Johnson County Man Arrested in Starke County after Escaping Home Detention

Posted on Author WKVI

A Greenwood, Indiana man was arrested in Starke County Sunday after cutting off his electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle and fleeing his home.

An anonymous tip was called into the Starke County Sheriff’s Department that Zackary Schacht was in the area on a warrant out of Johnson County. Officers went to the residence in question and found Schacht at the residence. Police announced their presence and Schacht ran. K9 officer, Chad Keen, warned Schacht to stop or the K9 would be deployed. Schacht did not yield to the warning and K9 Marco was given the command to apprehend the suspect. The K9 stopped Schacht from fleeing. Schacht was then taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment. When he was medically cleared, he was transported to the Starke County Jail on the active warrant and was charged with Resisting Law Enforcement.

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Electric Customers Urged to Conserve

Posted on Author WKVI

Kankakee Valley REMC and NIPSCO customers are being asked to conserve electricity as much as possible.

REMC has been working with its large power customers by implementing agreements that allow for interruption of service. Residential and small commercial customers are asked to voluntarily limit the use of electricity as much as possible. All load management problems are being used to reduce demand. Turn off all unnecessary lights, delay the use of major appliances until late at night or early morning hours and set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees.

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Starke County 9-1-1 Fund Losing Money

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Council members heard from Starke County Sheriff’s Matron, Chris Smith, at their meeting this week.  In her report, Smith said the 9-1-1 fund should be solvent for the remainder of the year.  She quoted a figure of $57,826 in the fund.

The bad news is that long term, the fund may go into the “red”.  One problem is that the 9-1-1 fund is financed primarily by land line telephone customers.  With so many people switching to cell phone service and abandoning land line service in their home, the same fee is not being received.  As a matter of fact, no one seems to know how much the cell phone companies should be paying.

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North Judson Town Board to Advertise Budget; Sewer Separation Project to Start Next Week

Posted on Author WKVI

The North Judson Town Board approved a request to send the 2012 budget out for advertising. The State allowed the Board to increase the General Fund by 2.9% and that is what the Board will be advertising for this year’s budget. The Board is seeking $618,610 for the General Fund.

After the budget is advertised, the budget will be sent to the Auditor’s office and the County Council will review and approve or reject the budget in October. If all is approved, the Board will adopt the budget in October.

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Knox School Board Approves Textbook Fees

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Community School Board approved textbook rental fees for the upcoming school year. Superintendent, A.J. Gappa said the prices have decreased at the Elementary School. The lowest textbook price is $70 at the third grade level and the highest price is $99 at the fifth grade level.

“And the difference is because of the cost of the textbooks and supplies that each grade level receives,” said Gappa. “In comparison to last year, book rental fees are slightly down. The main reason for that is that the State has dropped cursive writing as a required standard. Even though we are still going to teach cursive writing as part of the curriculum and instruction that is given by the teachers, we didn’t find it necessary to buy a consumable workbook that went with each grade level.”

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Pulaski County United Fund Helps Residents with Utility Deposit Fees

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County United Fund has helped 12 Pulaski County residents with the 1010 Grant. The two-year grant was awarded to Pulaski County from the Indiana Association of United Ways/Funds.

These residents, who qualified for the Energy Assistance Program by demonstrating financial need, received support from the grant to cover utility deposit fees. Deposits for water, electric and gas service were made to the Town of Winamac, Kankakee Valley REMC, Fulton County REMC, and NIPSCO on behalf of the recipient.

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Jack Haut Trial Begins

Posted on Author WKVI
Jack Haut

The trial for Jack Haut began yesterday in Starke Circuit Court with opening statements from both sides. Haut is charged with Reckless Homicide following an accident that occurred on July 2nd, 2010, when a white pickup truck Haut was driving collided with the motorcycle operated by Tom White, killing him instantly.

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Starke County Planning Commission Tables Dog Kennel Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI

The ordinance regulating dog kennels is slowly making progress to being approved, and it’s been sent back to the tech committee for further revision. Previously, a committee consisting of many dog owners collaborated on making a revision to the proposed ordinance that would differentiate between commercial and non-commercial kennels, but none of the members of the Planning Commission had a list of the people on that committee.

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Koontz Lake Sewer Project Ahead of Schedule

Posted on Author WKVI
Crews work to install rebar for the walls that will contain the tanks

Paul Warnke and Ken Jones came before the Starke County Commissioners this week to report on the progress of the Koontz Lake Sewer Project.

