Oregon-Davis Schools to Offer Free Lunches This Summer

Oregon-Davis Jr./Sr. High School
Oregon-Davis Jr./Sr. High School
The Oregon-Davis School Corporation will be participating in the Summer Food Program this year June 10–July 11.

Free lunch will be offered to students 18 years of age and younger Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to noon ET at the Oregon-Davis Elementary School. All students are welcome without residential or financial stipulations.

If adults aged 19 and older would like to have a nutritious lunch, the cost will be $2.

No students will be turned away. Oregon-Davis is prohibited from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

Seventh Annual Indiana Fallen Officers Blood Drive Begins This Month

  
 
A blood drive aimed at keeping alive the memory of a Morgan County sheriff who lost his life in the line of duty is coming to the Kankakee Valley. In July 2001, Sgt. Dan Starnes of the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department was shot and killed in a gunfight while on duty, and his surviving spouse Janice organized the Sgt. Dan R. Starnes Memorial Blood Drive in her county later that year – an annual event that has since gone statewide.

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May 18 and June 1-2 are Free Fishing Days

 
 

Grab your fishing poles and tackle; Free Fishing Day is coming up in Indiana, giving anglers the perfect opportunity to get out to the water and cast out their lines. Free Fishing Day on May 18 is the second of four Free Fishing Days this year, the first of which was April 20. Indiana’s adult residents do not need a fishing license or a trout/salmon stamp to fish public waters in the state during Free Fishing Day.

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Activities Planned for National Nursing Home Week

  
 

This week is National Nursing Home Week! National Nursing Home Week is an opportunity to honor all of those who contribute to our nation’s nursing homes. Our vancouver senior care home has a phenomenal caretaker to patient ratio, ensuring the best care for your loved ones.

The staff at the Golden Living Center in Knox has several activities on tap for their residents. Today is Mexican Day where residents will learn all about Mexico and have some Mexican Food at 10 a.m.

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Rochester Man Arrested on Drug Charges in Miami County

David Lowe
David Lowe
A Rochester man was arrested in Miami County following a traffic stop that led to a search which turned up methamphetamine and drug precursors in his possession. A state trooper stopped 27-year-old David Lowe for following a vehicle too closely and having overly-tinted windows, but after Indiana State Trooper Daniel Prus activated his emergency lights on his marked police vehicle, he reportedly saw Lowe switch seats with a female passenger.

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Bridge 70 Closed in Starke County; Travelers Be Advised

 
 

Travelers on County Road 50 East near 500 South in Starke County are strongly advised to find a new route, as County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler announced yesterday that the county has closed Bridge 70 due to safety reasons. Ritzler explained the bridge was scheduled to be replaced next year but because of the unexpectedly high rate of deterioration, he said it was necessary to close the bridge to prevent an accident.

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Marshall County Commissioners Discuss Highway Department Requests

  
 

The Marshall County Commissioners held off on approving a road cut for Crystal Broadband as several customers have complained about the service the company provides.

Highway Superintendent Neal Haeck told the commissioners that a customer has complained for months that his cable service has not been working, but they keep charging him for it and he can’t get a hold of any representative to help him with the situation. He’d change to a satellite system but the location would not provide a direct line of sight for a satellite dish.

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Cosmetic Improvements Planned for Pulaski County Courthouse

 
 

New Pulaski County Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Johnston is sprucing up the historic courthouse. He told commissioners he’s outsourcing repairs to the tile floor on the main level. They approved an expenditure of $1,240 for the work. In addition to fixing parts of the floor, the vendor will also polish the tile. Johnston and his staff plan to refinish the wood floors and banisters on the second story of the courthouse and replace the torn and tattered window shades in many of the offices. He assures commissioners all of the work will adhere to the necessary standards for historic buildings.

Johnston also told the commissioners he’s in the process of assessing all of the county’s buildings and prioritizing necessary repairs. Immediate needs include replacing exterior concrete at the annex building and repairing the roof at the county highway garage. Johnston says his staff will also focus their efforts on beautification of the building exteriors.

Knox BOW Approved Bid for 50/50 Sidewalk Program

Knox Board of Public Works
Knox Board of Public Works

The Knox Board of Works met in special session Friday in order to open and award a bid for the 50/50 sidewalk program.

Five businesses provided bids: Custom Concrete, Pete Kuchel Concrete, Do All Concrete, EAM Enterprise, and Covenant Concrete.

Mayor Rick Chambers read aloud the bids for the nine addresses of homeowners who submitted applications for the project. In the end, the Board of Works approved the bid of Covenant Concrete with a total bid of $13,940 as the lowest conforming bid pending a review of the bid packet by Street Superintendent Jeff Borg and City Attorney David Matsey.

