Nathan VanDerAa’s plea agreement deadline date, as well as his trial date, have been postponed in U.S. District Court. No dates have been released from the U.S. Attorney’s Office but it is believed that his trial date has been moved to November.
VanDerAa has plead not guilty in federal court to two counts of Unlawful User of Controlled Substances in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition and one count of Manufacture of a Controlled Substance.
Kersting’s Cycle Center presented it’s 9th annual charity event Saturday. Jason Kersting said the Motorcycle, Music and Memories event was a success.
“It’s a big festival that we put on here at the shop and it’s only for one day,” said Kersting. “We have the food vendors come in, we had four live bands and the actual motorcycle ride took off at 1:00 p.m. ET and that ride collects donations to the MDA and it’s in memory of Nella Kersting. That raised $1,090 just from a few guys getting together to go for a ride. I know that my mother would be really honored to know that event is taking place in her name.”
Life Line Screening, the nation’s leading provider of community-based preventative health screenings, will be at the Knox Community Center on Thursday, September 15th beginning at 9:00 a.m. The event is sponsored by Pulaski Memorial Hospital.
The Knox Community School Board members honored the recent retirees at their meeting Wednesday night.
“Any year in which we have school personnel retire, we try to honor them for their years of service to the Knox Community School Corporation,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “At the conclusion of the 2010-2011 school year, we had five retirees. They included Shilla Cornelius, Elementary Treasurer; Nadean Emigh, Paraprofessional at the Elementary School; Jerry Slauter, Industrial Tech teacher at the Middle School; Marilyn Wagner, a 5th grade teacher at the Knox Elementary School; and Steve Cronk, Middle School Principal.”
A Starke County juvenile has been waived to adult court to face six charges against him.
On August 19th, it is alleged that Tyler Rudd, 16, of North Judson, attempted to escape from an officer at the Muncie Reception and Detention Center after the officer had un-cuffed Rudd so he could use the bathroom. Rudd also reportedly used his thumb to poke the officer’s eye and he also hit him in the face causing a facial and eye injury. In this case, he has been charged with Battery as a Class C Felony and Battery as a Class D Felony and an additional charge of Attempted Escape, a Class C Felony.
Officers from the Hamlet Police Department are investigating a theft from the Hamlet Golf Course.
A golf cart was stolen from the premises during the evening hours on Sunday, September 11th. The cart was driven off the course onto Indiana Avenue where the suspect(s) loaded the golf cart onto a trailer and fled the scene. The suspect vehicle has been described as a newer style black Dodge Ram with large polished wheels pulling a utility trailer with metal grate style bottom and ramp. Officials at the Hamlet Golf Course are offering a reward for the return of the golf cart.
The Bass Lake Conservancy District Board has announced its intent to file liens against property owners who owe more than $150 to the district as of September 7th. These liens will not be filed until Executive Director Patti Bush obtains all the necessary legal descriptions of the properties she plans to file for liens against.
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officers arrested two brothers after an incident Monday.
Police learned of the whereabouts of Brandon Gamblin, of Winamac, and attempted to locate him as he had a warrant out for his arrest. Police arrived at the residence on U.S. 35 but he was not there. Later, officers observed a vehicle approaching the residence that matched the description of the vehicle that Gamblin’s brother, Nathan, drives. Police asked Nathan Gamblin where his brother was and he stated that he didn’t know. He was later found inside the residence and taken into custody.
Knox High School Principal, Dr. Elizabeth Ratliff; Middle School Principal, Dave Miller; and Technology Coach, Chris Ross, appeared before the School Board last week to present them with projects the students have been doing on their new computers, thanks to the One-to-One Computer Initiative.
“From the High School, they had a student demonstrate how to solve an Algebra problem, running it through an iMovie plan, said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “We had an English teacher show who they prepared for the reading of a story by doing research on the author, the story and different topics from the story that they were going to read. Mrs. Berkshire was here to show some of the projects that those students had done.”
The first annual S.T.E.P.S For Life Walk will be held this Saturday at Wythogan Park in Knox to draw attention to and raise money for the Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center. Knox Mayor Rick Chambers will be the Grand Marshal of the walk.
The staff at Bella Vita is attempting to raise funds to keep the Resource Center open more hours per week. Right now they have funding for 18 hours per week until the end of the year. Because of the increased use of the Center, the organizers feel it should be open 40 hours.
A Winamac man has been named to a national agriculture committee. Scott Fritz was named by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee. Fritz’s committee is charged with working on trade in grains, feed, oilseeds and planting seeds.
