How many people live next door to a person who started in an NCAA Final Basketball game? Ted Hayes does.
Jerry Johnson will be Ted’s guest this Friday on “Ted Hayes Remembers”.
Back in 1969, the Purdue Boilermakers, winners of the Big 10 Conference, were seeded into the NCAA tournament. Although they were not expected to win, the Boilers ended up in the final game against John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.
Three Plymouth men, all from Plymouth, Indiana were arrested after the discovery of a mobile methamphetamine lab in the community of Fish Lake on Saturday, March 19th, 2011.
LaPorte County Police arrested 47-year-old Duwayne Amore who was charged with Manufacturing Methamphetamine and Possession of Methamphetamine; 30-year-old Jacob Belcher was charged with Maintaining a Common Nuisance and 40-year-old David Gonzalez was charged with Visiting a Common Nuisance. A methamphetamine lab was located in the trunk of the vehicle.
LaPorte County Sheriff Michael Mollenhauer has released further information regarding the death of an in-custody inmate at the La Porte County Security Complex. Dead is Roy E. Young, 37, of Michigan City, Indiana. He was pronounced dead at 7:42 AM on Saturday March 19th, 2011 at Indiana University Health LaPorte Hospital.
An autopsy was performed on Monday March 21st, 2011. The official cause of death is cardiac arrhythmia induced by a drug overdose. The death is being termed “accidental.” During the autopsy, a plastic “tie off” baggie was found in the decedent’s intestinal track. Evidence is consistent with the statement given to police by Mr. Young’s cellmate that Mr. Young told him he had “swallowed cocaine” during the LaPorte Police traffic stop in an attempt to prevent being arrested for being in possession of the drug. Toxicology results are pending.
A project that began in 2002 is in the construction phase and should be completed by the summer of 2012. The Koontz Lake Sewer project is making headway and Paul Warnke of the Koontz Lake Regional Sewer District is in to talk to us about it today.
“We started initial construction of the collection system about a month ago and they’re working out there everyday, five days a week, and so far, I’d have to say we’re pretty much on target,” said Warnke.
The Pulaski County Airport Association Board approached the Commissioners Monday to inform them of their need to extend their runway an additional 800 ft. The runway, which is currently 4200 ft long, is required to be at least 5000 ft in order for corporate aircraft to land without jeopardizing their insurance. This is a huge issue for corporations, such as the Braun Corporation, because they are forced to lower the amount of weight on their aircraft in order to land on a shorter runway. This adds up to a substantial amount of difference in cost of operation, because the fewer trips an aircraft has to make, the better; Each time an aircraft has to shut off and then start up again, cycling the fuel through the system, it costs about $2000!
“The future of the Democratic process is at stake.” Those words were pronounced by Indiana’s House Majority Leader, Brian Bosma, last week in reference to the continued walk-out of 39 Democrats from their state legislative seats.
The Democrats have managed to shut down the House for a month and win concessions from Republicans on labor and education bills. As long as they hang together, the legislature is at an impasse.
Ted Hayes talked with Representative Robert Behning (R-District 91) to find out the attitude of a ranking Republican on the walkout. Behning is the Republican steering the education bill through the House. Ted asked him his general view of the walk-out.
Indiana has 43 new probationary troopers assigned to state police districts throughout the State. Members of the 70th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy took their oath of office on March 4th at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center.
The recruits received approximately 917 hours of structured training since September 9th, 2010. Their curriculum included administrative subjects, general police subjects, investigations/criminal subjects, criminal and traffic law subjects.
It was on this date in 1969 that UCLA beat Purdue in the final game of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jerry Johnson of Knox started in that game going up against Lew Alcinder, who eventually became Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Jerry Johnson will be Ted Hayes’ guest on “Ted Hayes Remembers” this Friday at 12:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT.
Too bad Jerry won’t be able to cheer, cheer, for old Purdue during the program as the Boilermakers stumbled against VCU Sunday evening.
Marshall County police are reporting that 21-year-old Kristan Kye Wright hasn’t been seen since she left her grandmother’s house around noon on Friday, March 11.
Wright’s grandmother stated that she said she was going to work, but she never showed up at the Plymouth restaurant where she works as a waitress. No contact has been made with relatives or known friends since then.
Police said there is no indication of foul play and they believe Wright might have left on her own free will. However, they say want the public’s assistance in finding her.
Wright has been known to have acquaintances on South Bend’s west side, possibly in the Western Avenue and Indiana Avenue areas, say police. At the time of her disappearance she was driving a green 1999 Buick Regal 4-door with Indiana registration MG3847.
If you have any information, call (574) 936-3187 or 1-800-800-6999.
LaPorte County Sheriff’ Michael Mollenhauer has announced the death of an in-custody inmate at the LaPorte County Security Complex. The death occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 19th, 2011.