Jones told the Commissioners that the project is ahead of schedule and street and road restoration began this week which is making the public very happy.

The restoration could not begin until NIPSCO pressure tested the power to the grinder pumps. After that was done, the cuts in the road could be restored. Continue reading →

Knox Community School Students Will Dismiss Early on Fridays during School Year

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Community School Board started a discussion with the Teacher’s Union last year to try and offer more Professional Development for the teachers during the school year. The State requires that schools be in session for 180 days which doesn’t allow much extra time for Professional Development opportunities without conflicting with contract terms. Superintendent A.J. Gappa says that some neighboring schools had a plan that the Knox Schools will implement this school year.

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News from the North Judson Town Board

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson Town Board: Dan Anderson, Wendy Hoppe, Jane Ellen Felchuk, Attorney Cassie Hine and Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller

The North Judson Town Board is reviewing a proposal from DC Tech Solutions where the company is requesting that they be allowed to mount internet equipment on both of the town’s water towers. The Town would also need to pay the monthly NIPSCO charges. In exchange, DC Tech Solutions will offer free internet to all of the town’s offices and offer 2 hours of tech support a month for free. Since the Town already receives free internet service, the Board and the company will discuss alternative exchanges, if feasible, at a later time.

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Pulaski County Commissioners Refuse to Reimburse Sales Tax

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak found herself in the hot seat in front of the Commissioners as she requested reimbursement for sales tax that was paid on some items bought from Sam’s Club and Walmart. When the chairs were purchased, one of the employees of the Prosecutor’s office did not use the tax exempt form, requiring them to pay the sales tax. Mrak said that sales tax has been reimbursed before, and she was unable to use any tax exempt forms at Walmart because the item was purchased online and shipped to the store.

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SCILL Center Welcomes New Director

Posted on Author WKVI
Jerry Gurrado

Jerry Gurrado is the new Director at the SCILL Center in Knox. Jerry is no stranger to Knox and he talks about coming back to the area where he grew up.

“Harry Chapin had one of my favorite songs called “Circle” where he talks about how life’s a circle and it kinda comes back. I was born and raised here in Knox and in those last couple of years of high school I couldn’t wait to get out because there was nothing to do and now in my middle age I find myself back here,” said Gurrado.

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Former Knox Football Coach Dies

Posted on Author WKVI
Dale Snelling

A former Knox football coach passed away earlier this month in Noblesville.

Dale Snelling, 75, had been a Noblesville City Councilman from 1992 until 2011. He was also a Noblesville School Board member from 1968 until 1984.

He coached track and football at Knox beginning in 1957. While in Knox, he also served as a volunteer firefighter, Director of the Knox Parks Department baseball program and was later inducted as a coach in the Knox High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He moved to Noblesville in 1963.

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One Charge Dropped against Jack Haut

Posted on Author WKVI
Jack Haut

After being in jail almost a year under $150,000 bond, Jack Haut will be in Starke Circuit Court today to face a Reckless Homicide charge.

Haut is accused of causing the death of Thomas White, who was hit while on his motorcycle riding on State Road 35 north of Knox.

If convicted, Haut could receive anywhere from two to eight years on the Class C Felony charge.

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Starke County Council Waits to Approve Addition-Renovation Bond for Library

Posted on Author WKVI
Henry F. Schricker Library

For the second time, the Starke County Council has refused to approve an addition-renovation bond issue plan proposed by the Starke County Library Board. The bond issue would be for $2 million and would follow the pay-off of bonds on the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox. Because of the payoff of that bond, there would be no increase in the levy.  Councilman David Pearman talked about the Council’s hesitancy to approve the request.

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Oregon-Davis Schools Rank First in I-STEP Test Improvement

Posted on Author WKVI
Oregon-Davis Jr/Sr High School

On Tuesday, July 12th, The Indiana Department of Education released I-STEP results. The Oregon-Davis School Corporation ranked #1 in the State of Indiana out of 292 corporations for improvement overall. That includes all grades in English and Math. The Oregon-Davis School Corporation students displayed a 14.6% improvement from 2010 to 2011.

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Over 300 Marijuana Plants Uprooted from Vacant Lot in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

Knox City Police Chief Clint Norem contacted the Starke County Sheriff’s Department last week to report that he has removed 358 marijuana plants from a vacant lot within city limits. The plants were grown without care and were found by an alley between New York and Delaware Streets, just west of U.S. 35. He said that some plants were very small. The plants were transported to the City Police Department to be destroyed at a later time.