Plymouth Mayor Discusses Last Week’s Fire

Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter

It was exactly a week ago that a spectacular fire occurred in Plymouth. Some even called it the biggest fire ever in that city. Over 100 firefighters fought the blaze that took almost 24 hours to completely extinguish. It was reported that one million gallons of water was used during the fire.

Ted Hayes talks with Mayor Mark Senter this morning about the fire. Ted asked how the city was recovering from the blaze.

“Fortunately, it was an abandoned building. They did have some property, and the owners of the actual business, so no one is out of a home, no one else is out of a property other than that company. So at least we didn’t have people that lost homes and all of their worldly possessions, so that was probably the most fortunate thing of the whole mess,” said Senter.

Senter said he expects clean up to begin soon.

“I just drove by there about an hour ago, and they had some insurance adjustors out there taking a look at it. I would imagine that they would be cleaning it up soon,” said Senter.

Yesterday the fire was termed an arson. Senter, who is an ex-state policeman, said he stays out of the investigation of such events, leaving that to the state fire marshal’s office.

“I try to stay out of that and let the police officers and the fire investigators do their job and I’d love to get in it again, but I just can’t do that anymore. But that’s what I did for a long time, I just let them handle it and they will inform me if and when something breaks,” said Senter.

Ted asked Senter if using a million gallons of water has affected the city’s supply.

“Other than maybe a little bit of rust in the lines that is coming out now, there are some homes that I’m sure are getting some red water but we were able to keep that at a minimum, I think,” said Senter.

Abate Fundraiser Tonight at Bass Lake Golf Course

Don’t forget the Abate Fund Raiser tonight at the Bass Lake Golf Course. It all gets started at 6 p.m. and you’ll be helping the community efforts of a great group. The cost is only $10.00 for food and dancing.

The band Half Track will be performing and Ted Hayes talked yesterday to bass guitarist Terry Young of the band. Terry is also a member of Abate, and talks about what the money from the event will be used for.

“This is a fundraiser for Abate in general, they use this money for their motorcycle education-type things and stuff down state,” said Young.

Ted took the opportunity to ask Terry about the band.

“The band has been doing well, we’re working on getting a new CD out. Hopefully we’ll have it completed by the end of June and looking forward to it, really,” said Young.

This is one of the hardest working bands around. Terry tells how many weekends the band is out.

“We do about 32-35 weekends a year, we kind of cut it back because years in the prior we were doing over 40, so it’s kind of nice,” said Young.

The event is called Fistful of Dollars, and it’s being held tonight at the Bass Lake Golf Course.

Knox Envirothon Team Qualifies for State

From L-R Back Sarah Gast, Kyle Cooke, Danae Wilson, Emily Dinsmore, Matt Neur, and Austin Heise. L-R Front: Cassie Glover, Krystal Clingler, and Aaron Shackelford.

The Knox Envirothon team has once again earned the honor of competing at the State Envirothon competition. Two Knox teams competed Wednesday, March 14th at Camp Buffalo in Monticello, Indiana.

They were tested over soils, water quality, forestry, and non-point source pollution topics. One of those teams was chosen to move on to the next level and compete at Purdue University on Wednesday, April 25th.

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Week in Review for March 12th-16th, 2012

A public informational meeting concerning the proposed property tax levy for Oregon-Davis Schools is scheduled for Tuesday, March 20th. Terry Minix, President of the Oregon-Davis Education Political Action Committee, said that discussion will be held concerning what will happen if the tax levy is approved or not approved.

Three homes have now been hooked up to the newly operational Koontz Lake Regional Sewer facilities. 938 connections have yet to be made which will take up to six months to complete. Continue reading

2nd Annual WKVI All-Area Boys Basketball Team Announced

This week we announced the 2nd annual WKVI All-Area boys basketball teams. Here’s who made the cut…

1st Team

Josh Anderson-John Glenn

John Eckert-NJSP

Marcus Kammrath-South Central

Bryan McKinney-Winamac

Winston Yergler-NJSP

2nd Team

Riley Charlesworth-LaCrosse

Elliott Coad-Knox

Trent Elliott-Culver

Kendall Hochstedler-NJSP

Zach Shidler-Winamac

Congratulations to the members of this year’s All-Area teams!

Arson Suspected in Plymouth Fire

Arson is suspected in a fire that began Saturday at the Liberty Street Depot in Plymouth. A reward is now being offered by the International Association of Arson Investigators for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the fire.

A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered by the I.A.A.I. People can call in information to 1-800-382-4628. Firefighters say they believe the fire started on the west side of the building in the electrical room, but the electric has been shut off to the building for a year.

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Court of Appeals Upholds 110-Year Sentence for Ernest Wireman

Ernest Wireman

The Court of Appeals has rejected Ernest Wireman’s cumulative error claim following a nine-day trial in June of 2010 in Starke Circuit Court. Wireman was accused of brutally murdering his wife, Mary, before burning down the trailer with her inside and shooting her son, Jeremy, who survived the attack. Wireman pleaded insanity to the charges against him, but was found guilty but mentally ill of Murder, Attempted Murder as a Class A felony, and Arson as a Class B felony and ordered to serve 110 years in the Department of Corrections.

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House Bill 1213 Passes which Allows Starke County Council to Raise CEDIT Tax to Fund Jail

Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee, that has been selected to address the problems at the aging Starke County Jail, received notice that House Bill 1213 passed on the last day of the session. The approval allows the Starke County Council to increase the County Economic Development Income Tax to finance, construct and equip a jail facility. The County Council is only permitted to raise enough funds to cover the costs of the jail and the additional tax rate cannot increase more than .65%.

