Jeremy and Randall Rowe Appear for Initial Hearing in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Jeremy Rowe
Randall Rowe

Facing a total of over 20 charges stemming from a home invasion that occurred on Dec. 30, Jeremy and Randall Rowe made their initial appearances in the Starke Circuit Court this week. Each face charges of Robbery as both a Class A felony and a Class B felony, Robbery as both a Class A felony and a Class B felony, Intimidation as a Class C felony, Felon in Possession of a Firearm as a Class D felony, Receiving Stolen Property as a Class D felony, Pointing a Firearm as a Class D felony, and Possession of Marijuana as a Class A misdemeanor.

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Public Hearing Held on Klockner Road Project

Posted on Author WKVI

Thirteen citizens turned out last night at the public hearing presentation by engineers for the $2.4 million dollar Klockner Road Project on Knox’s west side.  Most of those in attendance were interested how the project was going to impact their property.

The engineers from Lawson-Fisher Associates of South Bend explained the process for acquisition of property that will total 3.7 acres.

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Starke County Jail Meetings Planned for Later this Month

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County Jail Committee will be holding informational meetings on the jail situation in the third week in January. Although dates and locations have not been established, the Committee has agreed to meet at three sites.

The meetings are being held in the early stages of the Committee’s work to provide Republican Representative Doug Gutwein, of Francesville, with more information to present to the state legislature. Gutwein has agreed to author CEDIT legislation that could fund, or partially fund, whatever is decided by the committee as the best remedy for the aged jail structure.

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Democrats Meet to Discuss Right to Work Legislation

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The 2012 short session of the state legislature didn’t get off the ground yesterday as Democrats stayed behind closed doors for almost two-and-a-half hours.

The Democrats are discussing how to derail proposed right to work legislation that Governor Daniels has put forward as one of the most important pieces of legislation.

The tactic wasn’t completely unexpected as Democrats fled to Illinois last year over the same issue.

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Knox City Council Discusses Risner Lawsuit

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox City Council met this week with newly elected councilman Donald Kring taking the seat of 16-year council veteran Ed Blue.

One of the matters brought before the council at the meeting was a pending lawsuit from Edward Risner, who claims that the city breached a verbal contract when they refused to burn down his house as part of a training exercise. Mayor Rick Chambers told WKVI that Risner believes he had a verbal contract with the fire department to burn his house down, and use the opportunity as a training session.

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Starke County Election Board Presents Polling Place Consolidation Plan to Commissioners

Posted on Author WKVI

In a little under 18 weeks, you will be going to the polls to vote in the 2012 Primary Election. The Starke County Election Board members appeared before the county commissioners this week seeking approval of new consolidated polling locations. Election Board President Pat Mitchell said they learned a lot from last year’s Municipal Election and that helped them in the decision to consolidate throughout the county.

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Initial Hearing Held in Starke Circuit Court for Donald Benton, Jr.

Posted on Author WKVI
Donald Benton, Jr.

Donald Benton, Jr. of North Judson made his initial appearance in the Starke Circuit Court this week where he faces charges of Intimidation as a Class C felony and Pointing a Firearm as a Class D felony. Benton pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and told Judge Kim Hall that he intends on hiring his own legal counsel. As a result, Hall set an attorney status hearing for Jan. 27 at 9 a.m.

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North Judson Town Board Reorganizes

Posted on Author WKVI
Wendy Hoppe

The North Judson Town Board reorganized during the Board’s regular meeting on Monday night. Wendy Hoppe was elected Board President.

The Board appointed Wendy Hoppe to the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Board and Rich Akers was reappointed to the Park Board. The Board has many other appointments and re-appointments to make including the Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Commission, Town Superintendent, Town Attorney, Building Inspector, Solid Waste Board, Emergency Board, and the Railroad Board.

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Starke County Youth Soccer Sign-ups begin this Week

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Youth Soccer League committee is already thinking forward to the 2012 season. Sign up begins Saturday, January 7th at the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox from time is 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The youth sign up fee is $35.00 for grades preschool thru 8th grade and $90.00 for a family of three. After three children, the cost is $20 per child. You can also sign up on the web at this website.

