Enrollment is down at the Culver Community School Corporation, and Superintendent Brad Schuldt said the corporation is down 49 students, according to the Average Daily Membership count.
Schuldt explained that the largest impact on the enrollment was caused by groups of students moving with their families completely out of the district. He said 80 students moved out of the district and 60 moved in – totaling a loss of 20 students.
IU Health Starke Hospital is partnering with Community Health Services of Starke County and Northwest Indiana Community Action to help raise awareness of the importance of the prevention of falls with independent seniors.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, IU Health will attempt to reduce the number of falls among seniors by teaming up for the Safe at Home event to make home modifications to over 150 seniors’ home across Indiana. If you would like to help in making these modifications to seniors’ homes in the area, go to the old Home Health building on 11 S. Main St. in Knox where a light breakfast will be offered and assignments will be given at 8:15 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon. Call Ted Hayes at 772-1198.
The proposed golf cart ordinance for the town of North Judson is slowly gaining substance, as councilman Tim Cummins presented the ordinance to the town board this week. The board reviewed the ordinance and made a few grammatical revisions, and Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry says they plan to have it advertised next week and have it presented for first and second readings at their second meeting in October.
A Starke County inmate who escaped from home detention was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
Robert Spencer pleaded guilty to Escape, a Class B Felony, and Criminal Mischief, a Class D Felony, in a plea agreement with the State. He also committed a probation violation. He admitted that he was on home detention and cut off his ankle monitor and fled. Starke County Community Corrections staff convinced him to turn himself in and he did.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco told the commissioners this week that he is in the process of clearing out the basement of the justice center. He says he’s moving the dryers from upstairs to the basement, and had to cut a 10-inch hole in the floor for the ductwork.
Demarco says he’s moving the dryers because a fire had developed from the equipment not too long ago, and to prevent that from happening again, he has installed dryer boxes and filters. He says this is a lot more efficient with less headaches, and the way it was set up previously was “doomed to fail.”
A sentence was handed down to 40-year-old Bryan Timm in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning after he pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the State on a charge of Battery Causing Serious Bodily Injury, a Class C Felony.
Timm explained to Judge Kim Hall that he and the victim in this case, his wife, have been going to marital counseling and are working on their issues in order to exist as a family for their children. He was arrested on Feb. 9 after an argument with his wife. The argument escalated to the point where he grabbed a hold of her hand and twisted it and broke a bone in her hand. The State said in open court that the victim is still undergoing physical therapy.
Starke County Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Bombagetti gave the commissioners some good news this week. The EMA has for the third year in a row exceeded their assessment goal, earning a wage reimbursement for the county. On top of that, Bombagetti says he and Mary Lynn Ritchie brought back $4050 to the county by performing so well on the assessment.
The wage reimbursement totaled $30,000, which covers half of the department’s wages for the year. Bombagetti says that money goes to the county, but the bonus he and Ritchie earned will be returned to the department to be spent on necessary equipment.
Two Starke County residents were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to methamphetamine-related charges.
Kristen Webb and Joseph Givens pleaded guilty to charges of Possession of Methamphetamine and Maintaining a Common Nuisance. They were ordered to serve three years for the charge of Possession of Methamphetamine which will be served on home detention. On the charge of Maintaining a Common Nuisance, the pair were sentenced to three years in the Department of Corrections with all of that sentence suspended to be served on probation. They were ordered to pay court costs and a drug interdiction fee of $250. If they successfully complete probation, they can petition the court for modification for misdemeanor treatment.
Webb and Givens were arrested after an incident on Nov. 23, 2011 when Knox City Police officers executed a search warrant at a home on Portland Street and drug activity was present.
Starke United this week announced a new partnership with the Northern Indiana Community Foundation in conjunction with the creation of the Starke United Fund.
Starke United Board President Todd Zeltwanger said they’re pleased with this exciting venture, and says they’ll work with the Community Foundation to ensure their organization becomes not only stronger, but more cost-effective as well. He said the partnership will benefit both the organizations that receive funding from Starke United and the donors who faithfully support the organization.
Disregard for following rules of the court was a key factor during Christopher Gross’ sentencing hearing Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court.
Gross pleaded guilty to a Class D Felony count of Possession of a Controlled Substance in a plea agreement with the State. As Judge Kim Hall reviewed his court file, Hall noted that Gross was negligent in paying child support and Gross had previously violated terms of his pre-trial release to serve home detention. Gross told the court that he couldn’t afford the house arrest fee, but Judge Hall saw in his record that Gross reportedly was found to be under the influence of alcohol which is a probation violation. His record also showed that he was previously arrested for Operating a Vehicle with a Controlled Substance in the Body.
The town of North Judson will have fall brush pickup beginning Oct. 1. If you have brush you want picked up, you must have it placed on the side of the alley or street before Monday morning.
The Street Department will be making a one-time only sweep down the streets and alleys of North Judson. This will be the last scheduled brush pick-up for this year. If you happen to miss the deadline, you are encouraged to take brush, grass or leaves to the town dump for disposal. Sign for the key at the Water Works office.
