Starke County Sheriffs Department officers were called to a one vehicle roll-over accident on U.S. 35 north of State Road 8 (north) this morning.
The driver of the vehicle, Chantel Box, 25, of Knox, was northbound on U.S. 35 when she lost control of her vehicle causing it to go off the roadway and overturn on the eastside of U.S. 35.
The following piece was submitted by WKVI Intern and Knox High School student, Makayla Dillard.
We’ve all heard the saying, “only the good die young.” This was undoubtedly proved true this past Monday night. The tragic untimely death of Drew Shearin affected the entire community. His life touched nearly everyone’s life in some way, shape, or form. He was the nicest young man, the most successful young musician, and the most talented young actor. But that’s just it – he was so young. As Ms. Miller, his best friend’s mother, said, “God needed someone to teach the angels how to play music.” The amount of people that showed up to his candle light vigil Wednesday evening was absolutely incredible. “Each of the candles represented someone that he touched,” said Ms. Miller. And that was inevitably true. Drew Shearin’s life affected hundreds upon hundreds of people. Everyone from his peers, to the entire community.
Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a shooting incident that occurred on October 5th near Nice’s Bridge in Pulaski County.
Josh Isom, 27, of Monticello, was reportedly shot in the leg by Jason Creque and sought medical treatment at the White County Memorial Hospital. Further investigation by the White County Sheriff’s Department and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department found that he suffered a minor gunshot wound. Isom told police that Creque was involved with his former girlfriend and mother of his child. He allegedly told police that he went to Creque’s home to kill him. Isom stated that he took a swing at Creque and was shot in the leg. Creque confirmed to police that he shot Isom and he also attacked him with brass knuckles. Creque told police that he was in fear for his life when he shot Isom.
In past years, Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen has held a golf tournament to help finance his political campaigns. This year, Sheriff Cowen will donate the money to charity. The tournament raised $2,115.00, and Cowen has named a charity that will benefit from the fundraiser.
“Two Starke County girls that were well known, Christina Rotering and Ashley Derrickson, who succumbed to cancer, I thought that would be a good cause to donate the money to.”
Congress is attempting to reign in the Chinese for manipulating its currency to make its exports to the U.S. cheaper and U.S. exports more expensive. Many legislators are hesitant to take on the Chinese this way, saying quiet diplomacy is a better way to influence policy.
Second District Congressman Joe Donnelly spoke on the house floor yesterday about the proposed legislation.
A Star City man has been charged with Carrying a Handgun Without a License, a Class C Felony.
A Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputy pulled over a vehicle driven by Matthew Wheeler as the Deputy found that the license plate was expired and the license plate light was out. The officer asked Wheeler if he had any weapons in the vehicle and he said he had a BB gun in the car. After consent was given to search the vehicle, the officer found a 9mm Taurus handgun underneath the driver’s seat. Wheeler was asked if he had a permit to carry a firearm and he told the officer that he did not have a permit. He reportedly said that he knew that it is illegal to transport a firearm without a permit. He said he was carrying the weapon because someone was harassing him. Wheeler also reportedly had two pocket knives in his left front jeans pocket which he didn’t reveal to police.
For the first time in a long time, the Knox Elementary staff will hold parent/teacher conferences. Since the state mandated that all schools have 180 full days of instruction, that dropped the ability to have parent/teacher conferences during the day so they were eliminated. Superintendent A.J. Gappa said that they’re bringing them back next week.
The Kankakee Valley Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #129 in Starke County received a donation from a Knox Elementary student, Kindergartener Jack Guzman.
The student collected money he found around the house and collected small donations from family members. He donated his money in support of the F.O.P.’s program “Shop with a Cop”, which is a program that allows officers and auxiliary members of the F.O.P. to take children from throughout Starke County shopping for school clothes and supplies.
Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, has been giving us fire prevention tips this week in observance of National Fire Prevention Week. Today, he talks a little about the Fire Department:
“It’s a 25 member department,” explained Pfost. “Shawn Kidder has been doing a great job with fire prevention. Actually, he did a headstart program and and elementary school on Monday.” Continue reading
The Knox Redskin Brigade will be performing in the Regional Marching Band competition tomorrow at Chesterton High School at 1:49 p.m. CT. Knox will be in competition with the John Glenn Falcon Pride band in Class C. John Glenn will play at 1:10 p.m. CT.
Plymouth will be performing tomorrow at Lafayette Jefferson High School at 6:35 p.m. ET. If the bands advance from the Regional competition, students will perform in the semi-state competition and then on to State competition at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Just because it’s October doesn’t mean the Knox City Park crew is idle. Park Superintendent, George Byer, and his assistant, Clarence Marshall, have been working on playground equipment. Maybe your children would enjoy the refurbished spring loaded animal ride on the east side of the park. It’s been refurbished to make it ADA acceptable. One piece of equipment, the handle bars, had to be custom made.
The heart of the community has been torn asunder following the tragic loss of a Knox High School student. Andrew “Drew” Shearin was a 17-year-old junior whose life touched an unbelievable number of hearts before he was prematurely torn away from his family and friends, spurring an unbelievable amount of sorrow in the community.
“Drew was an extremely popular and engaging student and will be greatly missed by his peers, our staff, and the Knox community,” said Knox High School Principal Elizabeth Ratliff. “We also offer our heartfelt sympathies to the family for their loss.”
A reward of $1,000 is being offered by the owner of Five Star in Knox for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of persons who broke into the store early Monday morning. The burglary took place sometime after 1:00 a.m.
The burglars used an acetylene torch to try to cut into an ATM machine, but no money was stolen. The police told WKVI news that the suspects broke into the store by prying open the back door.
A change of venue has been granted by Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall in the lawsuit filed by former Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork. The suit was brought about after Belork’s August 11th dismissal of her duties as treasurer of the county. Belork was relieved of her duties by the County Commissioners after a state audit reported financial discrepancies. According to a later commissioner’s report, some of the discrepancies have been cleared up by the Auditor’s office.
Ethan Lowe, Belork’s attorney, asked for a change of venue from Starke County. Representing the County in the matter is attorney, Martin Lucas.
A Knox man is recovering after being attacked by a dog at a residence at 2320 East 200 South on Thursday, October 6th.
Marshall Garlach saw his neighbor’s child in his front yard and didn’t know if his neighbor knew he was at his house, according to the police report. Garlach walked the boy home. He opened the gate to enter the property and walked the boy up to the door. It was when Garlach started back toward the gate and the attack began. He said the male dog knocked him to the ground and then the female started to attack him too. Garlach told police that he didn’t know how he did it, but he got away to call 9-1-1.
The Eastern Pulaski School Board learned this week that only 4% of the 2011 Winamac High School graduating class are not in some type of post secondary training, or working at a job.
The budget for the year of 2012 was approved by the Culver Community School Board this week, with one disappointing detail: a loss of $558,000 in funding compared to last year. According to Superintendent Brad Schuldt, this decrease in funding is due to a number of reasons.
The restoration grant from the state has been reduced to $0, as well as the small schools grant. In addition, the change in the formula used to calculate funding for schools was changed at the state level, and declining enrollment due to a variety of reasons also played a part in the decline of funding.
The EMS building in Culver will soon be under repairs on the eastern side of the building. EMS Director Chuck Dilts told WKVI that the drain pipe running underneath the east side of the building was found to be leaking and as a result, the drain pipe as well as a concrete wall and sidewalk above it need to be replaced.
Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, has another fire prevention tip in honor of National Fire Prevention Week.
“Never leave your home with candles burning,” said Pfost. “We’ve had a lot of fires where people leave home and they forget to put a candle out. Keep them away from curtains.”
Heating bills for NIPSCO customers are expected to decrease by 7.7 percent this winter. Market projections indicate that this winter, natural gas prices will remain among the lowest in more than 10 years.
