Two people were arrested in Medaryville on drug charges. The pair, Trevor Forker, of New Buffalo, Michigan and Sean Martinez, of Oak Forest, Illinois, are reportedly on the college football roster at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer.
The North Judson Town Board members held a lengthy discussion about safety at their meeting this week.
A picture of a utility employee hanging by his feet off a backhoe sparked the discussion as some thought a safety violation had occurred. WKVI learned that the owner of American Oak had requested the assistance of the North Judson Utility Department to help unclog a sewer line that his contractor could not successfully complete. It was found that a root ball was clogging the line. Due to the compact sewer area and the success of a previous similar issue, an employee of the department volunteered to be strapped to a strap by his feet suspended by a backhoe and he was lowered approximately 16″ into the four-and-a-half foot manhole to retrieve the root ball. There was no sewage in that area at the time and it had been vacuumed and cleared at the time. The employee successfully retrieved the obstruction within a matter of seconds and no injuries were reported.
The Starke County Council approved $50,000 to fund jailers for the Starke County Jail. Initially, Sheriff Oscar Cowen was instructed by the commissioners to pull two road officers to cover the depleted jail staff, but they quickly corrected that request when Sheriff Cowen pointed out that the road officer’s pay and jailer’s pay did not match.
Pulaski County EMA Director Larry Hoover was given confirmation by the county commissioners to go ahead with the application process for their narrow-band radio grant.
According to Hoover, the EMA has been on this grant for over a month and they’re still in the application stage. Signatures are required by the commissioners in order to ensure the grant, which involves a 50/50 match by the county, will be paid for.
A free seminar for women will be presented on Saturday at the New Millennium in downtown Knox at 10:00 a.m.
Saturday’s instructor, Danny Russo, a certified master trainer, will be giving women advice on how to naturally become stronger, firmer, healthier, happier and look great. You will learn how to flatten lower abs and how to firm thighs and to answer the question of whether or not your medications and foods you eat are helping or hurting you.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department will be hosting a “Shop with a Cop” program this year during the holiday season.
An account has been established for families needing assistance at the Alliance Bank branches in Winamac and Francesville. Donations to the “Shop with a Cop” fund will be used by officers to help others less fortunate with clothing and toys for children this Christmas. Individuals, businesses and clubs are encouraged to donate.
The second in a series of economic summits for Pulaski County is scheduled for today. With a focus on “Branding Your Business,” the economic summit will be held today at 11:30 a.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Winamac.
Marketing Consultant Jim Walton of Brand Acceleration from Indianapolis will be present to make a presentation and explain how businesses can improve their image, and keep their current clientele while expanding to new clients as well.
A capital spending request presented by officials from IU Health Starke Hospital to the Starke County Council was approved Monday night, but it didn’t exactly turn out the way the hospital administrators present wanted it to. The administrators wanted a straight approval on the $2,001,776 request, but the council put a restriction on the $250,000 contingency part of the petition.
A Francesville resident was injured last week after she was accidentally hit by a car.
Francesville Town Marshal, Jose Miramontes, told WKVI that Sandra Waibel was walking on James Street last Wednesday morning with her mother, sister and two children between Brown and State Street when Ronald Hooker, 80, hit her with his pick-up. Hooker said he did not see them. Waibel told emergency responders that she had a head injury and was pregnant. After examining the situation, she was airlifted from the scene to South Bend Memorial Hospital.
Starke County has been recognized as showing the greatest improvement in the EMA Office in the state. EMA Director, Ted Bombagetti, received the award in Indianapolis recently.
“All of the Directors of the EMAs throughout the state work off the state’s rating system where we do specific projects for our county, classroom participation and a host of other items,” said Bombagetti. “We get a report card on it at the end of the year and fortunately, my department was able to score enough points and we received an award from the state for the most improved county.”
Starke County has lost a sports icon. Gene Marks, of North Judson, passed away Monday at the age of 80. Marks was an official of several sports but the one he is most famous for is basketball.
WKVI’s Harold Welter was an admirer of Gene Marks. He was asked yesterday what he remembered most about the famous official.
“Gene Marks was one of the greatest promoters of high school sports, ever,” said Welter. “He loved to work with kids and he loved to support kids. It was just a big part of his life.”
