Courthouse Sidewalk to become ADA Accessible

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse

The Knox City Council, on a unanimous vote Tuesday night, gave Mayor Rick Chambers the go-ahead to do the sidewalk work on the Courthouse square to make it ADA accessible.

“We’ve discussed doing something with that sidewalk to make it handicapped accessible on the west side of the Courthouse and I’ve talked with several contractors,” said Mayor Chambers. “We’ve went over ADA regulations and I’ve talked with the Commissioners and I don’t feel comfortable just diving into that project without having it engineered.”

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Knox Middle School to Host Fitness “Fun”draiser

Posted on Author WKVI

On Friday, October 7th, the Knox Middle School will host a Fitness FUN-draiser to promote the importance of living a healthy life style. Students who raise $10 are eligible to participate in the walk-a-thon, students who raise $15 are eligible to participate in the boot camp activity, students who raise $25 are eligible to participate in the dance, and students who raise $100 or more are eligible for a field trip on October 13th to Life Plex. All Middle School students are looking for sponsors.

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Starke County Legacy of Women Working on Education Funding for Women

Posted on Author WKVI

The members of the Legacy of Women Organization in Starke County are working on a project to help fund the education of a woman, or women, in the county. The scholarships would be awarded to an individual, or more than one, who have expressed interest the reason for continuing their education to better their life through an essay.

Legacy of Women spokeswoman, Sherri Bartoli, said this week that the applications have been received and scored. The applications are now in the hands of the Northern Indiana Community Foundation who will tabulate the scores before announcing the recipient, or recipients.

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Knox High School Student to hold Fundraiser for Food Pantry

Posted on Author WKVI

During the downturn in the economy, a lot of people are in need of the bare essentials. Over 250 families a month have depended on the Starke County Food Pantry to help feed their families.

Now Knox High School student, Taylor Kemble has stepped out, and on her own, put together a rummage sale to help buy food for the pantry.

“This year it will be at the Knox United Methodist Church and it will be this Friday, September 30th, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 1st, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.,” said Kemble. “All proceeds will go toward the Starke County Food Pantry and all items will be $.50 unless otherwise marked.”

Donations will be accepted today from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Knox United Methodist Church.

Starke County Planning Commission Puts Final Touches on Proposed Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Planning Commission discussed the proposed dog kennel ordinance at their meeting last week.

Dan Bridegroom suggested that a commercial kennel definition in the form of an I.C. code be added to the ordinance. Bruce Williams, Administrator/Building Commissioner, suggested adding the phrase “more than four and less than 20 unaltered female dogs that are at least twelve months of age” to the ordinance under commercial kennel definition. Commission Counsel, Steve Dodge, added that if more than four male or female dogs are at one residence, the homeowner will need a kennel license. The changes were approved by a vote of 5-3 and now the revised ordinance will be sent back to the Commissioners for their approval.

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Oregon-Davis Superintendent Named District One Superintendent of the Year

Posted on Author WKVI
Oregon-Davis School Superintendent, Dr. Steve Disney

Dr. Steve Disney, the Superintendent at Oregon-Davis Schools, has been chosen the District One Superintendent of the Year for 2012.

He is one of seven superintendents in the State of Indiana to be selected on a vote of their peers. As a winner, he will represent District One in the American Association of School Administrators National Superintendent of the Year Program.

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Knox Man Arrested for Allegedly Stealing Air Conditioning Unit

Posted on Author WKVI
Michael Watts

A Knox man was arrested after he reportedly admitted to stealing an air conditioning unit from Mark’s Body Shop on Saturday, September 24th.

An employee at Mark’s Body Shop reported that the air conditioning unit had been stolen from the business at 253 E. John Street. A witness stated that he saw two male subjects in an older model white Ford Ranger with blue markings on the side pulling out from the west side of the building, according to the police report. He told police that he believes the subjects stole an air conditioner that was located on the west side of the building. The witness said that he observed the large unit in the back of the truck.

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Local Fire Departments Receive Grants

Posted on Author WKVI

73 rural and volunteer fire departments from 46 counties across Indiana have been awarded more than $310,000 in Volunteer Fire Assistance grants from the Department of Natural Resources.

The DNR Forestry staff reviews grant applications and selects recipients based on population density, acres of public wildlands protected, and wildlife fire reporting to DNR Fire Control Headquarters. Grants can be used for training, installation of dry hydrants, or purchasing necessary firefighting equipment and personal protective gear. Local fire departments that receive grants must match the grant with cash or in-kind contributions.

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Community Services of Starke County Receives Starke United Grant Funds

Posted on Author WKVI
Community Services of Starke County
Community Services of Starke County

Starke United’s Board has approved the reallocation of funds to enable Community Services to provide the matching funds for 125 meals to the homebound elderly, matching funds for 133 hours of homemaker service to the elderly and disabled and for the preparation and printing of the Starke County Resource Directory. The Starke United Board also approved $1,500 for the food pantry in July after allocating $2,500 for the pantry in April.

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From the WKVI Archives: Kingsbury Ordnance Plant

Posted on Author WKVI
Workers put together munitions at KOP.

It was 71 years ago today that one of the defining moments in Starke County history occurred. On September 28th, 1940, LaPorte had been chosen as one of 73 sites in the country for the construction of an ordnance plant. That led to the building of the Kingsbury Ordnance Plant better known as KOP.