State Police to Crack Down on Aggressive Drivers

 
 

Indiana State Police Troopers are part of a federal effort to curb aggressive driving. The Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks Campaign aims to reduce the number of crashes involving commercial motor vehicles and passenger cars. State troopers will be part of the effort through Saturday, June 8. Troopers will be specifically looking for motorists who drive dangerously around semi trucks and other commercial motor vehicles. Some of the violations troopers will be concentrating on include unsafe lane changes, failure to yield the right of way, following too closely and aggressive driving. In many crashes involving commercial motor vehicles, the crash is caused by non-commercial drivers operating in an unsafe manner.

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Knox Community School Board Commends Envirothon Team

Back left to right: Benjamin Darda, Austin Heise, Colton Skidmore  Front: Marge Wood, Nikole Scheib, Julia Markovitz, Laurie Simmons.
Back left to right: Benjamin Darda, Austin Heise, Colton Skidmore Front: Marge Wood, Nikole Scheib, Julia Markovitz, Laurie Simmons.

The Knox Community School Board members recognized the Knox High School Envirothon team during the Spotlight on Success portion of their meeting Monday night.

The team had gone to the state competition on April 30 and placed 13th out of 17 teams. Coaches Laurie Simmons and Marge Wood told the board they were proud of the effort of the students and competed well at Washington High School.

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DNR Cautions Against “Rescuing” Wild Animals

 
 

DNR officials caution well-meaning citizens not to “rescue” seemingly helpless, abandoned baby wild animals they find while enjoying the outdoors. A wildlife information specialist with the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife says many animals leave their young alone while searching for food and come back to them throughout the day. Michelle Cain adds that picking up animals can be harmful to both animals and people, and removing animals from their natural habitat is illegal. If you believe an animal is truly abandoned or injured, Cain says you should call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or DNR Law Enforcement. They are reachable 24-hours a day at 812-837-9536. If a bird has fallen out of its nest, Cain says it’s OK to gently put it back. If you’re unsure if an animal is orphaned, check on it periodically. If you’re still unsure, place some strings or sticks across the nest. If they are disturbed, it’s a good sign that the mother returned.

Warrants Issued for Sanchez, Spencer

 
 

Warrants have been issued for two offenders who escaped electronic monitoring from Starke County Community Corrections.

On Sunday, Brenan Sanchez cut off his ankle bracelet and fled to the Mishawaka area. Community Corrections staff began to investigate his whereabouts and found that he was at a girlfriend’s house in Mishawaka.

As this investigation was going on, another offender, Dustin Spencer, cut off his ankle bracelet on Monday.

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LaPorte Teenager Arrested on Dealing Heroin Charge

 
 
An 18-year-old LaPorte man was arrested Thursday after an investigation by the LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit and officers from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department.

Officers checked a vehicle that was parked in the Stone Lake Beach parking lot and an on-scene investigation resulted in the arrest of Christopher Miller of LaPorte. He was arrested on a preliminary charge of Dealing in a Schedule II Controlled Substance, heroin, as a Class A Felony. He was booked into the LaPorte County Jail and will appear in LaPorte County Circuit Court on Friday in an initial hearing.

Miller is being held on a $100,000 bond.

Two Starke County Offenders Charged with Escape

 
 
Two Starke County Community Corrections clients have been charged with Escape after reportedly cutting off their ankle bracelets.

Brenan Sanchez and Dustin Spencer allegedly tampered with their electronic monitoring devices earlier this week. They were then reportedly involved in a breaking and entering incident in the Mishawaka area and are currently being housed in the St. Joseph County Jail on a preliminary charge of Criminal Trespass.

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WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl Remembers Gov. Otis Bowen

Gov. Otis R. Bowen
Gov. Otis R. Bowen
Governor Otis Bowen will be laid to rest today in Marshall County. The physician turned governor and secretary of health and human services died Saturday in Donaldson at the age of 95. WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl and Bowen were old friends, dating back to May of 1960 when Hasnerl was first elected Starke County Republican Central Committee chairman.

“Doc Bowen had the practice of when he would see somebody doing something in the community he’d cut out the news article or the picture, put it in a nice little card, send his well-wishes. That’s the first that I really remember Doc Bowen,” Hasnerl said.

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One Marshall County Court to Be Closed Friday for a Period of Time

  
 
Marshall County Superior Court Judge Robert Bowen asked the commissioners this week for permission to close his court Friday for a short period of time.

Judge Bowen explained to the commissioners that he and his staff would like to go to the funeral of former Indiana Governor Otis Bowen in Bremen Friday morning at 11 a.m. ET and would need to close the court from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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