Residents are warned not to accept phone calls offering over-the-phone voting. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson received several phone calls from constituents who received calls from Vote USA that offered them an opportunity to let them vote early over the phone.
This is a scam.
Tobacco Free Starke County is promoting a statewide stop smoking contest known as “Quit Now Indiana.”
This contest is designed to encourage smokers to make an attempt to quit using tobacco products and have a chance to win cash prizes up to $2,500 for remaining tobacco free for 31 days. To be eligible to win, you must be 18 years of age and older, be a legal resident of Indiana, be a current tobacco user and stay tobacco free from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31. The registration period concludes Sept. 30. Contest winners will be drawn at random and will be tested to make sure you are tobacco free to be eligible to claim a prize.
Anyone interested may sign up at First National Bank of Monterey in North Judson, First Farmers Bank and Trust in North Judson, the North Judson clerk-treasurer’s office, or at the North Judson-Wayne Township Library. In Knox, you can sign up at the Starke County Health Department, the Health Linc office, Dr. Alexander’s office, Dr. Browne’s Office, Porter-Starke Services or the WIC office. In Winamac, sign up at the Pulaski County Health Department, Dr. Curtis’ office or Dr. Kauffman’s office.
Preparing for college is by no means an easy task, but a seminar planned for this month might make it a little easier. Financial Advisor Rodney L. Jacobs will be hosting a free seminar on college preparation in Plymouth, and he encourages any and all parents to attend.
Jacobs says the seminar will focus on preparing for college, and two speakers will explain the process of planning for college costs, preparing FAFSA forms, and finding scholarships. He says they will also talk about helpful tools to help with the process, and give a several different tips on planning for the child’s college education.
Jacobs say this seminar is ideal for parents, especially those with children in sixth grade and up, as ell as grandparents who are interested in learning what they can do to help without impacting any aid the child may be eligible for.
The seminar will take place on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 6–8 p.m. at Memories Reception Hall, located at 401 E. Jefferson St. in Plymouth.
RSVP is necessary. Call (574) 936-2571 for more information, or email brenda.s.abair@ampf.com.
Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells released the identity of a man who was found dead in his home at Bass Lake on Saturday, September 8. 52-year-old David Griffin was found by his brother who went to Griffin’s home to check on him as no one had heard from him in some time. A forensic autopsy was performed at the Northeast Indiana Forensic Center in Fort Wayne but no cause of death has been announced. Rannells says the cause of death will be released when the autopsy report is finalized. He did say that foul play is not suspected. Continue reading
A Knox man was arrested Wednesday morning after allegedly attacking and stabbing a woman during an argument.
Knox City Police officers were called to 305 Bender Street after a caller reported a domestic disturbance. When police arrived on scene, Dennis Hamilton and the female victim stated that they didn’t need any help and the officers left. A short time later, police were called back to the scene after Hamilton and the victim allegedly continued arguing to the point where it got violent.
Knox City Police officers arrested a Knox man Tuesday after receiving an anonymous tip of an alleged drug deal in the Knox Post Office parking lot.
Officers arrived at the post office to find persons on a moped and in a car. The suspects were known to police as having been involved with narcotics in a prior setting. The officers approached the suspects in the car who were identified as Kurtis Singleton and Aaron Brewer, and noticed a smell of burnt marijuana emitting from the vehicle. They were asked to exit the car and as Singleton stepped out of the car, a cigarette package and a piece of foil hit the ground. He reportedly picked up the cigarette package and stepped on the foil. Officers were able to retrieve the foil package and it contained a white powdery substance that later field tested positive for methamphetamine.
Singleton, 20 of Knox, was then taken into custody and transported to the Starke County Jail. As he got out of the squad car to be processed into the jail, he allegedly dropped another piece of foil that contained a white powdery substance that also field tested positive for methamphetamine. He was booked on a preliminary charge of Possession of Methamphetamine.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for this morning for Chester Agricultural Systems in North Judson. This division of Chester, Inc. announced plans in July to locate to the North Judson area.
The town will be home to an additional structure for the Agricultural Systems Division of Chester, Inc., which will house a growing inventory of necessary parts for servicing irrigation systems. The division was established in 1970 when Chester, Inc. first added center-pivot irrigation systems to their line of products and services; they now service over 1500 irrigation systems, as well as grain dryers and drying bins.
Foul play is not suspected in the death of a Bass Lake man who was found dead in his home Saturday morning. Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells says they won’t have a conclusive cause of death for at least four to six weeks as the official autopsy report is compiled and processed, but he says they do not suspect foul play at this time.
The body of 52-year-old David Griffin was discovered by his brother Saturday morning when he had gone to check on Griffin because nobody had heard from him in several days. The body was found in a Bass Lake home and was reported to be badly decomposed, indicating that he had been deceased for some time.
North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely was recently appointed as the town’s coordinator for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry explained that the town must now review their municipal buildings and sidewalks to ensure they are ADA-compliant, because if they aren’t, the town will be unable to receive federal grants.
