Starke Commissioners Approve County Road 300 East Plans

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Starke County Commissioners last week approved the plans for the County Road 300 East project at the behest of Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler, who explained the project will make the industrial park in that area more desirable for businesses.

“The plans to widen the road from Culver Road to basically the bridge just south of State Road 8, and it is to accommodate businesses for the Starke County Industrial Park, and it will allow better access to the park. This is in conjunction with another project on 300 East that’s going to widen the intersection at State Road 8 and 300. It’s going to allow trucks better access into the park, thus making the industrial park more desirable for businesses to come in,” Ritzler explained.

Continue reading →

Knox City Council Approves Second Reading of Ordinance #1138

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council approved the second reading of an ordinance that creates a fund for fees collected for rental property registrations and inspections.

Mayor Rick Chambers clarified that there are no new fees with this ordinance. The city just had to create a separate fund in the budget for the fees. The fees are currently $25 for both rental property registrations and inspections. The city building administrator and the council may look at adjusting that fee at a later time.

Continue reading →

LaPorte Woman Sentenced in Unemployment Fraud

Posted on Author WKVI

A LaPorte woman was sentenced in U.S. District Court Thursday after pleading guilty to the felony charge of Theft of Government Funds.

43-year-old Christina Glenn and four other individuals fraudulently collected government funds in the form of unemployment insurance benefit payments from the state. Glenn and the others convicted in this investigation worked for the same company in Michigan City and received wages while they worked there. On top of that, they fraudulently applied for and received unemployment benefit payments. The total amount of restitution to be paid to the state from each defendant ranged from $15,000 to $25,000 but collectively totaled $97,523.

Continue reading →

Winamac Town Board Holds Hearing on Budget

Posted on Author WKVI

The Winamac Town Board held a preliminary hearing on the 2014 budget. Town Manager Jim Conner said no public comment was made during the hearing.

“The final adoption will be at our October meeting on the 14th,” stated Conner. “We tried to cut it back some for next year so that we’re not using so much cash-on-hand and tryin got get around to having a balanced budget.”

Continue reading →

Marshall County Jail to Get Two New Stoves

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Marshall County Sheriff Tom Chamberlin informed the Marshall County Council this week that the jail kitchen will be getting two new stoves.

He explained that the old stove was severely damaged when fire retardant had sprayed in the kitchen during an overnight incident in September. A settlement was reached to replace two commercial-grade stoves in the kitchen. When installed, the kitchen will have two stoves and four ovens to help prepare meals for the almost 200 inmates in the facility.

Continue reading →

Starke/Pulaski Habitat for Humanity Still Accepting Applications; None Yet Qualify

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Starke/Pulaski Habitat for Humanity is still accepting applications to build a home for a family in need, but according to Steve Morrison of Habitat, they have not yet received any qualifying applications. While that is frustrating, he said, they are still accepting applications for this great opportunity to help a family.

“We’re restricted by the guidelines of the International Habitat for Humanity as to the income levels and job responsibilities and the various credit bureau reports standings with the individuals, and we’ve just been unfortunate so far in getting someone who truly qualifies for Habitat for Humanity. But, we continue to look at people and continue to accept applications and hope that we can come up with one that we can build a house for,” said Morrison.

Continue reading →

Knox Unsung Hero Award Recipient to Be Recognized Sept. 24

Posted on Author WKVI

While the winner has been chosen for this year’s Unsung Hero/Random Act of Kindness Award, Knox Mayor Rick Chambers said he will not be announcing the winner until he or she has been recognized during the city council’s next meeting on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Chambers said the regular meeting will start at 7:15 p.m. to allow a short recognition ceremony prior to the meeting, to thank the award recipient.

The committee believes that the candidate is very deserving of the award, especially with what the award winner has done for the community.

The big celebration that was planned at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center has been canceled for Sept. 15 and Chambers said the only recognition ceremony will take place at the meeting of the Knox City Council.