For residents of Starke County and those who followed them here, that meant loading shells, assembling fuses, boosters, detonators and primers, and packing complete rounds of ammunition.

After the government had cleared all the families off the 13,454 acres of land it had purchased, it began construction of KOP. By May of 1942, the number of people employed reached a high of 20,785. Nearly half of the people employed were women. For many it was their first job outside the home.

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State Democrats to Pay Fine

Posted on Author WKVI
State Representative Nancy Dembowski

They went to Urbana, Illinois and now they are paying the price. In the most recent legislative session, Democrat Minority Leader, B. Patrick Bauer, of South Bend, led his fellow Democrats out of the state to, as he said, work on legislative bills that mattered to working people. The Republicans viewed it as a stall tactic to defeat bills offered by Governor Daniels and the Republican majority.

House Speaker, Brian Bosma, finally resorted to imposing a fine for every day the Democrats failed to appear in their house seats. 17th District State Representative Nancy Dembowski (D-Knox) was one of the members that followed the Democrat delegation to Urbana.

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North Judson Town Board Approve First Payment for Sewer Separation Project

Posted on Author WKVI

The North Judson Town Board learned that the State Road 39 sewer separation project is moving along. The Board members approved the first pay request in the amount of $306,614. $15,330 of that will be retained until the completion of the project. The project is being funded by a grant.

The Board is also reviewing a newly proposed animal ordinance. It will be discussed at the next Board meeting on Monday, October 3rd.

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Public Records Commission Meets

Posted on Author WKVI

Even though we live in a digital age, there is still a lot of paper collected in governmental offices. It stacks up, it goes into boxes, it’s stored in every nook and cranny, and then one day the officials in those offices say, “enough is enough.”

Knox and County officials recently got together at a Public Records Commission meeting. This is the first such meeting held in seven years.

At the meeting, Knox Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston, was elected Chairman. Retention schedules were adopted in which old receipts, bills and other paper records could be destroyed. Some records, like minute books and ledgers, must be retained.

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Charles Weaver Awarded Ancilla Award

Posted on Author WKVI
Charles Weaver
Charles Weaver

Ancilla College’s annual recognition dinner will be on October 6th on the campus of the school at Donaldson, Indiana.

Betty Chesak will be honored as the Sister Mary D. award winner and Charles Weaver will receive the Ancilla Award. This award is given to an individual who is a community leader who has demonstrated service and commitment to Ancilla and the community.

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Giant Pumpkin Breaks State Record

Posted on Author WKVI
John Barenie's 1,308 pound pumpkin

Hensler’s Nursery in Hamlet had its Fourth Annual Giant Pumpkin Growers Contest on Saturday.

John Barenie of Griffith, Indiana, was the contest winner with a pumpkin weighing in at 1,308 pounds. He is now the Indiana state record holder. Barenie’s pumpkin beat the previous state record of 1,273 pounds, held by Roger Howard, of Grovertown, since 2005. Don Young, of Des Moines, Iowa, came in second with a 1,159.5 pound pumpkin and Julie Young, of Des Moines, was in third place with a pumpkin weighing 924.5 pounds.

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Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County Awards Grants

Posted on Author WKVI

Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County recently awarded $18,000 in grants from the Drug Free Starke County Fund. Grants were awarded in three categories: Prevention, Treatment and Justice.

The recipients include North Judson-San Pierre Middle School and High School, City of Knox for National Night Out, TAR WARS “Beware of Tobacco”, Knox Middle School for two programs, Porter-Starke Services for the Prime for Life Program, and Starke County Probation for the Substance Abuse Evaluation Supplementation program. The Knox City Police Department received a thermal imager and money for drug and evidence lockup.

Search Warrant Nets Four Arrests in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI
Ellis Clemons
Brandie Kotras
Tracie Young
Steve Wilson

Four Knox residents were arrested Friday morning after officers from the Knox City Police Department and the Starke County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at 202 W. Locust Drive in Knox.

Officers had received complaints about methamphetamine being used in the residence around small children and after an investigation, a search warrant was issued. Arrested were Ellis Clemons, 44, and Brandie Kotras, 33, who have preliminary charges of Possession of a Legend Drug and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. 25-year-old Tracie Young has preliminary charges of Possession of Marijuana and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. Steve Wilson, 40, was also arrested and he has preliminary charges of Possession of Marijuana, Maintaining a Common Nuisance and Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

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Oregon-Davis Township Trustee Asks School Board for Land

Posted on Author WKVI
Oregon-Davis School Superintendent, Dr. Steve Disney

The Oregon-Davis School Board heard a presentation of a request for the purchase of some school property at its most recent meeting.

“We heard a presentation by the Township Trustee with the investigation to build and go after property for a new fire station in Hamlet and they’re looking at the property where the old school used to sit,” said Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney.

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North Judson Town Board Approves Resolution for Fire Department Trade

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson Town Board: Dan Anderson, Wendy Hoppe, Jane Ellen Felchuk, Attorney Cassie Hine and Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller

The North Judson Town Board approved a resolution to allow a trade of equipment between the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department and the Knox-Center Township Fire Department. The North Judson Department will get a 1980 Ford pumper truck with a 750 gallon tank and in exchange, Knox will receive an air bag system that is capable of lifting up vehicles to help in emergency situations. The Knox City Council members approved a similar resolution at their recent meeting.

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