Military Veteran Canine Dies

Posted on Author WKVI
Maya is pictured here with Neil Berg from the Hamlet American Legion

A military veteran, and hero will be laid to rest August 13th. Ceremonies will be held for Maya, who served two tours in the middle east war on terror. Maya, a bomb sniffing dog that served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, mustered out of the military to eventually live out her life on the Don Thomas farm. She was 12 years old at the time of her death.

Maya was made a member of two military service organizations after moving to Starke County; the American Legion in Hamlet, and Knox VFW Post #748.

While not exactly Arlington Cemetery, the front lawn of the VFW Post will be Maya’s last resting place.

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Week in Review for July 4th-8th, 2011

Posted on Author WKVI

Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:

Wythogan Park

Irene Szakonyi and Kurt Snearly are not eligible to serve on the Knox Park Board because they are not members of the Board that named them to the Park Board. They are Ex-Officio members.

Ruth Matsey, President of the Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, says that she has been seeing a lot of child abuse in the form of neglect in Starke County. Matsey says that statistics show that more abuse happens where there is a lot of unemployment and Starke County does have a high rate of unemployment. Continue reading →

Starke County Food Pantry Bare

Posted on Author WKVI

The Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry is in need of donations.

“Our shelves are just about bare, there’s nothing on them,” said Cecilia Torres, Services Coordinator. “More and more people are turning to the Food Pantry and donations are down. We receive no government subsidies at all except for commodities and we haven’t received those in almost three months. We get our food from churches, organizations, and individuals who open up their pocketbooks and their hearts to us. We’ve gotten a few dollar donations but we’ve been spending over $1,200 a month on meat alone. Right now I have a couple of packages of hot dogs and that’s it.”

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Starke County Officials Attend Summit on Offender Recividism

Posted on Author WKVI
Community Corrections staff
Robert Hinojosa, Shawn Mattraw and Kimberly Kennedy

Starke County Community Corrections Director, Bob Hinojosa, recently attended a summit in Indianapolis devoted to combating the high rate of offender recidivism. Also attending were Kim Kennedy and Shawn Mattraw from Community Corrections; Judge Kim Hall, Starke County Circuit Court Judge; Magistrate Jeanene Calabrese, Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff, Public Defender, Richard Ballard; Chief Probation Officer, John Thorstad; and Starke Circuit Court Probation officer, Kristi Nolcheff.

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Hamlet Town Board Considers Purchasing E. Coli Testing Equipment

Posted on Author WKVI
Hamlet Town Board: Curtis Simpkins, Kerry Stone and Bob Yung

The Hamlet Water and Wastewater Operator, John Goble, has put in a request to the Hamlet Town Board to order equipment so the department can test for E. Coli. Goble currently takes water samples to LaPorte several times a month and the tests are run there. The Town pays $30 for the testing fee, plus mileage and labor. The Board will look into the request.

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North Judson Town Board Discusses Budget, Insurance

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 Clerk-Treasurer, Connie Miller, is expected to meet with the Department of Local Government Finance to go over the proposed 2012 budget. Miller told WKVI that the State has allowed the Town to increase its General Fund by 2.9% which will amount to approximately $17,000. The proposed General Fund budget, with the increase, is $618,610. The entire proposed budget, including the General Fund, Local Roads and Streets, Motor Vehicle Highway, Parks, CCI and CCD will total approximately $795,630.

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Status Hearing for Jack Haut in Starke Circuit Court Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Jack Haut

Jack Haut will appear in Starke Circuit Court this morning for a status hearing. Haut is charged with Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Death and Reckless Homicide.

In July 2010, it is alleged that Jack Haut was driving his pickup truck on US 35 north of Knox when he swerved into the other lane and struck Thomas White of Knox head-on. White was riding a motorcycle at the time of the accident and died at the scene.

His jury trial has been scheduled for July 20th at 9:00 a.m.

Archives: Bob Hanselman Killed in Vietnam in 1969

Posted on Author WKVI

Even though almost 60,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War, it was always shocking when a hometown boy was lost.

“July 8th, 1969, was a sad day in Knox. Bob Hanselman, 20, son of Helen and Harley Hanselman was buried,” said Ted Hayes. “Bob Hanselman was part of the 26th Engineering Battalion serving in Vietnam. He was killed on June 17th, 1969, and his body was flown back and he was buried on this date in 1969. Although I did not know Bob Hanselman, to his friends he will always remain 20 years old.”