Winamac Farmer’s Market Set for Saturday

Posted on Author WKVI

The Winamac Kiwanis Club is sponsoring the annual Farmer’s Market Festival in downtown Winamac tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

This year’s festival will feature a live band and puppet show, plus a bounce house, face painting, petting zoo, food and great shopping. The pancake breakfast will kick off the day at 7 a.m. and you’ll have all day to enjoy the festivities. Visit many merchants and organizations that will feature community information.

Admission to the festival is free.

Train Strikes Car Stuck on Tracks; One Fatality in Union Mills

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A train/car crash in the Union Mills area that took the life of a LaPorte man is under investigation by the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department. At around 1:59 a.m. CT, deputies from the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office were summoned to the Canadian National Railroad crossing located on State Road 39 south of U.S. 6 in reference to the reported crash. Upon arrival, deputies located a Dodge Caravan that had been struck by a westbound train. The driver, the only occupant of the vehicle, was found deceased in the van, identified as Brian D. Massengill, 40 of LaPorte. He reportedly died of massive blunt force trauma, and officials have stated his blood alcohol content was determined to be 0.393 percent, which could have played a part in the accident.

Continue reading →

Knox City Council Pose Questions Concerning Jail Water Project

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council
Knox City Council

Knox City Council Attorney David Matsey is looking to draft a Memorandum of Understanding between the city council and the Starke County Commissioners regarding the jail water project.

The council thought that it should be spelled out what every party is responsible for, especially when it comes to payment of vouchers. One question that Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston had was how to pay the vouchers. Would the city need to pay up front and wait a possible 45 days for the county council or commissioners to approve the claims in order to reimburse the city?

Continue reading →

Starke County Council Talks Budget in Special Meeting

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Council members had a chance to go over the 2014 budget during their special meeting Friday night.

Council President Dave Pearman noted that it’s a very tough time of the year and the budget process has been very lengthy. The council examined the budget further on Friday night.

“We really just needed to tighten some things up,” explained Pearman. “We’ve really had a lot of difficulty every year – dealing with a frozen levy, dealing with a very small budget for such a large amount of inhabitants with 23,000 people in our county. We have a smaller budget than many counties that have half that many residents.”

Continue reading →

Marshall County Commissioners Approve Personnel Requests, Review Clerk’s Remodeling Plans

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Marshall County Council approved a request by Sheriff Tom Chamberlin to hire an officer to replace one who recently resigned. The council also approved a request by Clerk Julie Fox to hire a deputy clerk as Vicki Yost will be vacating the position when she moves to Alabama. Yost had worked in the clerk’s office for more than 10 years.

Continue reading →

Fort Wayne Man Arrested in Marshall County

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A Fort Wayne man who was traveling home from a court hearing in Chicago will now have a hearing in Marshall County after he was arrested on Tuesday on felony drug charges.

An officer with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 33-year-old Justin M. Horan on U.S. 30 just west of Oak Road for a speeding violation. During the course of the traffic stop, the officer found that the plates on the vehicle were fictitious and that Horan was in possession of a substance believed to be heroin. Drug paraphernalia was also found inside the vehicle.

Continue reading →

Cass County Man Arrested After Lengthy Manhunt

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A day-long manhunt ended last night around 5:20 p.m. when officers from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, the Cass County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana State Police located Westly B. Winn, 34 of Lucerne, hiding in a rural Fulton County home.

Earlier in the morning, officers from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department attempted to make a traffic stop on a vehicle Winn was driving. Winn allegedly drove the vehicle into a cornfield near Fulton County Roads 950 South and 600 West before he abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. Officers from multiple police departments set up a perimeter in an effort to contain Winn.

Continue reading →

Alliance EMS Customer Appreciation Day This Weekend

Posted on Author WKVI

Alliance EMS will show its appreciation for the community this weekend during its Customer Appreciation Day on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. ET at the Broken Arrow Campground north of Winamac. According to Jay Podell, this annual event will be packed full of activities including a talent contest with cash prizes, free food, free games, a moon bounce, face painting, and a variety of other attractions as well.

Continue reading →