
Interim O-D Superintendent Adjusting to New Role

“Coming to the corporation office, I found that there are a lot more responsibilities than being a building administrator. I found myself walking the grounds throughout the corporation, walking the buildings throughout the corporation, getting an overall picture of the needs of a corporation rather than the needs of a building. Dealing with vendors, dealing with the insurance trust – just the overall operations of a corporation compared to the overall operations of a building have been a transition for me,” Briles said.
Bella Vita Takes Up Occupancy in Former Starke United Building

Bella Vita moved into its new location about two weeks ago, taking up the old Starke United building that they purchased for $1 from the Starke United Board. Lange said their previous building on Heaton Street in Knox was owned by the Lutheran Church and they wanted to find a location they could own that would better suit their needs, though the old building suited them well for more than two years.
Bass Lake Festival Begins Friday

Toxicology Results Released in Lake Max Drowning Death

Neither drugs nor alcohol were factors in the July 14 drowning death of a 22-year-old Plymouth man, according to toxicology results released by the Marshall County Coroner’s office. Valentin Sirghi, 22, was swimming with a friend near the public beach at Lake Maxinkuckee when he went under water. Rescue teams searched the area for about an hour before they found his body. Sirghi was pronounced dead at St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Plymouth. Final autopsy results are pending, but preliminary indications are that Sirghi died as a result of asphyxiation due to drowning.
Sirghi
North/South All-Star Game
Starke County Officials Host Open House at New Jail Facility

“When inmates are brought to the facility, they will enter through the sallyport area. The doors go up, the car goes in, the door goes down again. They’ve got them secured, and then they take them through the sallyport to inmate booking,” said Norem.
Turnout Excellent at NIPSCO Open House Held in Winamac

Kathleen Szot, communications manager for NIPSCO, explained that the open houses have been very beneficial.
Knox Laundromat Demolished; Rubble to Be Cleared Soon

“Nothing from that project went to the landfill; he salvaged everything, so he’s taking the insulation, the two-by-fours, the metal. He has taken everything out of there and salvaged everything, and he’s now to the point where he was ready to demo the building,” Chambers explained.
IU Health Starke Hospital Facility Replacement Proposal to Be Unveiled

Starke County officials will get their first look at the replacement proposal for IU Health Starke Hospital during a special called meeting this afternoon. The council and commissioners are meeting jointly for that purpose at 1 p.m. in the meeting room at the county annex building. That meeting is open to the public.
Clerk Clarifies Deadlines, Procedures for 2014 Elections

Residents Warned of Telephone Scam

INDOT Schedules Road Closure For State Road 110

Marshall County Commissioners Receive CASA Program Update

She explained that there are 40 CASA volunteers who help children in the court system. At the end of February of this year, 62 children were identified as neglected or abused. Fifty-three of those children were aided in the CASA program.
New Poll Indicates Rural Communities Feel Ignored

“They believe strongly that their communities are worth fighting for, and their way of life is worth fighting for, but that Washington’s not paying attention. And in all honesty you can see it in the current farm bill debate,” said Hassebrook.
Beach Hazards Statement Issued for Lake Michigan

If you’re heading to Lake Michigan in the next few days, stay out of the water. That’s the advice of the National Weather Service. Waves of up to 9 feet and strong rip currents are possible today and tomorrow, both of which make swimming extremely dangerous. Strong winds will cause wave heights to build up to 10 feet tonight. Dangerous conditions aren’t expected to subside until Wednesday evening.
Dwyer Instruments Announces Expansion in Kingsbury
A Michigan City-based company plans to spend $769,000 to set up a new plant in Kingsbury, which will result in 50 new jobs by 2016. The new Dwyer Instruments plant in the Kingsbury Industrial Park should be in operation by 2016. It will produce sensor products for the fire pump, industrial and chemical industries. The company will start hiring assembly instrument builders and technicians in October. Continue reading
Pilot in LaPorte County Crash Died of Blunt Force Trauma

The South Bend man who was killed Sunday when his plane crashed near Rolling Prairie died of blunt force trauma, according to preliminary autopsy reports. LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan tells our reporting partner at WNDU-TV that he is “very confident the gentleman passed when his aircraft hit the ground.” Benjamin Hubbard, 36, was flying from Niles, Mich. to Plymouth when he somehow veered off course and crashed. LaPorte County dispatchers received a 911 call from a man who was driving nearby when the plane crashed, but first responders were unable to locate any wreckage. They found the plane a few hours later in a field of corn 10 feet high when Hubbard’s friend, who was in another plane, retraced his flight path and spotted the wreckage from the air. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Francesville Man Formally Charged in Thursday Shooting Incident

The Francesville man accused of shooting his wife in the arm during an argument late Thursday night is charged with criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily injury. That’s the official charge filed against Barry Danford, 50, by Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak. The injury to Rhonda Danford, 55, was not life threatening, and she was treated at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. Barry Danford left the scene of the shooting before the police arrived. Members of the SWAT team fanned out across the area in search of him but were unsuccessful in tracking him down. Danford surrendered Saturday afternoon at the Pulaski County Justice Center and was booked into the jail just after 4 p.m. The charge is a C felony, which is punishable by up to eight years in prison.
Wireman Pleads Not Guilty During Initial Court Appearance

The Starke County sheriff’s candidate who is charged with impersonating a corrections officer made his initial court appearance this morning in Pulaski County. Greg Wireman entered a not guilty plea to the charge, which was filed by Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak after Starke County officials recused themselves. It stems from a February incident at Wireman’s aunt’s rural Starke County home. She called him because three door-to-door vacuum cleaner salespeople were being very pushy and wouldn’t leave her house. They claim Wireman detained them and claimed he was a corrections officer. Wireman’s next appearance before Pulaski Superior Court Judge Patrick Blankenship is Aug. 15. His attorney has filed a motion to dismiss all charges.



























