Pulaski County CDC To Develop New Website

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer told the commissioners this week that the county council has earmarked $15,000 in next year’s budget to go toward the creation of a county website. Origer says he would like to get county organizations together to come up with a website they can all use and agree with.

He also informed the commissioners that an organization is looking to connect Pulaski County to a nationwide bike trail, U.S. Bicycle Route 35. He says their plan is to come from Illinois, through Starke, Pulaski, and other counties, and ultimately link up to U.S. 35. The organization is asking for the commissioners’ approval.

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18-Year-Old Charged With Theft, Burglary Of Winamac Home

Posted on Author WKVI

Criminal charges have been filed against an 18-year-old male accused of stealing $60 from woman in Winamac.

According to the criminal information filed in the Pulaski Circuit Court, Mitchell A. Wolff had broken into the home of Jane Dilts in the 600 block of North Hathaway Street on July 16 with the intent to steal. He is charged with Burglary as a Class B Felony and Theft as a Class D felony.

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City of Knox To Receive Substantial Rebate From Life Insurance

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The city of Knox will be receiving a rebate from their life insurance company to the tune of $34,672.22, according to Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston.

Houston explained that the city had received a letter from Trustmark Life Insurance Company explaining that the city would receive the rebate as required under the Affordable Care Act. The company had spent more than 20 percent of its premiums on administrative costs, salaries, sales, and advertising, and as a result, that extra amount spent must be returned to the city.

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Knox School Board To Move Forward With Palmer Wing Plans

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa

Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa gave a report to the school board this week about a work session held on Aug. 8 concerning the Palmer Wing at the Elementary School.

“There were approximately 15 to 16 outside community members and it was pretty much unanimous (of that group) that the best future for the elementary school would be to build a new wing to replace the old Palmer Wing,” Gappa said.

Gappa says the board will now move forward with plans for the construction of the new Palmer Wing.

“The board will probably want to talk to community members and get some input from some people who are supportive to form committees to work toward that end,” Gappa said.

Return to School For Oregon-Davis Goes Smoothly

Posted on Author WKVI
Oregon-Davis School Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney

The Oregon-Davis School Corporation had a smooth start to the school year, according to Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney.

“We’ve had a terrific start and I think that’s a compliment to all of our staff,” said Disney. “Our custodial staff and maintenance staff worked hard over the summer and the technology staff worked hard to get everything ready that goes into the planning for a new school year.”

He said the teachers worked especially hard.

“Teachers put in a lot of time over the summer. We had high school teachers go to New Tech planning and elementary teachers working on the teacher evaluation process and getting ready for the eight-step and all those things have fallen into the great start to the school year.”

Intoxicated Winamac Man Arrested Following Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A Winamac man was arrested after a late Friday night accident that injured two people.

A call had been placed into the Starke County Dispatch Center of a man speeding and driving off the side of the road. A short time later, Starke County emergency personnel were called to a two-vehicle accident at County Road 450 South and County Road 210 near Bass Lake. The driver of the vehicle that reportedly caused the accident, Gregory Moore, was extricated from his vehicle and taken to IU Health Starke Hospital. A blood draw was performed which showed that Moore was intoxicated at the time of the crash with a BAC of 0.25, which is more than three times the legal limit.

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San Pierre Woman Arrested Following Battery Incident

Posted on Author WKVI

Pulaski County officers were called to a Medaryville residence Saturday night in reference to a fight.

Stacy Conley, 26, of Medaryville told police that she and her sister had gotten into an argument because she would not provide her sister with a clean urine sample for a drug test. Her sister, 25-year-old Kimberly Wireman of San Pierre, reportedly became upset and started screaming at her. Conley stated that her sister was going to borrow her car and when she went out to the vehicle, Wireman was already in the driver’s seat and Conley took the keys out of the ignition. Wireman then reportedly grabbed Conley’s hair and began to hit her while dragging her into the van. Police saw that Conley had been hit in the face. Conley stated that she probably struck Wireman in the face as she was being pulled into the van.

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Two Public Hearings To Be Held Next Week In Pulaski County

Posted on Author WKVI

Two public hearings are scheduled for Monday, Aug. 27 to address an application for rezoning and zone map change and for a variance in Pulaski County.

At 6 p.m. ET, the Pulaski County Advisory Plan Commission will hear a rezoning and zone map change for the property at 4877 W. 200 S. in Winamac.

At 7 p.m. ET. the Board of Zoning Appeals will hold its first public hearing since its creation. The hearing will cover a proposed variance for a 40’x60’ pole barn to be built at 7567 W. 950 S. in Winamac to house bag ingredients and cover more than ten percent of the parcel. The meetings will be held in the Commissioners’ Room in the Pulaski County Courthouse.

Both applications are available for review in the Building/Planning Department located in the government building on Riverside Drive in Winamac.

Pulaski Commissioners Discuss Use of Gov’t Surplus Equipment

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

The Pulaski County Commissioners at their meeting this week discussed the use of military surplus equipment for the Recycling Center, Sheriff’s Department, and other departments as well.

According to county attorney Kevin Tankerslee, the equipment must be used by law enforcement agencies only for at least one year after it has been received from the Department of Defense. After that, however, the title is transferred to the Board of Commissioners, who can then allow other departments to make use of the equipment.

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School Board Election Deadline Approaching

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski

The General Election is less than three months away. Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski reminds you that if you would like your name on the ballot for membership consideration on the Knox Community School Board, Oregon-Davis School Board or the Culver Community School Board, you must file your registration in the Clerk’s Office by noon CT on Friday, Aug. 24. Those names will appear on the General Election Ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

New Conservation Officer Comes to Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County will be getting a new conservation officer.

