Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman spent some time discussing the new teacher evaluation model with the school board this week.
“Education in Indiana has changed somewhat in that there is a prescribed procedure, methodology, timing and organization in how teachers are going to be evaluated,” said Klitzman. “At Eastern Pulaski, as many schools in the area and statewide, we’re going to start using the DOE prescribed evaluation instrument called RISE.”
The Knox Community School Board heard about the successful start to the new school year at their meeting Monday night and Superintendent A.J. Gappa gave a report on enrollment figures.
“It appears we’re up about three students total from last year’s ADM count. Last year at this time, we had approximately 1,998 kids and this year we’re about 2,001,” stated Gappa.
The official ADM, or Average Daily Membership, will be taken on Sept. 14.
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation and the SCILL Center have announced the start of a new welding program for high school students within the North Central Area Vocational Cooperative in Starke, Marshall, St. Joseph and Fulton Counties.
The program currently has a full class of 12 students and certified welder Andrew Odle is the instructor of the program.
The Better Business Bureau has received several complaints about scams during this election season.
Scammers are reportedly calling residents in Indiana and asking potential victims to take a public opinion poll and, for your participation, your name will be entered into a drawing for a free cruise. After you take the survey, the caller will then ask for a debit or credit card number to cover “port fees” and taxes. This is a scam. Hang up on these callers and never give out your credit card information unless you know who you are giving it to.
Harold’s Picks: 1-3
Jimtown-40 John Glenn-7
NJSP-38 Knox-12
Culver-21 South Central-7
West Central-28 Caston-6
Pioneer-21 Winamac-7
Nathan’s Picks: 2-2
Jimtown-35 John Glenn-14
NJSP-28 Knox-10
Culver-21 South Central-20
West Central-22 Caston-21
Winamac-28 Pioneer-21
Tom’s Blind Picks:
John Glenn over Jimtown
NJSP over Knox
Culver over South Central
West Central over Caston
Winamac over Pioneer
Repairs are still underway in Starke County in the wake of this year’s storms in June and July. County IT Director Joe Short says one of the most important items they are working on repairing at the moment is the sheriff’s department’s radio tower, which was severely damaged during the storm.
Unfortunately, the tower is unable to be repaired because of the way it is built. Short says the county will need to purchase a new tower, as no tower companies are willing to make repairs to the structure.
The Indiana Division of Nature Preserves is asking you to help protect a state endangered aquatic plant at Bass Lake.
Conservation Officer Keith Wildeman said the plants have been exposed in areas where the water level has dropped and DNR officials have identified off-road and motor vehicle tracks over these plants.
A manufacturer in the Knox industrial park is looking to install fiber-optic cable beneath some streets in Knox to connect their two officers as if they were under one roof.
Jim Hicks of J.W. Hicks approached the Starke County Commissioners this week with a request to allow them to connect their facility at 20 S. Klockner Dr. in Knox with their new facility near the intersection of Klockner Drive and Pacific Avenue.
The Knox Community School Board held a public hearing on the budget Monday night. Superintendent A.J. Gappa said there were no comments on the budget and the board will now move to the next step.
“The board voted to have an adoption meeting at the next board meeting which will be Sept. 5,” said Gappa.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa says the budget is about $500,000 less than the board advertised last year in the general fund, and it’s a little over $900,000 less for the total budget.
All funds total $23,254,000.
The Eastern Pulaski School Corporation recently received two donations. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said the North-Central Co-op donated $840 to the elementary school, specifically for classroom supplies for the teachers.
“They just decided it was a project they wanted to do,” explained Klitzman. “Mrs. Collins [Principal of the Elementary School] did go down to their facility to accept the donation and asked them if they had children in our school corporation and no one did. They just wanted to do it to help us.”
The Oregon-Davis School Board got an update on technology improvements during their meeting Monday night.
Superintendent Dr. Steve Disney said Kevin Kajer and his staff have been working with the school’s website to make it easier for students, staff and parents to navigate.
“We’re going through a platform that makes it easier to get updated information and a goal that would produce individual teacher webpages as part of each building’s webpage design,” said Disney.
Disney hopes all of that can be completed by the end of the school year, if not sooner.
