28 Indiana Schools Receive Excellence Award

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Tony Bennett

School corporations across Indiana will receive a total of $6 million to recognize and award their best teachers. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett announced that 28 recipients will receive Indiana’s “Excellence in Performance for Teachers” award.

“The real root and the soul of this grant was to recognize and reward the most important asset in our schools and those are great people who touch the hearts and the souls and the minds of children, and put their lives on course to be our next leaders,” said Dr. Bennett.

The grant was established by the Indiana General Assembly during the 2011 legislative session in an effort to help school corporations and charter schools recruit and retain effective teachers.

The Oregon-Davis School Corporation will receive $27,192 for incentives while the Fort Wayne Community School Corporation received the most money with $1.6 million. The Bremen Public School was another school in the area that will receive money. That school corporation will get $101,000.

Harlem Wizards Give Knox Band Boosters A Boost

Posted on Author WKVI

The Harlem Wizards basketball team brings their high octane form of Hoops to Knox tonight to help raise funds for the Knox Band Boosters. The money raised will be used to fund a trip to Florida by the Knox High School Band.

Opposing players taking part in the game will include, among others, WKVI Morning Man Tom Berg. Berg has been saving himself for just this moment.

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Knox Harvest Festival Meeting To Be Held Tuesday

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Harvest Days celebration is August 24 – 26, and Michelle Bachtel, owner of the local H & R Block in Knox, is the new festival president. Bachtel says the organization has made a number of developments, including a new website.

“Well the first thing we did is establish the Knox Harvest Festival as its own legal entity, so it is now an organization that can be donated to. Sponsors can sponsor it and know the money is going where it needs to go and to whom its suppose to go. The second thing we did is develop a web page: knoxharvestfestival.org. If you need to e-mail me it’s just michelle@knoxharvestfestival.org,” Bachtel said.

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West Central School Turbine Still Under Work

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board got an update on the wind turbine last week from Superintendent Charles Mellon.

“Well, we are in production,” stated Mellon. “There is a little additional tweaking that will be done. We’re still getting some voltage spikes which all three companies are working on and they think they have a solution and will be correcting that. We have been in production for a while and in the short future we should be able to get a read-out just to see what our production has been — say over the last two week period.”

The wind turbine is not quite in full commission mode yet.

“Until those issues are solved and it’s fully commissioned, it’s not considered ours yet,” Mellon said. “They still have their work to do so we’re still anxiously awaiting, but we are getting credit for the kilowatts that are being produced during this time.”

Two Lottery Jackpot Drawings Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI

Drawings from two Lottery Jackpots will be held tonight.

The Power Ball, worth an estimated $162 million, and Hoosier Lotto worth $9 million will be drawn.

Kenneth Lebeda of Peru, an Iraq War veteran won a Hoosier Lottery prize on Friday, August 13th, proving that “Friday the 13th was his lucky day.”

From the WKVI Archives

Posted on Author WKVI

Remember the Busy Bee Restaurant in North Judson? The Busy Bee opened on this date in 1985. Jerry Patterson then moved to the location and changed the name to Patterson’s. It is now Brantwood, which is North Judson’s former name.

The U.S. 35 widening project began in Knox on this date in 2001. Culver Road was closed for a two block stretch between U.S. 35 to Main Street. This was part of a $7 million dollar widening of U.S. 35 to four lanes. Construction extended from the Yellow River Bridge on the north to just past the Astoria Motel on the South.

In Culver on this date Mr. T’s Pharmacy became known as CVS after the sale of the pharmacy by the family of the late Ron Tusing.

Finally organized sports began in Indiana as the Summit City Baseball Club was organized in Ft. Wayne.

April is National Safe Digging Month

Posted on Author WKVI

With April comes the Fifth Annual National Safe Digging Month, and CenturyLink wants to remind all Indiana residents to always call 811 at least a few days prior to any digging project.

Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines, and inconvenient outages. Big or small, all digging projects should be reported by calling 811, even if you are just installing a mailbox, building a deck, or planting a tree or garden.

The depth of utility lines can vary for any number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects, and uneven surfaces. By calling 811, you can ensure these lines are properly marked, eliminating the risk of striking an underground utility line.

According to the Damage Information Reporting Tool report, utility lines are damaged by digging once every three minutes nationwide, and one-third of these incidents are caused by failure of the professional excavator or homeowner to call 811 before beginning their digging project.

Secretary of State Connie Lawson to Speak at Lincoln Day Dinner

Posted on Author WKVI
Jackie Walorski

New Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson is slated as a speaker Saturday night at the Starke County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. The event, to be held at the newly remodeled Bass Lake Community Center, will begin with a social hour at 6:00 and the dinner at 7:00.

Other local and state candidates are expected to be in attendance, as well as 2nd District Congressional candidate Jackie Walorski.

Lawson was selected by Governor Mitch Daniels to fill the position vacated by Charlie White who was convicted of six felonies earlier in the year and lost his job.

The new Secretary of State was a State Senator from Danville, who Daniels said “comes to the office with the highest credentials.” She assumed the office with only 53 days until the Primary Election, and went right to work.

Lawson is the second woman to fill the position of Indiana Secretary of State, after Sue Ann Gilroy.

