With the feeling of Christmas still lingering in the air, the Knox City Council this week discussed the possibility of hosting a Christmas market– a street market featuring nativity scenes, nutcrackers, books, hand-crafted items, and other traditional Christmas goodies like cookies, soups, almonds, and other treats.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers explains that with a Christmas market, the city could combine its Christmas events into one weekend bonanza.
We’re down to the final three top 10 stories of 2011.
One of the top stories of the year involved State Representative Nancy Dembowski, who with 43 Democrat legislators, fled to Illinois to avoid voting on anticipated right to work legislation. After staying out for weeks, the legislators finally returned to the cheers of union workers and jeers from their Republican colleagues. The issue is coming back to the legislators in the 2012 General Assembly. The Republican majority party imposed fines on those who left.
Knox City Police continue to investigate the robbery at CVS in Knox.
On Tuesday, December 20th, Nathan Hummel and Jonathan Hummel reportedly went into the Knox CVS and stole prescription medication from the pharmacy. They held the pharmacist and store clerk at knifepoint at the time of the incident. They fled from the scene and after a pursuit, fled their vehicle on Upas Road in Marshall County. Nathan Hummel was found hiding in a closet in Raymond Hummel’s residence and was taken into custody. Jonathan Hummel escaped. Continue reading
Three individuals were arrested in Pulaski County Friday on methamphetamine-related charges following a traffic stop near 314 South Monticello Street in Winamac.
Myrtle Beem was recently sentenced in Starke Circuit Court.
She was sentenced to serve six years in the Indiana Department of Corrections on one count of Dealing in Methamphetamine as a Class B Felony. Four years of that sentence was suspended. Upon completion of her sentence, Beem will be placed on probation for four years and she shall complete a drug evaluation program and follow any recommended treatment as approved by the probation department.
A Winamac man was arrested after police found a gun and narcotics in his room at a residence of 475 W. in Winamac, on Monday, December 19th.
Pulaski County Sheriff’s deputies learned that Ryan Clouse, 39, is good friends with Matthew Nolte, who was recently arrested on methamphetamine related charges, and the pair may be manufacturing methamphetamine at the residence where Clouse was staying. Police arrived on scene and requested permission to search Clouse’s room. Police reportedly found narcotics in his possession and a loaded rifle. The officers asked Clouse if he was convicted of any felonies and he replied that he had. He was then told that a felon can not possess a firearm. He had a prior conviction of robbery in 1994 and he was arrested on a charge of Burglary by the Rochester Police Department in 2004. Police also asked if he had a prescription for the narcotics found in his room and he said no.
Fred Sumpter from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office ruled the fire at 2915 S. and 800 E. in Washington Township Friday morning as accidental. A wood burner was the cause of the fire.
Washington Township Assistant Fire Chief, Dave Pearman, said that if you use a wood burning stove, keep it clean and make sure that it is cleaned before the heating season.
Pearman has another piece of fire safety advice.
Charles Cole of Winamac was arrested on Christmas Day after police were called to his home after a domestic dispute.
His wife, Suzanne, told Pulaski County police that Charles allegedly set fire to their bedding and mattress that morning during the argument which burnt down the camper in which they reside. As officers were trying to get the details of the event, Cole, who was intoxicated, continued to be disorderly. He was asked by the officer to step out of the camper and Cole was told he was under arrest. Cole then took off running from police. The officer ordered him to stop or he’d be tased. He stopped and police attempted to take him into custody but he resisted.
With the holiday rush behind them, the shelves at the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry are still fairly stocked. Joan Haugh, Director of Community Services of Starke County, told WKVI that their abundance of food is due in part to people with the holiday spirit.
We continue to count down the top ten stories of 2011.
Starke County moved into the national spotlight when the new Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN, featured a series on “Women Behind Bars.” One of the women featured was Lisa Owens, who, a decade earlier, had taken the life of her husband in Knox. Owens told of life behind bars and her hope for early release from prison for the shooting. That wish was granted when Owens received an early release. She was paroled into the custody of a sister, who did not live in the county. The story evoked many emotional comments on the WKVI Discussion Board arguing the pros and cons of her early release.
The fire at at 2915 S. 800 E. in Washington Township has been ruled accidental.
