Stephanie McGovern, 16, of Winamac, who was involved in a car accident in Cass County on Monday, December 27th, had a successful jaw surgery and is out of ICU at a Fort Wayne hospital. Doctors have tended to broken ribs, a punctured lung and a punctured kidney that she suffered in the accident. She will soon continue her recovery at home. Stephanie’s parents are Mike and Cheryl McGovern.
It’s said that 80% of Americans believe in miracles. Do you? The Jay and Katie Amidei family, on Anns Ct. in Knox, believe in miracles. Here’s why:
Their son, Colton, was diagnosed with a rare disease after doctors found a large mass behind his eye. The disease, which is difficult to pronounce, was so rare that very few Americans had ever been diagnosed with it.
At this time last year, little Colton had gone through two surgeries to remove the tumor, the first surgery taking 12 1/2 hours. The second was performed after opening his head to remove the mass that had been missed the first “go round.”
Beginning January 1st, 2011, Indiana households, public schools, and small businesses will no longer be able to mix unwanted computer monitors, computers, televisions, printers, computer keyboards or mice, DVD players, video cassette recorders or fax machines with municipal waste that is intended for disposal at a landfill.
Effective July 1st, 2009, the Indiana Legislature enacted the Indiana Electronic Waste Program. The program’s purpose is to reduce the amount of electronic waste being sent to Indiana landfills and ensure that hazardous substances found in electronic waster are being managed in an appropriate and environmentally responsible manner. Electronics contain heavy metals, including lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium that can be harmful if released into the environment.
Police officers will be out during the New Year’s Day holiday weekend and they will be on the lookout for drunk drivers. Jeremiah Patrick, Coordinator of the Starke County Traffic Safety Partnership, reports that officers from the organization will be out in force this weekend. The Starke County Traffic Safety Partnership includes officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Knox City Police Department and the North Judson Police Department. Officers from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department will also be out in force to help detect drunk drivers.
For the past two weeks, we have been scrolling down the top 10 stories of the year 2010. Here is the top story of 2010:
It was like a shootout from the wild-west. On February 15th, two Starke County officers tried to serve a felony warrant on Michael Drogosz at Bass Lake.
After he failed to come out, officers called for a SWAT team. Before those officers could arrive, officers Don Ferguson and Bill Dulin took fire from inside the residence. With bullets whizzing too close for comfort, the officers fired back in self defense.
An earthquake about five miles below the ground hit north central Indiana shortly before sunrise Thursday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.8 magnitude earthquake centered five miles southeast of Greentown, Indiana. According to published reports, the Indiana Geological Survey had no records of an earthquake this size in Central Indiana ever.
Editors note: Recently the Pew Center on the States and the Council of State Government Justice Center released a report on Indiana’s criminal sentencing procedures. WKVI’s Ted Hayes had an opportunity to interview the ranking member of the Senate’s Appropriation Committee this week, and what follows are Fifth District Senator Ed Charbonneau thoughts on the subject:
“One of the challenges of my position is being responsible on the senate side for the school funding formula. I’ve been sitting in on all budget committee hearings recently. These meetings give a preliminary view of what the recommendations, or requests are going to be for the next budget cycle. The Department of Corrections was one of the departments that came to those meetings. Some pretty stunning numbers came from those presenting the DOC’s needs.”
The Knox City Council learned that the City of Knox received a storm water infrastructure project grant worth $837,095. The Council will be providing a 20% match of $166,000 toward this project.
Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston, announced that new tables and chairs have been ordered for the Knox Community Center. The dance floor was repaired and the carpets cleaned. The Council plans to review procedures for the Community Center in the near future.
On December 13th, Starke County had a level one snow emergency, prompting the County Commissioners to close the Courthouse. That brought up the question of “should employees be paid when the courthouse is closed?”
It was noted that no policy is in place to address this question. At the last Commissioners meeting, it was decided to pay the employees for that day, but in the future, “snow days” must be used as a vacation day, or a non-paid day. Sick days cannot be used for this type of situation.
