Wellness Center Open at IU Health Starke Hospital

IU Health Starke Hospital has announced an expansion of services in the Wellness Center. Heather Skelly, head of the program, said it’s a great way for the public to stay healthy by getting shape that is available to everyone.

The public is invited to tour the facility where Skelly, an athletic trainer for the Knox High School for 11 years, will offer an assessment of each individual’s physical capabilities before introducing them to the equipment. Former physical therapy patients are also invited to use the facility.

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IDEM Inspectors Investigate Manure Odor Permeating Knox

Inspectors from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management made their way to the hog farm owned by Lee Nagai at 1755 E. 400 N. in Knox on Friday to investigate complaints of a potent manure smell emitting from the farm. Barry Sneed from IDEM said they received four complaints Friday. He explains why the odor from the farm was so strong and was experienced for miles away.

“Obviously, the manure has an odor to it to begin with and there are certain times of year that the farmers will apply the manure to the field and usually it’s when there’s no crops in the field,” said Sneed. “They have to keep their manure lagoons down to a certain level and so as a result, they’ll have to apply that to the field.”

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Adoptions Are Historic Emotional Moments in Starke Circuit Court

The Earnest family went through the adoption hearing before the public and the media on Friday.

It was an emotional day in the Starke Circuit Court yesterday as Judge Kim Hall finalized four adoptions in an historical moment before the public and the media. For the first time in the history of the Starke County Courthouse, Chief Justice Brent Dickson signed a rare order authorizing the adoption proceedings to not only be open to the public, but also to be televised and recorded by the media. Only three counties in Indiana were given this order.

In honor of National Adoption Awareness Month and the increasing need for adoptive families, the four adoption hearings were held before a packed courtroom with several guest speakers, including Rhonda Adcock, the director of Starke County CASA, who spoke about how important adoption is.

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WKVI/Five Star Food Drive Today

Today is the day to help your neighbors in need.

Members of the WKVI staff will be ready to take your non-perishable food donation for the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry today at Five Star in Knox from 9 a.m. to Noon. When you get to the store to pick up your groceries, put a few other items in the cart for the pantry and that donation will go to help the over 290 families that utilize the food pantry each month.

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Thefts Under Investigation Near Plymouth

Detectives from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a theft incident in the Plymouth area.

James and Kathy Bottorff reported that unknown suspects entered their two unlocked cars parked at their residence and stole two digital trunking hand-held scanner, two GPS units, a DVD player with dual monitor and one back-up camera with a 2.5’ color LCD monitor.

If you know anything about this incident, call the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at (574) 936-3187.

Nancy Dembowski Honored Today At Community Center

Nancy Dembowski
Nancy Dembowski will be honored for her many efforts on the state and local level in an Open House tomorrow from 2-4 p.m. CT at the newly renamed Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox.

One of the first community activities Nancy was involved in was the introduction of the peppermint candy canes as Christmas decorations for the City of Knox. She reminisces about that time.

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Knox 5-Year-Old’s Wish Granted During Indianapolis Radiothon

A five-year-old Knox boy’s wish to the Make-A-Wish Foundation was granted yesterday during a 36-hour radiothon in Indianapolis.

The annual radiothon was held on WZPL on the Dave Smiley’s show and the goal was to raise $6,000 for each child’s wish and over $120,000 was needed to fulfill all of the wishes for children who suffer from life threatening illnesses.

Vance Flagg of Knox made a wish to go to San Diego and Sea World to visit all of the animals as he loves them so much. The wish was granted during the radiothon yesterday morning.

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Knox Drama Department Gearing Up For Today’s Production

The Knox High School Drama Department is switching things up as they prepare for their musical production which, instead of being presented in the spring as they usually do, will be performed today at 7 p.m.

This year, the cast will be performing “The Seussical,” which is based on 21 different Dr. Seuss stories. The musical features Horton as the main character with narration by the Cat in the Hat. Director Terril Hahn said this is going to be a great show, thanks to the productiveness of their larger-than-usual cast.

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Eastern Pulaski Schools Will Soon Welcome New Baseball Coach

Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

Eastern Pulaski Schools will soon be welcoming a new member to the coaching staff. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman explained that baseball coach Mark Hendricks will soon be leaving the corporation, and they’ve found his replacement in Tony Carroll.

Klitzman said Carroll brings a lot to the table with years of experience in baseball, though they are sad to see Hendricks go.

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Week in Review for Nov. 12-16, 2012

Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week.

The Knox Community Elementary School was on lock-down Thursday after threats were made as a result of a domestic dispute. Knox City Police had been called to a residence Wednesday night in relation to a domestic incident and the male subject believed to have caused the issue left the home before police arrived at the scene. Thursday, the suspect had made additional threats to remove his children from the school. Police thought the man to be mentally unstable so with the work of the Knox City Police Department, Starke County Sheriff’s Department and the School Corporation, the school was placed on lock-down as a precaution. The suspect was later arrested in LaPorte and the lock-down was lifted. Continue reading

Knox Elementary School Briefly Locked Down Yesterday

A domestic dispute in Knox led police to lock down the Knox Elementary School as a precaution yesterday.

