18-Year-Old Drowns After Jumping From Yellow River Bridge in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

The treacherous Yellow River has claimed another life. Mercan Lyncook, of Parma Ohio jumped from the abandoned train bridge near the depot at 12:00 midnight Sunday morning, and because of limited swimming ability never made it back to shore. The 18-year-old man’s body was found by the Marshall County Dive Team at 2:00 a.m.

The Knox Police Department and Indiana Conservation Office received a call from Lyncook’s friend that he did not surface after diving into the water.

Assisting in the search were the Knox Volunteer Fire Department, Bass Lake Fire Department, Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Washington Township Fire Department, and Starke County EMS.

Civil Air Patrol Conducts Training in Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI
The plane is prepared for take-off

On July 1st, 1946, President Harry Truman established the Civil Air Patrol. It was charged with three primary missions: Aerospace education, cadet programs and emergency services. Over the past weekend, members of Indiana’s Wing of the Civil Air Patrol were in Knox conducting exercises to prepare themselves for whatever disasters they might be called to in the state.

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Nathan VanDerAa Appears in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Nathan VanDerAa

A status hearing regarding the violation of Nathan VanDerAa’s probation was held in Starke Circuit Court Friday. VanDerAa admitted to five violations of his probation, including an arrest in Pulaski County that he did not report for possession of methamphetamine as well as driving while suspended, failure to complete community service, and an overdue balance owed to the probation department. He has also not completed his drug abuse prevention evaluation and did not report to probation as directed.

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Starke County to Receive Federal Public Assistance

Posted on Author WKVI
Flooding occurred after a levee break on the Robbins Ditch. Photo by Becky Pulver.

President Barack Obama has approved 32 counties for federal public assistance for damage sustained by severe weather that began April 19th. Starke County was the only county listed from Northern Indiana that will be receiving funding.

Public assistance means state and local governments and certain non-profit organizations in the designated counties are eligible to apply for federal assistance to pay 75 percent of the approved cost of debris removal, emergency services related to the disaster and repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, such as roads, buildings and utilities.

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North Judson Town Board Discusses Outdoor Pool Regulations

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 members discussed outdoor pool regulations at their recent meeting.

Building Inspector, Steve Ransom, said if you install a pool 24 inches tall or bigger, whether it’s a temporary pool or you plan to place it on your property permanently, a permit is required. Pools under 48 inches that have an entry that can not be secured must be fenced in. More information regarding pool installation can be found in an ordinance in the Clerk’s office.

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IU Health Starke Hospital Implements New Information System

Posted on Author WKVI
IU Health Starke Hospital

IU Health Starke Hospital has implemented a new hospital information system.

“IU Health Starke Hospital implemented a new hospital information system which includes computerized provider order entry and electronic medical records,” said I.T. Director, Ashley Norem. “What this means is that IU Health Starke Hospital now operates all patient related procedures and processes digitally, improving the quality of care for our patients.”

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Funding Cut for Instructional Assistants at West Central

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board members discussed instructional assistants at their meeting Thursday.

The instructional assistants in the corporation were notified of the reduction in Prime Time Funding in the amount of $46,000 and that will result in the reduction of three to five instructional assistants in the Corporation. Every staff member was asked if they would consider retirement or resigning and to notify the administration. All reported that they would like to keep their job. The next step will be relayed to the Board by administrators at a future meeting.

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Starke County Council Approves Salary, Car for New Paramedic EMS Director

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem brought the Starke County Council up to speed on the work of the Advanced Life Support Committee at the Council’s recent meeting. Norem said that the ALS Committee hopes to have a paramedic chase vehicle in operation by the first of the year. She reviewed the time line of codes that have to be approved by the State before they can start. One is that I.U. Health Starke Hospital will agree to be the sponsoring hospital.

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Governor Daniels Visits Kersting’s Motorcycle Museum

Posted on Author WKVI
Governor Daniels talks to Jim Kersting about the motorcycles in the museum

It’s not unusual for people from far and wide to stop by Kersting’s Motorcycle Museum in North Judson. The Governor of the State of Indiana, Mitch Daniels, stopped in for a visit yesterday and took a tour of the most famous motorcycle museum in the Midwest and the most interesting in the United States. He was given the tour by Jim Kersting.

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Starke County P.T.A.B.O.A. Board Reviews Land Values

Posted on Author WKVI
John Viveiros

The P.T.A.B.O.A. Board met this week to review and approve the property values following the recent reassessment.

“The Assessor, by law, has to come up with the land values,” said John Viveiros, Project Manager for the reassessment project in Starke County. “We went through and did a neighborhood delineation based on the sales and came up with land-based rates for each and every neighborhood.”

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Knox Community School Board Reviews Lease Agreement with Conn-Selmer

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Community School Board approved a lease agreement with Conn-Selmer Monday night. Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the School Corporation and Conn-Selmer have had this lease agreement for band equipment for the past ten years:

“Under the terms of the agreement, we are able to purchase expensive musical equipment at a huge discount which is a benefit for us,” said Gappa. “One the other side, Conn-Selmer advertises Knox as one of their schools that they supply instruments for. Our marching band in the past has had much success around the state so they use that to their benefit and it really helps our band department with the purchase of much needed big equipment.”

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Facts Presented at Recent Gas Price Forum

Posted on Author WKVI

A few interesting pieces of information came up during Scot Imus’ presentation on gas prices in LaPorte this week. He’s the Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.

Do filling station owners like high gas prices or low gas prices? Low. Stations general make 70% of their income off of gasoline sales, and 70% of their profit from convenience items (i.e. candy bars, potato chips, pop, coffee, knick knacks, etc). When gas prices are high, consumers have less money to spend on the convenience items.

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North Judson Town Board News

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 tentatively approved a bid from Gatlin Plumbing and Heating of Griffith, Indiana, to do the sewer separation work on State Road 39. The Board can not formally award the bid until the state releases the funds for the project. The company had the lowest bid of $531,153.

A discussion was held on the proposed 50/50 sidewalk program. The Board is considering entering into this program, but will not make a decision until the Board begins budget sessions for the next year. The Board has scheduled a budget meeting to plan the 2012 budget for Monday, June 27th at 4:00 p.m.

Community Services of Starke County to Increase Transportation Fares

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

Community Services of Starke County is announcing a fare increase for transportation beginning July 1st.

“The reason why we had to do an increase is because of the cost of gasoline,” said Director Joan Haugh. “We put this off and we’re not seeing a break. We’re already six months into this year and we’ve almost spent as much as we did last year. With that cost increasing, we felt that we had to do something so we are increasing as of July 1st. The people that we’ve already told are regular riders and they’ve been asking us for some time when we are going to be raising our rates. How can we afford not to? I think they understand but I just wanted to let the public know too that there is a slight increase.”

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Gas Price Forum Held in LaPorte

Posted on Author WKVI
Senator Jim Arnold talks with a constituent following the forum

Over 75 people attended a meeting to address gasoline pricing in LaPorte last night. The meeting was arranged by State Senator Jim Arnold (D-LaPorte) and State Representative Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte).

Presenters were Scot Imus, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, and Maureen Hellman-Ferguson, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Council.

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Pulaski Memorial to Sign Agreement with Private Ambulance Firm

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski Memorial Hospital

For the Pulaski Memorial Hospital, some decisions could mean the difference between life and death. When CEO Rick Mynark approached the commissioners this week, he knew that his proposal could mean the very same for patients at the hospital. Mynark informed the commissioners that PMH would be signing an agreement with Keeney Ambulance and Transport Service (KATS), a private ambulance firm, to provide patient transfer service, cutting down drastically on the time required for patient transfers.

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