Do Not Call Registration Deadline is Today

  
 

Enjoy the sound of silence from telemarketing calls by adding your land-line, cell phone or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone number to Indiana’s Do Not Call registry. Today is the deadline to add numbers to the list for the next update, which will take place later this summer.

Adding your numbers to the list will help cut down on potentially fraudulent calls and text messages, according to information on the Indiana Attorney General’s Office Consumer Protection Division website. Most telemarketers are forbidden from calling or texting telephone numbers on the Do Not Call list.

However, four types of callers are still allowed to contact you.  They are charitable organizations whose calls are made by volunteers or employees, newspapers whose employees make their calls and licensed insurance and real estate agents. Companies with existing business relationships are not allowed to call unless you give them permission to do so.

Add your number to the list by calling 1-888-834-9969 or visiting http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/

 

Mobile Food Pantry Servicing Starke County Residents

  
 

Are you having trouble making ends meet? No need to worry about affording groceries this week because representatives from the Food Bank of Northern Indiana will be making rounds in the area providing food to less fortunate Indiana residents.

This Mobile Food Pantry works on a first come, first served basis. The only requirements needed are a valid Indiana driver’s license or ID and bags or boxes to carry your food.

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Emergency Medical Services Week Observed This Week

 
 

The 40th observance of Emergency Medical Services Week is this week.

EMS week serves as a recognition to all the dedicated people within the profession and aims to increase awareness about what local EMS services have to offer. Officials aim to help promote the efforts of EMS services within the community, educate the public on safety and health-related topics and provide information on new EMS procedure and equipment.

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Passengers Injured in Crash at SR 8 and U.S. 35

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Firefighters from the Knox-Center Township Fire Department work to free the passenger from the wreckage.

At least two people were injured in a late morning crash on State Road 8 at U.S. 35. The driver of a red Chevrolet Cavailer was eastbound on 8 and ran the stop sign, according to witnesses and officials from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department. A northbound Chrysler minivan was unable to avoid hitting the car, which came to rest on the northeast corner of the intersection. Firefighters from the Knox-Center Township Fire Department had to cut the female passenger from the wreckage. She complained of neck and back pain but was alert and conscious. She was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment. Neither driver was injured, but two passengers in the van were hurt.

Starke County 1100 East Closed Due to Flooding

  
 

A Starke County road is closed due to flooding. A berm on 1100 East between 750 and 850 South gave way, and water broke through. A crew from the county highway department is out there now working to reopen the road but aren’t sure how long it will take to repair.

Beach and Campground Report on Starke County Commissioners Agenda

starke-county-courthouseThe Starke County Commissioners will get their first status report of 2014 from the manager of Bass Lake Beach and Campground when they meet this evening. Richard Callahan has a contract with the county to manage the amenities. He and his attorney, Dave Wallsmith, are first on the agenda for the 7 p.m. meeting. Starke County EMS Director Paul Matthewson will also discuss his desire to add a paramedic at the North Judson base to provide better emergency medical response for the county. Other items on the agenda include approval of a uniform contract for the highway department and modification of the county’s nepotism policy to mirror recent changes in state law. County attorney Marty Lucas told the commissioners at their last meeting that the county’s policy is more strict than what the state has on the books. Continue reading

Marshall County Motorcycle Crash Claims a Life

 
 

Marshall County authorities are investigating the cause of a fatal Sunday morning motorcycle crash. It happened around 4:30 a.m. In the 2000 block of State Road 331, just east of Bremen, according to our reporting partners at WNDU-TV. A motorcycle driven by Stephen Kessenger, 39, of Bremen, crossed the center line, ran off the road and hit several mailboxes, according to police. Kessinger was found in the front yard of a home and pronounced dead at the scene. His bike was in the middle of the road. The crash is still under investigation, but police do not believe any other vehicles were involved. Toxicology results are pending.

Marshall County Commissioners to Meet Today

  
 

The Marshall County Commissioners will meet today at 9:30 a.m. ET where the commission members will discuss several items.

EMA Director Clyde Avery will discuss grant agreements, an annual update will be given about events and activities at Older Adult Services and Kathy Clark from the Culver Redevelopment Commission will discuss an expansion to the TIF District and the commissioners will consider a resolution to that effect.

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LaPorte Sheriff’s Office to Host Memorial Service

LaPorte County Sheriff's Department
La Porte County Sheriff’s Office

The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office will host the 15th annual Peace Officer Memorial Service on Wednesday, May 21 at 11 a.m. CT.

