Filling potholes in the Northwest Indiana district has been a bit of a challenge according to the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Crews have been spending a majority of their time clearing snow and battling ice on area roadways during February.
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The Pulaski County Commissioners said communication is getting better between the board members and the highway department.
It was announced in January that things needed to be changed at the highway department. The commissioners last week said the main issues were communication, and how to deal with problems and the policy book. That was according to Commissioner Terry Young, who spoke on behalf of the commissioners when the question was posed.
The Knox City Council members will be meeting tonight rather than their regular meeting night that occurs on the second and fourth Tuesdays.
The council will attempt to pass the third and final reading of the dumpster ordinance. There was a lengthy discussion about the proposed ordinance at the last meeting where the revised document included the requirement to have a building permit to place a dumpster on a property zoned R-1. A dumpster is allowed in any 10-day period out of a month one time a year for cleaning projects or a roofing project, or appear before the Board of Public Works for a variance.
A Winamac High School graduate has been named as this year’s Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce’s H.J. Halleck Award winner.
Judy Stinemetz will be recognized for her many years of dedicated service at Pulaski Memorial Hospital, where she worked as the dietary manager for 37 years. She is a volunteer at Pulaski Human Services where she is the food pantry organizer and is in charge of the mobile food pantry. She has also organized the Women of the Moose in Winamac and holds many fundraisers for the community. Among her other community efforts include her assistance on Election Day, memberships with the Cystic Fibrosis Organization in Pulaski County and the State Board of Dietary Managers, pack-a-backpack, and other fundraisers.
Ancilla College nursing students can complete their degrees in less time, thanks to the recently revamped curriculum. Director of Nursing and Health Sciences Ann Fitzgerald says the required number of credit hours has decreased from 72 to 63. By cutting a semester from the curriculum, Fitzgerald says students will be able to finish sooner and save both time and money.
Culver Police identified a suspect that led to an arrest after a routine traffic stop led to the discovery of a few items believed to be associated with the manufacture of methamphetamine.
The incident happened the evening February 17th on State Road 10 near the Family Dollar store in Culver. Officers say they viewed the vehicle, driven by 27-year-old Lance Walter, to be speeding. A traffic stop was initiated where Walter was subsequently asked to exit the vehicle.
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Road salt supplies in Starke County should last until the weather warms.
That’s according to Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler. He says at the current rate of usage, road salt should last through March. This cycle, no road salt was used in November and December.
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Recent cold temperatures have brought reminders that IU Health Starke Hospital can be used as a shelter from the cold.
The hospital announced that individuals needing shelter from the cold can use the hospital area as protection. Wind chills well below zero have brought dangerous weather conditions to the Kankakee Valley.
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A deadline is approaching for bills to be passed in the Indiana General Assembly.
Democrats in the Indiana Senate are bringing attention to a few bills they perceive as controversial prior to the deadline. Among those bills is a balanced budget amendment currently being considered.
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The Pulaski County Health Department received a reimbursable grant for supplies in the office.
Sherry Fagner told the commissioners this week that the State Department of Health Public Preparedness Base Grant is worth $13,460.
“We’re doing some updated packet printing for our partners. As far as supplies, we kind of have a lot of different things on there to update our Go Kits for our partners and to support a POD or any other event that we have to do,” explained Fagner.
Several thousand dollars has been donated to an initiative that promotes learning in the area.
1st Source Bank presented the donation of $10-thousand to the Starke County Initiative for Lifelong Learning. The group’s goal is to promote workforce development by partnering education with local industry.
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Charges have been filed, and more information is being released after an early February incident that left an infant suffering alone in the cold.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Office was called to the area of 250 W. and 500 S. in Starke County on February 5th. According to the Sheriff’s Department, the call notified authorities of a vehicle accident.
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A former Marshall County man could face up to 50 years in prison after being found guilty in a two-day trial in Marshall County Superior Court.
Russell A. Prosser, of South Bend, formerly of Culver, was charged with two counts of serious violent felon in possession of a firearm. A jury found Prosser guilty of one count of possession of a firearm by a serious violent felony, a Class B felony. He was found not guilty on a count of possession of a flint lock pistol.
The case began in December of 2013 when officers found Prosser sleeping in a truck in the McDonald’s parking lot in LaPaz. He was a suspect in a case where several thefts occurred from vehicles in Culver. Guns were spotted by police inside the vehicle. A warrant to search the vehicle was obtained, and the weapons were confiscated. He was known by police to have been convicted of an armed robbery, and it was illegal for Prosser to possess any firearm.
Nearly 75-percent of the properties offered as part of the recent Starke County Certificate Sale sold. A final report from the vendor that conducted the sale for the county indicates 36 of 47 properties sold Tuesday. All had previously been offered at tax sales and had not been sold. Both tax and certificate sales are designed to get properties back onto the county’s tax rolls. Continue reading
Calls for reduced test times have prompted the Indiana Department of Education to issue guidance eliminating certain questions from the ISTEP test.
The reductions come shortly after new rules were adopted by the Indiana General Assembly. Those alterations, however, come close to the actual testing dates.
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WorkOne in Plymouth is working to get veterans the services they need to find work and transition back to civilian life.
Interest is being gathered to help host the seminar in the area. According to a press release, WorkOne is hoping to help veterans cope with change, resume preparation, and networking.
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The Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry will be able to assist even more families in need, thanks to a timely contribution. Ed and Deb Troike were selected as the Starke County winners in the Monsanto Foundation’s America’s Farmers Grow Communities program. As the winners, they chose the organization to receive a $2,500 donation from America’s Farmers Grow Communities and the Monsanto Fund. Continue reading
The Oregon-Davis School Corporation will have a new look on the World Wide Web.
A launch date for an updated website has not yet been determined, but the school board reviewed the design and content during Wednesday night’s meeting.
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The long-awaited repairs at the Pulaski County Justice Center are nearly complete.
Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners this week that the water softeners and the water heaters are installed, and all of the old units have been hauled away. Johnston said the HVAC systems should arrive this week or next week. He will coordinate with offices in the justice center for that equipment to be properly installed. The new control system will be added after that, but Johnston said that could be a while yet.
There have been discussions on how to improve the property for the Marshall County 4-H program, and now a professional firm will step up and help.
While long-range plans have been discussed individually with the Marshall County Fair Board, there needs to be a focus of the board. Principal Architect Stephen Kromkowski from the DLZ Corporation in South Bend explained what would be in the feasibility study.
“We would meet with the primary users and understand your current operation and the site,” said Kromkowski. “There have been some discussions about some improvements on the fairgrounds itself. We’ll gather all of the information, so we understand what your needs are. We will document what you have now. We also do a site analysis to make sure that you don’t place a new building on an area that will cause some other difficulties down the road.”
A report will be produced to decide what the improvements can be and dollar amounts for those improvements. A priority list will be provided as Kromkowski said the improvements will most likely cost more than what funds are available.
Fair Board President Tammy Dickson said the board and others are excited to have a professional direction of how to improve the grounds for the successful program.
“The Marshall County program is a hugely successful program,” commented Dickson. “I know at the fair itself the judges come from all over and comment on the quality and level that Marshall County and it is very commendable. We want to continue to grow that program.”
Sponsors have donated money toward improvements, but an agreement couldn’t be reached on projects, but that is about to change.
Kromkowski commented that the report would take about 14 weeks to complete.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger suggested an inter-local agreement between DLZ and the county on behalf of the fair board be signed. The Commissioners approved funding for the study with the understanding that the fair board will need to follow through with the plan.
