Ritz Sworn in as Superintendent of Public Instruction

Glenda Ritz has been sworn in as Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, making her the first Democrat to hold the position in decades. Ritz, a former teacher, was inaugurated as Indiana’s top education official this weekend at the Statehouse before a crowd of supporters.

Ritz managed to beat out Republican School Superintendent Tony Bennett in November with her campaign against many of Bennett’s education changes. Her primary electoral support seemed to come from teachers as Ritz said she feels teachers need to be evaluated, but not with high stakes such as merit pay at risk.

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Scholarships Available for Criminal Justice Majors

Sheriff Oscar Cowen
Sheriff Oscar Cowen

The Indiana Sheriff’s Association is awarding college scholarships to qualified high school seniors or college students who are pursuing a degree in criminal justice studies. Forty $500 scholarships will be awarded to qualified students throughout the state.

Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen and Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer have applications in their offices or you may pick up an application in the Guidance office in your school. Applications must be received by April 1.

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Boys Coaching Leaders

Boys Basketball Coaching Leaders: (Through 1/19/13)

Dan Warkentien-South Central (16 years): 262-119 .688

Travis Hannah-John Glenn (13 years): 151-152 .498

Bryan Heimlich-West Central (9 years): 114-98 .538

Kyle Elliott-Culver (5 years): 49-50 .494

Kyle Johnson-Winamac (3 years): 30-26 .535

Phil Shabi-NJSP (2 years): 20-13 .606

Matt Crawford-OD (2 years): 5-29 .147

Scot Spoljaric-LaCrosse (2 years): 3-28 .096

Chris McGowen-Knox (1 year): 2-10 .166

Girls Coaching Leaders

Girls Basketball Coaching Leaders: (Through 1/19/13)

Terry Minix-OD (20 years): 284-143 .665

Dan Huizenga-Knox (11 years): 128-116 .525

Gina Hierlmeier-Culver (7 years): 104-49 .680

Brad Odom-West Central (8 years): 83-84 .497

Rick Budka-South Central (5 years): 44-54 .448

Jeff Wagner-Winamac (3 years): 43-19 .693

Kyle Amor-John Glenn (2 years): 17-21 .447

Debbie Bolen-NJSP (1 year): 11-6 .647

Brian McMahan-LaCrosse (4 years): 10-45 .181

Boys Scoring Leaders

Boys Scoring Leaders (Season): through 1/19/13 (10ppg)

Trent Elliott (Culver): 21.3ppg (13 games)

Riley Charlesworth (LaCrosse): 20.1ppg (11 games)

Zach Shidler (Winamac): 17.3ppg (11 games)

Dalton Bailey (NJSP): 13.4ppg (12 games)

Bryce Guse (LaCrosse): 13.2ppg (10 games)

Blake Hurford (OD): 11.9ppg (12 games)

Dylan Short (Knox): 11.1ppg (12 games)

Jake Strong (Glenn): 10.6ppg (12 games)

Adam Clindaniel (SC): 10.4ppg (11 games)

Drew McKay (WC): 10.3ppg (11 games)

Zach Johnston (OD): 10.1ppg (13 games)

Boys Individual Scoring (Career): Minimum 300 points

Trent Elliott-Culver (Jr): 727

Zach Shidler-Winamac (Sr): 721

Riley Charlesworth (Sr)-LaCrosse: 709

Colton Hill-Knox (Sr): 567

Collin Stevens-Culver (Sr): 526

Micah Budzinski-Culver (Sr): 464

Sam Culver-LaCrosse (Sr): 374

Dylan Short-Knox (Sr): 355

Jake Strong-John Glenn (So): 351

Adam Clindaniel-South Central (Sr): 341

*As reported to etpearl.com

Girls Scoring Leaders

Girls Scoring Leaders (Season): through 1/19/13 (10ppg)

Ashley Campbell (OD): 19.6ppg (19 games)

Stephanie Shorter (Winamac): 17.1ppg (13 games)

Kayla Shaffer (Culver): 16.4ppg (16 games)

Jordann Frasure (NJSP): 15.1ppg (17 games)

Jesse Averone (OD): 15.0ppg (19 games)

Jessica Schramm (Winamac): 12.8ppg (15 games)

Alisha McIntosh (OD): 12.6ppg (19 games)

