Figures are looking good for the Starke County EMS, as EMS Director Paul Matthewson and Mary Lynn Ritchie told the county commissioners this week that they are currently up 15 percent over last year on incoming funds.
Matthewson said they seem to be in pretty good shape as the end of the year approaches, and despite a high volume of ambulance runs in October, they are relatively up-to-date on billing.
The town of North Judson will soon be reading a number of new ordinances, including those regulating the town’s cemeteries and animals.
Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry explained that they will be performing the third reading of the cemetery rules and regulations ordinance, which had previously been passed along to Town Attorney Cassandra Hine for review. Henry said that Hine will make a number of minor revisions to the language and return it at the next meeting, when it will be read for the third and likely put into place.
We’ve received several reports of hunters being involved in tree stand injuries in the last couple of weeks, including a hunter in the Grovertown area. Conservation Officer Keith Wildeman reminds hunters to be safe while in a tree stand.
“Always wear a full-body safety harness or vest when climbing into the stand, while you’re in the stand and when you’re climbing down from your tree stand,” said Wildeman. “Always make sure, prior to hunting, you check your tree stands to make sure they’re secure. When you’re going into a tree stand, use a pull line. Pull up your unloaded firearm and any gear you may need with you so you can keep three points of contact.”
A spokesperson with the Central Time Coalition from Carmel, Indiana presented the Knox Community School Board with a resolution. Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the organization is gathering support from many school corporations to get the state on one time zone.
“And the reason for wanting Central Time is that they believe during the school year that it would be a safety issue,” explained Gappa. “The sun would come up later and rise at 7:15 a.m. every morning so you wouldn’t have kids standing out in the dark waiting for buses to come. It would be easier to schedule events when all of the schools and other community groups are on the same time zone.”
First Lieutenant Justin Clevenger will be joining more than 100 Civil Air Patrol aircrews from ten other states in the Northeast this week to conduct Hurricane Sandy aerial photo missions covering more than 300 miles of coastline from Cape Cod, Mass. to Cape May, NJ.
Clevenger, a Plymouth native, will help take more than 120,000 photos over the next three days for FEMA which will use the images for damage assessment.
The Knox Community School Corporation is working with area clubs, organizations to help assemble food baskets to families and students who need assistance for the holidays.
They are asking for donations of toys (new or very clean), canned or packaged food, baby food and formula and cash donations for specific items.
You can drop off your donation in the main office at the Knox High School or send your donation to school with your student. Donations will be accepted until Dec. 13. Baskets will be distributed on Dec. 14.
All Bureau of Motor Vehicle branches will be closed Saturday, Nov. 10 through Monday, Nov. 12 in observance of the Veterans Day holiday.
The myBMV.com website and all automated phone services will also be out of service from 2 a.m. Saturday to noon ET on Sunday.
Sixteen branches will be closed that are normally open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday. The following area branches will reopen on Wednesday, Nov. 14: Knox, Demotte, Monticello and Nappanee.
Opening statements were heard today in the trial against Steven O’Bryant, a man accused of sexually molesting a juvenile while staying at the juvenile’s parents’ Starke County residence over the course of two months from March 30 to May 30. He pleaded not guilty to the four charges of Child Molestation against him.
The Knox City Police Department responded to a call of a woman being held against her will and that her husband had a knife.
When police arrived at the home on E. Lake St., a couch blocked the front door to the house so the police had to go to the back door. They were met by the complainant who said the victim and Steven Meeks were in a bedroom and she was screaming for help.
The public question presented to voters in North Judson was approved by more than 78 percent. Only 129 voters said no to the question of whether or not the town board should be increased to five members, while 480 voters voted in favor of the change.
The Starke County Commissioners this week heard from Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall, who informed them of a new method of handling bids that he said will simplify the process.
Siddall explained that during the last audit by the State Board of Accounts, he learned his department is in full compliance. On top of that, Siddall said he learned of a new way to handle the bidding process that came to be in 2010 that they were not previously aware of.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved a request from Building Inspector Dave Dare to hire an additional part-time employee in the Building Department.
Dare explained that the Board of Zoning Appeals had asked that Dare resubmit a request for a part-time staff member in the department to also serve as the secretary for the BZA and Plan Commission. Dare said that there are responsibilities coming up in 2013 and 2014 that involve a lot of work with the county’s comprehensive plan, and the current secretary would not be able to handle the extra workload.
The District 2 Incident Management Team from Indiana is still in the New York area assisting emergency management teams in clean-up efforts from Hurricane Sandy.
Public Information Officer Al Kirsits told WKVI that with the Nor’easter blowing into the area where they area stationed, the team is being moved from their Incident Command Post to a firehouse in Jericho, NY. There they will be able to be safe from the storm. They will be sleeping on cots and waiting for the storm to pass and they will help in that clean up after that storm and continue in their current relief efforts from Hurricane Sandy.
With the recent release of state-issued grades for schools, corporations throughout Indiana now have an idea of what they need to work on to improve their scores. The Culver Community School Corporation is no different, having run the gauntlet on grades. The elementary school received an A, the middle school a D, and the high school returned with a C.
Superintendent Brad Schuldt said that these building grades highlight a number of issues that they need to take handle, and they’re already working on improvements.
Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa told the Knox Community School Board this week that Dr. Mike Trego, an expert in school referendums from Indiana Wesleyan University, will be back in Knox on Tuesday, Nov. 13 for a work session with the board and members of the public to discuss the possible elementary school project.
“We’ll have people come in who are interested in being on an action committee to move forward with an elementary project,” said Gappa. “Dr. Trego, at an open board meeting on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. CT, will be the consultant giving out that information to the community members that show up.”
Veteran’s Day is Sunday, Nov. 11 and several schools and community organizations are planning events surrounding the observance of the national holiday to honor those who have served in all branches of the military.
The third annual Starke County Veterans Parade will be Sunday, Nov. 11 at 12:30 p.m. and will begin at the intersection of Redskin Trail and Main Street and continue down Main Street to the Starke County Courthouse. A ceremony will be held in front of the War Memorials where Somalia War Zone veteran and Knox High School Teacher Travis Flora will speak.
The results are in, and this year’s General Election ended in several new faces in Starke County who will be representing their constituents.
For County Commissioner District 3, Republican Kent Danford beat out Democrat Dan Bridegroom with 4385 votes to Bridegroom’s 3907, sliding control of the county commissioners to Republicans. Democrat Jennifer Davis, Republican Kathy Norem, and Danford will now serve as the county commissioners. Danford said he’s ready to get back into office in January.
The Pulaski County voters have spoken, despite having a limited number of contested races for the county.
The contested race for County Commissioner District 1 was won by Republican Terry Young with 2672 votes, while his opponent, Democrat William Bauer, followed closely behind with 2426 votes. He will join his fellow Republican Larry Brady who ran unopposed for the District 2 seat.
A number of contested races in Marshall County went to the polls yesterday.
Republicans dominated the county council at-large race, as Republicans Jon VanVactor, Rex Gilliland, and Steven Harper stomped out their Democrat opponent, Angela Rupchock-Schafer. VanVactor earned the most votes with 10,902 counted. Gilliland followed close on his heels with just two fewer votes, while Harper pulled together 10,448 votes to take the third seat.
Two Medaryville residents were arrested after a pursuit incident Monday night.
A Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputy saw a vehicle approach the intersection at 550 North and U.S. 421 in Medaryville. Although the officer could not see into the truck, he recognized the truck to belong to Shane Born, a habitual traffic violator.
