Starke County Sheriff Seeks Approval for Supplemental Pension Fund

Posted on Author WKVI
Sheriff Oscar Cowen
Sheriff Oscar Cowen

Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen came before the board of commissioners yesterday to ask approval for implementing a supplemental plan to the Police Pension Fund program.

“Morgan Stanley is offering a supplement to our retirement and they have to have approval through the Commissioners so the Auditor’s Office can deduct from the percentage of pay that the employees want to put into a supplement retirement,” Cowen told the Commissioners. “They are willing to come up and present a program, but they said they just need the approval of the Commissioners to have the supplement so the Auditor can deduct it from their pay.”

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Two Arrested after Confronted with Intimidation Incident

Posted on Author WKVI
Donald Benton, Jr.
Donald Benton, Sr.

A father and son were arrested Saturday night after the son was confronted about an intimidation incident.

Starke County police were called after Donald Benton, Jr. allegedly threaten to kill a North Judson man. Benton, Jr. went to a North Judson residence and asked the victim to call another individual to meet Benton, Jr. somewhere so he could kill him, according to the police report. The victim said he wasn’t going to do that and Benton, Jr. became upset and started screaming at him. Benton, Jr. allegedly held the gun up to his face and threatened him to not tell anyone about what just happened. The victim then told his mother who then called police.

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Starke County Commissioners Reorganize

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners: Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

In the first meeting of the new year, the Starke County Commissioners reorganized and made appointments to several boards. Kathy Norem was elected as the President of the Board of Commissioners with Dan Bridegroom as Vice President and Jennifer Davis as Secretary. The vote for commissioner Norem was unanimous, and she thanked her predecessor, Dan Bridegroom, for his three years of service as Board President. Martin Lucas was retained as the county attorney.

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Starke County Council Reorganizes, Makes Appointments

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

After serving five years as the Starke County Council President, Mark Smith announced before yesterday’s reorganization meeting that he would not stand for reelection. David Pearman was elected the President and Mitch Semans the Vice President. Attorney Martin Lucas was retained as the council attorney.

In appointments:
Mitch Semans accepted both the Starke County Economic Development position and the Council’s seat on the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission.
Tony Radkiewicz was named to the Solid Waste Board.
Judy Benninghoff remained on the Planning Commission.
Ken Wallace was reappointed to the Alcohol Beverage Commission Board.

Knox Man Arrested after Police Receive Calls about Man Carrying Gun

Posted on Author WKVI
Robert Wisilinski

A Knox man was arrested Friday after police received calls about a man carrying a gun.

A witness told police that he was letting his truck warm up when Robert Wisilinski approached his property on Pearl Street, stopped and stared at him. The witness said he saw a hand gun in his hand and then Wisilinski walked away. He reportedly saw Wisilinski tuck the gun in his pants behind his back. Police caught up to Wisilinski who reportedly said it was only a BB gun. He was taken to jail.

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Knox Man Arrested after Argument and Damaging Rental Home

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox man was arrested Friday after he reportedly caused damage to a rental home.

Police were called to 405 E. Danker Street where Jessica Skorup stated that she had an argument with David Howard and wanted him to leave the residence. She entered the home she was going to rent with Howard and allegedly found him making holes in the closet walls with a pole. Howard was told to leave and he continued the destruction.

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Kristen Miller Wins K99.3 Football Pick’em Contest!

Posted on Author WKVI
Ted Hayes, Kristen Miller, Tom Berg and Lenny Dessauer celebrate Miller's win in the contest!

Congratulations to Kristen Miller who won the K99.3 Football Pick’em contest! Every contestant who entered had to choose who would win all of the games that week and Miller had the most correct picks. For her efforts, she won a 43” Plasma TV from Sears in Knox! She also got a beautiful trophy from Sports Unlimited.

She said she got some help from her brother, but she did most of the work.

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Starke County Jail Committee to Meet Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Community Jail Committee will meet this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in the County Annex building.

One agenda item is the scheduling of public meetings to inform the public of the options to solve the jail problems. Commissioner Kathy Norem, who is chairing the committee, conceded that specific plans have not been formulated, but the public will be brought up to date on where the committee is at this point in time.

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Proposals in Kernan-Shepard Report to be Discussed in Legislature

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

With this being Governor Mitch Daniels last year in office, some of the priorities he set early on in his first term have not been reached. One is Local Government Reform.

The governor appointed former governor Joe Kernan and Supreme Court Justice Randall Shepard to lead a committee to address local government issues. The work was finally consolidated into the Kernan-Shepard Report.

One of the recommendations was to get rid of township officials and to shift their responsibilities to the centralized county government. Another recommendation was the creation of a County Manager position or a single elected county official.

