Knox City Council to Meet Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council will meet tonight where the members will continue in a discussion with the usage of the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox by area churches.

At the last city council meeting, the members discussed drafting a memorandum of understanding for Deb McIntire and the churches to sign to make sure that all entities are on the same page regarding the intention and use of the building. That document is expected to be presented tonight. All churches involved would need to provide a certificate of insurance to the city.

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LaPorte Police Department Renews Partnership with ICJI

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The LaPorte City Police Department will be continuing in its partnership with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) with a $21,150 grant for Operation Pull Over which expires in September of 2015.

Operation Pull Over is an initiative by officers to reduce traffic crashes and related injuries and fatalities with planned enforcement. The officers work toward monitoring dangerous driving behavior such as speeding, sign/signal violations, following too closely, reckless driving, texting while driving, and other unsafe driving behavior to reduce crashes. Police also conduct seat belt and child restraint enforcement to increase restraint use.

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Ancilla College Offers Free Tuition to Valedictorians and Salutatorians

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Ancilla College is rewarding high school students who finish at the top of their class. Beginning in 2015, Ancilla College will be offering full tuition scholarships to the top high school graduates from schools in 10 north-central Indiana counties. Ancilla’s Val-Sal Scholarship offers free full-time tuition, as much as $13,500 each year, to local graduates who attend Ancilla. Continue reading →

Marshall County Man Arrested After Reported Domestic Disturbance

Posted on Author WKVI
Audie Bolinger
Audie Bolinger

A Marshall County man ended up in jail there Sunday evening after a scuffle with police responding to a report of a stabbing. Officers were called to a residence in the 7000 block of 11A Road around 4:30 p.m. When they arrived they learned nobody had been stabbed but a fight had taken place between the residents. The police report indicates a knife had been used, but no injuries were visible. The officers asked Audie Bolinger to step outside the house. Continue reading →

Starke County Officials Celebrate Completion of Road Project

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A major Starke County road project is substantially complete. Members of the county council and commissioners and officials from the Starke County Economic Development Commission will celebrate the reconstruction of the intersection of State Road 8 and 300 East later today. The intersection has been rebuilt to accommodate traffic to and from the Knox Industrial Park. It now features a turn lane and acceleration and deceleration lanes to help trucks more easily navigate the corner. Continue reading →

Pulaski County Receives Blight Elimination Grant

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Pulaski County is the recipient of a Blight Elimination Program grant from the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority worth $147,000.

Dave Weber from the Pulaski County Building Administrator’s office said the grant will help rid the county of blighted structures.

“The funds are designed to demolish vacant, blighted or abandoned housing,” Weber explained. “This grant will last for a period of three years. In the grant application, we had to identify an end use. That end use could be anything. It could be the construction of a new home on that same lot or a community garden. At the end of that three year period, we’ll be left with a positive, constructive end use instead of a vacant lot where those abandoned homes once stood.”

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Last Week to Vote Absentee

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

This is the last full week to vote absentee in the General Election.

So far, Starke County has reported 661 walk-in, mail-in and travel board votes. Marshall County has reported 730 absentee votes and Pulaski County has reported 278 machine votes this far.

In Starke County, in-office absentee voting is today through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the second floor meeting room in the courthouse. The same hours will apply for Saturday, Nov. 1. Evening voting hours are available tomorrow and Thursday, Oct. 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. CT.

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Racing for Recovery Founder and President to Speak at LifePlex

Posted on Author WKVI
Todd Crandell
Todd Crandell

Addict turned triathlete Todd Crandall will share his story of overcoming a 13-year addiction to drugs and alcohol with the community during a program tonight at LifePlex in Plymouth. Crandall is the founder and president of Racing for Recovery. It’s a nonprofit organization that strives to save lives and improve the quality of life for addicts and their friends and family by promoting a lifestyle of health, fitness and sobriety. Crandall first tried alcohol at age 13 to cope with the depression and confusion of his mother’s suicide 10 years earlier due to her struggles with addiction. For the next 13 years Crandall says he tried every type of drug he could get his hands on before making the decision to quit.

