National Fire Prevention Week is this week and Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, has this fire prevention tip.
“Keep paper, dish towels and other combustibles away from the stove top,” he urged. “Some people have paper towel dispensers below the cabinets and it is recommended that a toaster is not placed underneath that dispenser.”
Pfost said it’s important to have house numbers visible so firefighters can find your home in case of a fire.
The investigation into the burglary at Five Star continues and is being handled by the Knox City Police Department where they will be reviewing security cameras that caught three suspects in the store. The burglary occurred shortly after 1:00 a.m. Monday morning.
Police told WKVI that the suspects broke into the store by prying open the back door. The suspects did minimal damage in the store and they attempted to get money from an ATM, but no money was stolen. A complete inventory has not been done to see if anything was taken. Police are are looking for the vehicle used in the incident, a late 1990s model Chevy Malibu.
Several residents of Tippecanoe Township, outraged at the closure of Monterey Elementary, have started a petition for de-annexation from the Culver Community School Corporation to the Eastern Pulaski School Corporation. This petition, which has now collected over 600 signatures, will soon be presented to the Culver School Board in the hopes that they will agree to the request.
The November General Election is now less than one month away. Voters will be selecting a Clerk-Treasurer, Town Council members and Mayors, in some cases in this Municipal Election.
For the City of Knox, only one race is contested and that is the City Council District One race with candidates Don Kring, a Democrat and Republican Thom Morin. That will be the only race that will appear on the ballot. This year’s legislature approved the printing of only contested races on this year’s ballot. Starke County Clerk, Evelyn Skronski, said that may cause some confusion for voters.
The North Judson Town Board discussed the State Road 39 project and its progress last week.
The project is going smoothly and paving on State Road 39 should begin this week. Another half block has been added to this project as leftover funds allowed for the completion of additional work. This will take care of the sewer separation issue on that part of town. Only a small section of town needs to be done before all of the storm water and sewer drains are separated throughout the town.
Starke County Health Nurse, Frank Lynch, has released information about upcoming flu shot clinics.
Adult flu shots will be given on Thursday, October 13th from 4:30-7:00 p.m. CT at the Health Department in the Starke County Courthouse. A children’s flu shot clinic will be held on Thursday, October 20th from 4:30-7:00 p.m. CT. Some nasal mists will be available for children.
This week is National Fire Prevention week.
“Fire Prevention Week lasts all week through the 15th,” said Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost. “We try to educate not only children, but adults as well on fire prevention tips and techniques and how to be safer.”
“October is always a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Make sure that you have at least two exit plans. If you live in a two story house, you need to have some sort of escape devise if you should have a fire so you can escape the second floor. You should have something like a collapseable ladder. You need to have a meeting place outside to where everyone can meet up when they’re outside of the house.”
North Judson Police Chief, Doug Vessely, announced the hire of a new officer at the recent Town Board meeting where he was introduced to the Board members.
Officer Frank Thomas attended the 193rd class at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield and graduated on Friday, September 30th. The course is 600 hours and includes academics, emergency vehicle operations, physical tactics, vehicle S.T.O.P.S. crash investigation, criminal investigations, patrol techniques, report writing, and standardized field sobriety training. Vessely stated that Officer Thomas passed every aspect of the training including firearms training where he qualified as an “expert”. He finished training with a 93.3 academic average.
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Starke County officials heard a proposal from IU Health Starke Hospital regarding the purchase of the hospital facility, land and equipment from the County. No decision was made. IU Health Starke Hospital is asking the county to approve another $2 million in upgrades before the sale to IU Health LaPorte Hospital. Starke County is already committed to $7.4 million that the LaPorte facility inherited with the signing of the lease in 2006. If the hospital is sold, that money will be waived.
