Man Arrested after Disregarding Stop Arms and Lights on School Bus

 
 
A man was arrested Thursday after disregarding school bus arms in the Plymouth area.

A deputy with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department was conducting patrols on Michigan Road after receiving complaints of drivers disregarding a school bus’s flashing lights and stop signs.

The deputy was following a school bus and reportedly observed a person drive around the bus that had activated the stop signs and flashing red lights. The officer conducted a traffic stop and took the driver, Anthony Textor, into custody.

Textor was booked into the Marshall County Jail on preliminary charges of Driving While Suspended with a Prior Conviction and Reckless Driving, both misdemeanor charges.

Catholic Charities Builds Wheelchair Ramp for North Judson Resident

Bob Jachim, Bob Okeley, John Shebel, Larry Ferris, Wayne Lauer, Trish Gallas, J H Frazier, Don Westphal, Jack Litz, Tom Berg, Al Ladd
Bob Jachim, Bob Okeley, John Shebel, Larry Ferris, Wayne Lauer, Trish Gallas, J H Frazier, Don Westphal, Jack Litz, Tom Berg, Al Ladd
The Catholic Charities group recently completed a wheelchair ramp for a local resident.

Several Starke County volunteers in the Catholic Charities organization got together on Wednesday and constructed a wheelchair ramp for Ida Craft of North Judson.

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DTFSC Announces Annual Grant Awards

  
 
Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County, a substance abuse prevention coalition, has announced its annual grant awards to several agencies, made possible with funding received form the county’s drug free community fund. DTFSC has worked together as a coalition since 1988 under the direction of the Governor’s Commission for a Drug Free Indiana and the Criminal Justice Institute with the mission of reducing the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs among youth and adults in Starke County.

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Senate Passes Suicide Prevention Awareness Resolution

Joe Donnelly
Senator Joe Donnelly
The Senate Thursday night unanimously passed the resolution put forth by senators Joe Donnelly and Johnny Isakson in promotion of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, recognized in September of each year. Donnelly described the month as an opportunity for Americans to recognize and discuss suicide prevention and he is pleased that this bipartisan resolution passed the Senate.

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San Pierre Grain Elevator Fire Ruled Arson

 
 

Tuesday’s fire at the San Pierre Grain Elevator on U.S. 421 was deliberately set. That’s the determination of investigators from the state fire marshals office. They spent two days digging through the rubble with assistance from the San Pierre, North Judson, Bass Lake, Washington Township and Medaryville Volunteer Fire Departments. Dispatchers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office got a call about the fire around 9 Tuesday night. Volunteers from the San Pierre Fire Department arrived a short time later and say the warehouse and silo were both fully engulfed when they showed up. The North Judson, Medaryville and Wheatfield Fire Departments also helped battle the blaze, which took about four hours to contain. A San Pierre Fire Department spokesman declined comment as to where the fire originated, as the incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the state’s arson hotline at 1-800-382-4628. A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest or conviction.

Week 6 Football Picks

Harold’s Picks (23-6)

Culver-19  Knox-14

Kankakee Valley-48  NJSP-7

South Central-34  Lake Station-7

CMA-14  John Glenn-7

Winamac-28  West Central-27

Nathan’s Picks (22-7)

Culver-21  Knox-13

Kankakee Valley-28  NJSP-14

South Central-28  Lake Station-7

John Glenn-28  CMA-20

Winamac-35  West Central-14

Tom’s Blind Picks (12-17)

Culver over Knox

Kankakee Valley over NJSP

South Central over Lake Station

CMA over John Glenn

West Central over Winamac

Cause of San Pierre Grain Elevator Fire Still Under Investigation

 
 

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office has spent the past two days in San Pierre trying to determine the origin of Tuesday night’s blaze that destroyed the grain elevator on U.S. 421. The San Pierre Volunteer Fire Department was called to the scene just after 9 Tuesday night. Fire Chief Mike Korous tells WKVI news the warehouse and silo were both fully engulfed when they arrived. Additional firefighters from North Judson, Medaryville and Wheatfield were called in to help battle the blaze. Firefighters remained on the scene for about four hours. No injuries were reported.

Former Knox Man in Cook County Jail

William Blankenship
William Blankenship
A former Knox man who was arrested for stealing a police car in Kouts was recently arrested in Illinois.

Cook County Court records indicate that William Blankenship III was arrested on Aug. 23 on two counts of Residential Burglary, Theft of a Coin Operated Machine and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He is in the Cook County Jail on $100,000 bond.

He allegedly entered into two different homes in Lyons, Ill. which happens to be the town in which he lists as his current address.

Two Arrested on Forgery Charges

 
 
Two Plymouth residents were arrested Sunday after a forgery investigation was launched.

