The North Judson Town Board made several appointments at their meeting this week.
The Board appointed Marshall Horstmann as the Town Superintendent. Horstmann replaces Dan Anderson who had been the Town Superintendent for the past several years. The Board also appointed Anthony Benson as the Building Inspector, a position that had been held by Steve Ransom for a number of years.
The Starke County Plan Commission will meet tonight. On the agenda is an item that has drawn much interest in the past. Betty Dotlich has been before the Commission, BZA and County Commissioners trying to get a structure removed from a property. Dotlich claims the home does not meet code for its location.
The Starke County Commissioners signed documents that showed the schedule for the Starke County Drainage Board accounts to be collected in 2012.
In explaining the documents, Commissioner Dan Bridegroom pointed out that Starke County has more drainage boards than any county in the state.
A Knox woman was arrested on Thursday on drug possession charges.
Knox City Police officers were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle on Delaware Street. An officer found the suspect vehicle driving in the area of New York and East Street and conducted a traffic stop after the driver failed to stop at a stop sign.
The officer identified the occupants of the vehicle and asked to search the woman’s purse. Dawn Wilson reportedly consented and the officer found controlled substances, some legally prescribed to Wilson. One medication was not prescribed to her and she was taken into custody on a preliminary charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.
The Yellow River tree removal project is moving along. Starke County Surveyor Dennis Estok said this week that he is in the process of forming a three-man committee to interview and score the various engineering proposals.
Estok said he is on track to present contracts for signing by May with work scheduled for this summer and fall. Work cannot be done in April or May as this is the spawning season.
On this date 40 years ago, a very special visitor came to our area. Louis Russell, Jr. was a guest of the Pulaski County Heart Association organization at its annual meeting at West Central High School. He was a guest, specifically, of the late Dr. Martin Barco, who was President of the local association.
The Starke County Commissioners discussed the status of the Bass Lake Campground during last night’s meeting. It’s come to the commissioners’ attention that 28 of the 56 campsites are rented year-round. In the course of the conversation, it was stated that when the state of Indiana ran the campground you could only rent a space for two weeks and then you had to vacate to give others a chance at the sites. At the end of the season, all of the campers had to be moved off the campsite.
Facing long odds, House Democrats are trying to slow down approval of Governor Mitch Daniels’ right to work legislation, House Minority Leader B. Patrick Bauer is asking that the measure go to a referendum.
Representative Nancy Dembowski agrees with Bauer.
“The problem is that people just don’t understand what the right to work bill does,” stated Dembowski. “We’re trying to get it off the fast track and trying to hold it back a little bit so that people can begin to understand it. Ideally, the best way to handle this situation would be to put it on a referendum. I doubt very seriously if we’ll be able to get that done.”
A Francesville woman was arrested Thursday after she reportedly was operating a vehicle under the influence of controlled substances.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department had received a call about an intoxicated driver and police found Samantha Davis’ vehicle at 1726 W. 560 S. The vehicle was off the road stuck in a large snow bank. Police found the driver, Davis, in the passenger side of the vehicle. The officer tried talking to her but he stated in the police report that she was having a hard time focusing and talking. She was asked to step back to the police car and she reportedly stumbled to the car. The officer asked for her ID and she had a difficult time retrieving her wallet from the car. The officer also reportedly found marijuana in her vehicle.
Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer released the Department’s statistics for 2011.
The Department investigated 384 accidents which is a decrease from 2010, deputies investigated 220 car vs. deer accidents, 35 burglaries, 114 thefts, 45 drug cases, 6 child molesting cases, 8 residential entry calls and 23 battery incidents. There were 7,275 total dispatch calls in 2011.
Carroll Harris, Lt. Col, United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR), announced that she manages Selective Service System Boards which would be activated in the event of a draft and she is looking for volunteers in the area including Starke, LaPorte, Lake, St. Joseph, and Elkhart Counties.
Col. Harris says if you are willing to serve, call her and send her an application. For more information, you are asked to call her at (317) 506-0369.
IU Health Starke Hospital is offering a one hour massage to a lucky blood donor this Thursday.
“The American Red Cross is bringing their bloodmobile to Starke hospital this Thursday, January 19th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.,” said David Hiatt, Vice President of Operations at IU Health Starke Hospital. “We’re going to have it in front of the hospital and we would like to invite members of the community to come and donate blood. To show our appreciation, we are putting together a raffle. Anybody that donates blood on Thursday will be entered in to win an hour-long massage at IU Health Starke Hospital.”
Spc. Robert Joseph Tauteris, Jr. was laid to rest yesterday near his mother in a LaCrosse cemetery. Tauteris was killed in action in Afghanistan on January 5th, along with three other members of his platoon.
Hundreds of people attended the services at the Braman and Bailey Funeral Home in North Judson. Included was Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Congressman Joe Donnelly and State Representative Nancy Dembowski.
Police and Patriot Guard members who were accompanying the remains of Spc. Robert Tauteris, Jr. from Valparaiso to North Judson on Saturday were credited with saving the lives of several people in a Jeep that was involved in an accident along the route. The Jeep was driven by Ana Pina, 35, of South Bend. The vehicle was rear-ended by a pick-up driven by 76-year-old John Buibish, of Grovertown.
The Eastern Pulaski Schools, which has for a number of years has been on a tri-semester system, is considering going to a traditional two semester school year.
Nominations for the H.J. Halleck Award are being solicited in Pulaski County. The H.J. Halleck Community Service Award is given each year to a person who donates time, energy, and hard work to making their community better. You can go online or call the chamber office at (574) 270-0016 to make your nomination.
The Starke County Clerk’s Office received three candidate filings in the first week. Kasey Clark has filed for Starke County Treasurer and Robert (Bob) Sims filed for Starke County Council at Large seat on the Democratic ticket. Clark is currently in the office filling the term of Linda Belork who was removed from the office in August of 2011. Democrat Dennis Estok filed last week for the office of Starke County Surveyor.
The West Central wind turbine project was delayed for two days due to high winds in the area. Superintendent Charles Mellon said that the components arrived on the campus and crews were waiting to put up the base and the propellers. Those components were completed and put in place on Saturday. This week, electrical connections will be made and all of the components will be tested.
A series of meetings scheduled by the Starke County Jail Committee begins tomorrow night. The Committee is informing you of their discussions surrounding jail facility options. The Committee is pondering building a new jail facility, rehabbing the current jail or rehabbing an existing building to convert to a jail.
The Henry F. Schricker Award dinner is this Thursday at the Bass Lake Property Owners Association building. The Starke County Chamber of Commerce is still accepting reservations for the dinner today. Social hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with the dinner beginning at 7:00 p.m.
This year’s award winner is Dorene Matzat. She has been a model of Henry F. Schricker’s motto of “service before self”. For the past 65 years, she has driven veterans to medical appointments to veterans hospitals, she has mowed lawns for the elderly in the North Judson area as well as her church and she is active in her church and the American Legion Auxiliary. She won the Aid Association for Lutherans Branch Award, the American Legion Auxiliary Member of the Year Award winner and she was also the recipient of the Patty Hunt Memorial Award.