Fall leaf pickup for the city of Knox will begin on Oct. 9. Place all leaves in front of your residence next to the curb on the street in a long row, not in the alley. The garbage contractors will not pick up bagged leaves. Keep all trash out of leaf piles so the vacuum can pick up the leaves. Place any branches and limbs separate from the leaf pile. You may also drop off leaves, grass, garden material, or brush at the city compost pile behind City Hall.
The town of North Judson has once again earned a safety award from the Indiana Public Employers’ Plan. The award is achieved by having less than a 50 percent loss ratio plus an acceptable claim incident rate as compared to municipalities statewide. The town earned the award for its excellent worker safety recorded in the 2011 calendar year.
The award not only rewards the prevention of accidents among employees, but also emphasizes the cost savings to governmental agencies by keeping workers safe and on the job.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week spoke with resident Jerry Locke regarding a gravel road that he feels should be closed.
According to Locke, he has spoken with several people in the area and he’s not alone in wanting the road closed. He says no one would be affected by its closure as it is a road the he says “goes nowhere,” and he owns the property on both sides of the road. The county doesn’t perform any maintenance on the road, which is across from 500 North in Pulaski County, and Locke feels it would be safer to close the road permanently.
The commissioners spoke with Highway Superintendent Kenny Becker, who confirmed that the county does not perform maintenance on the road, and says Locke will have to make an agreement with nearby property owners to ensure they approve the closure of the road.
A few members of the Lapaz-North Township Fire Department recently received their advance certification in CPR. They are now instructor certified in CPR and this advanced training will allow the firefighters to help train you in CPR.
The recent acquisition of CPR mannequins, thanks to a grant through the Marshall County Community Foundation, will allow the Lapaz Fire Department to become an American Heart Association training site and assist the public in becoming certified in CPR. The new mannequins will replace current models that have been in service for more than 15 years.
Oregon-Davis School Superintendent Steven Disney proudly announced this week that Oregon-Davis High School received a $10,000 grant from Monsanto Fund to help with the school’s bio-agriculture department.
According to Disney, the school will use those funds to purchase necessary equipment for the program and integrate it into the classroom. The BioAg course combines the curriculum of both Biology and the fundamentals of Agriculture, and the grant will help to purchase items like probeware, Proscopes, graphing calculators, and other equipment.
Disney says teacher Debra Awald from the Science Department and Jacob Riley from the Agriculture Department teamed up to apply for the grant. Their project, “Biology and Agriculture Technology for 21st Century Learners,” was awarded the grant alongside ten other schools in Indiana that were awarded grants.
Two town hall meetings hosted by State Representative Tom Dermody will be held tonight. Dermody will discuss the taxpayer protection plan he laid in place through the passage of Senate Engrossed Act 19.
The amendment to SEA 19 helps solve the property tax issues in LaPorte County which have been a problem for some time.
The first town hall meeting will be tonight at 6 p.m. at the LaCrosse Public Library and the second meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Kankakee Valley REMC building in Wanatah. A representative from the Department of Local Government and Finance will also field questions.
The Starke County Food Pantry is in need of donations and a local business is helping in the effort.
Economy Auto Sales is donating $30 for each car sold in the month of September to the Starke County Food Pantry. In addition, owner George Mammarella will match any individual customer donations, either cash or food, up to $1,000.
Community Services of Starke County Executive Director Joan Haugh said that the shelves are bare and they are in need of peanut butter, canned items, vegetables, fruits, pancake mixes, soups and a variety of other necessity items. If you need more information, call 772-7070.
The Second Annual Oscar Cowen Golf Outing is set for Saturday, Oct. 6 at 9 a.m. at the Hamlet Golf Course.
All proceeds benefit the Christina Rotering and Ashley Derrickson Memorial Fund for Starke County Cancer. This memorial fund was created in October 2011 and since its inception, seven Starke County cancer patients have been assisted. Funds were given to those who needed to purchase cancer treatment medications, transportation to and from doctor appointments and radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Money was given to a cancer patient last year for a housing deposit as he was living in his vehicle.
To participate in this year’s four-person team or to sponsor a hole, contact Oscar Cowen. The first 20 teams to pay will be able to compete on Oct. 6.
Starke County IT Director Joe Short told the commissioners this week that he has met with a few radio tower authorities and showed them around the county’s radio towers, looking for input on how to go about building a new tower.
According to Short, they recommended building a 180-foot tower and a 20-foot antenna. The construction of the tower would require a request for sealed bids, but before the county can request bid proposals, Short says they must determine where the tower will be built.
The Winamac Town Board voted to reject a claim that would pay for damage in an incident with the police department.
Winamac Chief of Police Mike Buchanan told the board he performed a welfare check at a residence and ended up breaking the door to get into the resident’s home. He said the staff exhausted all efforts in finding the resident and, as a last resort, officers broke down the door to ensure the location and safety of the resident. Police later found out that the homeowner had gotten a place from Farris Kapani: Vancouver Realtor | Luxury Homes | Condos and was son vacation.
The homeowner is now seeking reimbursement of the door.
Chief Buchanan explained to the board that due to the circumstances the town should not be responsible for the door. After a discussion, the board voted to deny payment.