On Friday, Sept. 20, officers at the Plymouth Police Department received a call regarding suspected counterfeit checks being used to make purchases at Murphy USA.

After three personal checks were examined, Plymouth police detectives determined that the checks were counterfeit.

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City of Knox Gets Grant to Replace Police Car

 
 
The city of Knox can finally replace a wrecked police car thanks to funds from a federal grant. The USDA Office of Rural Development awarded the city a $24,900 Community Facility Grant. An officer hit a deer last spring while en route to North Judson to assist with a sobriety checkpoint, and the city’s insurance on the Ford Crown Victoria patrol car was not adequate to purchase and equip a replacement. City officials were notified yesterday that they had received the grant. USDA Rural Development State Director Phil Lemkuhler said, “Rural Development appreciates the dangerous job done by those who serve as police officers. It is our hope that these funds will help to make their jobs safer and the city of Knox more secure.”

Question About Storm Sewer Permit Answered by Knox Board of Public Works

Knox Board of Public Works
Knox Board of Public Works

The Knox Board of Public Works addressed a permit question that came up in an expansion project at the government building at 1406 S. Heaton St. in Knox.

Donald Carlson is expanding the government building across the street from McDonald’s and was wondering if a storm sewer permit was needed. Since it’s an existing building and the addition is not going to require more than an acre of space, a new permit is not needed. The water already runs off the property and does not affect any surrounding properties.

The planning commission recently approved the project and as long as the current storm water flow is in compliance with the ordinance, a permit should not be needed.

North Judson-San Pierre School Board Approves Master Agreement

Superintendent Lynn Johnson
Superintendent Lynn Johnson
The North Judson-San Pierre School Board this week approved the master teacher’s agreement in a special meeting, and Superintendent Lynn Johnson said they’re pleased with how it turned out.

“It was quite a long process, but both sides have always had a wonderful working relationship with our teacher’s association and even though the process was long, it was very successful and I think both sides are very happy with the master agreement,” Johnson said.

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Starke County Community Foundation Still Offering Preschool Scholarships

 
 
The Starke County Community Foundation continues in its efforts of making one year of preschool education affordable for every child in Starke County, and to that end, there are still scholarships available for families who wish to send their child to preschool but are financially unable to do so.

Director of Development Sarah Origer said it’s not too late to receive a preschool scholarship and encourages parents who need to send their child to preschool but are concerned about the cost to contact their local preschool for information on enrolling in the program. Participating preschools include Foundations Child Care, Little Lambs Preschool, Adventure Island Preschool, Oregon-Davis Preschool, Knox Elementary Preschools, and St. Peter Lutheran Preschool. Scholarships are available to 4-year-olds whose families show financial need.

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Dermody Encourages Students to Maintain Four-Year Graduation Pace

A recent Ball State University study has found that the average standard of living for Hoosiers is equivalent to that of 1996, according to a press release from State Representative Tom Dermody. In the release, he emphasized that “now, more than ever, we must incentivize students to obtain college degrees and help make them affordable so that students leaving college experience less debt and can enter the workforce more quickly.”

State Representative Tom Dermody
State Representative Tom Dermody
Dermody said the debt issue faced by college graduates is a nationwide issue that deters high school graduates from pursuing higher education. He referred to a Pew Research Center study that showed that a typical college graduate earns roughly $650,000 more during their career than a high school graduate, and said this and similar studies highlight the importance of a college education in obtaining higher paying jobs and increasing the standard of living for Hoosier families.

“Education,” Dermody said, “is the most important investment that a young adult can make.” He went on to say that as the chair of the Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee, he has worked alongside the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to protect that investment while working to not only lower the cost of a degree, but also to limit the amount of student loan debt, increase graduation rates, achieve more degrees for tax dollars spent and help students enter the workforce quickly, earning a self-sustaining income.

In an effort to achieve those goals, Dermody said he authored House Enrolled Act 1348 this year, a law that makes various changes to the Frank O’Bannon Grant and 21st Century Scholars Program. This, he said, will encourage students to maintain a four year graduation pace, because staying on track decreases the debt burden students experience after college.

For more information on Dermody’s efforts, click here.

Walorski Supports Bill Eliminating Health Care Subsidies for Congress

Congresswoman Jackie Walorski
Congresswoman Jackie Walorski
In an effort to maintain a level of fairness between congress, their staff and the American people, Congresswoman Jackie Walorski is cosponsoring a bill that would prevent administration, Congress members and congressional staff from receiving a special subsidy minimizing personal insurance cost increases in the Obamacare health insurance exchange. The bill, dubbed the “James Madison Congressional Accountability Act,” was authored by congressman Ron DeSantis and crafted in response to the Office of Personnel Management’s ruling that allows members of Congress and their staff to receive taxpayer-funded partial subsidies for health insurance plans offered in the exchange.

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