Hobart Woman Arrested for False Informing, Reckless Driving

Posted on Author WKVI
Stephanie Berg

A Hobart woman was arrested Friday after she reportedly told police her name and it wasn’t her correct identification.

Police saw a vehicle traveling around Henry Street and saw that the driver disregarded stop signs. The officer engaged his emergency lights and the driver didn’t stop. He continued to follow her at a slow pace. He eventually pulled over the car at the intersection of Bower Street and Culver Road. Police asked the driver for her name and she said her name was “Tracey Rowe”. Police ran her information and found that “Tracey Rowe” was not on file. Police took her to jail on preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement and Reckless Driving.

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Community Corrections Gets Approval to Proceed with Grant Application

Posted on Author WKVI
Robert Hinojosa

Starke County Community Corrections Director, Robert Hinojosa, appeared before the County Commissioners recently to request a letter approving a grant application for 2012. The grant is administered by the Department of Corrections and is for almost $188,000 of a $346,000 Community Corrections budget. The shortfall is made up from user fees. The letter was signed as requested.

One of the goals of the local Community Corrections organization is to become a level one program.

“There’s three levels,” explains Hinojosa. “If you are a level one program, that means that you have done a great job in adopting a lot of the practices, doing good case management work and identifying which service providers are effective, etc. If you are a level two, you are doing a good job but not exceptional and if you are a level three you’ve got some major problems in the way you run your program. The first year they instituted the level status was last year and we came in at a high level two and I was proud of that. We had really limited resources to do some of the things that we were asked to do. I believe that this application we’re submitting will get us to level one.”

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Henry F. Schricker Award Winner Announced

Posted on Author WKVI
Henry Schricker

The Henry F. Schricker Award is being announced today by Starke County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Mix.

“The winner is Dorene Matzat from North Judson,” said Mix. “We’re so excited and she’s so deserving. She has just done so much and so quietly. I’m just so happy that her efforts have been recognized and she’s been doing them for a lifetime.”

Dorene Matzat was born in North Judson, is an identical twin, and has been a lifelong resident of the town. In December of 1996, she received the “Just Say Thanks” award from Thrivent for her work with taking veterans back and forth to Hines VA Hospital in Chicago. She continues her service work today. She feeds the hungry and when she becomes aware of the need, she clothes the needy, visits the shut-ins and the lonely, and always brings comfort to all in a time of despair. In her 80’s she continues to mow the grass at her church. She is one of only a handful of people alive today in North Judson who actually knew Henry Schricker before he was governor.

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Starke County Republican Swearing-in Ceremony this Thursday

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Republican Party will host swearing in ceremonies on Thursday, December 29th at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Knox City Court.

Five candidates who were successful in the Municipal Election will be sworn into office and they include: Charles Hasnerl, Knox City Court Judge; Donna Henry, North Judson Town Clerk-Treasurer; Tim Cummins, North Judson Town Board; Wendy Hoppe, North Judson Town Board; and Dave Kesvormas, Hamlet Town Board.

North Judson Man Arrested after Fight

Posted on Author WKVI
Brian Lovins

Brian Lovins, of North Judson, was arrested on Friday after he arrived at a residence to fight with another subject.

Lovins reportedly heard that someone was threatening a family member of his. He went to a residence in the 300 block of Franklin Street in North Judson to confront the subject. North Judson police were called to the home and Lovins was arrested on preliminary charges of Public Intoxication and Intimidation with a Deadly Weapon.

Knox Math Class Honored by School Board

Posted on Author WKVI
Gary Dulin, Jerry Fletcher, Harold Welter, Mary Lynn Ritchie, Kirk Bennett, Nathan Marcum, Mike Yankauskas, Superintendent A.J. Gappa

Mrs. Clemons’, a 6th grade math teacher at the Knox Community Middle School, brought in students from her honors classes to be recognized by the Knox Community School Board during the Spotlight on Success portion of the meeting.

“They had participated in a grant program called Apangea Math where they compete against each other and against schools to do math problems and solve them,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “They get points for the more work they do. They compare their math performances and many of the lessons with other schools. One of Mrs. Clemons’ math classes won the region. They were first place in the region and her other math class was second place in the region and so they were honored by our Board. They were also honored by the state. They ended up sixth and seventh overall in the state as classrooms and we thought that was a pretty good honor.”

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Fire Destroys Home in Washington Township

Posted on Author WKVI
This home, at 2915 S. 800 E. in Washington Township, was a total loss

A fire ripped through a home at 2915 S. and 800 E. in Starke County on Friday, December 23rd.

“The occupants awoke to an extra warm home, but there were no smoke alarms going off,” said Washington Township Assistant Fire Chief, Dave Pearman. “The man entered the living room and saw flames showing in the house and immediately tried to get their dogs out and that took a little bit of time. By the time they had most of the dogs, all but one, out of the house, the house was fully engulfed. Unfortunately, their smoke detector wasn’t working.”

