The Starke County Jail Committee has found a suitable piece of property, but what happens now? Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem said that while they have found a useable location, they have not yet decided on whether or not to purchase it.
“We’ve looked at a number of properties over the last couple of months as prospective jail sites, but the one that is a very strong contender right now is a piece of property located at the intersection of State Road 8 and 550 East,” said Norem.
This Saturday, WKVI and Five Star are teaming up for another community event to help others in need. On Nov. 17, we will be broadcasting live from Five Star and taking donations to help stock the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry in our Third Annual Food Drive.
Joan Haugh, Community Services of Starke County executive director, is looking forward to the event.
Things may soon be a bit less stressful in the Pulaski County Auditor’s Office, thanks to a motion passed by the county commissioners to hire an additional full-time employee. Auditor Sheila Garling told the commissioners that she is dealing with the equivalent of a staffing nightmare as one full-time employee is on medical leave until January, another full-time employee is transferring offices at the beginning of the year, and another full-time employee resigned on Friday.
The North Judson Town Council is reviewing their redistricting ordinance. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry said they are required to review their voting districts after each 10-year census, and if the census indicates that the town’s population changed by a significant percent, they are required to perform redistricting of district boundaries.
Fortunately, Henry said their population changed only minimally, so they weren’t required to do the actual redistricting. However, the council still has to enact an ordinance stating that they are not performing the redistricting, so that ordinance has been passed to Town Attorney Cassandra Hine for review.
A Starke County Veterans Day parade was held yesterday in downtown Knox. Several members of the Knox VFW Post #748 and the American Legion attended the ceremonies and were part of the parade. Travis Flora, a veteran of the Somalian War talked during yesterday’s program.
“I went to Somalia in December of 1992 and came back in May of 1993,” said Flora. “Of course it’s a third world country so it’s not a pleasant experience. The most important experience I think is the camaraderie I had with my fellow Marines and the spirit of the corps that we had. We went a long time without a hot meal and sleeping on cots and things like that, but in the end we figured this just made us better people.”
The Culver Community School Board at their meeting last week appointed a member to the Monterey-Tippecanoe Public Library Board.
Superintendent Brad Schuldt explained that the school corporation is required to make an appointment for the Monterey Library as the appointing board for certain positions on public libraries within the district. They decided to re-appoint Melvin Brown, a man who has been on the library board for a considerable amount of time.
A free college course to first-time students is being offered during the spring semester at Ancilla College.
As part of the “We Believe in You” program, the college is offering adult learners who are 21 years and older and who have never attended college the chance to take a class with up to three credit hours at no cost.
The adult smoking rate in the United States continues to decline slowly.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that the largest decline in smoking from 2005 to 2011 occurred among young adults aged 18–24. Smoking among high school students has been cut by more than half since peaking in 1997. The U.S. Surgeon General has found that nearly 90 percent of smokers start by age 18 and almost no one starts smoking after age 25.
A teenager allegedly fired a shot into the roof of Westfield Southlake mall on Saturday.
A group of kids were fighting and then one of the teens aimed the gun toward the ceiling and pulled the trigger. Everyone in the mall was evacuated Saturday night. Police said off-duty Hobart officers were working mall security when the shot was fired Saturday. Three boys, ages 14, 15 and 16, were taken into police custody at the scene. Police were searching for a fourth boy, who is believed to be a brother of one of the other suspects.
WKVI Sportscasters Harold Welter and Nathan Welter took the Saturday Sportsline Live show to Kosta’s Restaurant in Winamac on Nov. 10. Several area coaches were on hand to discuss the upcoming basketball season and a wrap up of the football season. The crew were fed by Gus and the gang at Kosta’s! Who knows where they’ll be next…. Continue reading
After a three-day trial, Steven O’Bryant was found guilty Friday of three counts of Child Molesting as a Class A felony and not guilty of one count of the same.
The jury deliberated for less than 2 hours, having left at 1:04 p.m. and returned at 2:55 p.m. after asking only one question.
A Plymouth man was arrested early Friday morning on a charge of Child Molestation.
On Oct. 18, the Plymouth Police Department received a report from the Department of Child Services regarding a 15-year-old female who had become pregnant and had the baby when she was 13. An investigation was conducted and it was learned that she was a victim of child molestation.
A warrant was issued in this case for the arrest of 24-year-old Adam M. Macias on Nov. 8 and he was located and arrested on a charge of Child Molestation. He is lodged in the Marshall County Jail on $10,000 cash bond.
