward trends in methane levels; anything more than five percent methane is potentially explosive, and some areas in the landfill were as high as 10 percent.
The Marshall County Commissioners received an update on the county’s insurance plan from Mike Miley from Gibson Insurance.
The property and casualty premiums were discussed and Miley suggested that in order to save the county about $10,000, the commissioners approve an increase in the deductible for property insurance. The commissioners approved a motion to increase the deductible from $5,000 to $10,000 to reduce the premium cost.
Miley told the commissioners that the insurance has increased 3.95 percent. Most of the insurance claims have been filed with workman’s compensation and those have decreased since last year. As usual, the most of the claims come from within the Marshall County Highway Department and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.
Cowen said that he has heard several reports of a Caucasian woman and an African-American man attempting to sell cleaning products door-to-door in the county during non-business hours. They are reportedly driving a white and green van and are attempting to force their way into homes.
A number of local governmental entities have announced their support of Moving Starke County Forward, having declared 2013, “A Year of Health in Starke County.” The North Judson Town Board signed the proclamation in January, while the Starke County Commissioners and Knox City Council had done the same two weeks prior.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that the issue surrounded the public question that will be offered to voters in the Knox school district in May.
Johnson told the board that in order for the lessons to be web-based and allow students to use mobile devices, the schools will need to be equipped with a full wireless network. Right now, she said the school is just utilizing hubs, but the corporation would need to look into a full-scale wireless network in order to accommodate a large number of devices.
A Starke County farmer was presented with the opportunity to make two $2500 donations to non-profit organizations of his choice. The Monsanto Fund selected Edward Mau as the Starke County winner for their third annual America’s Farmers Grow Communities program. This year, however, rather than make just one donation, Monsanto elected to give each county designated as a disaster relief area two donations, and Mau selected the Starke County Humane Society and St. Paul Lutheran Church Outreach to each receive $2500.
Winamac employees can no longer smoke in vehicles owned or operated by the town. The council voted 4-1 to ban the practice last week. Councilman Tom Murray cast the lone “no” vote. The policy applies immediately to all police cars, fire trucks and utility department vehicles.
Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney said agriculture teacher Jacob Riley and his students have several activities planned for the week.
A Starke County woman police say fatally shot her boyfriend in the chest at their rural Knox home last week remains in jail. Bond was denied for Kathleen Holt, 51, during a Monday court appearance. She reportedly called 911 after shooting Ron Worker on Feb.13 and confessed to the crime. Holt pleaded not guilty during her initial court appearance last Friday. She faces up to 55 years in prison if she’s convicted. Investigators with the Starke County Sheriff’s Office have yet to release a motive in the shooting. Holt’s trial is set to start May 22.
Information is slowly emerging about the recent suspensions with pay of longtime Pulaski County Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker and office manager Lin Morrison and subsequent investigation by the county commissioners. Both are back to work, although Becker has not been restored to the superintendent’s job. He’s handling the day-to-day duties and reporting to commissioner Larry Brady. The suspensions occurred after commissioners received reports of criminal activity, which county attorney Kevin Tankersley acknowledges were unfounded. Continue reading
A Demotte man faces multiple drug charges after the property manager at the Winamac Fish and Wildlife Area reportedly spotted him tossing beer cans out of his vehicle Monday afternoon. Tom Despot notified conservation officer Jeff Richwine, who caught up with the suspect and initiated a traffic stop. That’s when he found out that Michael Baggerly, 37, was wanted in Jasper County. Richwine says Baggerly dropped methamphetamine in the seat of his vehicle after he was arrested. Additionally, Pulaski County Jail officers reportedly found a bag of marijuana in his pocket during the booking process. Baggerly faces charges of possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine and trafficking with an inmate.
If you get a text message from a source that suggests you may have an issue with an account with Demotte State Bank, it is fraudulent. Carla Musial from the Demotte State Banking branch in Knox stated that the text message will give the recipient a phone number to call and the number directs that recipient to another source. She urges you to ignore this text message and do not divulge any banking or other personal information to this source as it is fraudulent.
The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department battled a house fire Saturday in the 200 block of Weninger Street in North Judson.
Police were notified of the fire who then alerted the Starke County Sheriff’s Department to dispatch the fire department. Firefighters arrived on the scene and extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported and the homeowner was not home at the time of the fire. The structure was a total loss.
The fire department was called back to the scene later that day for a rekindle.
Fire Chief Joe Leszek stated that the fire started by the water heater and while no suspicious circumstances were cited, the homeowner’s insurance company will be investigating the incident from here.
The crippled Starke County Sheriff’s Department radio tower is still causing trouble for the county, as a number of fire departments noted issues at the county council meeting last night. The department in Oregon Township has been experiencing issues with communications, causing a number of pages to not be received or suffer from static problems.
Mark Allen, trustee for Oregon Township, told the council that he received a quote for a system that had been suggested by an expert. The system, he explained, is a “record-and-repeat” system that would allow them to receive the pages sent out by county dispatch. The problem stems from last year’s storms in June and July that nearly toppled the tower, resulting in a shorter tower and, consequently, a shorter range for signals.
A woman who set out to raise money her sister who had been diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996 not only surpassed her goal, but shaved her head for the cause. Emily Larkin set a goal to raise $3000 by March 29 to fund the treatment and research at Riley Hospital for Children for her sister, Christina Pugh, but over the course of just more than a week Larkin has raised nearly $6000 – twice the amount she had set her sights on!
Larkin said she did not expect to raise so much money so quickly, and they’re still going to be taking donations.