Also we would like to remind you that the Qatar World Cup is next year, so if you are planning to go over there, this is the perfect time to look for the dates and times of the matches so you can create your itinerary accordingly.
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Ashley Campbell Oregon-Davis

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

1-4-12

Ashley led the Lady Bobcats to a big 48-45 win over 5th ranked Triton with 16 points and 7 assists. She also got the job done down the stretch with clutch ball handling and free throw shooting, going 8-11 from the line, in helping O-D to their 11th win of the year.

Hope Wagner Knox

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

1-3-12

Hope scored a game high 19 points to lead the Lady Redskins to their 4th win of the year. The bulk of her scoring came from the free throw line where she was 11-11 in Knox’s 44-35 win over Kouts. Hope also knocked down two 3-pointers and played strong defense all night.

Boys Career Scoring Leaders (Current Players)

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Boys Career Scoring Leaders: (Minimum 300 points)

  1. John Eckert-Sr. (NJ): 1,198
  2. Kendall Hochstedler-Sr. (NJ): 724
  3. Josh Anderson-Sr. (JG): 581
  4. Winston Yergler-Sr. (NJ): 570
  5. Elliott Coad-Sr. (K): 492
  6. Bryan McKinney-Sr. (W): 489
  7. Zach Shidler-Jr. (W): 392
  8. Spencer Dobson-Sr. (WC): 353
  9. Collin Stevens-Jr. (C): 304

Boys Basketball Leaders

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Boys Scoring Leaders: (Through 1-2-12)

(Stats as reported to www.etpearl.com)

  1. Winston Yergler (NJ): 19.4ppg-136 points (7 games)
  2. Josh Anderson (JG): 19.2ppg-154 points (8 games)
  3. John Eckert (NJ): 18.1ppg-127 points (7 games)
  4. Elliott Coad (K): 18.0ppg-144 points (8 games)
  5. Marcus Kammrath (SC): 16.2ppg-130 points (8 games)
  6. Riley Charlesworth (L): 16.0ppg-128 points (8 games)
  7. Trent Elliott (C): 15.6ppg-125 points (8 games)
  8. Bryan McKinney (W): 14.1ppg-113 points (8 games)
  9. Allen Biggers (C): 13.4ppg-103 points (8 games)
  10. Kendall Hochstedler (NJ): 12.7ppg-89 points (7 games)
  11. Adam Clindaniel (SC): 11.7ppg-94 points (8 games)
  12. Mitch Fingerhut (NJ): 11.1ppg-78 points (7 games)
  13. Evan Kruger (WC): 10.6ppg-106 points (10 games)
  14. Jimmy Rippe (L): 10.3ppg-83 points (8 games)
  15. Zach Shidler (W): 10.3ppg-83 points (8 games)
  16. Jacoda Anderson (C): 10.2ppg-51 points (5 games)

Coaching Leaders: (Through 1-2-12)

  1. Dan Warkentien (SC): 254-103 .711 (16 years)
  2. Todd Boldry (K): 191-109 .637 (14 years)
  3. Travis Hannah (JG): 140-136 .507 (13 years)
  4. Bryan Heimlich (WC): 105-83 .559 (9 years)
  5. Kyle Elliott (C): 35-38 .479 (4 years)
  6. Kyle Johnson (W): 19-12 .612 (2 years)
  7. Phil Shabi (NJ): 6-1 .857 (1 year)
  8. Scot Spoljaric (L): 1-7 .125 (1 year)
  9. Matt Crawford (OD): 0-7 .000 (1 year)

Team Records: (Through 1-2-12)

  1. Winamac: 7-1
  2. NJSP: 6-1
  3. Culver: 6-2
  4. John Glenn: 4-4
  5. South Central: 4-4
  6. West Central: 2-8
  7. Knox: 1-7
  8. LaCrosse: 1-7
  9. Oregon-Davis: 0-7

Girls Career Scoring Leaders (Current Players)

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Girls Career Scoring Leaders: (Minimum 300 points)