With sizeable majorities in both Houses, will State Republicans push for legislation that would prevent workers from being required to pay union dues? House Labor Committee Chairman, Doug Gutwein (R-Francesville), has indicated that he personally likes the idea, but would not predict whether it will be debated this session. Bills have already been filed in the House on Right to Work legislation.
Governor Mitch Daniels, though, is not too excited to promote the legislation, wanting the legislators to concentrate on school, local government, and criminal justice reform.
Here’s a memo for all paid tax preparers. After Saturday, you will need to provide the IRS with a business address, professional certifications, and the previous year’s tax returns, and you will also be required to obtain an I.D. number.
Ken Singleton, 38, of Knox, was arrested on Friday, December 24th on nine felony charges. The State of Indiana has charged Singleton with one count of Child Molesting, a Class A Felony; three counts of Sexual Misconduct with a Minor, a Class B Felony; two counts of Incest, a Class B Felony; and three counts of Incest, a Class C Felony.
Virgil Noble of Knox was arrested at his home on Tuesday, December 28th. He was arrested on a warrant issued by the Starke Circuit Court on two counts of Rape, a Class B Felony and two counts of Sexual Battery, a Class D Felony. He is currently out of the Starke County Jail on bond.
Noble’s initial hearing in Starke Circuit Court is set for January 7th, 2011.
Full-service license branches will be closed on Saturday, January 1st in observance of New Year’s Day. Branches will resume normal hours of operation on Tuesday, January 4th at 8:30 a.m. prevailing time.
Starke County Democrat candidates who were successful in the fall election will be sworn into office tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT at the Knox Community Center. The Republican officers were sworn into office in ceremonies Tuesday night in the Starke County Circuit Courtroom. All successful candidates will officially take office on January 1st.
When it happened, it rocked the County. A Starke County woman had been brutally attacked and killed by her estranged husband. Mary Wireman had been at home when her husband Ernest stabbed her. Following that, he went to his step-son’s house and attempted to murder him, too.
A Monday afternoon traffic accident in Cass County claimed the life of a Winamac teenager. Alexandra “Ali” Gibson, 19, was a passenger in a car driven by Stephanie McGovern, 16, also of Winamac.
Three of the four Starke County Councilmen going off the board at the end of the year attended their last meeting December 20th. Dan Awald was not present. Bill Dulin is one of the Council members leaving, after 2 years on the board.
“I enjoyed getting to know people on a personal basis and trying to deal with them through this side of it,” Dulin replied after being asked his feelings as he leaves office. “It was pretty enjoyable and I’m grateful to be able to serve on the Council the way that we did.”
Bill Dulin will be replaced by David Pearman.
Gas prices spiked ten cents this week when prices hit $3.19 a gallon.
“We’re kind of seeing a little bit of a combination of things when it comes to crude oil prices,” said Don Good of the Good Oil Company in Winamac. “It’s combination of the weak dollar, we’ve kind of talked about that crude oil is valued in dollars, so when we do something in our economy that makes the dollar weaker, like the $900 billion tax relief plan that added to the deficit, that made the dollar fall. Since the dollar is the currency that they value crude in around the world, it makes crude oil more expensive for us and less expensive for other countries. India’s and China’s economies have really picked up. I think they’re running at about a six or eight percent increase compared to where we are struggling. As a matter of fact, China just passed us as being the largest consumer of petroleum in the world. They’re consumption of oil is going up while ours is pretty stagnant. Right now the markets are focusing on their use than ours.”
The Starke County Republican elected officials were sworn into office last night in the Starke County Circuit Courtroom. Superior Court Judge Patrick Blankenship swore in Judge Kim Hall. Judge Hall then swore in the rest of the candidates.
“It was a wonderful evening and a great opportunity to place these fine folks under oath to faithfully and impartially perform their duties,” said Judge Hall.