Henry explained that the town will be required to draft a plan to become compliant with ADA requirements, and then they will have to implement that plan as soon as possible. The deadline for a plan to be developed and submitted is Dec. 31, and any municipality that does not have their ADA plan implemented soon thereafter will be disqualified from receiving federal funds. As ADA coordinator, Vessely will work closely with Town Superintendent Marshall Horstmann to ensure they meet the requirements.
Horstmann is also staying busy, having scheduled a water tower inspection for both towers this month. Both the tower on the west side of North Judson and the tower downtown will be inspected Sept. 19.
There will be no school for students at the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation on Monday, Sept. 24. That day has been set aside for parent/teacher conferences and professional development opportunities.
Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman explained that it will be a full day of conferences at the elementary school, but only a half day of conferences at the middle school and high school.
The Francesville Fall Festival begins its three-day run today.
The 47th annual event opens at 4:30 p.m. tonight and will feature demonstrations, the Mister Cracker Jack and Miss Kandy Korn contest tonight at 7 p.m. ET and music events.
Eric Corey’s legacy lives on, as eight physically-challenged hunters who have been part of the Turkey Tracks program held each spring in Starke County travel to the small community of Millersburg, Mich. to hunt deer.
The trip was arranged by the late Eric Corey’s parents, Carol and Doug Corey, through the Tony Semple Foundation. Semple was a star linebacker for the Detroit Lions who established this foundation to help provide hunting activities for hunters with disabilities.
IU Health LaPorte Hospital and IU Health Starke Hospital will be offering free prostate cancer screenings on Saturday, Sept. 22 from 8–11 a.m. CT.
The screenings will be offered at two locations: one in LaPorte and the other in North Judson. You must preregister in order to receive the free screenings. To schedule an appointment in LaPorte, call (219) 326-2073 and in North Judson call (574) 896-5533.
Prostate screenings are recommended annually for men age 40 and older.
The screening is made possible through funding provided by the LaPorte Hospital Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IU Health LaPorte Hospital and fiscal manager of the Starke Health Fund.
Two people were airlifted to medical facilities for serious injuries after two separate vehicle collisions were reported on State Road 10 within 45 minutes of each other on Monday.
According to the crash report filed at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, the first collision took place at 4:30 p.m. on State Road 10 near the intersection of Range Road. Connie Boyer, 58 of North Judson, was reportedly traveling east on State Road 10 in a 2005 GMC SUV with two passengers when she slowed to make a left turn onto Range Road. She told police that she did not see the green 2001 Chevrolet car traveling toward her on State Road 10, operated by 46-year-old Michelle Howard of North Judson. Boyer made her turn into the path of Howard, causing a head-on collision.
A wrongful death suit has been vacated in Pulaski Circuit Court.
Court documents show that Barbara Gilden of Medaryville and the family of a minor who died as a result of the ingestion of medication prescribed to Gilden and provided to the minor by her grandson have come to an agreement. As a result, the jury trial set for September 18 has been vacated.
The family alleged that Gilden was negligent in properly storing her medication, allowing the narcotics to be accessible to minors at her residence, despite having previously been notified that the drugs had been obtained by minors in previous situations, and she failed to supervise minors in her residence. The family was seeking reasonable compensatory damages, costs and interest and just and proper relief.
A plea hearing has been set in Pulaski Circuit Court for Nov. 7 for a former Grovertown resident.
Avery Mullins, who now lists Winamac as his residence, was arrested in May 2011 after Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officers found Mullins and another suspect in the driveway of a residence whose owner was no longer there. Officers found they had active arrest warrants and took them into custody.
A Medaryville man was sentenced after pleading guilty to a Class B Felony charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine.
Jamie R. Elkins pleaded guilty to the charge in a plea agreement with the state in Pulaski Circuit Court. As part of that agreement, charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Chemical Reagents and Marijuana were dropped, along with a felony charge of Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug.
The Knox City Council this week approved a resolution to establish a Special Event Fund for the city. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the council that he had spoken with the auditor for the State Board of Accounts who will be conducting the audit for Knox, and Houston had asked what to do with donations received for specific events, such as the Fourth of July fireworks.
According to Houston, the State Board of Accounts recommended creating a Special Event Fund to hold donations earmarked for a specific purpose. This fund will be separate from the city’s Donation Fund, which Houston says is used for donations to organizations or departments, such as police.
This new fund will be used to keep track of donations received for special events, but Houston emphasized that all donations going into this fund must be labeled for a specific purpose.
The council approved the resolution creating the Special Event Fund.
Winamac High School Principal Rick DeFries discussed the Harmony program with the Eastern Pulaski School Board. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman commented that it’s a great way for parents to keep track of how their child is doing in school.
“Harmony has a lot of information for parents,” said Klitzman. “If they can get on the internet, they can actually get into a teacher’s grade book and see their child’s scores, grades, absences and discipline. Harmony is a great feature. Parents can get in there and keep track, on a daily basis, of what their children may be doing.”
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon told the school board last week that he has been in touch with NIPSCO and Performance Services concerning the net metering with the wind turbine. He says the billing just isn’t right.
“There doesn’t seem to be any means of reconciling some of the billings that we’re getting from NIPSCO,” said Mellon. “I think we need to be able to reconcile the number of kilowatts we’re producing with what we’re using and what we need to bring in from the grid and when we’re overproducing. We need to get a standardized process.”
