Sabre Manufacturing LLC, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced plans for the expansion of operations at Sabre in Knox. Development Foundation Director, Charlie Weaver, says that Sabre manufactures temporary environmental equipment known as FRAC and WEIR tanks.
Following a physical confrontation in a bar in July 2010, Niki Hochstetler was found guilty of Battery, a Class C Felony; and Battery as a Class A misdemeanor after allegedly stabbing Eric Amore at the Country Roads Bar and Grill in Walkerton last July. The two charges were merged with a recommended sentence of four years in the Department of Corrections.
Hochstetler received her sentence Thursday in the Starke Circuit Court. Judge Kim Hall said he felt her aggravating factors and mitigating factors were of equal weight, but her attitude, the fact that she has the support of her family, and her good standing with the home detention program worked in her favor.
Hall sentenced Hochstetler to two years to be served in the Department of Corrections, with two years of probation following her release. She is also required to complete a batterer’s intervention program following her release to probation, and she was credited for the 60 days she has spent in jail. With good behavior, and considering her 60 days credit, Hochstetler is expected to be released in ten months.
When Hall mentioned her mitigating and aggravating factors, he said that her only mitigating factor was that the victim, Amore, refused emergency medical treatment, and instead, returned to the bar.
“That, to me, says a great deal about the entire event,” said Hall. “Had the victim been treated, or taken to the hospital, airlifted, or even died, you’d be looking at a very different set of circumstances.”
Ryan Taylor and Kenneth K. Wallace will be in Starke Circuit Court today to face a charge of Arson as a Class D Felony. They will plead guilty or not guilty during their initial hearing this morning at 9:00 a.m. Continue reading
The new Consul General of Mexico visited Starke County this week. Eduardo Arnal, visited with Starke County Development Director Charles Weaver in his Knox office. The northern part of Indiana is under Arnal’s jurisdiction, and he was visiting several counties to offer the services of his office with any questions officials might need answered.
Arnal said sooner or later the United States needs to have immigration reform. He said, “It’s simple. The U.S. needs our workers, and right now the laws make it almost impossible to enter legally.”
Weaver said the Mexican population in Starke County is small, but thought the residents here would be surprised at how many are working in our factories.
“Starke County has an Hispanic population of about 3.3 percent,” explained Weaver. “80 percent of that population are of Mexican ancestry. There are a number of Mexican population working within some of the businesses in Starke County. The majority of those workers are working here from other counties and then they return home. So, what we’re going to see as far as a population shift, I have no idea.”
Knox Attorney, Todd Wallsmith, has received disciplinary notice from the Indiana Supreme Court for violating the Indiana Professional Conduct Code. In the notice, the court informed Wallsmith that he is suspended from the practice of law for 180 days. The term of the suspension begins September 30th, 2011, with 45 days actively served and the remainder stayed subject to completion of 24 months probation. Wallsmith will not be permitted to practice law from October 1st to November 15th.
Two big area festivals begin today!
The Blueberry Festival in Plymouth begins today. The Festival will open at 5:00 p.m. ET today and will feature the opening ceremony at the Jefferson School Stage. The Blueberry Idol Karaoke Contest will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Amphitheater. The Festival gets into full swing tomorrow with all of your favorite sporting events, the arts and craft booths, and of course, the food!
Center Township Trustee Julie Manns came before the Knox City Council recently to discuss the Humphreys Cemetery. Humphreys’ family members, including local resident Marilyn Folkers, are wanting to put a fence around the small cemetery, but to this point nobody knows the exact boundary lines.
Sunday Morning Mixed League 08/28/11
Team Standings:
1. Split Heads 10.0-4.0
2. Lucky #7 9.0-5.0
3. Odd Balls 9.0-5.0
4. Strange Brew 9.0-5.0
5. Fisher’s 8.0-6.0
6. The Quest 7.0-7.0
7. The Unknown 6.0-8.0
8. BWG’s 6.0-8.0
9. Miss Fits 6.0-8.0
Are the taxpayers in the mood to consider some expensive building programs in the near future? The Knox Community School Corporation has a committee put together to consider remodeling the Palmer Wing at the Elementary building, the Starke County Library Board wants to remodel a portion of the Henry F. Schricker Branch Library and the County Commissioners are still considering a new or remodeled county jail.
Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers got more than they bargained for when they served arrest warrants to Joseph and Melissa Dillard this week. Continue reading
Weeks after Indiana began the nation’s broadest school voucher program, thousands of students have transferred from public to private schools such as to an all girls catholic school. This has caused a spike in enrollment at some Catholic institutions that were only recently on the brink of closing for lack of pupils.
John Elcesser, Executive Director of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association, said it’s not surprising that Catholic Schools are receiving so many of the vouchers. Most Catholic schools already have state accreditation, which some private schools lack.
The Pulaski County United Fund Fall 2012 Campaign will kick off this month. Donations received in this year’s campaign will be used to award grant funding to 10 local non-profit agencies. The goal is $40,000.
You may donate with a direct money donation, or you may have the option of deducting money from your payroll check as your pledge. Many businesses offer employees the opportunity to give through payroll deduction and many will match employee contributions dollar for dollar. For more information, contact your Human Resources Department or call United Fund at (574) 946-7320.
Students in the Middle and High Schools in Knox have been participating in the one-to-one computer initiative and Superintendent, A.J. Gappa said that it’s going well so far.
“As we look at it today, two weeks into the school year, because all of the computers are wireless, it was not letting everybody on at the same time for a couple of days,” he said. “We had the experts that installed the wireless system in our schools come back and work through some glitches and the second week has gone much better. Kids are engaged, teachers are engaged and things seem to be going well at this point.”
Volunteers and community service workers have been working to renovate the Washington Township Community Building. The entire interior has been cleaned and painted, doors refinished and floors have been scrubbed and finished. The improvements have cost less than $1,000.
Township Trustee, Shelly Kemble, said an Open House is planned so the community can see all of the improvements.
It was on this date that the Medaryville Correctional Facility closed. The facility was located just inside Jasper County at the Jasper-Pulaski State Fish and Wildlife area.
The facility was opened in 1961 and closed the doors on September 1st, 2007.
Two men were arrested Tuesday after they were found to have set a vehicle on fire on the Gurley residence in Monterey.
Police were called after a witness saw a vehicle leaving the scene of a vehicle fire. Police approached the suspect vehicle and found Knox residents 35-year-old Ryan Taylor and 34-year-old Kenneth K. Wallace inside. The officer said that he was investigating a vehicle fire and told Taylor that it was his mother’s 2002 Pontiac Grand Am that was on fire. He said that the vehicle was in town at his grandmother’s house and it had been there for some time and it needed transmission work.
A court appearance by attorneys who represent Starke County and Linda Belork was vacated yesterday. Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall will sign an order today establishing the procedure for selecting a nearby court to hear Belork’s case in which she disputes being dismissed from conducting her duties as the County Treasurer. Belork’s attorney had asked for a change of venue from Starke County.
The suit was brought against the County to determine if officials had the legal right to relieve her of the Treasurer’s duties.
Over 300 signatures have been collected to deannex Tippecanoe Township from the Culver Community School District. The effort was made in response to the closing of the Monterey Elementary School.
At the time of the announcement of the closing, many in the township expressed their extreme displeasure, claiming it was promised that Monterey Elementary would stay open permanently. School officials in Culver said it was necessary to close the school as a cost cutting measure.
Monterey Elementary went through an extensive remodeling project 10 years ago.
This spring, the Knox Community School Board met with a committee to discuss issues with the east end of the Elementary School, known as the Palmer Wing. The committee has found that there are some issues that need to be fixed with the 60-year-old infrastructure and building. The infrastructure is not built for today’s technology needs in terms of electric capacity and space. and water lines need to be replaced.
There are new rules and guidelines for collective bargaining and teacher evaluation coming from the Department of Education, following legislation passed in the most recent session of the General Assembly.
