Top 10 Stories of 2010; Story #9
After not running in the 2010 Starke County Primary Election, Gordon Richie was drafted by the Starke County Republican party to be its candidate in the election. In August, Richie was disqualified after the Election Board voted 2-1 that he did not properly file his candidacy in a timely manner.
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Knox Community School Reschedules Christmas Program
Glen Barnes, Principal of the Knox Elementary School has announced that the Christmas Program for 1st grade will be held on Wednesday evening at 6.00Pm and the Kindergarten program will be held on Thursday evening at 6.00Pm.
Commissioners Question Prosecutors Expenditures
Prosecutor Julie Ann Haven and the county commissioners are in a skirmish over money that has been promised from funds out of Starke County Prosecutor Julianne Haven’s office.
The commissioners have held up over $60,000 in claims to find out if the funds can be used for what the prosecutor is using them for. For instance firearms, at least one car, light bars, and some office equipment has been promised to various law enforcement departments.
In a special meeting Friday night, it was discovered that some of the money has already been spent. At least $12,000 has been spent on firearms and ammo.
Hamlet Police Chief Jeremy Patrick, and Deputy Don Ferguson with the Starke County Sheriff’s Department said the firearms cannot be returned as new equipment because they have already taken possession of them.
Appearing before the commissioners Havens said she wasn’t aware that the claims would be finalized before the December 20th. meeting, and may have changed funding sources before that meeting if she had known they were acting upon those claims at this time.
Starke Circuit Court to Hold Swearing In Oath of Office Ceremony
There will be a ceremony for newly elected officials in Starke County to take their oath of office on December 28th, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall said that all elected officials are invited to attend and be sworn in during the ceremony in the courtroom.
The courthouse will be open to everybody and photos will be permitted.
There will be refreshments following the ceremony.
Starke County Snow Plow Driver Uninjured
A Starke County Highway snow plow driver considers himself lucky today after the truck he was plowing with rolled into a ditchcaved in a ditch, and rolled onto it’s side. Andy Cornwall, the driver, was taken to Starke Memorial Hospital where he was examined and released.
Standing Order Issued by Starke Circuit Court
The Starke Circuit Court has issued a standing order in the interest of judicial economy to identify certain felony crimes with the intent to establish a standard condition of bond for each, which would allow offenders to be released without judicial intervention. This would help alleviate some of the on going over crowding situation in the Starke County Jail and help expedite the process for the Sheriffs Office, Prosecutors Office and the Circuit Court.
The new bond amounts are shown below and and the charges to which they apply. Charges involving unusual, violent, resisting arrest, burglaries, and assault or battery type crimes would not be subject to the order and those bonds would be set by the presiding Judge. The complete standing order is set forth below.
BONDS
STANDING ORDER
The Judge of the Starke Circuit Court deems it necessary, and in the interest of judicial economy, to identify certain felony crimes, and to establish a standard condition of bond for each, which would not require judicial intervention.
If an individual is arrested in Starke County based upon probable cause that the individual has committed one of the following felony crimes, and transported and booked into the Starke County Jail, then the following bonds are ordered:
Possession of Marijuana – class D felony = $250.00 cash.
Possession of a Controlled Substance – class D felony = $250.00 cash.
Possession of Methamphetamine – class D felony = $500.00 cash.
Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors -class D felony= $500.00 cash.
Maintaining a Common Nuisance – class D felony = $250.00 cash.
Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated – Resident = $750.00 cash.
Non-resident = $7,500.00 surety.
Habitual Traffic Violator – class D felony = Own Recognizance.
Theft (under $200.00) – class D felony – Resident = $250.00 cash.
Non-resident = $2,500.00 surety.
Forgery – class C felony – Resident = $1,000.00 cash.
Non-resident = $10,000.00 surety.
10. Check Deception – class D felony – Resident = $1,000.00 cash.
Non-resident = $10,000 surety.
If there is probable cause to believe that the person committed more than one of the above crimes, then the bond for each crime shall be added to each other to arrive at the total bond.
