Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff has filed three felony charges against the Knox man accused of stealing two cars in Starke County and a third in Hebron before shooting himself when police in Lake County used stop sticks to end a high-speed chase Friday afternoon. Continue reading
Sewer rates for Winamac Municipal Utilities customers will go up soon. The Winamac Town Council on Monday approved a rate increase to offset what Eric Walsh with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates says is a significant drop in revenues since 2011.
“Your revenues have decreased somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000 to $90,000 on an annual basis,” Walsh told the council. A lot of that drop is due to a change in state law that caps the surcharge amount for customers outside the incorporated town limits. They were paying 50-percent more, but the town had to drop that to 15-percent last year to comply with the law. “There’s a portion of it due to some of your larger users just aren’t using as much water, and therefore their sewage bills are going down as well. The lion’s share of it is the reduction that was made via state statute last year,” Walsh explained. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Council approved an additional appropriation for the prosecutor’s office for a summer intern.
Prosecutor Stacey Mrak stressed that the money is not coming from the general fund even though it is appropriated money. She explained that the money is coming from the pre-trial diversion fund which can be used at the discretion of the prosecutor. The money needed to be transferred to another line item in the budget for payroll purposes.
The additional appropriation was for $2,700.
Two people were sentenced in Marshall County Superior Court 1 on Wednesday on methamphetamine related charges.
Jeremy Hill, 32, of Argos will spend ten years in the Indiana Department of Corrections after pleading guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a charge of manufacturing methamphetamine. As per the plea agreement, Hill was ordered to undergo intensive drug rehabilitation through the purposeful incarceration program.
The Marshall County Council heard several requests from department heads for consideration for the 2015 budget.
One item is the upgrade of the 911 system at the Marshall County Jail. Matt Pitney, the 911 Supervisor, said the current system is at least ten years old. He added that parts are no longer available for repairs and a service agreement will no longer be an option since the company servicing the equipment has been bought out and that company has decided to “end of life” that system.
Two members of the Knox City Council agreed to be on a committee to discuss the proposed acquisition of the Gateway property.
Discussions were held previously to enter into an agreement to transfer title of land and improvements of the Gateway property to the city of Knox. The property includes the depot, the watchman’s tower, the Nickel Plate signal tower and tracks. The depot is home to the Starke County Visitor’s Center and Starke County Chamber of Commerce. A house on West Water Street would also be part of the agreement.
A valuable member of the Marshall County law enforcement community now has a bulletproof vest. K9 Arras was one of 350 police dogs selected by nonprofit organization Vested Interest in K9’s Inc. They provide working dogs with appropriate safety equipment to protect them while they are working on the streets. Each vest bears a tag in memory of K9 Rocco of the Pittsburgh Police Department. He sacrificed his life in the line of duty in January. Continue reading
WKVI morning show host Tom Berg and sports director Nathan Welter will be chilling out, or perhaps freezing to death, for charity this afternoon at the WKVI studios in Knox. News director Mary Perren paid it forward by calling both of them out as part of the cold water challenge. Continue reading
With winter behind us, maybe you’ve decided to bring the moped or scooter out of the garage and take advantage of the lovely weather. The Indiana State Police reminds Hoosiers of moped policies to assure safety this summer.
Jazz, ballet, tap, Middle-Eastern, Polynesian and musical theater numbers are just a few of the varieties of dance patrons can expect to see when they attend Miss Sandie’s 36th annual dance recital this weekend.
Miss Sandie’s students start as young as three and range up through middle and high school ages and even includes a number of adults. Dancers from Starke, Marshall and Pulaski Counties attend classes at Sandra Lee’s Studio of Dance in Knox and have been rehearsing for this recital since September. The theme for this year’s show is “What the World Needs Now…” Miss Sandie says it is a nice counterpoint to the events in the news.
Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff hopes to file formal charges today against the Knox man accused of stealing two cars and leading police on a high speed chase Friday afternoon. Police say Gary Chavez, 57, of Knox, commandeered the first car in the Mark Bailey’s Discount Center parking lot at 3:41 p.m. He switched vehicles in English Lake, according to authorities, and left the owner of the first stolen car behind when he took a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Continue reading
A defendant was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Tuesday morning.
Kaila Rose, 20 of Plymouth, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the State to an amended charge of possession of methamphetamine as a Class D felony and possession of precursors or chemical reagents as a Class D felony.
The Pulaski County Council discussed Monday night, at length, the number of military vehicles in possession in the county and their use.
Sheriff Michael Gayer was asked about the county highway department’s use of dump trucks acquired from the military. Sheriff Gayer said it’s not illegal for the county highway to use those trucks after two years of acquisition.
The Marshall County Council approved an additional appropriation of $50,000 for the sheriff’s budget to fulfill a contact with Quality Correctional Care through the rest of the year.
Marshall County Sheriff Tom Chamberlin explained to the council members in their May meeting that they signed a contract where the monthly cost to provide medical, dentistry,and pharmaceutical services with the addition of mental health in 2014 is $12,166. In May, there was balance of $41,000 and that wouldn’t cover the contract for the remainder of the year.
The Knox City Council had final action on the outdoor storage ordinance last night.
The Knox plan commission members met on June 3 and discussed the city council’s recommendation on adding wording to allow a business to go before the board of zoning appeals and request a special use variance for outdoor displays. The council members felt that the ordinance was a blanket ordinance and businesses are different in how they operate so that could be an option for those businesses.
Members of the Eastern Pulaski School Board did not reach a definite decision Monday evening about whether to allow firearms on school property. Last year a change in Indiana law allowed concealed weapons with a permit to be in locked cars on school property. This prompted school boards all over the state to consider whether weapons should be allowed within the schools. The policy would not apply to students, just to a designated group of faculty members who would have to undergo training and psychological evaluation.
Superintendent Dan Foster offered his opinion to the board. Continue reading
WKVI news has received word of a new scam using a popular discount store chain as a ploy to access people’s money. If you get a card or letter in the mail stating that you’re set to receive a $100 credit from Wal-Mart but need to pay $4.19 to claim it, throw it in the trash. Continue reading
Winamac Municipal Utilities customers will soon see a new charge on their water bills. The town council adopted a Public Fire Protection Surcharge to offset the cost of maintaining the hydrants and ensuring adequate water pressure. Eric Walsh with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates says it will allow the town to shift the cost from property taxes to a user fee of $6.65 per month for residential customers. Industrial customers with larger water meters would pay more. Continue reading
One piece of good news that parents and students will like for the next school year at West Central schools is the book rental prices at the corporation will not increase.
The board also discussed summer school for this year and Superintendent Charles Mellon said those classes are mainly for elementary school students.
The Moving Starke County Forward Coalition wants input from the entire community about how to best address addiction issues. They are hosting a community discussion on addiction and recovery tomorrow evening at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in downtown Knox. Board member Jordan Morris from Starke County Community Corrections hopes people from all walks of life will come be part of the dialogue and not worry about being profiled or judged. She says although people who have struggled with addiction will speak, the event is not limited to that population. Morris adds the entire community has been touched by the issue as taxpayers, business owners, health care providers, farmers and teachers. Continue reading