  1. Sarah Redweik-Sr. (W): 684
  2. Jordann Frasure-Jr. (NJ): 595
  3. Elisabeth White-Sr. (NJ): 525
  4. Ashley Campbell-So. (OD): 512
  5. Justine Kruger-Sr. (WC): 503
  6. Jesse Averone-So. (OD): 489
  7. Marissa Hamilton-Sr. (WC): 463
  8. Hope Wagner-Sr (K): 406
  9. Kenley Sanchez-Sr. (NJ): 393
  10. Stephanie Shorter-So. (W): 353
  11. Shelby Gilbert-Sr. (K): 352
  12. Jill Rosenbaum-So. (SC): 349
  13. Danna Timm-Sr. (NJ): 348
  14. Alisha McIntosh-So. (OD): 315
  15. Katie Schwenk-Sr. (OD): 302

Girls Basketball Leaders

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Girls Scoring Leaders (through 1-3-12)

(Stats as reported to www.etpearl.com)

  1. Jill Rosenbaum (SC): 17.7ppg-177 points (10 games)
  2. Ashley Campbell (OD): 17.1ppg-171 points (10 games)
  3. Jesse Averone (OD): 13.7ppg-137 points (10 games)
  4. Marissa Hamilton (WC): 13.6ppg-150 points (11 games)
  5. Sarah Redweik (W): 13.6ppg-178 points (13 games)
  6. Jordann Frasure (NJ):  12.6ppg-164 points (13 games)
  7. Kayla Shaffer (C): 12.5ppg-150 points (12 games)
  8. Kyler Columbia (JG): 12.3ppg-148 points (12 games)
  9. Hope Wagner (K): 12.2ppg-171 points (14 games)
  10. Alisha McIntosh (OD): 11.9ppg-119 points (10 games)
  11. Mickella Hardy (C): 11.7ppg-117 points (10 games)
  12. Justine Kruger (WC): 11.1ppg-123 points (11 games)
  13. Jessica Schramm (W): 11.1ppg-145 points (13 games)
  14. Katie Schwenk (OD): 11.0ppg-99 points (9 games)
  15. Stephanie Shorter (W): 10.6ppg-139 points (13 games)

Career Coaching Records: (through 1-3-12)

  1. Terry Minix (OD): 257-137 .652 (19 years)
  2. John Hampton (NJ): 113-75 .601 (9 years)
  3. Dan Huizenga (K): 111-103 .519 (10 years)
  4. Gina Hierlmeier (WC): 83-41 .669 (6 years)
  5. Tony Scheub (C): 31-8 .794 (2 years)
  6. Rick Budka (SC): 30-42 .416 (4 years)
  7. Jeff Wagner (W): 22-14 .611 (2 years)
  8. Brian McMahan (L): 5-26 .161 (3 years)
  9. Kyle Amor (JG): 3-8 .222 (1 year)

Team Records: (through 1-3-12)

  1. Oregon-Davis: 10-2
  2. NJSP: 9-4
  3. Winamac: 9-4
  4. West Central: 7-4
  5. Culver: 6-6
  6. South Central: 5-5
  7. Knox: 4-10
  8. LaCrosse: 3-8
  9. John Glenn: 3-9

Accident West of Plymouth Claims Life of Starke County Man

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox man was killed in a single vehicle car accident last night.

Marshall County Coroner Bill Cleavenger said that 28-year-old Richard Lee Dennis was traveling westbound on 9th Road, just east of Quince Road when he encountered a set of railroad tracks. Cleavenger said it appeared that he didn’t slow or stop at the railroad tracks and went over the incline and over the tracks at a high rate of speed. The road conditions were slick at time and Dennis reportedly lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree. He was killed upon impact. Emergency personnel extricated his body from the vehicle and cleared the scene. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department and Plymouth Police Department were assisted by the Indiana State Police Reconstruction Team.

Toxicology results are pending.

Judge Rules in Linda Belork Case

Posted on Author WKVI
Linda Belork

Jasper County Circuit Court Judge John Potter ruled yesterday in favor of the Starke County Commissioners in a suit involving former Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork.

The case involved Belork’s removal from office on August 13th after a state audit turned up financial discrepancies. Belork’s attorney, Ethan Lowe, had argued that the Commissioners did not have the right to remove Belork from office. He argued that only the state’s Attorney General had the right to do so.

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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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