No details are being released pending further investigation of the incident by the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office and the LaPorte County Coroner’s Office and until notification is made to the individual’s next of kin.
Starke County Prosecutor, Nicholas Bourff, is in his third month on the job and has already made a suggestion to help speed up C and D Felony proceedings.
“One of the proposals I’ve made is to try, even if it’s with the C and D Felonies, to see if a case is going ahead to trial, and we know it will, to see if we could get a bench trial set, which just involves the Judge, instead of a jury trial,” said Bourff. “The one major drawback there is that if a defendant wants a jury trial, he or she has that right. If the defendant agrees to a bench trial, then it would save thousands of dollars and it would shave off quite a bit of time as far as eliminating the need for jury selection. In my experience as a defense attorney, the majority of my clients would not have had a problem with going to a bench trial.”
When WKVI asked Starke County Health Board member, Brenda Stanojevic, about funding, she said that Health Officer Dr. Theresa Alexander told the Board that funding will be a problem, but they should make it through.
The question was raised because the fee for a septic permit has decreased from $200 to $60. Dr. Alexander said she going to a meeting to find out ways to keep the office solvent.
Dr. Alexander said, “At some point, funding is going to raise its ugly head and we’re going to have to keep on top of it.”
Sam Frain, of Winamac, has been named the 2nd District Acting Republican Party Chairman, upon the death of GOP Chairwoman, Joyce Smith. Frain has been fulfilling many of Smith’s duties over the past two years because of her illness.
A caucus will be called in April to permanently fill the vacancy. Frain has announced that he will be a candidate for the position.
The Eastern Pulaski School Board members discussed the possibility of eliminating Driver’s Training at their most recent meeting.
“Funding is being cut and in turn, we have to make some very hard decisions,” explained Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman. “Driver’s Training is an elective class and the maximum class size for that program is nine students. That’s a luxury that I’m not sure we can afford anymore. I have surveyed, so far, 22 of the area school corporations and at this point in time, Eastern Pulaski is the only school that offers Driver’s Training during the school year. Everyone else either offers it in the summer, or a private contractor offers it. At this point, all I’m doing is gathering data and information to bring back to the Board and discuss this and see where it’s going to go.”
H&G Underground continues to work on the storm water improvement project in the Town of Hamlet. The project is improving storm drainage in the old downtown area of Hamlet.
Work is currently being done on Starke Street and the piping should be finished this week. Work has also started on Pearl and Davis Streets. At their meeting Tuesday night, the Hamlet Town Board expressed their gratitude to the community for being patient during this process. It will alleviate drainage issues in the Town which have been a problem for several years.
The Hamlet Town Board also approved May 21st and 22nd as the Town-wide yard sale dates.
On this date 85 years ago, Che Mah passed away. He died at the age of 88 in 1926, and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Knox. At times in his life he traveled with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and Ringling Brothers Circus. In 1900, Che Mah was playing with the circus in Chicago and saved enough money to retire. A real estate dealer, who he had fallen in love with, convinced him to purchase a farm at Eagle Lake, near Knox. Being no good at farming (after all he was only 24 inches tall) he eventually sold the farm and moved to Knox where he lived until his death.
Hamlet Police Department officers recovered a stolen vehicle after a traffic stop Thursday night.
While on routine patrol, officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of a truck that was stolen in the Knox area last week. Officers ran the plate through the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and it was confirmed as the stolen vehicle. Adam Makowski was arrested and charged with Theft Receiving Stolen Property and Possession of Marijuana. Steven Sandoval was arrested and charged with Theft Receiving Stolen Property and False Informing.
Mayor Rick Chambers updated the Knox City Council members on the possible resumption of water discharge from the Indiana Fine Blanking (MPI) Plant in Knox into the City Wastewater Treatment Plant.
MPI has to treat the metals it produces so no rust will appear on the finished product. A soap is used in the water treatment to clean the metal. When it was discharged into the Knox Wastewater Treatment Plant, it was interfering with the plant’s equipment. According to Wastewater Superintendent, Kelly Clemons, the size of the plant and its equipment made it impossible to handle the discharge.
The Winamac Community High School Robotics team, coached by Brad Moore, will be competing in a National competition.
“This year, they will be going to Orlando, Florida for the competition,” said Superintendent, Dr. Robert Klitzman. “They’re able to do this by getting Corporate sponsors so we appreciate our community in helping support this. The kids build robots and then go through competitions and maneuvers with the robots and get points for how they do their different techniques during the competition. The numbers on the team have doubled from a year ago. Mr. Moore had a very successful run with our Supermileage team and now he’s taken that same flair to the Robotics Team and they’re doing quite well.”
The Starke County Emergency Management Agency is hosting a Weather Observer/Storm Spotter Training class on Monday, March 21st. Two different training sessions will be held. One session will be offered at 2:30 p.m. CT and the other at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Knox South Side Fire Station on US 35.