WKVI morning man, Tom Berg, plus Anita Goodan, Nathan Welter and Ed Hasnerl greeted people driving by the radio station this morning as the morning show went outside for the day. The staff enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and continue to enjoy the traffic driving by the station. Stop by and enjoy donuts from Fingerhut Bakery (Anita is in a sharing mood today) and look at an electric car from the Cambe dealership in Knox. Thank you to Five Star and Schwan’s for food today! A bouncy house is set up so you can take advantage of some stress release, thanks to Jumps “R” Us. Thanks to Lenny Dessauer for helping to set up everything today! Continue reading
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department responded to a dog attack call Thursday. When officers arrived on scene, at 2220 East 200 South in Knox, they saw Marshall Garlach had extensive injuries to his entire body after being attacked by two American Bulldogs.
After having plead guilty to six counts of Class B Burglary last year and sentenced to 15 years in the Department of Corrections, Ian Bastin appeared in the Starke Circuit Court to request a modification of his sentence.
The “No Vacancy” sign at the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County is officially lit. With their capacity of 15 residents completely full, the county commissioners this week denied a request from an individual who wanted to stay at the home.
The state ombudsman asked if the county would be willing to take someone in with an income of only $700– a little under the $1148 the home normally charges. Previously, the ARCH program offered by the state would make up that difference, but that program has been frozen for two years, offering elderly people with low income fewer places to turn.
The North Judson Town Board approved spending $50,000 on street paving this year.
The Board discussed, at length, what streets to pave at what cost. The Board settled on paving the intersection at Ufkes and Campbell Drive, West Sycamore Street, Sycamore from Luken Street to the Railroad Museum, 1,100 yards at Highland Cemetery, and the railroad crossing at Arlington Avenue.
During their meeting this week, the Hamlet Town Board discussed entering into Phase II of the Wellhead Protection Program.
The Wellhead Protection Program is a strategy to protect ground water drinking supplies from pollution. The State of Indiana mandates that all communities implement this program and identify the area around the well that needs to be protected. The program consists of two phases. The first phase was done in Hamlet in 2002. The Wellhead Protection Area was identified around City Hall, potential sources of contamination were also identified and then management and contingency plans were made. The Phase II report is due in May of 2012 which will involve reporting on the implementation of the plan created in Phase I and updating it.
The Knox Community School Board approved the hire of a new Middle School Guidance Counselor.
“The Board appointed Sonia Hensley to take over the Middle School Counselor position,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “She’s a 1990 graduate of Knox High School and has previous Counselor experience at the Mooresville School Corporation. We look forward to bringing her on board. She will begin on October 17th.
After serving his town for more than 15 years, Street Superintendent Bob Porter is receiving a promotion. Leaving his post of Street Superintendent, Porter will now be utility manager for the town of Culver.
Monday is Columbus Day and some bank branches will not be open and Post Offices will be closed in observance of the holiday. Knox City Hall will be closed on Monday.
License branches normally open on Monday will be closed on Monday, October 10th, and those branches will resume normal hours of operation on Wednesday, October 12th. Local customers needing to conduct business with the Knox, Demotte, or Monticello license branches can visit this website. Some transactions can also be completed by phone through the BMV Customer Service Center at 888-692-6841.
Starke County Mint Farmer, Mike Materna, was sentenced in U.S. District Court yesterday. The judge sentenced Materna to two years of probation, eight months in home detention and he was fined $20,000.
He avoided a 10-month jail sentence.
He plead guilty to one count of Discharge of Pollutants without a Permit in violation of the Clean Air Act. He reportedly admitted in court that he discharged hot water into a ditch without the proper permit.
Starke County officials are being faced with a philosophical dilemma. They are being asked to either reduce the sheriff’s road officers or keep the jail understaffed.
“I’m here to let you know that I’ll do whatever the Commissioners and Council ask me to do, but I do want them to understand is that in order for me to eliminate two road officers, I would have to lay them off,” said Sheriff Cowen. “I can’t just place them down in the jail and subtract their pay to jailer’s pay. I can put them in the jail, but I would have to pay them officer’s pay.”
