The Starke County Council recently passed a $2 million capital spending request by administrators from IU Health Starke Hospital for 2012.
A discussion was held on hospital administrators reporting on the use of discretionary funds, which CEO Linda Satkoski said was acceptable.
The North Judson Town Board approved the expenditure of an additional $2,900 for repairs done to the Main Street railroad crossing. The Board approved the work to be done for $4,875 but the an error was made in the coverage area. Town and Country Paving found that more work needed to be done at that location and the Board agreed to pay the extra money for the repairs.
33-year-old Nathan VanDerAa, of Star City, plead guilty before a Federal Magistrate Judge on Thursday, October 20th.
VanDerAa plead guilty to the felony offense of being an Unlawful User of a Controlled Substance in Possession of a Firearm. Sentencing is set for January 27th, 2012. A charge of Manufacture of a Controlled Substance was dropped as part of his plea agreement.
The Knox Redskin Brigade ended its season Saturday after placing 11th in the Semi-State Marching band competition at Decatur High School in Indianapolis. The top 10 bands went on to the State Finals.
Director Craige Phipps said it was tough, but the students did a great job and got a standing ovation for their performance.
Starke County’s unemployment rate stayed almost the same in September as it did in August. The rate was 10.1% vs. 10.3% in August. That placed Starke County as the 12th highest in the state.
The state rate was 8.9% vs. 9.1% for the country. Fayette County was the highest in the state with 12.0% while Elkhart was second at 11.1%.
An Open House was held Sunday at the Washington Township Community Building.
Township Trustee, Shelly Kemble, said that this is a building able to handle any sized crowd.
The 2011 Bling my Bra promotion is nearing an end in Starke County. The Red Hat organization in Starke County has spearheaded a promotion where women bling their bras for auction. The bras were on display Sunday at the Washington Township Community Building Open House. Kathy Cooper talks about the promotion for breast cancer research.
The Mothers of Pre-Schoolers, known as M.O.P.S., was honored to have John Hensler from Hensler’s Nursery as their guest speaker this month. John Hensler told the M.O.P.S. group about each of the Christmas tree varieties and what it takes to grow a Christmas tree from seed to harvest. John also talked about the upcoming events, including the Pumpkin Drop, Fall Festival, and Christmas activities.
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Shelby Thomas, of North Judson, was arrested Sunday after police found he allegedly held a knife up to a person’s throat and threatened death. Thomas has preliminary charges of Intimidation with a Deadly Weapon, Attempted Murder and Resisting with a Deadly Weapon.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you are needing help in an abusive situation, call the Starke County Coalition Against Domestic Abuse at 772-3331 or The Caring Place at 772-2222. Continue reading
LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department officers arrested a 25-year-old LaPorte man on Thursday in conjunction with several counts of dealing in narcotics.
Indiana Department of Corrections Parole Officers and investigators from the Michigan City Police Street Crimes unit arrested Virgil Marshall for two outstanding warrants for Class B Felony Dealing in Schedule II Controlled Substances as well as a parole violation. LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit had conducted an investigation and Marshall was identified as distributing narcotics in the City of LaPorte.
The Starke County Council approved a $25,000 request from the Commissioners that would be used to secure the assistance of Umbaugh and Associates and Ice Miller, LLC in pursuing special legislation that would help in the funding of a jail project once the scope of that project is determined.
The committee selected to study how to correct problems at the jail was brought up to date this week on what would happen if a Federal Court judge was to mandate that a new jail be built. Starke County already has a class action suit against it, and with the condition of the jail it is not out of the realm of possibility that other law suits could be forthcoming in the future.
Three Medaryville residents were arrested Tuesday after an ongoing theft investigation by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department.
Eight thefts were reported between the months of March and October in 2010 from rural farms in Rich Grove and Cass Townships on U.S. 421 in Pulaski County. Two operational semi-tractors, two inoperable cars and one pickup, tractor weights, and several other items and farm implements were stolen. Scrap steel was also reported stolen from the FTC business in Francesville.
The North Judson Town Board members approved the 2012 budget this week. All funds, including the general fund, local roads and streets, motor vehicle highway, parks, cumulative capital improvements, and cumulative capital development funds total $785,360.
The Starke County Commissioners are trying to decide on a snow emergency policy involving employee pay if the county is under a no travel order due to snowy conditions. The Courthouse had to close once in December of 2010 and again in January of this year because the county roads were closed due to snow. A funding mechanism was in place through the state and federal governments where the county could get funding to make the roads passable if an emergency is declared in the county.
Jason Creque, of Winamac, was arrested Tuesday in Pulaski County on Theft charges after a search warrant was executed by Pulaski County police.
An ATV, hunting clothing, household items, toys, and tools were reported stolen by a homeowner on 475 W., south of 900 S. in Pulaski County. When Pulaski County officers investigated the shooting incident between Creque and Josh Isom on October 5th, detectives observed the stolen items at Creque’s residence at 7948 S. 475 W. in Winamac. Detectives obtained a search warrant and some of the stolen items were recovered at the residence. The ATV was recovered in Carroll County and some of the hunting items were recovered in Monticello.
The Knox City Police Department continues to investigate the burglary at Five Star.
Police say they are looking for two male suspects who are approximately six feet tall. The vehicle used by the suspects is said to be a gold, late 1990s model Chevy Caprice with dark tinted windows. Detectives say that they have been receiving tips from the security footage that was posted on this website and are following up on the information given to them. Evidence was collected at the scene and is being analyzed by the Indiana State Police Crime Lab.
After conducting interviews for the full-time EMT position, Culver EMS Director Chuck Dilts recommended hiring Kimberly Irsa to the town council at their recent meeting. Irsa has been with the Culver EMS since November 2010, and was previously an Advanced EMT in Pulaski County.
Greg Briles, Principal at Oregon-Davis High School, has been named the District 2 Principal of the Year. Briles said representing Oregon-Davis High School every day is an even greater honor than the award.
“It doesn’t come without hard work from the students, the parents, the community, the teachers that are around me and it takes those people to make this honor possible,” commented Briles.
The Knox Redskin Brigade and the John Glenn Marching Band will be performing in the Semi-State Marching Band competition in Class C tomorrow at Decatur High School in Indianapolis.
John Glenn will perform at 5:20 p.m. ET and the Knox Redskin Brigade will perform at 5:46 p.m. ET. Awards for all of Class C, which contains 20 bands, will be at approximately 6:12 p.m. ET. 10 bands will advance to the State Finals which will be on Saturday, October 29th, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The discrepancies in the Treasurer’s office have almost been solved. It was reported at this week’s Starke County Commissioners meeting that the Treasurer’s balance, and bank balance were in sync within pennies. The figures came from the monthly 47TR report given to the commissioners.
“The 47TR form is basically the form that compares our Treasurer’s balance to the bank balance to the Auditor’s balance,” explained Commission President, Dan Bridegroom. “The Auditor’s balance will be somewhat different than the Treasurer’s because of how the funds are received. In the bottom line, that form out of the Treasurer’s Office should balance with our bank. That is where we had the huge discrepancy of almost $900,000 and that’s what led us to where we are today. As of Tuesday of last week, the Auditor, Kay Chaffins, and Casey in the Treasurer’s Office have got that down to somewhere around $.33 and they will find that portion of that also.”
