Winamac Police Chief Mike Buchanan asked the Winamac Town Board this week for permission to hold a training session at Arens Field.
Buchanan explained that the air strip would be used to train the town officers in emergency vehicle operations. The board granted the request.
Besides the technology upgrades in the classroom at Eastern Pulaski schools, Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said they are also working on upgrading a lesser-known device: the Weatherbug system atop the school. Klitzman said the weather station had been damaged by this summer’s strong, damaging winds, and the corporation’s insurance company will be funding its repairs.
“The nice thing about this weather station is it’s on top of our high school, so in terms of the readings for temperature, wind direction, wind speed, humidity, all that is right here in Winamac and right now it’s not working. The camera is not working, so we need to repair that,” said Klitzman.
The Knox City Council this week approved $175 from the city’s Christmas decoration money to be given to the top three Christmas decorators in the city. The first-place winner will receive $100, $50 will go to second place, and $25 will be given to the third best decorator.
Mayor Rick Chambers explained that the city has been doing this since at least 1998, and it goes a long way in giving people a sense of pride in their city.
The Pulaski County Food Pantry is in need of donations.
Pulaski County Human Services Director Jacki Frain indicated that donations of canned items, soups, peanut butter, jelly and other shelf food items are needed. Diapers, shampoo, deodorant, paper products and other toiletry items are also needed.
The amount of absentee ballots already cast indicates voters are showing an interest in the Presidential, U.S. Senate and Gubernatorial races.
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski said over 150 absentee ballots have already been filed and that form of voting has only been available since Monday! With the federal races, Skronski noted that the local races, especially the school board races, have generated a lot of interest in this General Election. She added that many voters in the North Judson area are paying particular attention to the referendum question that asks if the North Judson Town Council should expand to five members from three members.
A $5,000 grant was recently awarded to the Porter-Starke Services Foundation to continue the “You and Your Baby” program designed to build parenting skills for first-time mothers.
The free four-week program covers basic needs of the baby, techniques for discipline, how to trigger natural responses from the baby and how first-time parents can connect with their child. The program was initially started through a grant from the Kiwanis Club of Valparaiso and will be continued with the funds provided by Kankakee Valley REMC made available through REMC’s Roundup program.
The executive director of IU Health Starke Hospital is encouraging the entire community to join with the hospital staff in thanking the Emergency Room nurses in observance of Emergency Nurses Week, Oct. 7 –13.
Executive Director of Patient Care Craig Felty said from quieting an injured youth to holding the hand of a scared elderly patient, Emergency Room nurses care for patients of all ages and injuries or illnesses. He suggested that all members of the community who have used the ER facility and know first-hand of the professionalism these nurses exhibit, or even those who are just pleased that such dedicated individuals are available, to write or email their congratulations during this week dedicated to these talented nurses.
Address all words of thanks in care of Craig Felty or drop them off at the admissions desk.
In honor of the many volunteers who have made the Tippecanoe River State Park what it is today, the Friends of the Tippecanoe River State Park will be holding a Volunteer Recognition Day at the park on Saturday.
The Friends are a new organization formed in June consisting of a group of community volunteers who work with Park Assistant Property Manager Jason Hickman and Park Manager Vernon Gillum. The group provides support to the two and volunteers for activities, even performing cleanups and other services to benefit the park.
Hickman said the recognition day is a small way to show how appreciative the organization is to those who have helped the park.
“We’re recognizing volunteers that have helped throughout the year. We’ve had close to 60 volunteers donate close to 1000 hours this summer and spring, and this is just the park’s chance to say, ‘Hey, thank you, we appreciate what you did.’ So we got a variety of events going on that should be enjoyable for a lot of people,” said Hickman. Mary Perren, the secretary of Friends of Tippecanoe River State Park, said helping this organization is just one way to polish the jewel that is the park.
“This is a way for us in the community to say, ‘This is one of our crown jewels. We want to make it nice. We want to make it enjoyable for everybody to come out here and what can we do to do that?’” said Perren. (10-12-12 – Perren – What Can We Do)
One of the first tasks the volunteer organization did this year was organize a cleanup at the nature center. The group gave the building a floor-to-ceiling detailed clean, and Perren said volunteers helped out where the park’s limited staff was unable to get to, and without these volunteers, the park wouldn’t be what it is today.
One of the first things they did this year was a cleanup at the nature center, pulled everything out, gave it a floor to ceiling cleaning. Volunteers helped where the limited staff was unable to get to, so its beneficial to the park to have them.
To become a member of the Friends of the Tippecanoe River State Park, call (574) 946-3213 for more information.
IU Health LaPorte and Starke hospitals are offering discounted screening mammograms throughout the entire month of October.
The baseline screening mammogram is exclusively offered for $95 at IU Health LaPorte Hospital, IU Health Diagnostic Imaging at Lifeplex in Plymouth, IU Medical Offices at Lifeworks Business Park in Michigan City, and IU Health Starke Hospital in Knox.
Arthur Lawrence of Plymouth was arrested Thursday, Oct. 4 after Marshall County deputies responded to his residence with an active arrest warrant for Dealing/Delivering/Manufacturing Methamphetamine. A search warrant was also executed where officers found more narcotics, several “one pot” meth labs, meth, and meth paraphernalia
The Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team was called to the home in the 1700 block of Ritter Street in Plymouth and took possession of all of the hazardous materials.
