A two vehicle accident occurred at the intersection of Culver Road and Main Street in Knox yesterday afternoon. While no specific information has been given about the accident, it is known that one of the vehicles involved ran the stop light at the intersection. No injuries were reported. Continue reading
An internal investigation is being conducted into allegations of how an inmate was injured in the Starke County Jail.
Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen confirmed that an inmate was injured while incarcerated in the jail. Luther Lovins had been arrested by North Judson police on July 12 for a charge of Disorderly Conduct. He was released on July 26.
A Starke Circuit Court jury trial has been continued in the case of Christopher Stonebraker, who has been charged with Rape as a Class B Felony and Domestic Battery, a Class D Felony.
Stonebraker was arrested on Nov. 28, 2011, and it is alleged that he raped his ex-wife and pushed her head into a wall, causing her tooth to chip. The probable cause affidavit stated that he also scratched her back in the presence of two children. Stonebraker was arrested by an officer from the Indiana State Police and taken to the Starke County Jail.
There were some issues with the discovery documents and the defense requested the continuance. The case will be tried in Starke Circuit court in October.
Uprooted trees, downed power lines, fences torn asunder – this is just some of the damage at Wythogan Park in the wake of the July 24 storms.
The park has been closed as a result of the devastation, and Park Superintendent George Byer urges residents to stay away. He says the risk of injury is too great to enter the park, because there are a lot of branches dangling by a thread that could fall at any moment.
The District 2 Task Force wrapped up operations yesterday in the Winamac Town Park. Sherry Fagner, District 2 Service and Support Element Leader, explains what the exercise entailed.
“What we’ve done the last two days is set up our equipment, our base camp, and completed a field operation exercise,” said Fagner. “We’ve had a lot of people in from the state and the other task forces to check out what we have. A lot of the other task forces are in the learning stage of forming their service and support groups so they came in to see what we have. We’re doing some best practices from their groups as well as with ours.”
The Starke County Airport is back in working condition, but Airport Manager Pam Beharry says the airport has been crippled. The main hangar door is still damaged and the roof is unstable, and she says they still need to repair their fence as well. Further, she says the destroyed tee hangars prevent them from making money by housing planes, and the only source of income is the sale of fuel.
“I mean, the revenues have stopped. Now our jet fuel is the only revenue coming in right now,” said Beharry. “Oh well – just be thankful nobody got hurt, that’s the main thing.”
The Knox City Council at their meeting this week approved the city’s match for the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission’s housing improvement project grant. The match for the grant is roughly 10 percent of the $200,000 total, coming out to $22,500 that the city must provide to improve housing for the 12 eligible households that have applied.
A motion was made and approved for their 10 percent share, and a motion was also made and approved to accept the 12 applicants into the housing improvement project.
The council also discussed their appointment to the Knox Planning Commission. This nine-member board consists of two appointments by the county commissioners, four citizens appointed by the mayor, and three appointments from the city council. The three appointments from the council need to be either city officials or employees, and Mayor Rick Chambers said he will go through their list of employees and see if anyone is interested in the position.
The last in a series of public meetings concerning the Starke County Jail project is tonight at 6 p.m. CT at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium.
The DLZ Corporation will provide construction options and Umbaugh and Associates will discuss the financing options.
In the first meeting, DLZ presented the jail committee and those in attendance with the proposal for a new 32,406 square foot jail facility that could be built on a site of anywhere from four to 10 acres, at an estimated cost of $14 million. Umbaugh and Associates revealed that in order to fund this project, the county would issue bonds with a 20 year maturity at $1.18 million annually. Income taxes would finance these bonds with an increase of 0.65 percent of adjusted gross income.
A study in the latest Journal of Pediatrics suggests physical punishment of children increases their chances of mood, anxiety, and personality disorders, and it also increases the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse in adulthood. Researchers used data from nearly 35,000 American adults and found that two to seven percent of mental disorders were attributable to physical punishment.
This research reinforces what experts already know about spanking, says Cyndi Scott of the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect.
A local scrap yard is under fire for allegedly committing numerous Indiana Department of Environmental Management violations, and a hearing was held yesterday in the Starke Circuit Court regarding the allegations. Attorney Steve Dodge appeared in court with Starke County Zoning Administrator Bruce Williams, who presented evidence of numerous violations committed by C&C Salvage, located near the intersection of U.S. 35 and Toto Road.
According to a summary letter of an inspection conducted at the site by IDEM on May 21, there are locations where it is evident that fluids such as oil had been released onto the ground, and at least one location has several vehicle motors sitting on the ground with evidence of standing around them. Further, there are burned trees at the back of the property from a fire, and C&C Salvage Manager Jose Delgado reportedly said a pile of scrap had caught fire. There is also a small pond on the property that is full of debris including railroad ties, tires, trash, and scrap materials.
