2nd Annual Kankakee Valley All-Area Football Team Announced

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

Kankakee Valley All-Area Football Team

Offensive Line

Jordan Culp-West Central

Danny Francis-John Glenn

Matt Hurford-Culver

Dustin Knapp-North Judson San-Pierre

Brennon Morning-Winamac

Quarterback

Collin Stevens-Culver

Running Back

Josh Anderson-John Glenn

Ethan Biggs-South Central

Tight End

Charlie Dreessen-John Glenn

Wide Receiver

Micah Budzinski-Culver

Erik Beckman-North Judson San-Pierre

Defensive Line

Spencer Dobson-West Central

Dalton Moore-South Central

Tucker Schultz-Culver

Ryan Williams-John Glenn

Linebackers

John Ahlenius-Culver

Kendall Hochstedler-North Judson San-Pierre

Chantz Marlatt-West Central

Hunter McClellan-Knox

Defensive Backs

Michael Hamilton-West Central

Micahel Minix-North Judson San-Pierre

Jon Stewart-John Glenn

IU Health Starke Hospital Working Group Discusses Capital Needs

Posted on Author WKVI

IU Health Starke Hospital
The working group selected to discuss the sale of I.U. Health Starke Hospital to I.U. Health LaPorte met recently. Representing Starke County on the committee are Commission President Dan Bridegroom, Council President Mark Smith, and Councilmen David Pearman, Marvin McLaughlin, and Tony Radkiewicz. Hospital Community Board members Ben Bennett, Dr. Walter Fritz, and Sandy Hansen are also on the committee.

I.U. Health LaPorte is the lessee of the local facility, and according to David Hiatt, who explained the offer to local officials in October, five to seven million dollars in capital needs are required at the hospital.

“We have significant needs that must be addressed now before we start planning for the long-term facility, or what is going to happen long-term,” said Hiatt.

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Starke County Linda Belork Seeking Reinstatement

Posted on Author WKVI

Linda Belork
Attorneys for the Starke County Commissioners and Linda Belork will be in Jasper Circuit Court this morning. Also named in the suit is Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, Belork’s bonding company. Starke County is the Plaintiff in the case, and Belork and Ohio Casualty Insurance are the defendants.

The case stems from the removal of Belork as the treasurer of Starke County in August. She was dismissed by the commissioners when a State Board of Accounts audit turned up discrepancies of several thousand dollars in the office. Since that time, all the money has been accounted for and the defendant is seeking to have the court reinstate her back into the office. Today’s appearance by the lawyers is set for 10:30 a.m. before Judge John D. Potter. This is only a status conference with no testimony being heard.

Last week the Starke County Democrat Party named Kasey Clark as the Interim Treasurer of the county following Belork’s removal from office.

Pulaski County to Invest $200K in Plymouth Tube Expansion

Posted on Author WKVI

Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
“Pulaski County is open for business.”

That’s the message the county commissioners would like to send by agreeing to a $200,000 investment in Plymouth Tube’s expansion into Pulaski County. The commissioners agreed this week to invest up to that amount from their SEEDIT fund to support the expansion, assuming the project comes to Pulaski County.

The town of Winamac will possibly be investing $400,000 in the project as well. Currently, the Winamac substation is unable to keep up with demand and requires an expansion to function at full capacity.

In addition to creating extra jobs, the average wage for these positions is expected to rise to $16.45 per hour by 2014. According to Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer, approving the tax abatement would show businesses that Pulaski County is “open for business,” and Commissioner Kenneth Boswell agreed.

Knox Students Do Well In Poetry Competition

Posted on Author WKVI

Gary Dulin, Jerry Fletcher, Harold Welter, Mary Lynn Ritchie, Kirk Bennett, Nathan Marcum, Mike Yankauskas, Superintendent A.J. Gappa
The Knox Community School Board recently heard from five children during its Spotlight on Education portion of the meeting. Superintendent A.J. Gappa explains more.

