Medaryville Man Arrested For Leaving Scene of Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A Medaryville man was arrested on Sunday after reportedly attempting to leave the scene of an accident.

Chester Elder told Pulaski County police that he was traveling on Maple Street in Medaryville and was stopped in the roadway to turn into a driveway when Darwin Wayberg struck the rear driver’s side of his vehicle. Wayberg then kept driving and Elder followed him. Wayberg pulled into the Family Express station and Elder pulled up behind him and blocked him in his parking spot so he would have to wait for the police department to arrive on scene.

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West Central Confident ISTEP Scores Will Improve

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The three West Central school principals addressed the school board about the ISTEP scores and Superintendent Charles Mellon indicated that they are confident new strategies will turn around those scores.

“We’re presently analyzing our data that has come back to us so we can see different trends that are taking place,” said Mellon. “We’ll get that information together before we give off-the-cuff answers for our lower scores this year. We will be addressing the board each month this year as to our progress in working our way back to more positive scores next year.”

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LaPorte Sees Increase In Vehicular Accidents Over Last Year

Posted on Author WKVI

The LaPorte City Police Department investigated several accidents in July. Forty-three were property damage accidents while 18 were personal injury accidents. This is an increase from July 2011.

This month, the LaPorte City Police Department will be doing more to enforce the seat belt laws. Thirty hours of Big City/Big County-funded seat belt patrols will be conducted and the police department will also participate in Operation Pull Over Blitz #72. Hundreds of other police agencies will be participating in this pull over event that will focus on impaired driving. Operation Pull Over Blitz #72 runs Aug. 17 through Sept. 3.

LaPorte Man Dies in Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A LaPorte man was killed in a Toll Road accident late last night.

Ryan Joseph Smith, 20, of LaPorte was northbound on Holmsville Road in LaPorte County when for unknown reasons, he drove off the overpass. His vehicle went airborne and struck a semi pulling a box trailer on Interstate 80. Smith’s vehicle then rolled multiple times through the median. Smith was ejected from the vehicle. The vehicle continued into the westbound lanes where it struck another semi.

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Third Intense Storm In Three Weeks Tears Through N. Indiana

Posted on Author WKVI

Another intense storm rolled through northern Indiana over the weekend – the third significant storm to hit the area in three weeks. NIPSCO reports that at its peak, Saturday evening’s storm caused more than 60,000 NIPSCO customers to lose power, and more than 3,000 Kankakee Valley REMC customers were without power as well.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced winds up to 70 mph, causing widespread damage across several northern Indiana counties. Power lines were downed, transformers were blown, and poles were broken.

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Lightning Strikes Washington Twp. Home – Blasts Thermostat Across Room

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

“It’s amazing what lightning can do when it really strikes a home.”

These are the words of Assistant Fire Chief Dave Pearman, who arrived at a home in Washington Township in response to a reported lightning strike to find that the house had suffered a direct lightning strike at roughly 8 p.m. on Saturday.

According to Pearman, the power of the lightning strike caused nearly every electrical device in the home to overload, shorting them out. He said it also blew apart the phone boxes, caused a fire to develop behind the electrical box, and blasted the thermostat off the wall, launching it nearly eight feet across the room.

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Illinois Man Killed in Boating Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A Huntley, Illinois man died after a boating accident in Marshall County.

Around 5:15 p.m. ET Sunday, Roger A. Martin was in a boat with family members on Lake Latonka when the boat made a sharp turn causing Martin to fall overboard. The driver of the boat was making the turn to pick up a family member who had fallen off a large rubber tube that was being towed behind the boat. Martin was hit by a propeller after falling into the water.

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Work Session To Be Held Regarding Knox Elementary Palmer Wing

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Community School Board will hold a work session on Wednesday, Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. to discuss the possible elementary facility project.

Residents are encouraged to attend this event and give their opinion on what the board should do with the Palmer Wing of the elementary school. The board has been getting updates from the Elementary Facility Study Committee; Architects Barton, Coe, Villema and financial representatives Umbaugh and Associates, and the groups have been discussing all options available.

The Palmer Wing is deteriorating and can no longer house all of the technology and necessary needs in that section of the elementary school. The board has the options of doing nothing, tearing down the Palmer Wing and building a new structure in its place, or rehabilitating the current structure.

The board will meet in the Knox Community Elementary School All-Purpose Room and will take comments from the public. No action will be taken at this meeting.

Winamac Clerk-Treasurer’s Office Playing Billing Catch-Up

Posted on Author WKVI

The Winamac Clerk-Treasurer’s Office, at the recommendation of the State Board of Accounts, is attempting to catch up with billing for water and sewer services.