“The fire started on the west side of the house around a wood burner and that’s what caused the fire,” said Fred Sumpter from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office. “The burner was positioned around the center portion of the house.”
Sumpter said his investigation into the incident is now complete.
Power should be restored to 732 Knox customers by 1:30 p.m.
NIPSCO Public Affairs Officer, Rick Colinski, said that a car accident at Portland and Pacific streets in Knox caused the outage. Crews are replacing a cross bar that was broken on the pole that was hit by the car. Officials at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department said there were no injuries sustained in the accident.
The North Judson Police Department received theft calls on Friday. The callers reported a laptop and a wallet stolen from their vehicles.
North Judson Town Marshal, Doug Vessley, would like to remind you to make sure you keep doors locked on homes and vehicles. Vessely added that keeping the doors locked helps to deter crime and keeps your valuables safe. Criminals are always checking for unlocked cars to try and find cash and other valuables.
A Knox man was found breaking into a home and then ran from police.
On Friday, December 23rd, Knox City Police received a complaint of a person breaking into a home on Pearl Street. The officer arrived at the residence and got out of the car and announced his presence. The suspect, Timothy Howard, Jr., ran from the scene. The officer got back into his car and pursued the suspect. The officer went into the alley from Washington Street and Howard ran in front of the car.
A public hearing has been scheduled to gain opinions on current design plans for the Starke County Commissioners’ project to reconstruct a portion of County Road 300 East, or Klockner Drive, in the Knox Industrial Park.
The proposed improvements include the reconstruction of County Road 300 East between Culver Road to north Pacific Avenue. The project proposes installation of new pavement, concrete curb and gutter, storm sewer collection, driveway and approach work. The project will be constructed in three phases and impacts 33 parcels and will require the acquisition of 3.4 acres of right-of-way.
The Knox Community School Board recognized the recent retirees at their recent meeting.
“We had two different employees who had been at the Knox Schools for a number of years retire,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “John Tepes, a Maintenance person from the Middle School, had retired and it was effective last week. He had been with the Corporation for 16 years. Dick Wagner, a teacher at Knox, who has been with the Corporation for over 40 years actually retired in November. He, for personal reasons, decided that it was in his best interest to retire in November. We honored these two retirees with clocks from the Knox Community School Corporation and the Board presented the clocks to those people at the meeting.”
A Hobart woman was arrested Friday after she reportedly told police her name and it wasn’t her correct identification.
Police saw a vehicle traveling around Henry Street and saw that the driver disregarded stop signs. The officer engaged his emergency lights and the driver didn’t stop. He continued to follow her at a slow pace. He eventually pulled over the car at the intersection of Bower Street and Culver Road. Police asked the driver for her name and she said her name was “Tracey Rowe”. Police ran her information and found that “Tracey Rowe” was not on file. Police took her to jail on preliminary charges of Resisting Law Enforcement and Reckless Driving.
Indiana Conservation Officers have had their work cut out for them this year, with an increase of over 60% in hunting violations this year. To date, 489 separate hunting violations were reported within District One, which covers the seven north-central counties of St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Kosciusko, Fulton, Miami, and Wabash. Last year, only 304 violations were reported.
We continue with the top stories of 2011 in the Kankakee Valley.
The year had its share of tragic stories during the year. Two of the most memorable were the death of a three-year-old toddler, and the shooting of an 81-year-old woman.
Starke County Community Corrections Director, Robert Hinojosa, appeared before the County Commissioners recently to request a letter approving a grant application for 2012. The grant is administered by the Department of Corrections and is for almost $188,000 of a $346,000 Community Corrections budget. The shortfall is made up from user fees. The letter was signed as requested.
One of the goals of the local Community Corrections organization is to become a level one program.
“There’s three levels,” explains Hinojosa. “If you are a level one program, that means that you have done a great job in adopting a lot of the practices, doing good case management work and identifying which service providers are effective, etc. If you are a level two, you are doing a good job but not exceptional and if you are a level three you’ve got some major problems in the way you run your program. The first year they instituted the level status was last year and we came in at a high level two and I was proud of that. We had really limited resources to do some of the things that we were asked to do. I believe that this application we’re submitting will get us to level one.”