“At our recent meeting, our spotlight on success was Charles Ratliff, who’s our writing teacher at the elementary school. I think we’re one of the few area schools, or maybe in this part of the state, that offers as a special in the elementary a writing class, so every student in our elementary gets to visit Mr. Ratliff on a regular basis and get instruction specifically in writing,” said Gappa.

Gappa explained more about a special writing project the students completed.

“Last spring, as a project for the writing classes, Mr. Ratliff submitted 500 poems that our students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade had written to the national schools project which is based out of Boise, Idaho, and what they do is only publish student works from throughout the nation and we had 200 students in our elementary school that had been selected to be published in their annual edition of their poetry work,” Gappa said.

Knox World War II Veteran Remembers Pearl Harbor

Posted on Author WKVI

WWII Veterans Joe Smrt and Perry Lucas salute the flag.
The 70th anniversary off the attack on Pearl Harbor was observed around the country and locally yesterday. The day had been proclaimed as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day by President Barack Obama.

At Knox VFW Post 748, veterans and others observed the anniversary. World War II veteran Joe Smrt, who said he was attending church choir practice when he heard the news, remembered the attack.

“Twenty-one ships of all kinds were attacked, damaged, or sunk in the sneak attack. In addition, there were 2400 or more casualties of military personnel. There were eight ships in battleship role that were badly damaged with the Arizona being sunk,” Smrt said.

Smrt said after the attack, President Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan. In a little-remembered account, Smrt said two of the United States high command were relieved of their duties.

“Admiral Kimmell and General Short, commanders of the naval and army forces respectively, were promptly accused of dereliction of duty, and were relieved of their command. They were falsely accused, as facts later discovered would prove. The truth is that the administration and higher brass in Washington, having had information from intercepted Japanese intelligence reports, had withheld the information for one reason or another from Kimmell and Short,” Smrt explained.

Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941– a day that will live in infamy.

Hensler Nursery Donates Concolor Fir to Statehouse Rotunda

Posted on Author WKVI

Tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT, Hensler Nursery will be cutting the 25-foot Concolor Fir for the Indiana Statehouse Rotunda. The Rotunda tree will be cut with the assistance of the Kankakee Valley REMC crew members from Wanatah.

The Rotunda tree will be loaded and will reside at Hensler Nursery over the weekend. Presentation at the Indiana Statehouse will take place Monday, December 12.

Additionally, besides the Rotunda Concolor Fir, Hensler Nursery will be providing the Lt. Governor’s office with an eight-foot Fraser Fir. Both of these Starke County grown trees will grace the Statehouse during December, bringing fresh, fragrant, Northern-Indiana-grown Christmas trees to Indiana’s capitol.

Deannexation Petition Presented to Culver School Board

Posted on Author WKVI
Culver Community School Board
Culver Community School Board Members (from left, clockwise): Jack Jones, Ryan Seiber, Marilyn Swanson, Brad Schuldt, Eugene Baker, Jim Wentzel, Ed Behnke, Ken VanDePutte

A petition that has been circulating since the closure of Monterey Elementary School by the Culver Community School Corporation has finally made its way to the school board. The petition, which has gathered 641 signatures, requests deannexation from the Culver School Corporation with the hope of being annexed into the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation. According to Superintendent Brad Schuldt, Monterey Town Board President Jim Fleury presented the petition to the board at this week’s meeting.

Fleury explained that Tippecanoe Township has a total of 840 landowners, so 641 signatures is an overwhelming majority.
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Starke County Ordinance Review Complete

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Commissioners heard this week that the codification of all county ordinances is about to be completed. The commissioners were notified that of the 180 ordinances reviewed by Municiple Code Corporation of Tallahassee, Florida, 121 were removed.

A review of the Plan Commission ordinances is still being conducted.

In all, the review cost the county approximately $15,000 but the ordinances will soon be listed on a website that will be constructed by MCC. The website, it is promised, will be easy to navigate by both county officials and the public.

