Faith Plus Inmates Plus Dogs Equals Opportunity, or FIDO for short, is a winning equation for animals and inmates at the state prison in Pendelton. Maleah Stringer with the Animal Protection League developed the program to save dogs from euthanasia and teach inmates new skills. While serving time for crimes ranging from theft to murder, they care for 16 dogs until the animals can be placed in permanent homes.
Glenda Stacy, spokesperson for a collected group of protesters who gathered outside of USA Cafe in Knox yesterday afternoon, says they are against the idea of the union stepping in. She thinks it would be detrimental to the company and feels Monomoy deserves a chance to prove themselves, and says their owner has already made some positive changes.
The winning construction bid for the replacement came in at more than $4.2 million. Superior Construction from Gary will replace the bridge at an exact cost of $4,258,856, and Ritzler said the construction will begin on June 20, to be wrapped up by Nov. 1.
Ritzler said the state detour will direct traffic from U.S. 35 to State Road 8, to State Road 39, to U.S. 30. A local detour, however, was also cleared with the state. The local detour will direct traffic from U.S. 35 to County Road 500 North, to 300 East, then to U.S. 30.
Bad news for festival-goers: there will be no Harvest Festival in Knox due to the lack of a coordinator. Mayor Rick Chambers explained that they still hope to have a parade and car show as well as a number of other events that weekend, but no formal festival will take place because no one stepped up to take the reins.
In October, Chambers announced that he was looking for a coordinator for the event after he learned the previous coordinator, Michelle Bachtel, would not be able to handle it this year. The event’s coordinator is responsible for putting together events, contacting vendors, lining up entertainment like live bands, getting dumpsters in town, and gathering volunteers to pick up trash, set up and tear down booths, manage the parade, and a variety of other tasks.
The Pulaski County 4-H and Community Fair may have to be relocated due to the recent rains and consequent flooding. County Purdue Extension Director Natalie Daily-Federer told WKVI that fair officials are currently coming up with possible alternatives for locations to perform the animal shows and conduct judging on projects, but they haven’t come up with anything solid yet as they hope for fair weather to dry the fairgrounds.
“Hopefully, the fairgrounds will dry out the following week and we’ll be able to move everything back down and still host a fair there, but we are also looking into other facilities for livestock shows and our dogs show is the week before as well. So, lots of research, lots of conversations happening. We’re looking into lots of different options and trying to put together a backup plan,” said Federer.
City Attorney Sean Surrisi told WKVI that the officials at Whitley Products had asked for a tax abatement years ago when they wanted to install $600,000–$700,000 worth of equipment at their Plymouth facility. The council was concerned about that equipment when Whitley had decided to close their doors as they had heard that some of that equipment might have been sold.
The school was recently named a four-star school and Karen Pence toured the school in May and talked to the students and teachers. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman explained that she was impressed with the school.
The Starke County Community Foundation held a scholarship reception at the Knox Community Center Thursday night where over $27,000 in endowments were given to students.
One of those scholarship recipients is Miranda Ray who will be studying Digital Media and photography at Ball State. She was the winner of the WKVI/Ed Hasnerl Scholarship. Miranda said her love of digital media in doing projects in school prompted her to pursue it further.
A big modified race featuring five NASCAR stars is taking place on the dirt track at Plymouth Speedway this Saturday.
A NASCAR analyst for the SPEED Channel, Bob Dillner, says it’s going to be quite the show.
“It’s going to wild this weekend at Plymouth Speedway,” said Dillner. “Anyone listening to this show here today, I would get out to Plymouth this weekend because I think you’re going to have the best racing of the weekend with those modifieds on the dirt! I’m just really excited for everyone at Plymouth to have the success that they’re having now because that’s really good for racing in general.”
The event will be held at the Starke County Highway Garage. Tires, appliances, computers and TVs will be collected today and tomorrow from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. You may dispose of up to five tires for free. Only one farm tire will be accepted.
The American Legion Post 92 will be holding a flag retirement ceremony on Sunday, June 16 at 1 p.m. to dispose of old, tattered flags with dignity. Post Commander Al Czarnecki said the ceremony will take place in a lot across the street from the American Legion post.
The ceremony usually draws a bit of attention as they dispose of the flags, so Czarnecki said they explain why the flags are burned in such a way during the ceremony.
Minor flooding is occurring in Marshall County after significant rain fell there last night. Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery says the rain gauge at the emergency operations center recorded 2.31 inches of rainfall last night. Most of the flooding is in fields in the Plymouth and Bremen areas. Avery says the Yellow River is still well below flood stage and does not anticipate any problems. Storm spotters reported several funnel cloud sightings last night near Bremen and Culver, but Avery says there are no indications of damage consistent with a tornado touchdown. Anyone whose property sustained storm-related damage is asked to call the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency at 574-936-3740.
We’ll have to wait until the sun comes up to fully assess the damage caused by last night’s storms. The National Weather Service issued a number severe thunderstorm and tornado watches and warnings for the entire WKVI listening area as storms packing strong winds, heavy rains and hail moved through the region. Dispatchers in Starke County received reports of trees down on 1100 E., and storm spotters noted hail in Koontz Lake. Some trees were reported down in Pulaski County, and several listeners sent us photos of golf and tennis ball-sized hail. Spotters reported possible tornado sightings in Marshall County last night, but dispatchers there say no damage was reported. Continue reading
An initial hearing in the case of Avery Mullins was held Wednesday in Starke Circuit Court.
Mullins, who was arrested on June 6, pleaded not guilty to charges of Dealing in a Narcotic Drug, a Class B felony, plus Possession of a Narcotic Drug and Possession of a Syringe as Class D felonies. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of Possession of Paraphernalia.
Mullins’ next court date is set for Aug. 7.
Avery Mullins remains in the Starke County Jail on a surety bond of $50,000.
The Director of Older Adult Services approached the Marshall County Council this week requesting funds for the transportation program.
Jackie Wright explained that a large share of their funding from INDOT has been cut drastically this year which has to do with the federal sequester. This shortfall will only affect 2013 as she expects the transportation bill to be back to full funding levels in 2014. She appreciates the funding that is given from the county by the commissioners, but she is seeking additional funds to keep the transportation service open for the remainder of the year.
Knox officials may soon receive a three percent raise, as the city council this week approved a salary ordinance on its first reading that included the raise for all elected officials and salaried employees. Mayor Rick Chambers explained that a few corrections do need to be reflected in the ordinance before it is passed on its second reading, however.