If there is probable cause to believe that the person committed one of the above crimes and a crime that does not appear on the above list, then the judicial officer of the Starke Circuit Court shall set the bond.
If there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a crime that does not appear on this list then a judicial officer of the Starke Circuit Court shall set the bond.
Prior to the person being released from custody, he or she shall execute the Recognizance Bond Agreement, together with the Terms and Conditions of Recognizance Bond, which are attached hereto.
The person is ORDERED to appear in the Starke Circuit Court on the first Wednesday after the person’s release from the Starke County Jail, at 1:30 p.m.
A judicial officer of the Starke Circuit Court may issue an Order, at any time, that departs from the provisions of the Bonds Standing Order, the Recognizance Bond Agreement, and the Terms and Conditions of Recognizance Bond.
STARKE CIRCUIT COURT
Knox Mayor Lifts Snow Emergency Declaration
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers has announced that the snow emergency in the City of Knox only has been lifted. This applies only to the City of Knox. The Mayor explained that snow has been plowed in the City from curb to curb but that no alley-ways have been touched. the drivers will go home at 3.00pm today and get some rest and will be back at it again tomorrow at 4.30am.
At that time the City will be plowing and removing the snow from the intersections that have been piled up.
Milk
I wonder if some people still think that milk comes from the grocery store.
When I was a kid, Dad would milk about 10 or 12 cows every morning and every night. This was before milking machines – all milking was done by hand. There is nothing like a glass of warm milk right from the cow. Dad would secure the cows into the stanchions for their feed, then get his stool. He had a four-legged stool, but many farmers used a three-legged stool, and I have even seen a one-legged stool used quite often. Dad would position himself on the right side of the cow and start milking. It was fun to watch him because once in a while he would squirt the cat in the face with the milk. Of course the cat would love that and lick the milk from his fur for quite a while. Sometimes Dad would let me milk the cow, but when I started to squirt the cat more than into the bucket, that stopped.
The folks had an in-ground “cooler” on the north side of the house – a 30″ glazed tile in the ground with boards for cover – that cooled the milk somewhat. The temperature in the “cooler” was always 55 – 60 degrees. Later, Dad would pour the milk into the cream separator (see attachment). I got to crank the machine. This was really a centrifuge. It had a series of cones in it that, when spun, separated the cream from the milk. We could then make cheese or butter from the cream.
Remember, this was during the depression. The folks would sell the butter (and the eggs that Mom had gathered from the chicken house) to the grocery store. The rest of the milk that wasn’t separated was sold to Drews’ Sanitary Dairy at 405 S Main in Knox. They would pasteurized it, bottle it and deliver it to their customers’ door steps. This was before homogenized milk. The cream would rise to the top of the milk bottle, and you could tell the quality of the milk by how much cream was on top. Generally, it was thought that the taller the layer of cream, the better the milk. In the winter, if the bottles of milk were left outside too long, the freezing temperature would push the lids off. (see attachment) As for why the bottles didn’t crack, well, I’m speculating that with whole milk, at least, the cream that collected at the top acted as a lubricant, allowing the ice to move freely upward, relieving pressure and keeping the bottle intact. On the coldest of winter days we would sometimes make “ice cream” by placing a bowl of the cream into the snow so it would freeze. Later, the homogenizing process was invented which breaks down the fat of the milk into smaller particles so that it stays suspended in the milk and the cream doesn’t rise to the top.
My wife, Melba, came from a farm in Eastern Indiana and showed Red Poll cattle all over the United States. Red Polls are considered dual-purpose animals, giving great meat production and good milk production, also. One time as a teenager, while showing at the Indiana State Fair, the owners of the 4-H Grand Champion cows in all dairy breeds (Jersey, Holstein, Guernsey, Red Poll, Milking Shorthorn, etc.) participated in a milking contest. Of course the contestants were all boys, except Melba! Her cow had just had a calf the week before and milked very easily – she knew she could win this contest. They even brought in a cow for the Governor of Indiana to milk, just to make the contest a little more fun. That Governor was our own Henry F. Schricker from Starke County.