Jill Rosenbaum (SC): 12.6ppg (15 games)

Riley Popplewell (SC): 11.8ppg (15 games)

Haley Collings (OD): 11.1ppg (19 games)

Kayla Zimmerman (NJSP): 11.1ppg (16 games)

Kyler Columbia (Glenn): 11.0ppg (16 games)

Nikki Frasure (Knox): 10.5ppg (18 games)

Girls Scoring Leaders (Career): Minimum 300 points

Ashley Campbell-OD (Jr): 1,205

Jordann Frasure-NJSP (Sr): 938

Jesse Averone-OD (Jr): 921

Alisha McIntosh-OD (Jr): 727

Jill Rosenbaum-South Central (Jr): 692

Stephanie Shorter-Winamac (Jr): 686

Kayla Shaffer-Culver (Jr): 664

Jessica Schramm-Winamac (Sr): 559

Kaitlin Zachary-Knox (Sr): 487

Taylor Guse-LaCrosse (Sr): 414

Kayla Zimmerman-NJSP (Sr): 413

Haley Frasure-NJSP (Sr): 412

Kyler Columbia-Glenn (So): 404

Haley Collings-OD (Jr): 396

Gabbie Sievers-LaCrosse (Sr): 388

Katie Dreessen-Glenn (Sr): 352

Tatum Schultz-Culver (So): 323

*As reported to etpearl.com

Status Hearing Set for Knox Teacher Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Todd Boldry

There have been no major developments in the case against a former Knox High School teacher accused of fathering a child with a former student. The Knox Community School Board initially suspended Boldry with pay on Aug. 24 and has since been suspended without pay.  Superintendent A.J. Gappa said earlier that substitute teachers will fill the position until the outcome of the investigation is determined.

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New Equipment Expedites Sex Offender Registry Checks

While some law enforcement agencies are gearing up to purchase new equipment for their vehicles to allow them to update the sex offender registry while on the road, several agencies have reported that they have had that equipment in place for several years.

Marshall County Sheriff Tom Chamberlin approached the county council last week with a request to purchase three laptop computers for his department – computers which, Chamberlin said, would be used by detectives and officers while checking on individuals currently registered as sex offenders. The equipment, at a cost of $3000, would be paid for out of the fund into which sex offender fees are paid.

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Two Sentenced for Battery in Starke Circuit Court

Two individuals accused of battering a male victim pleaded guilty to battery charges in the Starke Circuit Court last week and received their sentences. John Potter and Brenan Sanchez were arrested on May 3, 2012 after they allegedly brutally beat Kyle Brock multiple times, causing a severe broken nose, two broken ribs, swollen eye sockets, swelling in the head and neck, cuts on his entire body, and cuts to the inner lip. The police report indicates a tire iron was used in the attack.

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Winamac Town Board Plans Public Meeting for Water Rate Increase

Winamac Town Hall

A public hearing has been scheduled by the Winamac Town Board in regards to a water rate increase to help cover the cost of a water project. The board had previously prepared a rate ordinance to be considered for the use of and service rendered by the waterworks of the town.

The board held the first reading of the ordinance, which passed with four board members in favor and one opposed. The board scheduled the public hearing for the ordinance to be held on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.

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North Judson-San Pierre School Superintendent Discusses Leadership Conference

North Judson-San Pierre High School

The North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation recently held an all-day conference with the Leadership Starke County organization, and the board reviewed a summary of the day’s events at their meeting this week.

Leadership Starke County is a nine-month training program to provide citizens with local knowledge of the Starke County area, skills, network, and confidence to become a leader in the community. Each of the nine sessions in the program focuses on topics related to the county, and allows participants to learn what “out of the box” thinking has done for Starke County and what they can do to improve it.

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Marshall County Commissioners to Meet Tuesday Morning

The Marshall County Commissioners will meet Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. ET in the Commissioners Meeting Room in the City of Plymouth.

Newly-elected Commission President Kevin Overmyer, Vice President Jack Roose and member Deb Greiwank will hear from Sheriff Tom Chamberlin about the Great Lakes Labs contract. The new contract doubled the fee from $42,240 to $85,000 per year and now limits the number of employee tests. Sheriff Chamberlin will explain these changes along with the prosecutor and discuss whether or not there are other options.

