Starke County Commissioners Discuss Time Cards

Posted on Author WKVI
Ruth Jensen

Starke County employees may be going to a time card system in the near future.

Starke County Deputy Auditor, Ruth Jensen, has been researching current systems to see which to take before the Starke County Commissioners for their approval. Jensen said this week at the commissioner’s meeting that the old time clock method has been upgraded for the 21st century to assure that employees are on the job when “clocked in.”

The commissioners asked Jensen to schedule demonstrations from companies that she has investigated.

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Third Grade Students to Take IREAD Test this Month

Posted on Author WKVI

he Department of Education has developed a new test for third grade students called IREAD. Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Knox Community School Corporation, Peggy Shidaker, talks about the IREAD test.

“It’s a little bit different from ISTEP in that IREAD measures only foundational reading skills that students should have acquired from Kindergarten through grade three.”

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State to Fund GIS Agreement Renewal

Posted on Author WKVI
Joe Short

County IT Director Joe Short approached the commissioners this week with an update regarding their Geographic Information System agreement with WTH Technology. According to Short, the agreement has expired and needs renewed, but he says the state has offered to cover the cost of renewing the agreement in exchange for sharing their GIS information.

Short says the state will fund $2000 toward the agreement for the next two years, while the GIS cost is only $1500. The extra $500, Short says, can be spent on related expenses to the GIS system.

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Jackie Walorski Comments on Primary Elections

Posted on Author WKVI

As the Republican Presidential Primaries drag on, many Republicans are fearful it only plays into the Democrat’s hands. Second District GOP Congressional candidate, Jackie Walorski, was asked about the primaries.

“I don’t think it’s a good thing,” she said. “I don’t think it’s productive and I know there’s been opinions out there of Republicans who say let’s just continue to run this Primary, but I disagree. I think it’s a bad idea. I think we, as adults and conservatives, should come together and decide who in the world is going to lead this party. As these guys continue to cannibalize each other and as time keeps ticking, all they’re doing is allowing Barack Obama to pick and choose between issues he’s going to take them out with.”

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Culver 6th Grade Students Collect Food for Food Pantry

Posted on Author WKVI

Culver Elementary sixth grade teacher, Missy Trent, believes that students need to learn more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Each year, Ms. Trent instructs the students in her class to do an outside project for the community.

One sixth grader came to the teacher recently and said he had noticed a call out for food by the Culver Food Pantry. So this student took matters into his own hands and organized a dance for the pantry. Miss Trent talks about the event that was held last Wednesday night.

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SCILL Center to Offer Computer Classes

Posted on Author WKVI

SCILL Center Director, Jerry Gurrado, says four computer classes will be offered this month.

“There’s a great need for it and we got the opportunity to put them together and we’re very excited,” said Gurrado.  “A lady by the name of Janet Stout is going to be the instructor.  She’s instructed for us before and she’s just absolutely fabulous.”

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Knox Band Students Perform at ISSMA State Solo and Ensemble Contest

Posted on Author WKVI
Hannah Janson, Brenden Owens and Matt Miller

The Knox High School Instrumental Music Department had three soloists perform at the ISSMA State Solo & Ensemble Contest on Saturday, February 25th at North Central High School. Brenden Owens earned a Gold rating on an alto sax solo, Hannah Janson earned a Gold rating on a horn solo, and Matt Miller earned a Silver rating on a trumpet solo. All three students were accompanied by Mrs. Char Geisler on piano. Congratulations to these students on their fine performances!

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North Judson-San Pierre Bands Perform in Regional, State Competitions

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson-San Pierre Brass Quintet

The North Judson-San Pierre Bands have been very busy during the month of February and March.

On February 11th, band members participated in the ISSMA District Solo and Ensemble Contest at Twin Lakes High School and posted these results:

Silver Performance Ratings:
Jessica Beverly-trumpet solo; Rachel Brent-clarinet solo; Jessica Beverly, Zach Scumacher, AJ Garay, Katie Farler, Jarrod Jones, Austin Stacy-brass sextet. Continue reading →

Advanced Life Support in use in Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI
EMS Director Paul Mathewson, EMT Travis Clary and Paramedic Aaron Krizmanich

Advanced Life Support service has come to Starke County. EMS Director Paul Mathewson said the service began at 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning and it has already been used to deliver patients.

“For now we have our system that we have set and running,” said Mathewson. “We’ll continue to improve each day and strive to be the best ALS service we can be.”