Several public hearings were held during yesterday’s meeting of the Knox City Council for a number of proposed ordinances.
The first public hearing held was in regards to the reestablishment of the cumulative capital fund, something Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston says they tried several years ago but it was never passed. No public comment was heard, and a motion was made to approve the ordinance on the first reading. This motion was passed, and another motion was made and approved to suspend the rules. Finally, a motion was made to approve the ordinance on its second and third readings, which was passed.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department this weekend responded to a complaint about neglected horses in the roadway.
On Sunday, officers received a call from a resident informing them that horses were in the roadway on Range Road south of Toto Road, and police noted that this was approximately the 10th call they had received in the last month concerning these horses in the roadway. The complainant told police that the horses appeared emaciated and unkempt, and said they were obviously not being fed and taken care of properly.
Pulaski County has been designated as a primary disaster area by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, joining 13 other counties alongside the existing list of 50 counties considered primary natural disaster areas. The USDA on Wednesday also designated 16 contiguous counties as eligible for assistance, bringing the grand total to 80 Indiana counties that now qualify for assistance from the Farm Service Agency.
Representative Tom Dermody of LaPorte says he’s pleased that the USDA expanded their assistance to more counties, because he feels it will be critical to helping Hoosier farmers make it through next year. He says he will continue to advocate on behalf of LaPorte County to make it eligible as well for federal assistance due to the drought conditions.
The Kankakee Valley Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #129 will be holding the second annual Shop with a Cop event on Sunday, August 5 at the ALCO store in Knox.
F.O.P. President Chris Kisela talks about the event.
“We get names of children that might need assistance and we take them shopping,” said Kisela. “We spend an average of $100 to $150 per child. This year, we’re hoping to help 40 children.”
With Indiana’s mixture of rural and urban lifestyles, a wide range of environmental hazards exist for children in their constructive years. The Sunny Start program at the Indiana State Department of Health recently released the State of the Young Hoosier Child Environmental Health Report for 2012, which notes these hazards and gives solutions for parents, community leaders, and legislators.
This it the second report on the health of young Hoosiers provided by Sunny Start, with last year’s report focusing on physical health and well-being, social emotional development, school readiness, and family support. Both reports focus on children’s most vulnerable formative years – birth through age five.
With the warm weather and high cost of gas, many Hoosiers have taken a liking to mopeds, but an outdated law could prove problematic for two-wheeled enthusiasts looking to travel at a decent rate of speed.
An Indiana Supreme Court ruling in a case for a man busted for going 43 mph on a moped upheld the current state law which states a “motorized bicycle,” which mopeds are classified under, cannot have a maximum design speed over 25 mph.
State Representative Milo Smith says the current “motorized bicycle” laws shouldn‘t even apply to mopeds because of the changes in technology since the law was written 40 years ago.
Today is the last day to check out the art exhibit being held at the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox. The exhibit has been on display since July 9, and was collected and put up by artists Wesley Dolinski and Darius Mirza.
Sculptures, photographs, and paintings are on display at the library. Dolinski explained that most of the work was done by he and Mirza, but three or four pieces on display were purchased from art teachers of his past. More than 40 pieces are being displayed.
Park crews continue to clean up after last week’s storms that caused damage to Wythogan Park as well as the Starke County Airport, the Starke County Courthouse, and the Starke County Sheriff’s Department dispatch tower.
There is such destruction at the park that Knox Park Board President Kurt Snearly says the Harvest Fest will need to be moved elsewhere.
“We met with the Harvest Festival Committee Chairman, Michelle Bechtel, and she had as much concern about holding it in the park as we did,” explained Snearly. “Due to safety concerns, we’re just not so sure we can even have it at the park.”
The destructive storm on July 24 caused massive amounts of damage throughout Starke County, especially Knox. More than 80,000 people were without power at one time, including most of the city of Knox. As a result, a number of events were canceled and rescheduled, and the Knox City Council meeting was one such event.
As a result, the meeting has been rescheduled for tonight at 7 p.m., and two public hearings will be heard. One hearing is in regard to reestablishing the cumulative capital fund, and the other concerns changes to the city’s water and storm water rates. The council will also hold the second readings of the water rate ordinance and the sewer and storm water rate ordinance.
Discussion of three salary ordinances for appointed employees, the clerk-treasurer’s office, and elected officials is also on the agenda, and they will discuss their appointment to the planning commission.
U.S. 35 between U.S. 6 and U.S. 30 will closed tomorrow and Wednesday for a chip-seal and fog seal operation to repair the road surface. Detours will be clearly marked.
The Indiana Department of Transportation will be pouring a liquid asphalt emulsion on the roadway and covering the liquid asphalt with crushed stone to provide a new surface. Chip-sealing helps extends the life of the highway.