Violinist Adrienne Geisler Visits WKVI!

Posted on Author WKVI
Adrienne performs live on WKVI

Violinist Adrienne Geisler visited the WKVI studios to perform part of a song that will be featured during her concert on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. CT at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Knox.  Adrienne recently played in Carnegie Hall with the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

In 2009, she received her Masters in Violin Performance from the Peabody Institute of Music. Peabody is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.

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Firefighters Called to Two Fires Early Thursday Morning

Posted on Author WKVI
Fire crews battle a structure fire at the corner of Davis and Main Streets

Firefighters from the Hamlet Fire Department were called to a structure fire at the corner of Davis and Main Streets in Hamlet shortly after 1:00 this morning.

It is not known at this time what caused the fire in the vacant building, but officials at the scene said no injuries were reported. An investigation is pending. The Koontz Lake and Knox-Center Township Fire Departments were called to the scene for mutual aid.

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Starke County Ambulances Re-certified

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County EMS Director, Lisa Burger, informed county officials this week that the ambulances were recently re-certified by the state. In an inspection, the trucks are gone over and the paperwork is audited.

Burger told the Commissioners that in the future the state will be doing random inspections, so their number could be drawn in six months, or maybe not again for three years.

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Updated: Two Knox Park Board Members not Eligible to Serve on Board

Posted on Author WKVI
Wythogan Park

WKVI News is revisiting a story we had earlier in the week about the eligibility of two Park Board members. Because we used the phrase “not qualified”, some in our audience thought we meant the two members in question were not competent to sit on the Board. That is not correct, as the members Irene Szakonyi and Kurt Snearly are eminently qualified. Park Board President, Chris Marshall, called them very valuable, and we concur.

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Jim Wallace Seeks Republican Nomination for Governor

Posted on Author WKVI
Jim Wallace

In a normal year Jim Wallace would have the right credentials to be Governor of the state. This isn’t a normal year, and the Republicans have an anointed candidate, Congressman Mike Pence. That, though, hasn’t stopped Wallace from campaigning hard for the Republican nomination. Wallace joined other Republicans in the Pulaski County 4-H Parade this week in Winamac.

“I grew up here in north-central Indiana,” he said. I went to Kankakee Valley High School. I was Senator Lugar’s first appointee at West Point and for nine years I was a combat pilot in the Army. I came back here the first chance I had and I’ve done a lot of stuff in local municipal politics.”

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From the WKVI News Archives

Posted on Author WKVI

Arrowhead Engineering has closed its doors! That was the news story we led with back in 1977 on this date. Precision pulleys for the auto industry were manufactured at Arrowhead Engineering. Although the shutdown was initially for a two week period, the workers were not optimistic. It eventually closed its doors for good putting 100 workers out of work.

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Starke County Commissioners Tour Jails

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

The Starke County jail has been identified as the second oldest jail in the state and it is getting some attention by the County Commissioners. Commissioners Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis and Kathy Norem toured two jails in surrounding counties to gain information on how they might configure a new jail in Starke County. The Commissioners visited the Marshall and Fulton County jails yesterday.

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Pulaski County 4-H Parade held in Winamac

Posted on Author WKVI
Veronia Leman and Erica Putt

Under almost ideal conditions, the 2011 Pualski County 4-H Fair Parade was held last night in Winamac.

“The most exciting thing in 4-H is not the projects or winning a trophy, it’s meeting other people and stepping out and showing other people what you can do and what your talents are,” said 4-H Achievement Royalty winner, Erica Putt.

“I’m in Junior Leaders and we take a lot of trips and meet a lot of people and I’m also a Camp Counselor so I can be a model for younger children,” said Veronica Leman, also a part of this year’s 4-H Royalty. “I also won Showman last year which is also a very big accomplishment.” Continue reading →

Starke County Commissioners Accept Insurance Policies

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis

The Starke County Commissioners accepted the Property and Casualty and Workers Compensation Insurance policies as presented by First Source Insurance Agent, Bridget Markin yesterday. Markin said the loss ratio of 48% for the Property and Casualty was very good, but there would be an overall increase to the County of $12,017 in premiums because the company paid out $27,000 more in Workers Compensation claims than the cost of the insurance. The policies begin in July.

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