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Unemployment Up in Starke County

Indiana’s unemployment rate rose in December to 8.2 percent, while Starke County’s unemployment went up nearly a point.

About 259,800 people were unemployed in Indiana last month. The estimate is based on a survey sample of residents around the country about their employment situations, which includes whether they are working or looking for work.

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From the EastWing, Sophia & The Pear Trees, Pit Bull History, Pit Bull Fame, Pit Bull Bentley, Word Nazis

Greeting to all and welcome new friends to the EastWing.

Remember just before Christmas, I told ya about the high hopes of producing pear trees in the EastWing. Well, I’ve encountered some issues which have thrown a major “Monkey Wrench” into the process of pear tree production. After months of providing a cold of winter season for the pear seeds, drying ‘em out an planting on the day after Christmas. I came home this past week to find a large amount of the soil from the newly planted pear seed pot on the EastWing floor. I could just tell from the looks of things that this was not the result of the pear seeds starting to sprout.

So I lined ‘em all up in the EastWing, that cold January afternoon. The time had come to find the culprit of such a dastardly deed. The Gray Lady James, Spike The Man Cat, Mr. Bentley and Sophia all stood in the lineup. Upon questioning, all had an airtight alibi, except Sophia.

Under intense integration, with the imminent threat of water boarding, being the tool that broke the case wide open. Sophia finally said “WHAT??? I had to go pee!  My potty was all the way to the other end of the house then down to the basement. I had to go pee, and right there was all that dirt”.

Sophia said “And besides, what  would ya rather have, a happy girl cat or a dumb ole pear tree?” Then she smiled. Sophia when she smiles. It melts your heart. It dawned on me, this was the first time Sophia was smiling since November 6th . I didn’t bring that up, didn’t want to lose the smile.

I just thanked God for giving me a happy Calico Girl, swept up the dirt from the oak floor, put it back into Sophia’s new EastWing potty and decided, yes, I’d rather have a happy girl cat than a dumb ole pear tree. But ya just gotta love Sophia when she smiles. Ya heard the old saying “ a smile  goes a long ways” it does with Sophia. Damn Republican Cat.

I’m still getting inquiries into the availability of the services of Pit Bull Inc. Still the same status. Pit Bull Inc. is not for hire. I’ve even suggested to several people to establish their own Pit Bull Corp. Even told ‘em how to go about it. I hope some do. It’s worth the effort to do so.

American Staffordshire Terrier,  that’s Mr. Bentleys official breed. Want to learn something new? Do a little research on “Pit Bull”. You’ll be surprised. For all the fear many have of the term Pit Bull, do the research, you’ll be surprised.

It’s an old, old blood line which has been selectively bread  for  illegal dog fighting. Bad people, not bad dogs. Again for those who tremble at the word Pit Bull, keep in mind one of the stars of the Little Rascals was a Pit Bull. Didn’t know that? Yep, I’m telling ya, Petey  was a Pit Bull. ” Now Petey, from the Little Rascals, may be the most famous, but there are many lesser know Pit Bulls that have gained historical attention.

Helen Keller‘s dog, Sir Thomas,  Buster Brown‘s dog, Tige, Horatio Jackson’s dog, Bud, President Theodore Roosevelt‘s Pit Bull terrier, Pit Bulls all.

To this day Pit Bulls continue to be heroes,  Popsicle, a five-month-old puppy originally found nearly dead stuffed in a freezer, grew to become one of the nation’s most important police dogs. Norton, who was placed in the Purina Animal Hall of Fame after he rescued his owner from a severe reaction to a spider bite. Titan, who rescued his owner’s wife, who would have died from an aneurysm, and D-Boy, who took three bullets to save his family from an intruder with a gun.

Another thing I bet ya didn’t know about Pit Bulls, that English Bull Dog ya think is so ugly, it’s cute, it’s a Pit Bull too. So with that Mr. Bentley said  to Sophia, “From now on please don’t call me a Pit Bull, you can call me  an American Staffordshire Terrier”.   Sophia looked the big dog straight in the eye and said “Ok,  Mr. Pit Bull  Bentley”. The Man Cat damn near fell off the table laughing  as Sophia gave Mr. Bentley that one and only,  “Sophia when she smiles”.