In celebration of the return of the Winamac Kiwanis Club’s Farmers’ Market Festival, the club is inviting every member of the community to downtown Winamac on Saturday, Sept. 8. Glenn Wilson of the Kiwanis Club says this year’s festival will be packed with live entertainment, food vendors, craft booths, and of course, the popular pancake breakfast – on top of a couple new features.
“We’re adding a couple extra features to the festival this year that we’ve never had in the past. We’re going to have live entertainment as well as a 5K run, which we’re calling the Harvest Hustle, and a three-on-three tournament for middle school-age students – that’s sixth through eighth grade. Students from all area schools are welcome,” Wilson said.
Ralph Braun, CEO of the Braun Corporation and Braunability in Winamac, will appear on CNN this weekend in a piece called “The Human Factor” hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Braun will discuss how he designed a four-wheeled and three-wheeled electric scooter to help in his mobility needs. He was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy when he was six and has been using a motorized scooter as a way to be mobile.
The Pulaski County Jr. Historical Society Civil War Club has announced they will be hosting an Historical Cemetery walking tour of the Winamac Cemetery on Sept. 8 during the farmer’s market. Featuring local veterans from the War of 1812, a local resident who served in the Revolutionary War, and many others who participated in historical battles, the tour will begin at 1 p.m. at the Winamac Cemetery west of town.
Parking is available in the northern section of the cemetery near the Memorial Gardens, and Linda Irving will lead the tour. Roughly 12 headstones will be featured on the tour and each will be viewed with a description of the person, their family history, and their historical significance to the county. A self-guided walking tour booklet along with a map of the cemetery will be presented with biographical information of each person and stone visited.
Leadership Starke County is gearing up for its first community leadership training class, and a few openings are still available.
The nine-month training program provides 15–20 local citizens with local knowledge of the Starke County area, skills, network, and confidence to become a leader in the community. Each of the nine sessions in the program focuses on topics related to the county, and allows participants to learn what “out of the box” thinking has done for Starke County and what they can do to improve it.
A man with a violent history and four heinous charges of Child Molestation made his initial appearance in the Starke Circuit Court yesterday. Forty-three-year-old Steven L. O’Bryant pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him and vehemently denied the allegations, insisting on a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
“These charges are sick and disgusting,” O’Bryant said, insisting that while a lot of defendants claim they are innocent, he is truly so. He insisted that the state subject him to a lie detector test.
O’Bryant requested a court-appointed attorney represent him, as he is financially unable to provide his own attorney. He says since his release from the Department of Corrections on June 6, 2011, he has been unable to find a job because of the tattoos on his face. As a result, Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall appointed Timothy Lemon to his case.
The 23-year-old man who allegedly stole a police squad car and crashed it into a ditch in LaPorte County pleaded guilty to the allegations against him.
William Blankenship of Knox pleaded guilty in Porter Superior Court I on Monday to charges of Escape as a Class C felony and Auto Theft as a Class D felony. The plea agreement filed in the case requests a maximum six-year prison sentence and restitution for the police car, which was found submerged in a LaPorte County ditch.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and sentence of Freddie Boggess.
In November 2011, a Starke County jury found Boggess guilty on charges of Dealing in Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with Intent to Manufacture, Driving While Suspended, False Informing, and Habitual Traffic Violator. He was sentenced to 17 years for Dealing in Methamphetamine, three years for Possession of Precursors With Intent to Manufacture, one year for Driving While Suspended and six months for False Informing. All sentences were to be served concurrently. The incident occurred in Starke County in July 2011.
Five juveniles were detained by officers of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of burglary, theft, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass.
On Sunday morning at 5:42 a.m., a caller notified the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department that juveniles were reportedly driving on golf carts at the Plymouth Rock Golf Course.
Two serious accidents were investigated by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department Saturday.
At 6 a.m., the Sheriff’s Department received information about a single vehicle crash on the Plymouth-LaPorte Trail east of W. County Line Road. The vehicle driven by 21-year-old Andrew M. Hillman was traveling northbound and entered a curve and just barely went off the road. Hillman then over-corrected, went into a skid, left the roadway and struck a tree. Hillman sustained injuries in the accident and was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend for treatment. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in this accident.