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Mediation Session Between Starke County Sheriff, Merit Board Scheduled for Today

Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen

A mediation session conducted by former Starke County Judge Marvin McLaughlin will be this morning at 9:00 a.m. McLaughlin, a current Starke County Councilman, volunteered to mediate a disagreement between Merit Board President Ken Arnett, and Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen.

The pair appeared before the County Council in mid-February. Arnett requested funds to fight a suit brought against him and the merit board members by the Sheriff.

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Unemployment Rises in Starke County

Indiana Workforce Development

Starke County experienced a significant jump in unemployment in January, according to the most recent figures. Starke County’s percentage jumped from 10.5% in December to 11.7% in January. That placed the county in a tie for fifth place with Blackford County on the highest unemployment rates in the state.

Vermillion County had the highest rate at 12.3%.

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City of Knox to Create New Districts

Back Row: Greg Matt, Mayor Rick Chambers, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Donald Kring, City Attorney David Matsey. Front Row: Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg and Ron Parker

The City of Knox has to create an ordinance establishing new districts before December 31st, 2012. The new districts have to be changed if new precincts are created.

City Attorney David Matsey said new districts do not have to be established because of population shifts as everyone votes for all council members regardless of districts. Some districts have double the population count as others, as the maps are drawn geographically.

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Two Arrested after Search Warrant

Jessica Boyd
Shawn Heck

Two Knox residents were arrested on drug charges on Wednesday.

The Starke County Sheriff’s Department received information regarding a possible methamphetamine operation at 2135 S. Rhea Street in Knox. After an investigation, detectives applied for a search warrant for the residence, which was granted. Starke County and Knox City police officers executed the search warrant and reportedly found an active one-pot method methamphetamine lab, precursors used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, the finished product, and drug paraphernalia.

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LaPorte Man Arrested after Police Find Marijuana Growing Operation

Todd Borawski

A LaPorte man was arrested Wednesday after officers found a growing operation at his home.

Officers from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division served an arrest warrant on Todd Borawski at 1591 S. Range Road in LaPorte. When they arrived on scene, Borawski wasn’t at home, but the officers discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation. A search warrant was granted by the LaPorte Circuit Court and the officers seized 56.8 grams of marijuana, marijuana plants, high intensity lights used in the operation, and other drug paraphernalia.

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Knox Farmer’s Market to Open in May

The Knox Farmer’s Market is scheduled to open in May.

“On May 5th, the Knox Farmer’s Market will open,” said Knox Mayor Rick Chambers. “The market will be open three days a week – Wednesdays from 2:00-7:00 p.m., Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to Noon and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Wayne Hughart will manage the Farmer’s Market again this year. For more information, you can call him at (574) 200-9154.”

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Endangered Heritage Exhibit on Display at Knox, North Judson Libraries

A special display is being featured at the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox and at the North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library for the next two months.

Endangered Heritage, a collections care advocacy exhibit from the Indiana Historical Society, helps educate local communities about the need for good collections stewardship. It gives examples of the dangers to objects in collections and information about caring for collections. You can obtain great information on how to preserve family heirlooms that you may want to pass down to your children and to generations after that.

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Eastern Pulaski Schools under Fire for Bullying

More than 20 students, parents, and other members of the Eastern Pulaski Schools community spoke out at the recent school board meeting against bullying in school, which has gotten out of hand.

Parents expressed their anger at the corporation for doing what they feel is a minimum to prevent or discipline bullying in the school system.  Several parents said that their children are afraid to use bathrooms or even attend extracurricular activities for fear of bullies.

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Wastewater Treatment Facility Presentation Given to Knox City Council

Kelly Clemons presents the board with a history of the Wastewater Treatment facility

A one hundred year history of the sewer system and treatment plant was presented this week at the Knox City Council meeting. Wastewater Superintendent, Kelly Clemons, gave a map and pictorial history of the time period from 1911 through 2011.

Of course there was no treatment plant in the early 1900’s as all waste was deposited into the Yellow River. Numerous sewers were added in 1936, and wastewater was discharged in an area where the T-ball fields are located in Wythogan Park. The first treatment plant was erected in 1942.

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Two Arrested on Drug Charges in Pulaski County

Two people were arrested on drug charges after a traffic stop by the West Central High School on Monday.

A deputy with the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department asked the driver, Jaime Walker, if he could search the vehicle and she gave the officer permission to do so. When the officer approached the passenger side of the vehicle, he reportedly witnessed passenger, Tammy Grigsby, pass a small plastic bag between the seats to Tony Grigsby, Jr. In his search of the vehicle, the officer saw a prescription pill bottle in Tammy Grigsby’s purse with another individual’s name on it and a small plastic bag with prescription pills and marijuana in it.

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North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department Battles Brush Fires

The warm weather has prompted early spring cleaning and North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Chief, Joe Leszek, says his department has been called out to several brush fires already this season.

In the past five days, firefighters have been called to seven brush/woods fires. Leszek asks that you be cautious when burning brush this time of year as foliage has not yet begun its spring transformation and is dry. Winds are usually very strong and unpredictable this time of year.

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North Judson-San Pierre Band Students Collecting Money to Help Henryville Residents

Austin Stacy and Rachel Brent are ready for your donations

The North Judson-San Pierre Middle School and High School band students are marching forward to help residents rebuild the Henryville schools.

Band Director, Matthew Hibbets, says sousaphones have been placed in the Middle and High School Cafeterias and you are encouraged to drop off any spare change into the instruments to help in the effort. The Henryville schools and surrounding communities in Clark County, Indiana were destroyed by tornadoes and all the change collected will help purchase musical instruments, athletic equipment, school supplies and other basic necessities.

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