The town of Culver is now under a boil water advisory as a result of contractual work in the downtown area. Town Manager David Schoeff said the situation could have been a lot worse, but they were forced to shut down the water system which has caused a number of problems.
“The contractors that are doing our downtown streetscape had uncovered an old water valve, and the fact that it wasn’t restrained as today’s standards are, the valve to pull away from the main, and started leaking. Fortunately for us, the hole was already dug and things of that nature, there’s work being done, but unfortunately, though, we had to shut off the system to the town, which has caused us to issue a boil advisory,” said Schoeff.
After sifting through 40 applications and narrowing it down step by step, North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry said the town board has filled the vacant part-time clerical position.
Henry explained that Cheryl Tellman will split her time between the two offices, but will spend the majority of her time in the clerk-treasurer’s office. The employee will be trained in both departments, and will be cross-trained on the billing side to allow the Tellman to substitute for the billing clerk during vacations. Henry says this employee will be similar to a floating employee between the two departments, but will concentrate on the clerk-treasurer’s side.
Starke County Courthouse custodian James Coad presented the county commissioners with some good news at their meeting this week: all lighting equipment passed the annual inspection by Simplex, a company specializing in active fire protection systems, communication systems and testing, inspection and maintenance services for the courthouse.
Coad explained that all the strobes and other lighting equipment passed their annual inspection, but did have some bad news: the backflow and release valve inspection failed, and those items need replaced. He estimated the cost of replacement to come out to about $1304.33. Fortunately, however, Coad said that money is available in his budget and he can cover the cost.
During the last Knox Community School Board meeting, Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the undefeated seventh grade football team was highlighted.
“According to Mr. Miller who has been at the middle school for a long time, that’s the first time in his memory, and they checked back, that any of the football teams in that building had gone undefeated so that was quite an honor. All six junior high coaches showed up at the meeting and they brought in five of their players,” stated Gappa.
A short season highlight video was also presented to the board.
The Indiana State Police Post troopers are working hard to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on the roadways.
Troopers have been utilizing both marked and unmarked vehicles, as well as aircraft and vehicles that look like INDOT work trucks to patrol for speeders, drivers who are following too closely, lane restrictions and unsafe lane movement.
Twenty-six crash blitzes have been conducted this year to bring awareness to the issue of unsafe driving. Those blitzes have resulted in a total of 3,018 tickets and warnings being issued. Nineteen arrests were made in some of those cases.
Traffic safety is a continuing partnership between motorists and law enforcement.
Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Several contested races were decided in Starke County in Tuesday’s General Election. Republican Kent Danford defeated Incumbent Democrat Daniel Bridegroom for the County Commissioner District 3 seat. The three candidates elected to the three at-large seats on the Starke County Council include Democrats Freddie Baker and Bob Sims along with Republican Bryan Cavender. The three candidates elected to the Knox Community School Board Center 2,3, and 4 seats include Wendy McIntyre, William Kirk Bennett and Gerald “Jerry” Fletcher. Kurt A. Kemble became the new representative in the California-Washington Township seat on the Knox Community School Board as he earned more votes than Incumbent Nathan Marcum. The two at-large seats on the Oregon-Davis School Board go Kurt Hayes and Lee Nagai. In Pulaski County, it was Republican Terry Young edging out Democrat William Bauer for the Pulaski County Commissioner District 1 seat. Roger Querry, Douglas Roth and Jerry Sullivan, Jr. clinched at-large seats on the Pulaski County Council. Larry Beach, Deke DeMarco and Rhonda Heims were also elected to serve on the Eastern Pulaski School Board. In Marshall County, Republicans Jon VanVactor, Rex Gilliland and Steven Harper will serve on the Marshall County Council in at-large positions. The contested District 3 seat for the Plymouth School Board was won by Gary Cook. Three seats for the Union-North School Board were up for election. The at-large seat was won by Daniel Zeiger and George Moffett. For the North Township seat, Kenneth A. Moore won it . He beat out David Grenert. Continue reading
A Plymouth man was arrested early Friday morning on a charge of Child Molestation.
On October 18, the Plymouth Police Department received a report from the Department of Child Services regarding a 15-year-old female who had become pregnant and had the baby when she was 13. An investigation was conducted and it was learned that she was a victim of child molestation.
A warrant was issued in this case for the arrest of 24-year-old Adam M. Macias on November 8 and he was located and arrested on a charge of Child Molestation. He is lodged in the Marshall County Jail on $10,000 cash bond.
11-8-12
Oregon-Davis-63 Elkhart Central-19
Jessica Averone (Oregon-Davis): 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals in 63-19 win.