Operation Quiet Comfort Raises $5000

Posted on Author WKVI

Operation Quiet Comfort was a huge success this week in Plymouth. The fundraiser attracted over 300 people to the Memories Reception Hall for dinner and a program.

The speaker for the evening was Jan Houin who told the story of the organization which is part of a larger nationwide group, whose purpose is to provide blankets, clothing items and other articles of comfort in a care-type package to wounded soldiers.

The event raised $5000.

In her presentation, Houin read letters from servicemen who had received the articles from Plymouth, including one soldier who had lost an arm in battle saying he most appreciated the “warm socks.” Another commented on how the “blocks”
on the homemade blankets had lifted her spirits during a long recovery period.

On the “blocks” were messages of appreciation for their service to their country, and how a grateful nation has them in their thoughts and prayers

Also honored was the medical staff that tends to the needs of the injured.

Houin thanked all who attended and supported the organization.

Change in Leadership at I.U. Health Starke Hospital

Posted on Author WKVI
David Hyatt

There will be a change in leadership at I.U. Health Starke Hospital, as Thor Thordarson, President and CEO of I.U. Health La Porte announced Friday that Linda Satkoski, current president of I.U. Health Starke Hospital, will become the Chief Operating Officer for the entire La Porte Health system. David Hyatt has agreed to become the Interim President at Starke.

The change in leadership will take place June 4th, and we’ll hear more from Thordarson, Satkoski, and Hyatt in interviews next week.

North Judson Railroad Committee Seeks Grant to Repair Crossing

Posted on Author WKVI

The North Judson Railroad Committee is currently working on gathering funding for repairs on the U.S. 30 railroad crossing. Because a lot of truck traffic goes over the railroad, it has recently fallen into a minor state of disrepair — and with an expected increase in traffic passing over that crossing, the repairs are important.

Unfortunately, the repairs are not expected to be cheap. The committee is working on finding grants to fund the repairs, but the total cost is yet unknown.

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Starke United Dinner Held Last Night in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke United Executive Director Julie Dessauer, Sandy Kersting-Rudd and Board Chair Todd Zeltwanger

The Starke United Annual Dinner was held last night at Community Services of Starke County.

Executive Director Julie Dessauer talked about programs Starke United supported during 2011 which included the Kindergarten Countdown, the Boy Scout and Girl Scout Food Drive, JA More than Money, Familywize, and 211. $13,000 will be distrbuted in undesignated funds this year.

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Oregon-Davis School Board Takes Action to Reduce Taxes

Posted on Author WKVI

Oregon-Davis taxpayers will be noticing a reduction in their future bills because of action taken by the school board Monday.

“We approved the resolution to finalize the refinancing of our existing debt,” explained Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney. “What that means is that the previous debt from 2002 was at 5%, and with refinancing that goes down to 2.3%. We’ve been working on this for about nine months and this will mean a one million dollar savings to the taxpayers.  It will knock about four cents off the property tax rate in 2013.”

North Judson Town Marshal Presents Information to School Board

Posted on Author WKVI
Doug Vessely
North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely

North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely gave a presentation to the North Judson-San Pierre School Board this week.

“We had a presentation by Police Chief Doug Vessely on substance abuse within the community and Starke County,” said Superintendent Lynn Johnson. “His information will be helpful as we are in the process of revising our policies to implement next school year. This was an informational session by Officer Vessely.”

Mowing Season in North Judson: No Taller Than Four Inches

Posted on Author WKVI

Mowing season is finally here, and that means grass needs to be kept under four inches in the town of North Judson. If property is left unattended and the grass gets out of hand, the property owner will be notified to get the lawn mowed. If that notice goes unheeded, a fee can be imposed and, if necessary, a lien made on the property. This ordinance has been in place in the town of North Judson for several years.

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Relay for Life to begin in Culver Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Culver participants get ready for this year's event

More than 50 teams and 400 participants will be involved this evening in the fifth annual Relay For Life of Culver. The overnight event begins at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Multipurpose Building on the campus of Culver Academies.

Student organizers have set a $130,000 goal for this year’s event, which will be held indoors and outdoors. Many of the events will be staged in the Multipurpose Building on the corner of Indiana 10 and Academy Road, but activities and vendors will also be located in the grassy area along Indiana 10. Relay walkers will be able to turn their laps inside, outside, or a little of each.

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13th Annual Peace Officer Memorial Scheduled for May 9th in LaPorte

Posted on Author WKVI
LaPorte County Sheriff's Department
LaPorte County Sheriff's Department

The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting the 13th Annual Peace Officer Memorial on Wednesday, May 9th.

The ceremony is held each year in remembrance of fallen officers in LaPorte County, as well as the United States, and also recognizes those that are injured in the line of duty. Orland Park, Illinois Police Chief Tim McCarthy will be this year’s keynote speaker. Chief McCarthy, who retired from the United States Secret Service, is best known for his heroic effort to save President Ronald Reagan during an attempt on the President’s life on March 30th, 1981. McCarthy used his body to shield President Reagan and as a result, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

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Starke County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner Set for Saturday

Posted on Author WKVI

New Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson is slated as a speaker Saturday night at the Starke County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. The event, to be held at the newly remodeled Bass Lake Community Center, will begin with a social hour at 6:00 p.m. and the dinner at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Other local and state candidates are expected to be in attendance as well as Second District Congressional candidate, Jackie Walorski.

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