The keynote speaker will be Associate Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, Mark S. Massa. Justice Massa was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court in 2012 and has served as the Executive Director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and has also served as a former Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Indiana.

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Jamie McMurray is the 2014 Sprint All-Star Winner

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Jamie McMurray, driver of the #1 Bass Pro Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 17, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images

Jamie McMurray raced his way to $1 million in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star race.

Jamie McMurray was tough to beat in the last ten laps of the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. McMurray’s crew laid down a fast, mandatory and final pit stop and he was second out of the pits prior to the last segment. Carl Edwards was the leader at the start and he and McMurray had a side-by-side battle for the lead for about a lap-and-a-half. McMurray finally powered to the front and set sail. Kevin Harvick was able to close in to a .78 deficit but that’s as good as he could do.

McMurray was a $1 million winner.

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Sam Hornish, Jr. Claims Victory at Iowa Speedway

Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, does a burnout on the start/finish line after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Get To Know Newton 250 Presented By Sherwin Williams at Iowa Speedway on May 18, 2014 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, does a burnout on the start/finish line after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Get To Know Newton 250 Presented By Sherwin Williams at Iowa Speedway on May 18, 2014 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

It was a back and forth battle between Sam Hornish, Jr. and Ryan Blaney for the top spot for the entire Get to Know Newton 250 in the Nationwide Series race Sunday afternoon.

Blaney had the pole position for the race – his first in the Nationwide Series for Team Penske with whom he runs a part-time schedule. He and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sam Hornish, Jr. traded the lead several times during the race with Hornish leading a good portion of the race and Blaney contributing his share.

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LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit Arrests Several on Drug Charges

Jennie Searing
Jennie Searing

The LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit had a big week of arrests this week.

On Monday, officers from the Metro Operations Unit and the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at a home in the 600 block of Pulaski Street in LaPorte. That search resulted in the arrest of Jennie Searing, 24, on an outstanding warrant for three counts of dealing a schedule II controlled substance (cocaine) plus preliminary charges of possession of cocaine or a narcotic drug as a Class A Felony and possession of a controlled substance as a Class D felony. She is being held in the LaPorte County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

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Melissa Hansen, Jeremy Conley Sentenced in Starke Circuit Court

  Two defendants were sentenced by the Starke Circuit Court Magistrate this week.

Melissa Hansen pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to charges of Possession of Methamphetamine and Maintaining a Common Nuisance, both Class D felonies. Magistrate Jeanene Calabrese accepted the agreement and Hansen received a sentence of 14 months in the Department of Corrections with eight months suspended on both charges. Those sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time. She was permitted to serve that sentence on home detention through Starke County Community Corrections. She will also serve eight months on probation.

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Knox Board of Public Works Approves Conditional Offer of Employment

  
 

The Knox Board of Public Works members approved a conditional offer of employment to a candidate for a position on the Knox City Police Department.

The board members interviewed three candidates: Jacob Berger from Plymouth, Eric Vanderhoff from Rochester and Eric Christianson from Wisconsin. After careful selection, the board unanimously chose Eric Vanderhoff for the conditional offer of employment.

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Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center Celebrates “Beautiful Life”

  
 

Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center hosted its fourth annual banquet on Thursday to honor board members.

Several clients also shared their testimonials about the programs offered. Bella Vita was founded in January of 2010 and is a Care Net organization. Founder Susanne Lange shared the reason behind her choice of name for the organization. She faced a crisis pregnancy and was motivated through a series of events to choose life. She named her daughter Isabella, Bella for short. She’s the organization’s namesake and inspiration. Bella Vita means “beautiful life.”

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Oregon-Davis High School Stages Mock Car Crash

O-D students staged a mock fatality crash to underscore the consequences of drunk driving.
O-D students staged a mock fatality crash to underscore the consequences of drunk driving.

The Oregon-Davis High School’s Student’s Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) organization teamed up with the school’s two resource officers to make the consequences of drunk driving eminent to students who will be attending prom this weekend.

They staged a two-vehicle crash with a fatality and multiple injuries in the school parking lot Friday afternoon. Some of the students wore prom dresses and were made up to replicate real car crash victims. Empty beer cans were also scattered across the cars and outside of the vehicles to imply the drivers were intoxicated.

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Nation Celebrates Armed Forces Day

 
 

Today marks a day of recognition to all the men and women serving our nation. Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson created Armed Forces Day in 1949 to combine separate holidays observed by the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. President Harry S. Truman officially established the holiday Feb. 20, 1950. Today we commemorate any individual who has or is currently serving in any branch of the United States military.