We asked Mathewson how they know if a call is for basic or advanced support.

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Emergency Responders Continue to Help Those Affected by Tornadoes

Posted on Author WKVI
A tornado in Henryville, Indiana caused extensive damage

Salyersville, Kentucky residents have had a strong relationship with Starke County over the past 70 years with many people from there migrating here to work in the Ordinance Plant at Kingsbury during the Second World War.

Many of the transplants from Salyersville stayed after the war, making Starke County their home.

It was with sorrow that many of those heard of the news Saturday that a tornado ripped through the town Friday night destroying 15 businesses and numerous homes.

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Knox City Police Investigates School Bus Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox City Police Department was called to an accident Friday afternoon involving a school bus.

A school bus driver was waiting to pull into the Osborne’s Mini Mart gas station at the corner of U.S. 35 and Culver Road. There reportedly was some confusion about the timing of the traffic light and a woman pulled out of the gas station and into the path of the school bus. There weren’t any children on the bus and no other injuries were reported. Both vehicles were damaged due to the accident.

Knox City Council Discusses Pennsylvania Central Bridge

Posted on Author WKVI
Pennsylvania Central Bridge

The old Pennsylvania Central Bridge that spans the Yellow River at the east end of Wythogan Park was the topic of discussion during the recent Knox City Council meeting.

The Council has discussed taking the bridge out and possibly having the removal paid for by the scrap iron in the structure. Mayor Rick Chambers put a stop to that when he said the scrap wouldn’t pay for the demolition.

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ISTEP Testing Begins Today

Posted on Author WKVI

It’s the test students have been preparing for. Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation, Peggy Shidaker, says the ISTEP test will be administered at the Knox Community Schools this week beginning today.

“ISTEP, the applied skills portion, begins Monday. The test window is March 5th-14th. We will be testing, like every other school corporation, students in grades three through eight for Language Arts and Math,” said Miss Shidaker.

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West Central School Board Gets Technology Update

Posted on Author WKVI

The West Central School Board discussed all of the technology upgrades that have been done throughout the Corporation. Superintendent Charles Mellon said the Board has focused on making these updates this school year.

“We have a wireless internet connection in all of our buildings and we’ve also increased bandwidth so we can handle about any type of capacity that the students would bring in as far as the different devices,” stated Mr. Mellon.

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Knox Man Arrested after Alleged Shoplifting Incident

Posted on Author WKVI

Knox City Police arrested a Knox man last week after he reportedly stole items from Dollar General.

An employee from the store called police and said that a man and woman were in the store and it appeared that they were stealing items. She reportedly saw the pair place items underneath their clothes. The officer saw the man, identified as William King, pushing a stroller with shopping bags in it, and asked to talk with him. He asked King what he bought from the store. The woman, Linda King, exited the store with a child and reportedly told police that they didn’t steal anything from the store. After being asked several times, William King reportedly removed packaged headphones from his right pocket. When the officer patted him down, he reportedly found several more items in his pants.

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Starke County Woman Arrested after Alleged Threat

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox woman was arrested Thursday after she allegedly threatened to kill someone.

Starke County Police were called to a residence in reference to an intimidation incident. Samantha Hansel told police that Shelly Ziemba invited her over to her house where she reportedly proceeded to display unusual behavior and act inappropriately toward her. Hansel told police that Ziemba tried to force her to drink an entire bottle of alcohol and she tried on more than one occasion to leave the residence but was not successful. When she did finally leave the residence, Ziemba allegedly ran after her and threatened to kill her. She ran back to her friend’s home and the police were notified and told of the incident.

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Hundreds Attend Turkey Tracks Fundraiser

Posted on Author WKVI
Doug and Carol Corey welcome all to the fundraiser

Over 400 people turned out Saturday to support the Eric Corey Foundation in its Turkey Tracks fundraiser at the Washington Township Community Center.  With many of the physically handicapped turkey hunters in attendance, the event raised money for 35 individuals to go hunting with guides in April.

The event was the brainchild of the late Eric Corey who wanted to “play-forward” the experience of hunting that he had been given before he passed away of the ALS disease at the age of 25.

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Daylight Savings Time Begins Sunday

Posted on Author WKVI

Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 11th, at 2:00 a.m. prevailing time. You will need to set your clock ahead one hour before you go bed Saturday night or at 2:00 a.m. prevailing time Sunday morning.

Everyone in the Kankakee Valley changes clocks. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 marks the change in the observance of Daylight Saving Time. It officially begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday in November.