The lives of three 19-year-old boys were tragically lost in an auto accident this weekend in Royal Center. Erron Stoddard of Winamac, Brandon Lee Miller of Winamac, and Bruce Leearmel Wireman of Culver were killed when their SUV crashed into the rear of a parked semitrailer. They suffered blunt force trauma with massive internal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Starke County citizens turned out to remember and reflect during September 11th ceremonies in North Judson and Knox. At Knox, WKVI sponsored a service at the Knox High School Football Field.
The day was arranged by Gene Blastic, and featured talks by Ted Hayes, Tom Berg and Paul Mathewson. Mae Crider provided three patriotic songs, and Pastors Ed Hasnerl, Paul Begley, Jim Pradtke, and James Adcock added spiritual messages. Continue reading
A meeting to explain the findings of the 2010 State Audit of the Starke County Treasurer’s records suddenly turned confrontational Friday afternoon. The report only listed almost $22,000 that the Auditors could not find for certification.
County Council President, Mark Smith, said there is still over a half million discrepancy for 2009.
The West Central School Board members held a wind turbine construction meeting recently. Plans are to mobilize some equipment on the grounds on September 15th and evacuation work will begin on September 16th. A groundbreaking ceremony is being planned for September 30th at 9:30 a.m. ET in the football stadium. The community is invited.
North Judson-San Pierre Middle School is holding their 6th annual Walk for Wellness on September 23rd.
The walk and other activities are on Friday, September 23rd and all students will participate in the educational part of the day. Raising $10 allows the student to participate in the walk-a-thon on our track. $15 allows the student to take part in other fun activities provided by each grade level team. Past activities have included swimming, minute to win it, and an obstacle course.
The 2011 Quit Now Indiana Contest is underway. This statewide contest is designed to encourage you who use tobacco products to make an attempt to quit now by offering you a chance to win cash prizes up to $2,500 for remaining tobacco-free for 31 days.
To be eligible to win, you must be 18 years of age or older, a legal resident of Indiana, and a current tobacco user. You must stay tobacco free from October 1st through October 31st in order to win the grand prize. You may register at Community Services of Starke County on Culver Road in Knox, the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox, or Porter-Starke Services on Edgewood Drive in Knox.
Practices for the annual Christmas Cantata will begin on Sunday, September 18th at 2:00 p.m. at the Knox United Methodist Church. This will be the 14th annual Community Choir production.
You are invited to be a part of this year’s Cantata. Members range in age from teens to seniors. Practice will be held on Sundays. Two performances of the Cantata will be held on December 11th. Call Jim Oliverius at 772-3609 with any questions you may have about the Cantata.
Starke County officials held an open meeting yesterday afternoon, after they had met in executive session, to discuss the findings of the State Board of Accounts 2010 audit of the Treasurer’s office. Council President Mark Smith was designated to be the spokesperson. Mr. Smith explained that the 2010 audit has accounted for all of the $890,956 shortage except for $21,906. dollars.
Even though the 2010 audit discrepancy was reduced to $21,906. as an unexplained variance Smith said the 2009 audit still finds a discrepancy of over $523,000 in the 2009 audit and that amount is still unresolved.
The 2010 audit that showed that the auditor found book-keeping errors that explained the $869,050 discrepancy councilwoman Judy Benninghoff said the errors shouldn’t have been laid at the feet of Treasurer Linda Belork, but should have been the fault of auditor Kay Chaffins. She stated that the problem was that the Auditors Office was carrying an inflated cash balance and that was the Auditors problem not the Treasurers.
County attorney Martin Lucus defended Chaffins and said that what was relevant was the fact that the State Board of Accounts found issues with the Treasurer’s Office not the Auditor’s Office
In the end Smith and Commissioners Dan Bridegroom and Kathy Norem instructed auditor Chaffins to see if she could find the 2009 errors, before a professional forensic accounting firm had to be brought in to do the job.
Charlie Vorm, President and CEO of American Oak Preserving Co, Inc., with International Headquarters in North Judson, Indiana and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) announced today the beginning of construction on a new 6,000 square foot structure by American Oak. The new building will be a refrigerated structure that will be used for the short-term storage and sale of Christmas trees and wreaths coming from a supplier in North Carolina from approximately November 15 through December 15. The products will be available online from such retailers as Sam’s Club, 1-800-Flowers and Home Depot, with orders transmitted to American Oak for shipment directly to customers. The building will have three loading docks. It is expected that during this 30-day period, several shipments per day will be both received and sent. While no new production employees are expected to be hired, the current production employees will work an additional month to 45 days. During any period the building is not in use for this purpose, it will serve as a warehouse for other American Oak products.
