A county-wide Thanksgiving Eve Service is scheduled at the Eagle Creek Community Church, on Wednesday November 23rd., at 7:00 p.m. CST.
Rich Wallen, Worship Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Griffith, will bring a Thanksgiving message in music.
In case you haven’t heard:
The Annual Starke County Historical Society meeting was held at the Knox High School Cafeteria on Thursday, November 17th with over 100 people attending. After the dinner and business meeting, Gary & Susan Brown, from Valparaiso, provided the program. Since 2011 is the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, the Browns presented a musical program of songs of that period in our nation’s history. They are accomplished musicians. Susan performs on fretted dulcimer, guitar, zither, autoharp, piano, penny whistle, recorder and various rhythm instruments. She is known for expressive vocals; from ethereal Celtic tunes to hard-hitting country songs and has performed for hundreds of audiences all over the Midwest. -submitted by Jim Shilling. Continue reading
Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department arrested two after one pot method meth labs were found in a residence in North Judson on Thursday.
Officers received information about the whereabouts of Traci Jacobs who was wanted on two warrants for Failure to Appear. A detective from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department contacted the bonds company and sent agents to 6190 S. 250 W. in North Judson. The agents said that they had Jacobs in custody as well as Richard Warner, of North Judson. They also notified the Sheriff’s Department that there were several pop bottles in the bedroom closet that appeared to be one pot meth labs.
A representative of Skillman Corporation out of Merrillville will be in attendance at the Starke County Commissioners meeting tonight. After listening to a presentation from Scott Cherry last week, the Starke County Jail Committee voted to invite him to the Commissioners’ meeting to discuss jail construction and remodeling. Cherry oversees all operations from the Merrillville office.
The thought of snow is certainly not appealing, but the thought that the County Highway Departments and the City Street Departments are ready for the snow is very appealing.
The Starke County Highway Department told us that they’re ready for winter weather. The salt shed is full with road salt and sand and the snow plows have been serviced and ready to tackle the roads.
After spending eight years as a member of the nursing faculty at Ancilla College, Janeen Berndt is ready to move on—much to the sadness of her coworkers.
Berndt was the first full-time nursing faculty member that was hired at Ancilla, and currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Nursing. She recently found an opportunity to work at Western Governors University as a Student Mentor, and she feels that’s an opportunity she cannot pass up.
Berndt said it would give her the extra time to spend with her children, and she’s excited for the position because it will give her the opportunity to work with graduate students. Berndt said she will miss the faculty and the students more than anything, and said leaving Ancilla will be like leaving her family.
The Winamac Town Board, Safe Routes to School Task Force and Friends of the Panhandle Pathway are getting together to make the Panhandle Trail accessible to the residents of Winamac.
A plan is in the works to extend the Panhandle Pathway north to Winamac, connecting to Superior Street. This will allow the Pathway to connect to the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation. It will be paved with stone and later paved with asphalt. This will be a safe route to school for children and it will also be a safe walking and bike route for everyone.
The 2nd Annual WKVI/Five Star Food Drive was a success Saturday! Several carts of food were donated from patrons in the community who helped make the holidays a little better for those in need this season. Food and cash donations were accepted and totals will be announced next week. Thank you to all who contributed and Happy Thanksgiving! Continue reading
Republican Donna Henry increased her victory margin to six in the North Judson Municipal Election for Clerk-Treasurer today. The provisional votes were inspected and of the four votes examined, two were approved and two were rejected. The two votes for Henry gave her a 223-217 victory over Connie Miller, the Democrat Incumbent.
Also picking up two votes was Tim Cummins, Republican, for the Town Council Ward 3 race. His new vote total is 278. The vote total for his opponent, Democrat Daniel Anderson, stayed the same at 162.
Officers from the Plymouth Police Department are investigating burglaries that occurred at the Remembrance Center and New Attitudes Hair Salon on North Michigan Street in Plymouth. Police say that unknown suspect(s) had made forced entry into the two businesses in the overnight hours of November 18th and removed a large television and an undisclosed amount of money. These two businesses had also been burglarized on November 9th. Anyone with information regarding these burglaries should contact the Plymouth Police Department at (574) 936-2126.
