Some things may last forever, but the barn at the Pleasant View Rest Home is not one of them. Morry Demarco, maintenance director for the county courthouse and justice center, told the Pulaski County Commissioners this week that the barn is well past its prime, and he’s not sure if it can even make it through another winter.
The official NFL Punt, Pass & Kick event sponsored by Youth of Integrity was held on Saturday, September 17th. This was Youth of Integrity’s first year hosting this event which was a huge success with over 120 youth participating. Each participant was awarded an official NFL participant certificate and all received a door prize. Five age groups per gender competed on distance and accuracy of punting, passing and kicking with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards given.
The Starke County Council approved a proposal by the Starke County Library Board to finance an expansion-renovation project. A representative from Umbaugh and Associates told the council members that the bonds would not exceed $1,785,000 and would cost the taxpayers 17 cents per $1,000 in assessed valuation.
The Knox City Council recently discussed abolishing Knox City Court. Even though the court takes away almost $100,000 from the City’s General Fund, Mayor Rick Chambers says there’s no opportunity to abolish it until 2014.
“State statute states during 2006 and every fourth year after that, a second or third class town, or city may, by ordinance, establish or abolish a city or town court,” said Chambers. “So, we can’t just snap our fingers and say no more City Court next year. By state statute, every fourth year you have to do an ordinance.”
The Starke United campaign kick-off breakfast is this morning at the Knox Community Center. The theme for this year’s campaign is, “Together, we can inspire hope and create opportunities for a better tomorrow.”
The campaign chairman will be announced as well as the goal for the year. Julie Dessauer is the Starke United Director and she promises an inspiring breakfast, and campaign. The breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m. CT and it is sponsored by Integrity Trade Services.
The bridge at Range Road and 400 North is almost complete. Yesterday, crews were pouring cement at the site and the bridge should be demolished on Thursday. Highway Superintendent, Steve Siddall, explains what comes next.
“They have to set their forms up and get ready for the abutment to hold the pre-cast box beams to go on it,” said Siddall. “Then the box beams will be delivered, they will set them into place, then they’ll form up and pour the top over it and we should be almost done.”
Industry isn’t the only thing in Pulaski County with a positive outlook; education may also be receiving a shot in the arm thanks to Ivy Tech Kokomo. Through their Logansport campus, Ivy Tech had previously conducted classes at the Winamac High School for some time, but they ran into a snag. The administrative support staff could only be at the school until the guidance offices closed at 4:00 p.m. This caused a number of issues, particularly since the classes took place at night when no support staff was present.
There are some counties in the state that are considering putting all candidates on the November Municipal Election ballot, although state law only allows contested races on the ballot.
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski and Pulaski County Clerk Tasha Foerg told WKVI that only contested races will appear on the Municipal election ballots. Skronski indicated that legislators may reverse this decision for future Municipal elections with the confusion it may cause voters. The Starke County Election Board voted to follow the state statute to only allow contested races. The Pulaski County Clerk said she is also following state statute.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State Police and the Marshall County Coronor’s Office are investigating the death of Marshall County Jail inmate, Georgia M. Onofre.
The 35-year-old woman was in a special observation area in the jail due to her past medical history and was under constant surveillance by jail staff. She became unresponsive around 4:00 a.m. ET yesterday morning and jail staff immediately started resuscitation efforts. Plymouth paramedics transported Onofre to the Emergency Department where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
After a great amount of discussion, the Starke County Council approved the remodeling project proposed by the Starke County Library Board on a 4-2 vote.
The request had been stalled for several months as the council members gained information. As it stands, the Library Board will be able to solicit bids to bond for a less than $2 million remodeling project at the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox.
Knox City Police Department detectives continue to investigate the death of 59-year-old Bertha Clabaugh, of Knox. Police were called to the Oak Valley Apartments in Knox on Friday on a report that she was unresponsive. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy was conducted Friday and detectives are waiting on the pathology report and toxicology report to make a determination in the case. Starke County Coroner, Kris Rannells, said those results will probably not be available for 10 weeks. Detectives still indicate that no foul play is suspected.
The Knox-Center Township and North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Departments have agreed to a swap of equipment. In the swap, North Judson would receive a 1980 Ford Pumper truck with a 750 gallon tank and Knox would receive an air bag system that is approximately six to seven years old.
Knox-Center Township Volunteer Fire Chief, Ken Pfost, explained to the City Council members that the air bag system new would cost approximately $10,000.
The religious movie, Courageous, is coming to Showland Cinemas in Plymouth on September 30th. It was produced by a movie making ministry out of Albany, Georgia. This is the company’s fourth movie, and follows on the heels of the very popular Fireproof.
Dawn Roose, who is promoting the movie locally, talked about bringing the movie to Plymouth.
“Our original challenge was to pre-sell 1,000 tickets to have the movie in our local Showland theatre,” said Roose. “We did get word from Provident Films that they will allow it to come which we are just praising the Lord for. We have not reached that benchmark yet, but we are working toward it and I’m sure we’re going to surpass it.”
The General Manager of Sabre Manufacturing was at the most recent meeting of the Knox City Council to discuss upcoming plans for the company. Jason Riese told the Council that with the acquisition of property east of the plant, they can expand the facility and add a new product line.
A prominent Pulaski County resident died Saturday. Lloyd Overmyer, 86, of Monterey passed away at the home of his son, Tim.
In his lifetime, Overmyer served on the Fulton County REMC Board and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Pulaski County Farm Bureau Co-op for 25 years.
The Knox City Council recently discussed the two mile jurisdiction for zoning purposes. The city has the right to go outside the borders two miles into unincorporated areas.
City Attorney, David Matsey, addressed a conflict in the ordinance as it is written. The ordinance and maps have to be brought into compliance by using digital mapping software, giving the city’s Building Inspector the authority to issue permits in the two mile jurisdiction.
Even though the Starke County Council kept the 2012 county budget the same as the one in place for 2011, one department got an increase. The Emergency Medical Service received an increase as they move toward attaining Advanced Life Support status.
The economy has been on everyone’s minds lately as well as unemployment. Unemployment figures have stalled in the 9-9.5% rate and Second District Democrat Representative Joe Donnelly was asked if that rate can be lowered in the next six to 12 months.
“I’m hopeful we can reduce that number,” he replied. “We have seen the numbers in our area come down from where they were a few years ago, but we have a long, long way to go. We’re going to continue to work at that everyday. The sponsor of the American Work Act are trying to get the members of Congress to sign on to that to help us create more jobs so the effort is there right now.”
Indiana saw an uptick in the August unemployment rate. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate went from 8.5 to 8.7 percent in August. The U.S. rate remained flat at 9.1 percent this month. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised Indiana’s July job growth numbers to show an increase of 4,100 more private sector jobs than reported last month.
Starke County is ranked #15 in unemployment at 10.3%, Pulaski is 78th at 7.3%, Marshall is 27th at 9.5%, LaPorte is 24th at 9.8%, and Porter County is 68th with 7.7% unemployment. Fayette County is ranked #1 at 12.1% while Dubois County has the lowest unemployment at 6.1%.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department is offering a basic firearms class for women this week. The class begins today and continues Thursday and Saturday.
The free course offers two evenings of classroom instruction today and Thursday from 6:00-9:00 p.m. ET and a day on the range on Saturday, September 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. Participants will need to provide their own ammunition for the day.