The Indiana DNR Division of Law Enforcement held graduation ceremonies Friday in which Zachary Howerton of Marengo was assigned to the Starke County area. Nine other officers were also assigned to several conservation officer positions throughout the state.

Howerton underwent five weeks of initial training followed by 12 weeks of on-the-job training in the field with a veteran conservation officer. Training continues with a 15-week course at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy after which Howerton will report to his assignment to complete a one-year probationary period.

Golden Living Center in Knox Receives Coveted 10 Karat Award

Posted on Author WKVI

For the second year in a row, Golden Living Center in Knox received a perfect score in their annual survey. According to Golden Living Center’s Glenn Wilson, they received a zero-deficiency score in the survey, something only eight percent of centers in the state earn. He says to earn it twice in a row is an even greater honor, and the organization is excited to receive it.

Golden Living’s coveted 10 Karat award was also presented to Golden Living Center. The award is one of the company’s highest honors for superior performance in delivering quality care and services to its residents, and only a few Living Centers of the 304 nursing homes are selected to receive the award each year.

Wilson says the award takes into account a number of responsibilities for the center.

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Harvest Festival This Weekend; Many Events Planned

Posted on Author WKVI

There are a lot of great events scheduled during this weekend’s Harvest Festival in Knox, including a Burnout Contest sponsored by the Knox-Center Township Fire Department on Saturday.

The Burnout Contest will be held in the Knox Industrial Park with registration from 4–4:45 p.m. CT and the show at 5 p.m. The registration fee is $15. Awards will be given to the cars with the best smoke, best sound, best crowd pleaser and best total destruction.

The admission fee is $5 per vehicle.

The Fire Department will also sponsor a car show on Sunday at the corner of Pearl and Lake Streets. The show will be from noon to 3 p.m. CT and dash plaques will be given to the first 25 cars registered for the show. Registration is a $10 donation.

Unemployment Rates Released – Indiana Continues To Exceed U.S. Average

Posted on Author WKVI

Indiana’s rate of job growth continues to exceed the U.S. average. More than 143,000 private sector jobs have been added since July 2009 and Indiana has significantly outpaced the national rate of growth during this period.

The unemployment rate for July was calculated at 8.2 percent which is a 0.2 percent increase from June.

Starke County ranks 12th in the state with an unemployment rate of 9.9 percent. LaPorte ranks 14th with an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent, Marshall County is 44th with 8.4 percent, Porter County is 56th with 7.7 percent and Pulaski County is 83rd with 6.8 percent. Fayette County has an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent, giving them the highest rate in the state. DuBois County has only 5.4 percent.

Forty-two counties have reported an increase in unemployment and 30 counties reported a decrease.

Former Senator Joins Donnelly’s Campaign Throughout Indiana

Posted on Author WKVI
Joe Donnelly
Congressman Joe Donnelly

As part of his campaign for U.S. Senate, Joe Donnelly has announced that he will be joined by former Senator Evan Bayh on a “Main Street Tour,” through five communities in Indiana this week.

Donnelly says he’s honored to be joined on the tour by Bayh, and says his example of “bipartisan, common-sense leadership” is something he hopes to bring to the senate. The duo will tour businesses across the state to talk about their shared focus on creating jobs, lowering the debt, and balancing the budget.

Donnelly says that while Richard Mourdock promises more “politics of division,” Donnelly will work with anyone and everyone to get things done for middle class families.

Donnelly and Bayh will tour businesses and meet with Hoosiers in Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Fort Wayne, Plymouth, and Whiting on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 12 and 13.

Starke Council, Commissioners To Discuss Jail Project Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

The Starke County Commissioners and the Starke County Council will meet tonight at 6 p.m. to discuss the proposed jail project.

Council President David Pearman said the council and the commissioners hope to approve a proposed ordinance that would enable the officials to utilize a 0.65 percent tax rate that would help fund the construction of a new jail facility.

Once the ordinance is approved, Pearman said the project will start to take shape

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Influenza A Cases Up To 130, Health Officials Encourage Getting Shots

Posted on Author WKVI

Influenza A has hit Indiana with over 130 cases reported to the Indiana State Department of Health. Starke County Health Nurse Frank Lynch was asked how concerned we should be with this strain of the flu.

“As concerned as we should be about seasonal flu or any other type of flu,” explained Lynch. “Right now the flu that we’re seeing is more concentrated in farmers of swine and that kind of thing.”

Lynch was quick to say that this strain of flu should not be associated with the swine flu.

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U.S. 35 Bridge Project To Finish Up Soon

Posted on Author WKVI

Construction crews are wrapping up the U.S. 35 bridge project in Knox.

Indiana Department of Transportation Spokesman Matt Deitchley said that they are working on some paving and guardrails and some work will be completed after the bridge opens to both lanes of traffic this week. The original deadline for the project was November, but swift progress was made during the good weather days we had throughout the summer.

The entire bridge deck was replaced as the old surface was deteriorating quickly.

Knox City Council Approves Stormwater Rate Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council at their recent meeting approved an ordinance on its third and final reading amending the city’s sewer and stormwater rates.

Since the city has constructed a sewage system to collect sewage and waste, and convey it to a treatment plant for treatment and disposal, the city council approved the ordinance to establish a department to address the city’s stormwater needs. The ordinance also created a stormwater fund and established stormwater rates.

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