Wrongful Death Suit Vacated in Pulaski Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Courthouse

A wrongful death suit has been vacated in Pulaski Circuit Court.

Court documents show that Barbara Gilden of Medaryville and the family of a minor who died as a result of the ingestion of medication prescribed to Gilden and provided to the minor by her grandson have come to an agreement. As a result, the jury trial set for September 18 has been vacated.

The family alleged that Gilden was negligent in properly storing her medication, allowing the narcotics to be accessible to minors at her residence, despite having previously been notified that the drugs had been obtained by minors in previous situations, and she failed to supervise minors in her residence. The family was seeking reasonable compensatory damages, costs and interest and just and proper relief.

Plea Hearing Set For Avery Mullins In Pulaski Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI

A plea hearing has been set in Pulaski Circuit Court for Nov. 7 for a former Grovertown resident.

Avery Mullins, who now lists Winamac as his residence, was arrested in May 2011 after Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officers found Mullins and another suspect in the driveway of a residence whose owner was no longer there. Officers found they had active arrest warrants and took them into custody.

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Medaryville Man Sentenced in Pulaski Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn

A Medaryville man was sentenced after pleading guilty to a Class B Felony charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine.

Jamie R. Elkins pleaded guilty to the charge in a plea agreement with the state in Pulaski Circuit Court. As part of that agreement, charges of Possession of Methamphetamine, Chemical Reagents and Marijuana were dropped, along with a felony charge of Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug.

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Knox City Council Creates Special Event Fund

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council this week approved a resolution to establish a Special Event Fund for the city. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the council that he had spoken with the auditor for the State Board of Accounts who will be conducting the audit for Knox, and Houston had asked what to do with donations received for specific events, such as the Fourth of July fireworks.

According to Houston, the State Board of Accounts recommended creating a Special Event Fund to hold donations earmarked for a specific purpose. This fund will be separate from the city’s Donation Fund, which Houston says is used for donations to organizations or departments, such as police.

This new fund will be used to keep track of donations received for special events, but Houston emphasized that all donations going into this fund must be labeled for a specific purpose.

The council approved the resolution creating the Special Event Fund.

Eastern Pulaski School Board Discusses Harmony Program

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

Winamac High School Principal Rick DeFries discussed the Harmony program with the Eastern Pulaski School Board. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman commented that it’s a great way for parents to keep track of how their child is doing in school.

“Harmony has a lot of information for parents,” said Klitzman. “If they can get on the internet, they can actually get into a teacher’s grade book and see their child’s scores, grades, absences and discipline. Harmony is a great feature. Parents can get in there and keep track, on a daily basis, of what their children may be doing.”

Wind Turbine Billing in Question at West Central

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon told the school board last week that he has been in touch with NIPSCO and Performance Services concerning the net metering with the wind turbine. He says the billing just isn’t right.

“There doesn’t seem to be any means of reconciling some of the billings that we’re getting from NIPSCO,” said Mellon. “I think we need to be able to reconcile the number of kilowatts we’re producing with what we’re using and what we need to bring in from the grid and when we’re overproducing. We need to get a standardized process.”

Indiana State Police Partners With DEA in Fifth Drug Take Back Day

Posted on Author WKVI

The Drug Enforcement Administration is sponsoring the fifth nationwide Prescription Drug Take Back initiative in an effort to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft. On Saturday, Sept. 29, collection sites will be set up nationwide for expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs to be properly disposed of and destroyed. This will be a free and anonymous service with no questions asked and just one restriction: the sites will not accept new or used needles. The program is intended for liquid and pill medications.

Captain David Bursten, commander of the state police public information section, strongly encourages anyone with unwanted prescription medication to participate in the program.

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Wythogan Park Cleanup Nearing Completion; Mayor Hopes For Weekend Opening

Posted on Author WKVI

“It’s starting to look like a park again.”

Knox Park Superintendent George Byer says the cleanup at Wythogan Park is nearing completion, and the park is almost clear enough to allow visitors once again. With brush pickup said to be roughly two-thirds complete, and the cleanup of trees and hanging branches almost halfway complete, Byer says the park doesn’t look so much like a disaster area anymore.

“The park is looking great compared to what it was here a month ago,” Byer said. “It takes time to clean up a disaster like we’ve got. I think we’re moving along very well with it.”

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Two Accidents Reported In Starke County Monday

Posted on Author WKVI

Two accidents were reported in Starke County within 45 minutes of each other on Monday, requiring two people to be airlifted to medical facilities for treatment. At 4:30 p.m., the Starke County Sheriff’s Department responded to a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of State Road 10 and Range Road involving two vehicles. The driver was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend to be treated.

Approximately 45 minutes later, a second motor vehicle accident was reported involving three vehicles on State Road 10 near 300 East. A juvenile passenger was airlifted to Riley’s Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis due to injuries. The identities of those involved have not yet been released, pending the release of the official accident report.

North Judson Town Board Holds Public Budget Hearing

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson Town Board

The North Judson Town Board last week held their first and second readings of an amendment to the 2012 salary ordinance. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry says the amendment allows for the addition of a part-time clerical position in both the clerk-treasurer’s office and the billing office.

Henry explained that the part-time employee would split his or her time between the two offices, but will spend the majority of his or 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 employee 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.

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David Hyatt Named IU Health Starke Hospital President

Posted on Author WKVI
David Hyatt

David Hyatt has been formally named the President of IU Health Starke Hospital. The IU Health Starke Hospital Community Board made the move official during the board’s regular meeting Monday night. He had been serving in the capacity of Interim President since June of this year.

Hyatt transferred to IU Health Starke Hospital in September 2009 as Vice President of Operations after serving as a Business Development Associate at IU Health LaPorte Hospital. In 2010, he was named Vice President of Strategy and Ambulatory Services for the LaPorte hospital.