The town had been billing two months behind and found that the method is not cost-effective. If a resident moved out of town or shut off services, the billing cycle would not allow the proper revenue coming into the department in order to distribute deposits.

Clerk-Treasurer Melanie Parish-Berger said that there will be two bills this month. The first bill was due Aug. 5 and the next bill will be due Aug. 30. After that, bills will be due Sept. 25, Oct. 21, and by the time the bill goes out in November, it should be on the right billing cycle. The November bill should reflect October usage.

West Central School Board Discusses 2013 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The West Central School Board held a work session Thursday to discuss the 2013 budget and get it ready for advertisement.

Superintendent Charles Mellon said the total budget keeps getting cut by the state.

“Well, we are anticipating losing another $155,000 from the state,” said Mellon. “This is a time where we start getting into our cash balances.”

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CASA Accepting Volunteer Training Applications

Posted on Author WKVI

Representatives of the Starke County Court-Appointed Special Advocate program have announced the program is now taking applications for their fall volunteer training.

CASA volunteers work to help children find safe, permanent homes where they can thrive, as it is not uncommon in Starke County for abused and neglected children to be taken from their homes and placed into temporary foster care because their parents cannot or will not care for them. Each advocate is specially trained to look out for the child’s best interests.

CASA encourages anyone interested to call (574) 772-7200 for more information. The beginning of the fall training class has been scheduled for Sept. 18, with a deadline to apply of Aug. 18. For those who would like to invest their time and attention in becoming a powerful voice for local children, call CASA or email starkecountycasa@yahoo.com.

Clean-Up Continues In Wythogan Park

Posted on Author WKVI
This is just an example of the devastation at Wythogan Park.

Knox Park Board President Kurt Snearly says Wythogan Park is still closed to the general public, but loggers and tree service professionals will soon be hired to help clean up the hundreds of trees, branches and limbs that littered the park after a huge storm rolled through Knox on July 24.

Snearly says the park employees are doing their best to clean up as much as possible and progress has been made. Loose branches are still hanging from atop many mangled trees and until those are taken care of, the park will remain closed.

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers is working on getting quotes for clean-up and removal of debris.

Work Sessions Planned For Culver Town Council

Posted on Author WKVI

A number of work sessions will be conducted by the Culver Town Council next week.

On Monday, Aug. 6, the council will meet to review budgets for the police department, clerk’s department, and motor vehicle highway. This meeting will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Culver Town Hall. The council will also meet on Aug. 7 at 3:30 p.m. to review budgets for the fire department, EMS, and park department.

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Marsh Manor Purchased In Tax Sale – Buyer Unhappy

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

Knox City Attorney David Matsey told the city council this week that Marsh Manor, located at 304 S. Main St., was recently sold in the county’s online tax sale.

Matsey says the woman who purchased the property was unaware that the building had previously caught fire, and he says she paid about $15,000 in a bidding war on the property. The back-taxes on the property are currently around $18,000.

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Maxinkuckee Players To Wrap Up Show This Weekend

Posted on Author WKVI

Four performances down, two to go – the Maxinkuckee Players will wrap up their live performances of Crazy For You this weekend in the Culver High School auditorium. The musical production, featuring a lot of George Gershwin music, is a romantic comedy musical set in the 1930s.

According to Players member Gregg Underwood, the production also features something unique: open-curtain scene changes. He says between scenes, the props and scenes are changed around in full view of the audience, fully choreographed as much as the production itself.

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West Central Schools Still Gearing Up For School Year

Posted on Author WKVI
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon

The start of the new school year at the West Central School Corporation is Tuesday, August 14, and Superintendent Charles Mellon says they are still working on one summer project before the start of school.

“Most of our summer projects have been completed, but we are still working on getting the high school gym job completed,” commented Mellon. “It was time that we sanded the floor down completely and now they’re putting the lines back on. We’re still about a week away until that project is complete.”

School will start on August 14 for a number of schools in our area and, for those in need of registration information, visit the school registration page.

Week in Review for July 30-August 3, 2012

Posted on Author WKVI

Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:

This fire occurred at the salvage yard in September 2010

Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall approved a motion for a preliminary/permanent injunction after evidence was presented alleging that C&C Salvage committed numerous violations. The Indiana Department of Environment Management found more than 10 violations on the property including oil that had saturated into the ground, burned trees at the back of the property due to a fire, and debris in a pond. An inspection on the property had been conducted by IDEM on May 21.  Continue reading →