Knox City Police were called to a Knox residence in response to threats that had been made toward family members. When police arrived on the scene, officers learned that the threats that had been made were related to a domestic incident that had occurred the night before. Unfortunately, the male subject had left the home before officers arrived and authorities believed he was in an unstable state of mind.

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Four Adoptions To Take Place in Circuit Court Today Open To Public

Today is a special day for four families in Starke County as Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall will be finalizing adoptions for those families.

A ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. CT today when the public is invited to listen to several speakers concerning adoptions. At 1:30 p.m., the adoption hearings will begin. WKVI will be there to witness the adoptions as the Indiana Supreme Court has allowed the proceedings to be covered by the media when they are usually closed to the public.

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LaPorte Metro Operations Units Net Two On Dealing Charges

A Kingsford Heights man and a LaPorte man have been arrested for dealing controlled substances.

LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit officials served an arrest warrant last week on Daniel J. Cangiano, 49, and he was arrested without incident at his home in LaPorte. He was charged with Dealing a Schedule II Controlled Substance, a Class A Felony. He is currently being housed in the LaPorte County Jail. His bond has been set at $100,000.

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Pulaski County Council Denies Additional Staffing For Auditor

The Pulaski County Auditor’s Office isn’t getting any additional help any time soon, as the county council this week denied a request from Auditor Shelia Garling to hire an additional full-time employee.

Garling said her request was denied because the county council felt the office did not need any additional staffing, despite the auditor’s office being down one full-time employee. Fortunately, she said things should change at the start of the new year, when she expects to have three full-time employees and two part-time employees.

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Winamac Police Receive Best in State Award

The Winamac Police Department has been commended on their efforts in Operation Pull-Over.

Officer Mike Hoffman told the Winamac Town Board this week that the Winamac Police Department received the Best in State Police Department award and was given a $2,500 equipment grant. The department will be using that money to purchase a computer for a police car. A plaque was displayed to the board.

Rick Dilts, the town park manager, told the town board this week that the park is now closed for the season. More than 100 tables have been placed in storage, the bleachers are now stored and the restrooms have been closed. The volleyball and basketball courts will be winterized this week and a tractor will be set up for the snow season.

Knox City Council Amends Police Salary Ordinance

Knox City Council

The Knox City Council at their meeting this week passed a motion to amend the salary ordinance for city police, specifically the pay grade for the corporal position.

Mayor Rick Chambers explained that at some point in time, the corporal’s pay got spread out farther than it should have from the pay for other positions. He said that whenever an officer receives a promotion, he naturally receives a pay raise, but the gap in pay from patrolman to corporal is a $912 increase – way too much, according to Chambers.

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Eastern Pulaski Schools Bring Home A’s, B’s From State

Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

The Eastern Pulaski Schools Corporation is extremely proud of the grade they received from the state. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said the lowest grade the corporation received was a B, and while there is a little bit of room for improvement, he’s excited about their improvement.

“Eastern Pulaski Schools did extremely well academically, in that our high school got an A, our middle school got a B, our elementary school got an A, and our school corporation got an A. So we received three A’s and a B on our report card, so to speak. I don’t know about a lot of our listeners out there, but back in East Chicago when I was a kid, if I’d have brought home three A’s and a B, I’d have probably gotten a reward,” said Klitzman.

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Dermody Appointed As Leadership For Ways and Means Committee

State Representative Tom Dermody

The Republican State Representative in District 20, Tom Dermody, has been appointed as leadership in the Ways and Means Committee.

Dermody believes Indiana is in great financial shape as debts have been paid down and the reserve has grown. He says being fiscally responsible is a commitment that the Committee will live by to ensure that wasteful spending is eliminated and a balanced budget is preserved.

For the past two years, Dermody has been the chairman of the Ways and Means Higher Education Committee. Republican Representative Tim Brown of Crawfordsville will serve as the new chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

South County Cheer Squad Advances To National Competition

The South County Pop Warner Peewee Cheer squad has advanced to participate in the national competition which will be on Dec. 4 at the ESPN Center at Disney World.

The squad, which is made up of students from South Central, Westville, and Tri-Township schools, is now attempting to raise money to send all the members to Florida. The girls need to raise $800 per person.

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Paul Burke Sentenced To 10 Years in DOC For Attempted Aggravated Battery

Pulaski County Courthouse

A Royal Center man has been sentenced in Pulaski Circuit Court for his attempt to injure a Pulaski County police officer by throwing anhydrous ammonia at him.

Paul Burke was sentenced to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to a charge of Attempted Aggravated Battery. Burke will serve six of those years on good time credit and serve four years on probation. He must also submit to alcohol and drug testing and complete substance abuse treatment. Additional charges of Disarming a Law Enforcement Officer as a Class C felony, Theft as a Class D felony, and two Class A misdemeanor charges of Resisting Law Enforcement and Illegal Storage and Transportation of Anhydrous Ammonia were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

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