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Robert Reed Initial Hearing Held in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Robert Reed

Robert Reed, of LaPorte, was in Starke Circuit Court last week where he pleaded not guilty to charges of Robbery, Receiving Stolen Property, and Resisting Law Enforcement as a Class D Felony and a Class A Misdemeanor charge.

The charges stem from an incident on May 22nd, 2011, when Robert Reed and Murriah Dailey allegedly stole items from Marvin Miller’s home. Police were alerted to the incident and they were found riding a motorcycle on State Road 10. An officer from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department attempted a traffic stop on County Road 750 West, they stopped and then took off and a pursuit began. The pursuit ended just past County Road 400 South. The motorcycle ran into soft dirt in a corn field and the pair fled from the motorcycle. A K9 unit was deployed and stopped Murriah Dailey, and Reed was detained by the K9 but later fled on foot. Dailey was in custody in the back of a North Judson Police car and she attempted to drive away in the car. The car was shot at and disabled and she was tased to gain compliance. She was taken to the Starke County Jail after she was medically cleared from IU Health Starke Hospital.

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Initial Hearing Held in Starke Circuit Court for Timothy Howard, Jr.

Posted on Author WKVI
Tim Howard, Jr.

After he was arrested when police found him breaking into a home, Timothy Howard made his initial appearance in the Starke Circuit Court last week. Facing charges of Possession of a Legend Drug as a Class D felony, Attempted Residential entry as a Class D felony, Possession of a Controlled Substance as a class D felony, two counts of Resisting Law Enforcement as a Class A misdemeanor, Public Intoxication as a Class B misdemeanor, and Criminal Mischief as a Class B misdemeanor.

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WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl Announces Next Trip

Posted on Author WKVI
Lincoln Memorial

WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl has announced the 2012 tour of Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg Battlefield, scheduled for June 14th through the 18th.

Stops on the five day motor coach tour, in addition to Gettysburg, include the U.S. Capitol, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Plantation home, and the George Washington Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia for a special musical program.

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Updated License Plate Available this Year

Posted on Author WKVI

An updated design of Indiana’s popular “In God We Trust” license plate will be available for new or renewed vehicle registrations in 2012.

The redesign accommodates a new licensing plate numbering system. All standard and specialty plates have been or will be redesigned by the end of 2013 to remove the small stacked letters and allow up to six larger letters and numbers.

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From the WKVI Archives

Posted on Author WKVI

It was on this date in 1999 we were digging out from the snow. Starke County received 18 ½ inches of snow on January 2nd and 3rd.

On this date in 1973, Superintendent Kermit Weddell was reporting that after a lengthy delay, construction on the new $5 million dollar North Judson-San Pierre High School was underway. It would be built to house up to 800 students in grades 9 through 12. Official ground breaking was set for February that year.

Accident Claims the Life of North Judson Resident’s Son

Posted on Author WKVI

A North Judson mother is mourning the death of her son, whose life was taken Friday in a traffic accident in Indiana. Etha Kallin lost her son in the I-465 crash.

Paul Kallin was pronounced dead at the scene by a representative of the Marion County Coroner’s office from injuries sustained in the crash, which occurred shortly before 1:00 p.m. in Indianapolis, on city’s east side. Kallin was driving his vehicle in the far right lane, when it abruptly turned left across I-465 and was struck on the driver’s side door by another vehicle driven by Clifford Perkins, 34, of Gary. Perkins and a front seat passenger in his pickup were taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

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Public Hearing on Proposed Klockner Drive Project This Week

Posted on Author WKVI

Citizens of Knox and landowners affected by the Klockner Road Project in the Industrial Park will be brought up to date on the proposed work at a meeting Wednesday night to be held at the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox.

According to Starke County Development Director Charles Weaver, the road was designed as a rural thoroughfare and was never meant to carry the truck traffic now using it.

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2012 General Assembly to Convene Wednesday

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The 2012 Indiana General Assembly convenes Wednesday with a contentious labor bill topping the legislative agenda.

GOP lawmakers and Governor Mitch Daniels say the law is needed to make Indiana more attractive to companies looking for a place to do business.

Union leaders and Democrats call it a transparent attempt to dismantle organized labor and say such a law drives down wages.

Some Republican Senators with many union members in their districts are placed in a tough spot going into an election year. One of those Senators, Ed Charbonneau of Valparaiso, has said that he is going to study the bill long and hard before placing a vote one way or the other.

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Henry F. Schricker Public Library Expansion Project Underway

Posted on Author WKVI
Henry F. Schricker Library

The Henry F. Schricker library expansion project is underway and moving along right on schedule. Library Director Sheila Urwiler said that the next step they’ll be taking is to get the plans and drawings to an estimator.

“We’re getting our final estimates and they’re drawing up the construction documents to go out for bidding, and the bidding should start in February sometime, we’re not sure exactly when yet, but that’s the goal right now,” said Urwiler.

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