Deputy Auditor Suzanne McCarty assisted with the project.

Annual County Building Safety Inspection Completed

Posted on Author WKVI

The annual inspection to identify and correct life safety issues at four Starke County buildings has been completed. The inspection, conducted by Simplex Company of South Bend, found minor fire extinguisher, automatic sprinkler, and emergency lighting problems. Those problems were corrected, bringing the buildings up to code.

The highest cost for any of the corrections was $1016 at the highway department, where all trucks have been outfitted with fire extinguishers.

Other buildings inspected include the jail, courthouse, and annex building.

Pearl Harbor Services to be Held at Knox VFW Today

Posted on Author WKVI

Americans are encouraged to take a moment today to remember the attack of Pearl Harbor that occurred seventy years ago to the day.

The attack by the Imperial forces of Japan targeted the largest naval installation of the U.S.: Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The next day President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, said a state of war existed between the United States of America and Japan. He called December 7, 1941, “a day which will live in infamy.”

Special services will be held at Knox V.F.W. Post 748 this afternoon at 2 p.m. The public is cordially invited to attend.

Nelson Chosen as NIPSCO Manager of Public Affairs

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke United Executive Director Julie Dessauer and NIPSCO Manager of Public Affairs Angela Nelson

NIPSCO has a new Manager of Public Affairs in northern Indiana. Angela Nelson replaces Mike Charbonneau in that position, and she attended the Starke United Radio Auction last week, where WKVI’s Ted Hayes took the opportunity to interview her.

Nelson, who has been on the job for four months, told WKVI a little bit about herself.
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Pleasant View Rest Home Staying Dry Under New Roof

Posted on Author WKVI
Pleasant View Rest Home

The Pleasant View Rest Home is finally resting easy under a new roof, after nearly a year of fundraising and planning with the help of a nearby roofing professional.

Work on the roof began in October and lasted about a month, with the work performed by BB Carpentry of Winamac. BB Carpentry was hired by the Friends of Pleasant View in February, after they submitted the lowest bid for the contract.

According to Kerry Baker, president of Friends of Pleasant View, the local nonprofit organization that spearheaded the roof project, the Friends had originally hoped to begin the roofing work last spring, but the funding had not yet been secured. Baker said that the final cost of the project actually came in below what they had been expected, allowing the county to save about $13,000 from their expected $20,000 expense.

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Annual Historical Club Christmas Get-Together Held

Posted on Author WKVI

It’s said that in his day, Governor Henry Schricker was a pretty fair piano player. It’s even noted that he played the piano at Kiwanis Club meetings and functions.

The piano that the governor played is in the Starke County Historical Museum, and on Sunday afternoon WKVI’s Tom Berg “tickled the ivories” while those in attendance sang Christmas Carols.

It was a repeat performance for Tom, who was asked back after performing last year as well.

Others contributing their talents at the annual Historical Club Christmas get-together were Marilyn McCarty, Diane Riddle, Ed Hasnerl, and Sally Povilaities.

Following the Christmas sing along, those who turned out enjoyed refreshments.

County Employees Working Holidays Will Receive Double Time And a Half

Posted on Author WKVI

Sixteen jail employees attended the Starke County Commissioners meeting yesterday to have the holiday pay schedule clarified. After some discussion, it was decided that for all police, 9-1-1, EMS, and jailers, the holiday pay would be straight time, but if they worked the holiday it would be straight time plus time and a half.

Commissioner Kathy Norem, who was formerly the hospital CEO at Starke Memorial, explained that it would be similar to what they paid and why they paid the amount.

“Anybody that worked the holiday got paid time and a half, but they also, within the same pay period, got an extra day off with pay. In essence, since these guys are not taking an extra day off, that’s no different, really, than double time and a half. And in some ways its much more beneficial to us to pay them the double time and a half if they work on the holiday rather than pay them time and a half and get them an extra day off paid, because with as skeleton as that crew is, that’s going to cause someone to get overtime,” Norem explained.

