An official for the city of LaPorte received three traffic tickets early Thursday morning but denies allegations that he tried to flee from police.
Tim Stabosz, a 44-year-old former LaPorte City Council member and current secretary of the LaPorte Historic Preservation Commission, has been asked to resign from his position by Mayor Blair Milo, but said he has no plans to do so and is looking to rally support for what he calls a story that has gotten out of hand.
The Pulaski County Commissioners last week tabled a discussion regarding the possible hiring of two notaries, after Surveyor Jenny Keller pointed out that she was the only notary in the courthouse, and is now unable to perform those duties because of her new responsibilities as an officer holder.
Keller noted that another courthouse employee has been registered as a notary in another county, but notaries are statewide, so Keller feels she should be able to perform those duties in Pulaski County. However, even if that is not the case, the registration process for becoming a notary only involves a $60 fee and is done electronically.
A Knox man was sentenced in Pulaski Circuit Court recently after pleading guilty to amended charges in a plea agreement with the State.
David Mattes, Sr. was charged with Stalking, a Class C Felony and Residential Entry, a Class D Felony after an August incident in which he allegedly entered a woman’s home in Pulaski County without permission.
In a hearing last week, Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak moved to amend the second count, Residential Entry, to a charge of Trespass as a Class A Misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to that charge. Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn sentenced Mattes to 12 months in the Pulaski County Jail with 11 months suspended and to be served on probation. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim in this case.
The Starke County Commissioners last week tabled a discussion regarding a contract that has regularly been increasing in cost to determine whether or not the contract could be nullified. Maintenance Director Carl Goodrich said at the last meeting that the main issue is whether or not the county could get out of the contract with the current company, because they recently raised their contract cost up five percent – not the first time the company done this, Goodrich said.
The West Central School Board reorganized for the year during their recent meeting.
Jeff Tanner was elected president, Dennis Gutwein was elected vice president and Kerry Miller was elected secretary.
After 28 years, the CEO of Pulaski Memorial Hospital has retired. Richard H. Mynark retired Friday.
Mynark was instrumental in planning, developing and implementing the hospital’s critically needed facility renovation and modernization project in February 1985. The new front addition was finally complete in 2003.
Free Cervical Cancer and Breast Cancer screenings are scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday in Knox. The first screening will be at Dr. Browne’s office from 1-5 p.m. CT and will be conducted by Nurse Practitioners Jennifer Frasure and Erin Duff. The second screening will be held in the office of Indiana University Health physician Dr. Lyjia Strachan, OB/GYN on Wednesday from 1-4 p.m. CT.
Dr. John Taylor, another IU Health Starke Hospital OB/GYN, said pap tests and screenings for cervical cancer are important.
The Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts held their annual Conservation Awards Banquet on Jan. 8 as part of their 70th Annual Conference of Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and presented a number of awards to Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The theme for the conference was, “The Power of Conservation: Today’s Actions, Tomorrow’s Rewards.”
Two LaPorte men were arrested Wednesday after a traffic stop.
Investigators from the LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit and deputies from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department conducted the traffic stop and found Bruce Wakeman and Robert Ratz inside the vehicle.
In Pulaski County, the discussion continued regarding moving the assessor’s office, currently located in the courthouse, to a building across the street. Assessor Holly VanDerAa approached the commissioners again this week for an update, having sent each commissioner a letter proposing that the building, owned by Geneva McKinley, be used as the new assessor’s office.
A special meeting for the Knox Planning Commission has been scheduled for Jan. 14, and Board President Jeff V. Berg told WKVI that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the appointment of a planning commissioner.
A dispute is currently ongoing between Mayor Rick Chambers and the Planning Commission as to who gets to appoint the planning commissioner. Chambers said he believes it’s his appointment, while Berg feels the appointment is theirs to decide. Unfortunately, Chambers said it’s a confusing matter because it has been done both ways in the past.
The Starke County Commissioners last week accepted a bid for a company to perform the property assessments for the county. Assessor Rhonda Milner approached the commissioners with two four bids for the work and her recommendation, but she said two of the bids needed thrown out because they did not follow the requirements and specs of the bid. Also, one company is under litigation for unsatisfactory work.
The American Cancer Society Relay for Life of Starke County kicked off their event on Thursday as volunteers and participants gathered at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Knox to launch their fundraising efforts for the year.
Although there’s more than six months left to go before the Relay event, it’s still the perfect time to get involved, and more than 80 people did as the event boasted a terrific turnout. Attendees received information about the different ways to get involved in Relay and witnessed a moving Luminaria Ceremony honoring cancer survivors and remember those lost to the disease.
The Culver School Board this week approved their expenditure goals percentages for 2013. The board approved 55 percent toward academic achievement expenditures, 20 percent toward instructional support expenditures, 20 percent toward overhead and operational expenditures, and the remaining 5 percent to go toward non-operating expenditures.
Knox local Ray Duran went home yesterday afternoon with a brand new 42” flat screen TV from Sears in Knox after he blew away the competition in the K99.3 Football Pick’Em contest! Every contestant who entered had to choose who would win all of the games that week, and Duran picked more correct teams than any other contestant.
Duran, who was born in San Diego but moved to Knox when he was around nine years old, said this was the first time he has participated in the Football Pick’Em contest.
The Culver Academies Black Horse Troop and the Culver Girls Academy Equestriennes continue to practice for the Presidential Inaugural Parade on Monday, Jan. 21.
Four local students will be riding along in the parade. Celeta Dodge of Walkerton, Joshua Kuric of Knox, Natalie Hogan of Plymouth and Peter and Paul Foersch of Culver will be riding with the other 20-plus members of the Equestriennes and 50-plus members of the Black Horse Troop.
It’s all about accountability, said Pulaski County Commissioner Larry Brady, who expressed his desire to ensure county employees only have keys to the courthouse doors and their own offices. He told his fellow commissioners and the department heads in attendance that he would like all county building keys to which the commissioners have access to be stored at the county 911 center.
The Starke County Commissioners heard an update from IT Director Joe Short regarding the narrowbanding compliance efforts being undertaken by the county. Short told the commissioners that the compliance update is finished, and all compatible equipment has been programmed to the new standard. However, a few pieces of equipment cannot be upgraded to narrowband, and Short said those will need to be replaced.
Two ordinances are still in the works for the town of North Judson, but according to Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry, those ordinances will likely be in place within the next month or two. One ordinance pertains to changes to the cemetery rules and regulations while the second regulates domestic and farm animals within the town.
Indiana is experiencing a high level of influenza-like activity early in this flu season with seven deaths reported since November.
Craig Felty, Executive Director of Patient Care at IU Health Starke Hospital said the hospital’s Emergency Room had 59 positive cases in December 2012. No cases of the flu were reported in December 2011. Pulaski Memorial Hospital has seen a big increase in positive influenza cases since Dec. 1.