An Open House is scheduled for Sunday, October 23rd from 2:00-5:00 p.m. CT at the Washington Township Community Building. Township Trustee, Shelly Kemble said the Open House is an opportunity for you to see all of the improvements.
“We want to show the public what’s been going on,” said Kemble. “If anyone has any old pictures of the Washington Township building when it was being built, the firehouse, or the old Washington Township Elementary School, we would like to make copies of those, enlarge those, and put those as a permanent fixture in the building. We would like to have a new area in ‘new’ building and a new atmosphere.”
The SCILL Center is hosting a coat drive. Director Jerry Gurrado, said drop off sites are at the Oregon-Davis High School, Ray’s Super Foods in North Judson, Pioneer Florist in North Judson, Five Star in Knox, Key Bank in Knox, and Baileys.
“We’re still in the process of organizing the event, but people from Love, INC and a couple of other organizations are helping to work with us on maybe getting some church organizations, or volunteers from the community, to wash the coats and then we’ll have distribution sites. There will be no questions asked, whether it be children’s coats or adult coats. Come pick them up and take them. We’re happy to be able to help in any way we can,” said Gurrado.
The Starke County Council has given permission to Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff to hire a part-time intern. Autumn Ferch is being considered for the position. She is currently a law school graduate waiting to pass the bar exam.
When hired, Autumn Ferch will be assigned to meet with defendants, prepare files, do preliminary case work, and work closely with the child support office.
Four people were arrested in downtown Knox on Saturday after an alleged fight in front of O’s Tap.
Police were called to a fight where guns were reportedly involved. When officers from the Knox City Police Department arrived on scene, Christopher Bradley was ordered to the ground and he presented a full magazine clip for a semi automatic weapon and handed it over to police. The rest of the gun was removed from his waistband. Bradley told police he took the gun from Paul Bottomley who allegedly hit his sister, Natasha Piper, in the head with the gun. Piper was bleeding from wounds received in the incident. She was transported to IU Health Starke Hospital.
A search warrant at a residence in Knox resulted in the arrest of three people for drug possession.
The warrant was executed at 404 E. New York Street where police reportedly found drug paraphernalia and marijuana in the residence. Some of the marijuana was found to be individually packaged. The Indiana State Police gathered the evidence to be processed through the Crime Lab.
In a unanimous decision by the Pulaski County Commissioners, Pulaski County now has at least some form of zoning regulation now with the Commissioners’ approval of the land-use ordinances and maps as presented by the planning commission.
According to Planning Commission President Don Good, the documents are based primarily on how the land is being used in terms of businesses, cemeteries, residential areas, and agricultural areas. Good also indicated that the land-use ordinances and maps will not require people to go through a lot of “red tape,” but are instead focused on protecting landowners.
A Winamac man was arrested Saturday on a Domestic Battery charge.
An officer from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call of a domestic battery incident at 132 E. Rays Road in Winamac. While the caller was on the phone, the dispatcher heard the suspect, Ben K. Seman, tell the victim to stop or he’ll kick her in the ribs again. The victim told police that she thought her ribs were broken. She told police that Seman had thrown her to the floor and she was transported to Pulaski Memorial Hospital for her injuries.
Dan Wheldon lived to race. Unfortunately, his love of racing came with a certain amount of risk and Sunday in Las Vegas Dan Weldon was involved in a crash that took his life.
Lori and Dewain Davis in Winamac knew Danny very well. They met Danny through their daughter who dated the famous racer at one time.
“He had such a passion for racing,” said Dewain Davis. “I know the first time I met him, I asked him, ‘Do you think you’ll ever race in Indianapolis?’ He replied, ‘Oh yeah. I’ll be there.’ Sure enough, he was. I remember one time I asked him, ‘Daniel, what is your biggest fear of the race track?’ He said, ‘Dewain, coming up behind another car, hitting the back wheel that causes me to go airborne. When that happens, I’m toast.’ And that’s what happened Sunday. He went airborne.”
West Central School Superintendent, Charles Mellon, said the wind turbine project is moving along. The cement has been poured and needs to cure for 30 days before above ground construction can begin. The School Board hopes the project is complete by the end of November.