The contest starts – Melba started to milk her cow – but got no milk. The cow just stood there and “Mooed” – she wanted her calf. Melba’s Dad quickly realized that fact and ran to get the calf. As soon as the cow saw the calf, the milk poured into the bucket. As fast as the milk came, Melba couldn’t make-up for lost time. Both she and the Governor lost the contest to a boy!
Jim Shilling
Starke County Historical Society
http://www.starkehistory.com
http://www.scpl.lib.in.us/historical/
More on Agriculture
Since I grew up on Grandpa’s farm, I was destined to become a farmer, it seems. After college and the army, I joined up with Dad and we farmed the home place together for several years. I feel very lucky to have been born in Starke County, Indiana, to Russell and Edna Shilling. As I look back on those few years when Dad and I farmed together – wow. He allowed me to experiment with all sorts of innovative ideas and yet with a careful eye, guided my inexperience. There is nothing like “been there, done that”. And he let me know it in his gentle way.
The changes that we have seen in Agriculture, just in my time, have been tremendous. There have been more changes in production agriculture during the last fifty years than the 10,000 years before that. During the great depression, the average farmer was selling enough farm produce to feed 3-4 other people. During the 1950s, the average farmer in the U.S. was feeding 50 people. A tremendous increase, in just a few years. Now, the average farmer is feeding 154 people. It is estimated that by 2030, farmers around the world will have to produce 4 billion tons of food for the growing population. Upgrading one’s growing operation with a seedling planter can pay off for many growers.
Starke County is doing its part. The average farm in Starke County is only 259 acres, but those acres produce more than 81 million dollars in income for Starke County each year. That’s third, behind Manufacturing and Retail Sales. I haven’t found all of the figures of the Ag-related retail, but I know that the Farm Bureau Coop has a gross sales of more than 59 million dollars in materials to farmers. When a farmer talks about a 1″ rain as “a million dollar rain”, it is more than a figure of speech. A 1″ rain every week during June, July and August will add about 10 to 12 million dollars to the Starke County economy. Farmers are not only spending huge amounts of money on production inputs, such as implements, seed and fertilizer for their crops, but also adding to the economy by patronizing the local stores.
The next time you see a Starke County farmer, whether he farms 50 acres of vegetables or 5000 acres of corn, think about the food he helps grow and the part he plays in the local economy.
A good site to learn more about Indiana agriculture is:
http://www.farmersfeedus.org/in/corn/10
Jim Shilling
Starke County Historical Society
http://www.starkehistory.com
http://www.scpl.lib.in.us/historical/
Maxinkuckee Players Looking to 2011
The Maxinkuckee Players are already making plans for the 2011 summer presentation. A meeting is scheduled in Culver early next month to elect officers.
If you have a suggestion for a possible musical production for the Players 2011 season you may contact Charlie Weaver at 574-772-5000 in Knox, who is a member of the selection committee. That committee will make several suggestions to the Players members who, in turn, will make the final selection at a meeting in January or early February.
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Starke County Commissioners to Review Hospitalization Insurance
The Starke County Commissioners will be meeting at 4:30 this afternoon to review health insurance plans. The three members have divided 5 quotes from various agents for review. The bidders are: Key Healthy Partners, First Source Insurance, Teachers Credit Union, The Healy Group and First Choice Insurance Services. After comparing cost and coverage the members will meet in an open meeting to select the company that will be the health insurance provider.
Starke County Commissioners to Discuss the Creation of an Open Burn Ban Ordinance
The Starke County Commissioners are expected to discuss the creation of an open burn ordinance at its meeting tonight.
EMA Director, Ted Bombaghetti, told WKVI that while the County’s burn ban was in effect, information was received that a lot of people were illegally burning garbage, construction materials and tires. The Commissioners want to enact an ordinance that will ban that type of burning activity and impose fines if the ordinance is violated. The Commissioners feel that a local, county-wide burn ban will help curb that type of burning instead of waiting for action from the State.
