It was 69 years ago today that the old Center Township School burned to the ground. The fire started in the afternoon and the Fire Department thought they had it completely extinguished, but it flared in the night, burning the structure to the ground.
A two vehicle accident occurred this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Starke County police responded to the accident at 250 South and US 35 and minor injuries were reported. The intersection was blocked during the time of the investigation and is open now. Again, only minor injuries were sustained by the parties involved.
Statement as of 10:59 am CST on January 6, 2011/
Special Weather Statement
Light snow will continue to affect far Southern Lower
Michigan… portions of northern Indiana and Northwest Ohio.
Accumulations will be light… on the order of a few tenths to
locally a half inch. However… the smaller flakes may melt on well
traveled roads and then refreeze… causing some slick spots.
Motorists should exercise caution when encountering snow covered
roads into this afternoon.
The body of an 82-year-old North Judson man was found Wednesday morning after a Silver Alert was issued by the North Judson Police Department. Robert L. Lemke was found after he was reported missing when a family member went to check on him on Tuesday evening. Lemke was believed to have left home on foot sometime between the evening hours Sunday, January 2nd and Tuesday evening.
The Starke County Council has re-organized for the new year. Mark Smith was retained as the President and Mitchell Semans was elected Vice President.
Marty Lucas was retained as Council Attorney, Dave Pearman was named to the Kankakee Iroquois Regional Planning Commission, Mark Smith will stay on the Starke County Economic Development Board, Judy Benninghoff is a hold-over on the Starke County Planning Commission Board, Tony Radkiewicz, Sr. was selected for the Starke County Environmental Management board. Judy Zerniak was retained on the P.T.A.B.O.A. Board and Katie Dedloff was again selected for the Starke County Library Board. Kenny Wallace was named to the Alcohol Beverage Commission Board.
The first baby in Pulaski County arrived Tuesday afternoon at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. Katilyn Michelle Baker arrived at 3:56 p.m. ET. Katilyn’s parents are Lisa Nicholson, and Levi Baker of Star City. There are plenty of relatives awaiting little Katilyn’s arrival home, including a “big” sister Madison Elizabeth who is 18 months old.
Sam Frain, of Frain Mortuary in Winamac, Francesville and Medaryville has committed to serve as a member of the National Funeral Directors Association’s Member Resources Advisory Group for the 2010-2011 term.
That group is called upon to assist the national organization in a number of ways, including recommending new programs, products and services, reviewing and providing feedback on new resources, and assisting with the recruitment and retention of members from around the world for the betterment of the profession and the families it serves.
The Knox Community School Board approved upcoming network and telecommunications projects at its meeting Monday night. The School Board and Technology Director, Jim Landrum, are hoping to secure federal funding for the projects approved.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has unveiled a new package of recommended changes to deer hunting rules that will be presented to the Natural Resources Commission at its January 11th meeting at Ft. Harrison State Park in Indianapolis.
The Natural Resources Commission withdrew its preliminary approval of an earlier plan because overwhelming public comment opposed shortening some segments of the deer hunting seasons.
The Pulaski County Community Foundation is participating in the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship program. The program provides scholarships for full college tuition for four years, required fees and book stipends. Applications are available now through the Foundation’s website. The deadline to submit an application is January 10th, 2011.
For more information, contact your local school guidance department or the Pulaski County Community Foundation at (574) 946-0906.
Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen has released the December 2010 statistics for the Sheriff’s Department.
There were 20 theft reports, 4 burglary reports, 12 Possession of a Controlled Substance reports, 4 DUI reports, 1 arson report, 25 domestic complaints and 160 accident reports.
The Starke County Ministerial Alliance met Wednesday and selected Reverend Charles Bachelder, of the First Christian Church in Knox, to be the President, and James Pradke, of Victory Christian Church, to be the Secretary. Retired Father Richard Zollinger has been selected to be the Treasurer.
Discussed at the meeting was the Right to Life Rally to be held in Starke County the end of the month.
The North Judson Town Board approved the reallocation of funds in the 2011 budget to allow a three percent increase for full-time Town employees for this year. The employees have not had a raise in three years. The reallocation did not effect the budget’s bottom line. The Town’s approved budget total is $767,964 for 2011.
The Board also approved a special event permit for the North Judson Mint Festival Committee. The Mint Festival will be held June 17th-19th, 2011.
The Starke County Relay for Life Kick-off event will be held Wednesday, January 19th at 6:00 p.m CT at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Knox. Information for this year’s Relay will be available as well as refreshments.
The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department presented its December 2010 monthly report to the North Judson Town Board members Monday night.
The Department had three smoke investigations, three structure fires, one vehicle fire, five medical assists and four vehicle accident assists. Four of the calls occurred within the Town limits of North Judson, eight within Wayne Township, one in Jackson Township, one in Rich Grove Township, and two mutual aid calls in San Pierre. 21,650 gallons of water was used in December.
The North Judson Police Department had issued a Silver Alert earlier Wednesday for a missing 82-year-old North Judson man. North Judson Town Marshal, Doug Vessely canceled the Alert at 7:40 a.m. CT when Robert L. Lemke was found deceased about a half mile from his home in a lightly wooded area. Robert Lemke was last known to be in the vicinity of Vine Street in North Judson at 4:00 p.m. CT Sunday, January 2nd.
The Indiana General Assembly begins its legislative session today. Some 200 plus bills have been filed for the session so far with more expected.
One bill would roll back a law that went into the books in July that requires retail alcohol sellers to card everyone, no matter how old they appear to be.
Starke County Police deputies arrested Robert Packer, 40, of Walkerton, on Monday, January 3rd, in connection with the theft of auto parts from the Grovertown Truckstop on December 31st, 2010.
Packer is being held at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department on preliminary charges of Theft, Driving While Suspended and Possession of a Syringe.
Crude Oil prices were up 17 cents Monday, settling at a multi-year high of $91.55 at the close of formal trading. This marks the first time crude has topped $90 to begin a year since 2008.
The Knox Community School Board reorganized at its meeting Monday night. The new President of the Board is Harold Welter who succeeds Gary Dulin. Mary Lynn Ritchie was retained as Vice President and Jerry Fletcher was retained as Secretary.
The Board also retained Sherry Fort as Corporation Treasurer, Linda Binkowski as Deputy Treasurer, Mark Jensen as Transportation Director/Head Mechanic, Kit Ream as Food Services Director, William F. Satterlee III as Corporation Attorney, Kirk Bennett as the Board’s Legislative Liaison, Alan Selge as the Starke County Historical Society representative and Ruth Bailey as the Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority representative.