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Linda Belork’s Case Heard in Jasper Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

Jasper County Circuit Court Judge John Potter heard arguments yesterday in a hearing where is was requested that a Temporary Restraining Order be removed to allow Linda Belork to resume her duties as the Starke County Treasurer.

That request was being opposed by the Starke County Commissioners.

In the hearing yesterday, Belork’s attorney, Ethan Lowe, argued that only the State’s Attorney General could remove an elected official from office. He said, “The county commissioners can only “piggy back” on actions brought by the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s office has to initiate civil proceedings with the county prosecutor.”

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Senator Charbonneau Discusses Right-to-Work

Posted on Author WKVI
State Senator Ed Charbonneau

Fifth District Republican Senator Ed Charbonneau was recently questioned about the possible upheaval at the state legislature over Governor Mitch Daniels’ announcement to push right-to-work legislation. Governor Daniels, House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate Speaker David Long, have called getting right-to-work legislation passed their “top priority.”

Charbonneau concurred.

But even though his leadership is pushing the measure hard, Charbonneau is unsure that he can support it.

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Knox Man Arrested on a Battery Charge

Posted on Author WKVI
Steven Gott

A Knox man was arrested after a battery incident on Monday.

The female victim, who is pregnant, went to the Starke County Sheriff’s Department to report a battery. She told police that she and Steven Gott had gotten into an argument earlier in the day and that police were called to the residence. Gott was told to leave the residence and to not return. He returned to the residence later in the day and the police arrived and gave Gott a second warning. The victim then went to her mother’s house to do laundry and Gott arrived at the residence. Gott and the victim started fighting and Gott allegedly put his hands around her throat, hit her in the head and threatened her life. He then left the residence.

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J.E.S.S.E. Co-op to Reorganize

Posted on Author WKVI

The J.E.S.S.E. Co-op is reorganizing. Rochester schools recently pulled out of the special education cooperative that administers more than 80 different special classes and resource programs which leaves 9 school corporations in our area participating in the program.

With the withdrawal of Rochester, Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the majority of the financial services will now come out of Plymouth Schools.

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Knox City Council Approves Appointments

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council #2
Back Row: Mayor Rick Chambers, Ed Blue, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Greg Matt and Attorney David Matsey. Front Row: Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg and Ron Parker

At the most recent meeting of the Knox City Council, appointments were made for several boards. Linda Berndt agreed to remain on the Starke County Development Board, newly elected City Councilman, Don Kring, will go on the Starke County Environmental Board, Ed Blue will remain on the Board of Works, and the Mayor re-appointed Ollie Lockridge and Jim Collins for the Knox Redevelopment Committee Board.

North Judson Approves Fire Protection Contract

Posted on Author WKVI

The North Judson Town Board approved the fire protection contract with Wayne Township at a price of $23,000, which is the same price paid in 2011. Two installments of $11,500 are paid to the Township a year for the service.

Mark Knebel from the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum told the Board that 6,280 people rode the trains this year. Since 2006, 22,452 have traveled on the Museum’s tourist trains. He said they were sold out on all Santa trains this year and had riders from Michigan and from the western part of Chicago.

Starke County Historical Society Museum Closes for Repairs

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Museum Christmas Tree
Starke County Museum Christmas Tree

The Starke County Historical Museum will be closed today through January 31st, for maintenance and repair.

Also, when you drive by the museum, you are urged to admire the Memorial Tree donated by Hensler’s Nursery. A record number of memorial bows and names have been attached this year. Toni Snearly, Historical Society volunteer, said that 285 bows have been placed on the tree at 401 South Main St., in Knox.

Linda Belork’s Hearing is Today in Jasper County

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

A hearing will be held in Jasper County today on Linda Belork’s request to have a court-imposed Temporary Restraining Order removed allowing her to return to her duties as the Starke County Treasurer. Belork has been out of the office since August 13th after being removed by the County Commissioners following the issuance of a State Audit showing thousands of dollars in discrepancies.

The money has been found, but Belork has been blocked by the order from returning to office. Objecting to her return are the Starke County Commissioners. Judge John Potter will be seeking pertinent information from Belork’s attorney, Ethan Lowe, and Martin Lucas, attorney for the commissioners, during today’s hearing.

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Unemployment Rates Remain Steady

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Workforce Development

Indiana’s labor force increased by 13,600 in November, holding the state’s unemployment rate steady at 9.0%. Over the past four months, the state’s workforce has grown by almost 50,000. While Indiana saw a 0.4% increase in its labor force during the month, the U.S. labor force decreased by 0.2% percent in November, contributing to the decline in the nation’s unemployment rate from 9.0% to 8.6%.

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