“By the grace of God – that sounds so cliché, but it’s true – and I wasn’t raised in a religious upbringing, but I do believe that God, and I’m going to say my Mom, had something in there that told me on April 15th of 1993, after getting my third drunk driving charge, that’s it. I wanted something better, and that was all it took was that notion in my head that I wanted something better. Then I put the work into rebuilding my life,” Crandall said. Continue reading →

Property Taxes Due Nov. 10

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Property taxes are due soon in the Starke County Treasurer’s Office.

Treasurer Kasey Clark told WKVI News that taxes are due in her office on Monday, Nov. 10.

Taxpayers may mail those payments or visit the office on the ground floor of the Starke County Annex building Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to make a payment. A drop box is also available outside the office.

Property taxes may also be paid online at www.starketax.net. Follow the instructions carefully.

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Knox City Police Department Conduct Death Investigation

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The death of a Knox man is under investigation.

Knox City Police Department officers were called to a residence on south Main Street in Knox on Thursday where a 23-year-old man was found in cardiac arrest. CPR was initiated on the victim by the officers until paramedics arrived on the scene.

The victim, identified as Nicholas Harmon, was transported to IU Health Starke Hospital in Knox, according to a news release from the Knox City Police Department. He was subsequently airlifted to Memorial Hospital of South Bend where he later died.

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Accused Killer Due in Court Next Week

Posted on Author WKVI
Darren D. Vann
Darren D. Vann

The Gary man police say confessed to killing seven women, including a former Knox resident, is due in court next week for an initial hearing. Darren Vann, 43, of Gary, faces murder charges in two of the seven murders. He’s due in court Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 10 a.m. in Lake County. Formal charges have been filed against Vann in connection with the deaths of a woman found strangled in a Hammond motel room last week and Merrillville woman discovered in an abandoned house in Gary. Continue reading →

Pulaski County CDC Director Gives Economic Update

Posted on Author WKVI
Nathan Origer presents information to Pulaski County Commissioners
Nathan Origer presents information to Pulaski County Commissioners

The Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director gave the commissioners some food for thought in their meeting this week.

Nathan Origer said the third and final site study has been done on a west side rail industrial development. Preliminary work will be sought to make sure the landowners are on board to move forward with efforts for economic development.

Origer presented a contract for a company to overhaul the county’s zoning ordinances.

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Building Inspector Reports High Permit Purchases in 2014

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Marshall County Building Inspector Chuck DeWitt gave the Marshall County Commissioners a quarterly update where he announced the number of permits beginning in August and their permit values.

“We had 35 permits totaling approximately $1.6 million, giving us almost $30 million for the year,” explained DeWitt. “We had 183 inspections during August. In September, we had 52 new permits with a value of $2.4 million which gives us a total of $32 million for the year and 326 permits. We’re probably going to be on track to have about 425 to 440 total permits which is an exceptional year.”

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North Judson-San Pierre Board Approves Updated Test Security Protocol

Posted on Author WKVI
Michael Shireman, Jim Menis, Larry Lambert Marsha Reimbold and Patricia Goin
Michael Shireman, Jim Menis, Larry Lambert
Marsha Reimbold and Patricia Goin

The standardized tests given to North Judson-San Pierre students are locked in a room that cannot be accessed by anyone else during the school day. That is one of the 17 state-mandated safety protocols the corporation is required to follow to ensure the integrity of the tests they administer. The school board this week approved an amended test security policy. Continue reading →

Knox High School Students Plan Community Project

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Forty Knox High School senior English students have decided to pool their dreams in a unique project using the skills learned in their classrooms, such as research, writing, construction, marketing, and computer knowledge to develop a vacant Knox downtown lot into an inviting, landscaped, park-like area.

Hoping to coordinate those dreams with the Knox City Council and the Park Board, the enterprising kids are planning a gazebo, maybe a pergola, benches, a picnic table or two, and other improvements.

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