Any county employee working a holiday will be paid time and a half, on top of their regular holiday pay.

Knox Man Ejected From Vehicle During Crash

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Police responded to an accident call at 1:00 a.m. Monday morning that occurred at 4570 South and 100 East. Upon arrival, officers found a single vehicle and determined that the driver was 43-year-old Thomas Guy of Knox.

Guy had been ejected from the vehicle during the crash and was transported to I.U. Health-Starke Hospital where his condition was unknown yesterday.

It appeared to the responding officer that Guy was northbound on County Road 100 East when he came over a hill and lost control of his vehicle, leaving the roadway and striking a tree. Assisting the Sheriff’s Department were the Knox Police Department, Bass Lake-California Township Fire Department and Starke County EMS. Alcohol results are pending at this time.

Catastrophic Insurance Approved for Starke County Inmates

Posted on Author WKVI

Bridgett Markin of First Source Insurance and Sheriff Oscar Cowen came before the Starke County Commissioners yesterday to present an inmate catastrophic insurance proposal. By not having such a policy, the county was responsible for all catastrophic expenses incurred by inmates while incarcerated.

The policy selected came with $250,000 maximum coverage and $10,000 deductible. Sheriff Cowen said that many Indiana counties have this type of policy.

In the end, the commissioners voted unanimously to purchase the policy that costs $17,500 annually.

Land Acquisition for Monterey Bridge Project Nearly Complete

Posted on Author WKVI

Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
The land acquisition process is underway for the Monterey Bridge project. The project involves the construction of a new bridge to route traffic away from the Monterey Bridge, which is too small and unsafe for regular traffic but cannot be removed because of its historical nature.

Jeff Larrison of United Consulting told the commissioners this week that the purchase of six of the nine parcels of land to be acquired were ready to be signed by the commissioners. Another parcel of land in the size of 83 square feet was purchased for $400 and did not require a signature. There is a conflict with the purchase of the remaining two parcels, however, as counter-offers were returned by the landowners who requested more money than the county had offered.

One of the landowners was offered $43,000 for his property, but had an appraisal performed himself that valued the land at $63,000, but Larrison says that appraisal was very flawed in how it calculated that figure. A motion was passed to raise their offer to $48,000 for the property.

A counter-offer was also received from the landowners of the second parcel. The county originally offered $11,300 for the parcel, but the landowner countered with $15,900, which the commissioners ultimately agreed to.

If the properties are acquired in time for the bids to be let in spring, Larrison is hopeful that construction on the new bridge will be finished before winter.

Emergency Services Organizations to Conduct Training Exercise

Posted on Author WKVI

Local emergency services organizations will be conducting a training exercise on December 10th. The exercise will take place at the Knox High School between the hours of 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.

The training will consist of various departments including the Knox Police Department, Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Hamlet Police Department, and the Knox Fire Department. Also participating in the training will be Starke County EMS, Starke County Emergency Management and IU Health Starke Hospital.

Again, when you see all of the emergency personnel at the high school Saturday, this is only a training session.

Starke County Signs Contract with Cedarbridge Youth Center

Posted on Author WKVI

Because Starke County does not have a juvenile holding center, a contract is being signed with a Muncie facility to hold our young prisoners. Cedarbridge Youth Center normally charges $150.00 a day for holding such prisoners, but because Starke County officials paid in advance for 2011, they were given a reduced rate of $89.00 per day.

Of the 160 days contracted for, only 89 were used, leaving 71 days to be carried over to 2012.

The county commissioners voted last week to secure 89 days, and use the 71 day carry over to guarantee another 160 days for 2012. The discounted rate for 2012 has increased to $99.00 a day.

Juveniles cannot be co-mingled with adults, so Starke County has to “farm-out” youngsters who are being held for possible criminal causes.