Two Knox residents were arrested overnight Friday after a traffic stop in the area of Rose Road and Lincoln Highway in Marshall County.
Marshall County Police say a K9 searched the 2006 Kia passenger vehicle and indicated the presence of narcotics. Officers reportedly found two used syringes under the passenger seat, plus 3.5 grams of heroin hidden underneath the floor carpeting on the driver’s side. Other items of drug paraphernalia were also allegedly collected.
Culver man was arrested Wednesday after Marshall County police received a call about an apparent car theft from a residence in the 7,000 block of 11A Road.
An officer with the Bourbon Police Department conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle reportedly matching the description of the stolen vehicle. During the course of the investigation, police reportedly found 58-year-old Ronald Bryan Finchum in possession of methamphetamine.
Finchum was booked into the Marshall County Jail on preliminary felony charges of auto theft and possession of methamphetamine.
Pulaski County is looking to keep a closer eye on some of its bank accounts. Auditor Laura Wheeler told the county council Wednesday that most county bank accounts are supposed to be under the jurisdiction of the treasurer, with all transactions being handled by the auditor. However, some departments have apparently set up their own independent accounts. Continue reading
Housing federal inmates is earning Pulaski County some extra money, but it’s also led to a slight shortfall in its budget for part-time jail staff.
Winamac’s swimming pool rebuilding effort appears to have come to an end. The town council narrowly decided Wednesday not to proceed with the project until the town has the money to support the ongoing maintenance of the pool. Without the town council’s financial support, the park board followed suit Thursday, voting to stop work on the project.
The North Judson Police Department’s K-9 officer, Gunner, was re-certified last week according to North Judson Town Marshal Kelly Fisher. She mentioned his re-certification during her department report during the North Judson Town Council meeting on Monday night.
She also informed the council that on September 29th, three police departments joined forces to conduct a sweep through the North Judson High School building and parking lot to see if any drugs or other illegal substances were on the property.
Fisher said the North Judson Police Department’s reserve officer Scott Beishuizen was on the scene with his K-9, Gunner. The Hobart Police Department’s Matt Dasel assisted with their K-9, Jack and Knox City Police Officer Chad Dulin had K-9 O’Neill there to help as well. Continue reading
One of the employees at the Starke County Highway Department was recently awarded the 2017 Most Influential Woman of Northwest Indiana.
Rachel Oesterreich was the winner in the Economic Development and Government category of the award. She is the office manager at the highway department.
Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler told the commissioners Monday night that she is very deserving of the award.
The Winamac Police Department will be welcoming a new reserve officer onto their force following a decision made by the Winamac Town Council on Wednesday night. Town Marshal Michael Buchanan came before the council requesting permission to add Alec Berger to the Winamac Police Department as a non-paid reserve officer. Buchanan explained that Berger currently works as a reserve officer for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s office but he recently expressed interest in working for the Winamac Police Department.
Buchanan provided a nice recommendation for Berger, and though he said he wouldn’t be going out on calls by himself, he feels adding him would benefit the force. Continue reading
Fall is here and the Town of Culver is ready to celebrate the changing of the season and all of the fun this time of the year has to offer.
The Culver Fall Fest begins today with a special concert by the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band at the corner of Main and Jefferson Streets in the evening. This is the first time the group has played in the area and the first concert since the passing of Tom Petty. Hear these hits as you’ve never have heard them before beginning at 8 p.m. ET tonight.
The Town of Culver will welcome officials from the Stellar Communities Designation Program today for the official site visit. The town is a finalist in Division 2 in the Stellar Communities Designation Program.
Town Manager Jonathan Leist said today’s event will take several hours.
“We get about three hours to present information to the state review team that includes representatives from 14 different state agencies,” said Leist. “It’s our chance to bring the plan that we presented to them back in August to life. We’ll show them some of the sites where the projects would take place and sell them on Culver while they’re here.”
The Pulaski County Council met in special session Wednesday to cut $338,000 from its 2018 budget proposal. As part of that effort, county employees who were set to get a two-percent raise would now only get a one-percent increase, based on Wednesday’s discussion. That’s expected to save the county about $45,000 in next year’s budget.
The North Judson Town Council once again reviewed the proposed animal ordinance at their meeting Monday night. The current ordinance is divided into three sections: definitions, regulations and penalties and prohibitions.
Town Attorney Justin Schramm recommended that in order to speed up the process they could have held a first reading and any proposed changes could still be made and presented during the second reading. Some council members were interested in holding the first reading at that time but desired changes presented by other council members left it as just a consideration. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department wants to make sure it has enough money to pay utility bills.
The Starke County Council members did hold a public hearing Monday evening to gather public comment on the 2018 budget, but the lack of a quorum has forced a second public hearing.
The council needs to have at least four members present to recognize a quorum. Members Brad Hazelton, Nancy Dembowski and Bryan Cavendar were physically present Monday night for the public hearing. It was thought that if a fourth member could be part of the meeting via teleconference, it could be a legally called meeting. It was found that the meeting cannot be counted as legal so a second public hearing is scheduled.
The Winamac Town Council met for a special session last night to discuss a few matters, including the future of constructing a new community pool.
Funds that were previously expected from Pulaski County are not available due to a shortfall in local income tax revenues. An account that existed for the old pool was set aside for recreational purposes once the old pool was closed. In the past, that account typically contained around $40,000 but it had to be dipped into to help balance Winamac’s budget to make up for the difference that was not received from the county.
The town did not receive the DNR LWCF grant they applied for which also set the project back. For these reasons, certain council members were questioning the practicality of going forward with the proposed pool project. Continue reading
Starke County Attorney Marty Lucas opened bids for two bridge projects during the commissioners meeting on Monday night.
Northern Indiana Construction Company, Inc. submitted the lowest bids for Bridge No. 36 on County Road 25 N. over Eagle Creek and Bridge No. 58 on County Road 800 S. over Bogus Run. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler asked the commissioners to conditionally approve the bids as they will need to satisfy the ordinance checklist before they are formally awarded. If the lowest bidder does not conform to the ordinance requirements, then the next lowest bid will go through the same process.
A sergeant with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office is being recognized for saving the life of an overdose victim in Clinton County last month.
The Oregon-Davis School Corporation recently received a grant from the Indiana Rural Health Association that allowed them to implement a special health service when school began this year. At the new telehealth clinic, an on-site medical assistant utilizes telecommunication technology that allows a student to be seen by a health care provider without leaving school grounds.
Although the clinic is located in a private room at the elementary school, it is available to all Oregon-Davis students from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. on school days. Between August 10th and September 26th, the telehealth clinic had 12 students come in for assistance. Continue reading
Three local elementary schools saw their letter grades decline in the latest round of School Accountability Grades. Oregon-Davis, Eastern Pulaski, and West Central elementary schools all got a C for the 2016-2017 school year, down from a B the year before. Culver Community Middle/High School also went from a B to a C.
It may soon be easier for Pulaski County employees to use their comp time for needed medical procedures. The issue came up during Monday’s county commissioners meeting. It was learned that an employee in the Assessor’s Office is scheduled to have a knee replacement in January and planned to use 42 hours of comp time that she’d accumulated.
