With the price of gas slowly increasing, there could be a chance that desperate people could be siphoning fuel out of your gas tank. Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer said there have been isolated siphoning incidents in the area.
“I know, in particular, a mobile saw mill had several hundred gallons of diesel fuel stolen from their tank over a weekend and that was probably a direct consequence of the rising gas prices,” said Sheriff Gayer.
Fearful it may not be safe to operate, Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall has locked the boom truck. The truck, a 1998 model, is due for inspection.
Siddall discussed the cost of inspection with the County Commissioners this week.
“Just to get the boom truck up and running will cost the county $13,542.38 for an inspection,” said Siddall.
North Judson Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry told WKVI that three sealed bids to handle the town’s trash service were opened at the recent town board meeting. Key Waste – Indiana Partnership, Veoloia, and Richard’s Disposal submitted bids, with Key Waste’s bid being the lowest at $77,310 for the year. Henry says the town attorney will review the bids, and upon her approval, the bid will be awarded at the next town meeting on March 19th.
Pulaski County is right on the heels of Starke County in approving an agreement with the state to share its GIS information in return for $2000 to fund the GIS agreement with WTH Technology. According to Starke County IT Director Joe Short, the GIS information to be shared with the state contains no personal information, only geographic data.
The cost of the GIS agreement is only $1500, leaving $500 left over to be spent on the GIS system however the counties see fit. Currently, 86 counties throughout Indiana participate in the program, and Starke and Pulaski Counties are now a part of the program.
Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa reported to the School Board this week that he attended a presentation by the Fostering Accuracy Involvement and Responsibility (FAIR) non-profit organization.
West Central School Superintendent Charles Mellon told the Board that the State will no longer provide a list of textbooks for adoption for schools. He explains that decision.
“It just turned over to a local decision,” said Mr. Mellon. “They’re not going to be having teachers come together to evaluate books and what fits the core standards. You’re supposed to be doing that at the local level. It’s a transfer of responsibility and along with that, that takes away the waiver where if you wanted to use a book that wasn’t on the list, you always had to apply for a waiver and state the reasons why this was something that fit your curriculum. The only thing they left in there was the fees. You can still charge twenty-five percent of the cost of the book for each of the first six years and then it’s back to fifteen percent if you continue using that book.”
Two Monon residents were arrested after a traffic stop on U.S. 421 and County Road 300 South.
Pulaski County police say they asked Tammy Mason to exit her vehicle and she was unsteady on her feet. She had to brace herself on the vehicle to walk and talk to police. She agreed to participate in several sobriety tests which she reportedly failed. She also reportedly submitted to a Portable Breath Test which registered .194 BAC. She was arrested on preliminary charges of Operating While Intoxicated with a BAC of .15% or greater, and Operating While Intoxicated-Endangering, both misdemeanor charges.
A Francesville man was arrested on Saturday, March 3rd, after he drove a car into a house
Police were called to the accident site and the caller said the driver was trying to walk away from the vehicle. Police found the vehicle to have heavy front-end damage and rear damage. The windshield had a spider web crack which indicated the driver was not restrained and hit the windshield. The house also sustained damage.
Amanda Meyer, Outreach Specialist for the Office of the Indiana Attorney General will present a program on fraud prevention at a workshop in Knox March 15th. The 12:30 p.m. meeting will be held at the Community Services of Starke County Building located at 311 E. Culver Road in Knox.
State Representative Douglas Gutwein (R-Francesville) has co-authored a resolution that urges the Indiana General Assembly to fly the POW/MIA flag in both the House and Senate chambers. The resolution passed unanimously in the House and now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The black and white POW/MIA flag is a symbol of efforts to fully resolve the fates of Americans held prisoner or missing in action. The design features a silhouette of a soldier before an implied prison camp and the words “you are not forgotten” underneath.
In his presentation, Gutwein recalled the story of Chief Warrant Officer George Andrew (Andy) Howes, a helicopter pilot from Starke County stationed in South Vietnam in 1970. After a mission over mountainous terrain and dense jungles, Howes and the other personnel on board did not return. With the advancements of technology, Howes’ partial remains were identified by DNA samples taken from his siblings.
WKVI Radio was recently presented the prestigious “Freedom of the Road” award by ABATE of Indiana. The presentation was made at the WKVI studio with local ABATE officer, Ernie Brewer, presenting the plaque to Ted Hayes.
In accepting the award, Ted commented on how proud he was that the station was involved with such a worthwhile group, and pledged to help promote the club’s activities in the future.
EMS Director Paul Mathewson introduced two new paramedics to the county commissioners this week: Jennifer Kelly, a paramedic from Laporte County, and Tiffany Townsend, an ALS-certified paramedic whose skills will come in heavy use with the new certification.
Mathewson told the commissioners that the necessity of ALS is not determined until the paramedics arrive on the scene of a call and, based on symptoms and other indicators, pronounce the subject to have a need of Advanced Life Support. Mathewson said that these indicators can range from skin color to profuse sweating.
Another slight hiccup in the Monterey Bridge project was brought before the Pulaski County Commissioners yesterday, as Jeff Larrison from United Consulting announced a small slip of land would cost the county $329 more than previously expected.
The commissioners previously agreed to offer the landowners $900 for a small, previously overlooked sliver of land near the riverbank, but the landowners have countered with a request for $1229. Larrison explained that the increased cost comes from the landowners’ desire to sell the entire parcel of land, rather than a significant chunk.
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.
The Starke County Jail Committee recently evaluated the public informational meetings held in January. Those meetings were held in Knox, North Judson and Hamlet.
County Council President, David Pearman, is on the Jail Committee and said the meetings were very informative.
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.”
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.
The West Central School Board discussed the 2012-2013 school calendar during their meeting last week. Superintendent Charles Mellon said there will be a big change in the next school year.
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.”
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.