Reading the EastWing email is almost as much fun as telling the stories. It never ceases to amaze me that, for some people, what I’ve said and what they’ve read many times seem to have  come from different parts of the universe. While taking into consideration the fact that not every word or phrase can be translated into different languages and always have an identical meaning. That being put aside. Many times it’s still a different world, between the said and the read, the said and the read, that is.

Sometimes I think  it’s folks that want to jerk me around. Like a while back I said something about a pear seed being able to think, and expected someone to challenge that a pear seed could think. It was within that context I said yes pear trees can think, “maybe not like you, which is a good thing.” Well, it was that “which is a good thing” that heated up the glow plug for a lady accusing me of being condescending in my argument.

What was so strange with that email was the lady didn’t seem to realize that I was both sides of the argument. I don’t think ya can be condescending to yourself, but maybe I can.  WHOH! a new skill. I’m sure I’ll exploit that in the future. Condescending  on both sides of the rope. SWEET !!!

From time to time somebody in the email will feel duty-bound to admonish  me for my  lack of writing skills, to which I agree.  Then they took it to another level and said  it  should be illegal for me to even touch a keyboard and have access to the internet,  to which I disagreed. While adding salt to my wounds and rubbing in, they accused me, me of all people, of using poor grammar.

DUH! Poor grammar, Shewwwww. Such charges as  improper use of pronouns, and I’m not even gona tell ya what was said about them verbs and adverbs and all that other stuff like that. I’ll just let it be said that none of it was complementary to my writing skills. Why that feller even accused me of making up words as I went along. Words nobody knew, or cared to know what they meant. I guess sometimes ya just gotta say what ya wanta say, and hope for the best.

Knowing full well I was dealing with  “Word Nazis of the Fifth Order” who had gone off the deep end in their search for correctness in life, and all the while willing to sacrifice understandability for a textbook concept of words on paper. Or in my case, words on screens.  I felt sorry for the poor souls who would choose a pattern of the written word not fully understood by all, in order to maintain correctness in the written word. The fact is, I was trained under a concept that if they don’t understand what you write, by your choice of words to speak your thoughts, you’ve wasted their  time trying to tell ‘em your stories.

And so it was, after much thoughtful  consideration for their personal feelings, I emailed the following:  It appears to me life has gotten you folks  down. You both worry far too much about things you cannot change. You both probably fight windmills in your mind.  Yet maybe what you two really need in life is a kind pat on your backs. Consider this to be an EastWing  pat on your backs.  “There, Their, They’re.”

In the immortal words of Sheriff Buford T Justice,  from Smokey & The Bandits, “Sum Bitch”.

Stay safe in Afghanistan.

From the EastWing, Sophia & The Pear Trees, Pit Bull History, Pit Bull Fame, Pit Bull Bentley, Word Nazis,

I Wish You Well,

BobbyRay

Knox Man Arrested Amidst Sexual Battery Allegations

A Knox man was arrested last weekend on allegations of sexual battery.

A woman called police to report that she had been attacked by Ryan Povilaitis. She told Knox City Police that Povilaitis was intoxicated and came into the room in the residence they shared and he allegedly forced himself on her. The performance of the sexual act was not committed, but it was attempted. The oral form of the act reportedly occurred. He also allegedly poked the victim with toothpicks and hit her with other objects.

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LaPorte Murder Suspect Arrested in Gary

A 26-year-old Gary man is in custody following his arrest by state conservation officers for the brutal murder of a 23-year-old woman in 2011.

Cadero Jester is suspected of murdering Christine Arnold of LaPorte in July 2011, after she was founded deceased in her car at the Ivanhoe Nature Preserve in Gary. Officials believe someone tampered with her vehicle, causing the accelerator to malfunction. Her vehicle crashed through a chain link fence as a result of the equipment failure.

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Five LaPorte Men Arrested on Federal Drug Charges

Richard Ruiz, Oscar Arzate, Leobardo Campos, Juan Gallardo, Zacharias Cisneros

Five LaPorte men were taken into custody Tuesday night on federal drug charges.

Richard “Ricky” Ruiz and Zacharias Cisneros were arrested on charges of Distribution of Cocaine and Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute and Possess Cocaine; Oscar Arzate and Juan Gallardo were arrested on charges of Distribution of Cocaine, and Possession with the Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute and Possess Cocaine; and Leobardo Campos was arrested on charges of Possession with the Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Conspiracy to Manufacture, Distribute and Possess Cocaine.

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