Board President Ben Bennett stated that the board was very impressed with Hyatt’s enthusiasm, and he feels that Hyatt is ready to move the hospital forward.

Bond Reduced For Pulaski County Felon

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Courthouse

Bond was reduced for Joshua Thomas Wolfe in Pulaski Circuit Court during a hearing Monday afternoon. His bond was reduced from $50,000 cash to just $12,500 cash. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of Dealing in Methamphetamine, a Class B Felony.

The court imposed the conditions of bond that Wolfe report weekly to the Pulaski County Probation Department, cooperate with random urine screens as directed by a probation officer and obey a no contact order with a victim in a separate case. Another pretrial conference hearing was scheduled for Oct. 11 at 10:30 a.m. ET in Pulaski Circuit Court.

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Eastern Pulaski School Board Approves Policy Changes For Evaluations

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

The Eastern Pulaski School Board approved some changes to its school board policy manual which Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman says are the direct result of state statutes.

“It was put into a statute that superintendents must be evaluated every year which was a shock to me because at Eastern Pulaski, for the last 25+ years I’ve been here, there’s been an evaluation every year, but evidently some places choose not to. We modified our school board policy to make sure we were in compliance with Indiana statutes,” commented Klitzman.

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West Central, Eastern Pulaski Schools Discuss Enrollment

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

Although the Average Daily Membership, or ADM count, isn’t officially taken until Friday, West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon discussed the preliminary enrollment for this year with the board last week.

“We like to keep track of that because the number of students equals the amount of money we receive from the state,” said Mellon. “As far as the number of students we have currently, it’s identical to last year. Some of these people are migrant students that will not be with us all year and they may not be with us on Sept. 14, but they are in the count at the current time.”

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Gas Prices Rising Across State, Experts Hopeful For Drop Toward Holidays

Posted on Author WKVI

Gas prices are once again on the rise across Indiana, and GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan says it’s nothing unexpected. Since midnight yesterday across the state, prices have risen at least $0.02 per gallon as some stations report prices of $3.99 and up. The average price of gas in the Knox area is $3.99 while the average price in La Porte is $4.19 per gallon.

DeHaan explained that gas prices in smaller areas such as Knox, Winamac, Culver, and La Porte are hard to predict, but larger metro areas such as Fort Wayne, South Bend, and Indianapolis are enduring gasoline spikes of several cents per gallon. Fortunately, DeHaan says this is only temporary; as the holidays approach, gas prices tend to decrease.

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IU Health La Porte Hospital Receives Excellence Award

Posted on Author WKVI

IU Health La Porte Hospital has proudly announced that they have received an Excellence in Patient Care award from outcomes firm Studer Group. The hospital received their award for their exceptional “doctor communication” ratings on the HCAHPS patient survey, and they will be presented with their award at the 10th annual What’s Right in Health Care conference.

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems is a national standardized survey tool used to measure the quality of care received by adult inpatients at a given acute care hospital. The results of the 27-question survey are public posted four times a year at hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

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Monday Night Ladies League Standings 2012-2013 Season

Posted on Author WKVI

Monday Night Ladies League 082712

Monday Night Ladies League September 10

Monday Night Ladies League Sept. 17

Monday Night Ladies September 24

Monday Night Ladies October 1

Monday Night Ladies October 8

Monday Night Ladies October 15

Monday Night Ladies October 22

Monday Night Ladies October 29

Monday Night Ladies November 5

Monday Night Ladies November 12

Monday Night Ladies November 26

Monday Night Ladies League December 3

Monday Night Ladies December 10

Monday Night Ladies Jan. 7

Monday Night Ladies League Jan. 14

Monday Night Ladies Jan. 21

Monday Night Ladies League Feb. 11

Monday Night Ladies League Feb. 18

Monday Night Ladies League Feb. 25

Monday Night Ladies League Mar 4

Monday Night Ladies League March 11

Monday Night Ladies League Mar. 18

Monday Night Ladies League Mar. 25

Monday Night Ladies League Apr. 1

Monday Night Ladies League Final Standings

America Remembers September 11, 2001

Posted on Author WKVI
A color guard unit stands at attention in the Indianapolis airport

On this Patriot Day, ceremonies are scheduled around the United States to remember the lives lost in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.  No local ceremonies are planned, but this color guard was present at the Indianapolis airport this morning to show that we will never forget what happened on that day in history.

Identity of Deceased Bass Lake Man Released; Cause of Death Not Yet Announced

Posted on Author WKVI

The identity of the deceased man discovered in a Bass Lake home has been released. Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells says 52-year-old David Griffin was found dead inside his residence by his brother, who had gone to check on him because nobody had heard from Griffin in some time.

The Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Starke County Coroner, Indiana State Police, and LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department all responded to the scene to conduct investigations. A forensic autopsy was performed yesterday at the Northeast Indiana Forensic Center in Fort Wayne, although no cause or manner of death has been announced.

Rannells says the cause of death will be released when the autopsy report is finalized, but he noted that there does not appear to be any signs of foul play regarding Griffin’s death. The man was found dead in a Bass Lake home Saturday morning, and the body was said to be badly decomposed.

Delaware Fugitive Found in Marshall County

Posted on Author WKVI

A wanted fugitive out of the state of Delaware was found in Marshall County.

On Saturday, authorities from Sussex County in Delaware notified the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department that one of their inmates had escaped work release and was possibly headed to an address in Marshall County.

After an investigation, Marshall County detectives, deputies and dispatchers were able to locate Michael Derogitas in the 11000 block of Muckshaw Road and took him into custody. He is being held in the Marshall County Jail awaiting extradition back to Delaware.