Heather Wilson was arrested by officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday after she allegedly filed a false police report.
On November 11th, Wilson reportedly told police that a male subject asked her for jewelry and other items. She said that he came into the house, grabbed her, hit her in the face, and held up a knife to her before taking prescription medication that belonged to her mother. Wilson gave police a description of the suspect and said that he left the scene on foot. Wilson was later taken by ambulance to IU Health Starke Hospital for having a panic attack.
The Provisional Board will meet this morning at 10:00 a.m. in the Starke County Clerk’s office to determine if provisional ballots in the North Judson Municipal election will be allowed. Four votes were deemed provisional in the election, which is the number of votes that separates the outcome of the Clerk-Treasurer’s race between Republican Donna Henry and Incumbent Democrat Connie Miller. Henry won the election by a vote of 221 to 217.
A Starke County jury found Fred Boggess II guilty of all five counts filed against him. The jury found him guilty of Dealing in Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with the Intent to Manufacture, Driving While Suspended and False Informing.
The two-day trial had several witnesses called to the stand in Starke Circuit Court, including an Indiana State Police officer who specializes in Clandestine Lab Team investigations.
The sewer separation project is nearing an end in the Town of Winamac.
Clerk-Treasurer Judy Heater told us that three-quarters of the paving is done and all streets affected with the project should be finished today. The Town’s fall paving schedule was combined with the project’s paving schedule so more could be done and the work is being handled by E&B Paving and Central Paving. Heater said the businesses have been very cooperative during this long process.
The Starke United/WKVI Radio Auction is two weeks from today.
Julie Dessauer, the Executive Director of Starke United, tells us about the event.
“The Radio Auction will be on WKVI K99.3 FM on Friday, December 2nd, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT,” stated Dessauer. “Auction services will be donated by Osinski Auction Service and communications and space are donated by CenturyLink. It is at the CenturyLink warehouse which is on the corner of John and Pearl Streets. Our viewing times are Thursday, December 1st from 4:00-7:00 p.m. and Friday morning from 9:00-10:00 a.m. and then the auction starts at 10:00 a.m.”
Education in Indiana in the 21st Century is not the satisfying profession it was 25 years ago according to Dennis Norman, the Area 1 Director of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association. Norman visits with retired and current teachers and administrators as he travels throughout his nine county area and he tells us what they’ve been telling him about what they’re feeling today.
During yesterday’s national observation of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, Porter-Starke Services implemented its organization-wide tobacco free policy.
The policy took effect at all Porter-Starke offices in Knox, Valparaiso and Portage. Porter-Starke implemented a tobacco-free policy among its employees in 2007 and the clients of the Inpatient Care Center in 2009. While there will be no tobacco use allowed on Porter-Starke property, the organization will provide healthy alternatives to tobacco use on-site, including nicotine replacement options, tobacco cessation resources and healthy alternatives in its ongoing programming.
Starke County Chamber members will be hearing today about another successful year. Chamber Executive Director, Debbie Mix, told us what she will be telling the membership.
“I do the highlights of the year which include the different events that we had,” said Mix. “I will mention the Schricker Award, the AM Starke Counties that we’ve had, the fundraisers which include the Mint Festival booth and our Business Expo, and then I’ll mention the upcoming Shop Local event.” Continue reading
Ron Henningsmith, Director of the Starke County CASA organization, is announcing that a new class of CASA volunteers will be sworn in by Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall on Monday, November 21st, at 4:00 p.m.
CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, is a nationwide organization that acts on behalf of children in court cases.
According to the CASA website, 71 of Indiana’s 92 counties have CASA organizations. There are almost 3,000 volunteers statewide.
Workers for the City of Knox are being forewarned that their uniforms that they wear at work might be taxed as a fringe benefit in the near future.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told Mayor Rick Chambers and City Council members of the possibility at the most recent City Council meeting.
“That looks like the way that the Department of Revenue says that we may be going,” said Houston. “There may be a way around that. We might have to pass an ordinance saying that that’s required for the city employees and they may have to take those uniforms off at work.”