A Knox man who had been arrested in June on Intimidation charges was sentenced last week in Starke Circuit Court.
Thirty-two-year-old Jason Danekas was arrested after threatening the life of his mother and his brother in their home in Knox. Danekas was reportedly attempting to move out of his brother’s home when an argument escalated, prompting Danekas to pick up a large knife and threaten his brother’s life. When his mother stepped in to try to stop the argument, he allegedly threatened her as well before threatening to take his own life.
Officers from the Plymouth Police Department arrested a Monterey man after a burglary incident that occurred last week.
On Tuesday, October 2, a patrolman discovered broken glass in the front door of the Dollar General Store on Kingston Road in Plymouth. Detectives reviewed the surveillance tape from Dollar General and found that the suspect broke the glass with a fire extinguisher and ran from the scene once he heard the alarm. Video surveillance from the Pointe Apartments on Kingston Road showed that the suspect took the fire extinguisher from the building.
As schools throughout the country migrate from the rapidly-antiquating textbooks, chalkboards, and other teaching tools, the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation is following the same path, but Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said his corporation is going about it a bit different.
Klitzman explained that the corporation will be slowly phasing in the new technology, as opposed to dropping new technology on the heads of teachers and students at the beginning of the school year. He said they will be systematically adding new devices throughout the year, and they’ve already started this school year with iPads in the hands of 7th graders working in science. On top of that, Klitzman noted they also have several handheld devices that go beyond iPads, such as notebooks, netbooks, and other devices, in several advanced high school classes.
A Winamac man was sentenced in Pulaski Circuit Court on two amended charges of Trafficking with an Inmate, a Class A Misdemeanor.
Charles A. Weaver of Winamac was arrested in February 2011 on a Class C Felony charge of Trafficking with an Inmate, but it was later amended to two misdemeanor counts. Weaver pleaded guilty to those charges in a plea agreement and Judge Michael Shurn sentenced him to one year incarceration on each count to be served consecutively.
With this year’s Harvest Festival in the rear-view for Knox, Mayor Rick Chambers said they are looking for an organization to take the reins for next year. He passed out a financial report for this year’s festival, which turned a profit of only $441.93 – but it’s better than nothing. Chambers explained that in the past the festival has made more than $7000, as the Friends of the Park organization claimed they did in 2007.
Chambers said a number of organizations have taken the helm in the past, including Michelle Bachtel who organized a group of volunteers for this year’s festival, the Chamber of Commerce, and Mark and Lori Smith. For next year, however, Chambers said he has not yet found an organization or volunteer to manage it.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department has a new K9.
Arras is a three-year-old Belgian Malinois who was purchased and trained through the Von Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind. Arras is trained as a narcotics detector dog and he is a certified patrol K9 through the North American Working Dog Association. He will be working with patrolman Brandon Cooper and will be available to both the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and local police departments.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department has not had a K9 program in four years. The reinstatement of the program was made possible through a donation from the Lake Maxinkuckee Association.
In observance of Fire Prevention Week, Knox-Center Township Fire Prevention Officer Shawn Kidder will be educating students on fire dangers and what to do to if a fire occurs.
Kidder will be at the Knox Elementary School today where he will go over the importance of smoke detectors and other important fire prevention tips.
The Indiana State Police Department recently held an awards and recognition ceremony for several troopers in honor of their dedication to service, bravery and devotion to the department and to the citizens.
Corporal Dan Becker, 42, from the Lowell Post was presented the Life Saving Award. Becker, a member of the Patriot Guard, was in a procession escorting the body of Spc. Robert Tauteris Jr., when an accident occurred along U.S. 30 on Jan. 14.
NIPSCO officials believe winter heating bills will remain flat compared to last year.
Weather predictions, market forecasts, supply trends and storage opportunities are put together in order to calculate a winter bill projection. Assuming that we’ll have normal winter temperatures, NIPSCO says this year’s bills will be among the lowest in a decade and only slightly below last year’s bills.
From Nov. 1 to March 31, NIPSCO’s residential customer using a total of 624 therms could expect to pay approximately $438. This will amount in a $2 savings from last year.
The toxicology results are still out for the late 19-year-old Devin M. Holbrook, but Pulaski County Coroner Steve VanDerAa has confirmed the cause of death: drug overdose.
Holbrook was found unresponsive and not breathing on Saturday, Sept. 29 after he had taken a break from landscaping at a residence in Francesville with 32-year-old Anthony Gentry. Gentry told officials that the pair had gone inside to watch television and Holbrook had fallen asleep, but when Gentry went to wake him up, he found him unresponsive. Gentry performed CPR until emergency crews arrived at the scene. EMS found that Holbrook couldn’t be revived and the coroner was called to the scene. Police did reportedly find drugs in the area where Holbrook was found and they field-tested positive for methamphetamine and heroin.
While the toxicology results are pending, the coroner has confirmed that Holbrook died from a drug overdose, but the exact levels of the drugs in his system have not yet been finalized.
