The Pulaski County Relay for Life will be Friday and Saturday, June 24th and 25th at the West Central High School. Opening ceremonies begin Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET and the closing ceremonies will be Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. ET. The theme this year is “Rock around the Clock” and those attending will be dressed in 1950s and 1960s attire. Event Chair, Stephanie Parish, says there are many activities planned during the event.
John Reed thought he was going to a press conference called by Mayor Rick Chambers yesterday, but when he stepped inside the Knox Community Center he was greeted by, “SURPRISE!”
Even though it was John’s 65th birthday, the reason he was being honored was the announcement of his retirement as Editor of The Leader weekly newspaper.
North Judson-San Pierre High School’s athletic department is pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. Phil Shabi as its new basketball coach. He is a 1996 graduate of Wheeler High School and 2001 graduate of Purdue University. Last season, Shabi served as assistant boys basketball coach at Canyon Springs, Nevada High School which captured the 2011 Class 4A State Championship. From 2006-2010, he was head boys basketball coach at Clark, Nevada High School. Prior to that, Shabi was Director of Physical Education and Athletics as well as the head boys basketball coach at Unity Middle School, in Delray Beach, Florida.
Mr. Shabi will serve as a Health and P.E. teacher at the North Judson-San Pierre Middle School.
Starke County Commission President, Dan Bridegroom, said that the County might be back to square one this week after a dog kennel ordinance failed to gain approval for the third time.
Over 60 dog owners crowded into the County Annex building Monday night to disagree with many aspects of the proposed ordinance that was being presented by Administrator/Building Inspector, Bruce Williams.
After an hour of discussion and comments from the audience, the Commissioners, on a motion by Kathy Norem and seconded by Jennifer Davis, voted to deny the ordinance as presented, and sent it back to the Plan Commission.
The Starke County Library Board asked the Starke County Council this week for permission to enter into a bond issue for $2 million to renovate and expand the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox.
“We’ve had several focus groups and at each one of the meetings, the two main things that came up were more room for the children and meeting rooms,” said Library Director, Ellen Dodge. “Those are our two key points.”
Pulaski County Recorder Lynn Wilder received approval from the Commissioners to get quotes on a new recording system for her office because of issues with the current software. Wilder explained that a server crash completely disabled their main server, which provides service to many of the county offices. A temporary server has been in use since the crash, but this server is newer than the software on the computers accessing it, causing the recorder’s office to experience various issues in the service.
Starke County Commissioner, Kathy Norem, was questioned by the County Council Monday on funding the defense in a Class Action Lawsuit filed against the County by Starke County Jail inmate, Jack Haut.
The Council asked Norem if she had any idea what range of funding would be needed for this lawsuit.
Scot Imus, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, and Maureen Hellman Ferguson, Executive Director of the Indiana Petroleum Council, will attend a forum in LaPorte tonight that has been arranged by Senator Jim Arnold (D-LaPorte) and State Representative Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) to discuss gas prices.
The Knox Community School Board members approved student handbook changes at all building levels at their meeting Monday night.
Elementary Principal, Glenn Barnes, requested that the handbook reflect changes for telephone use by the students. Beginning in August, students may have cell phones with the restriction that they are kept in backpacks during class time and on bus rides.
Also, students who ride the bus on longer bus routes will now be able to use electronic devices while riding to and from school.
The annual Starke United Golf Tournament is Friday, and you can still reserve a space. Executive Director, Julie Dessauer, said yesterday that Kersting’s Cycle Center is the hole-in-one sponsor. Hit that hole-in-one and ride off on a motorcycle. Also win a $500 VISA Card, golf clubs, or T.V.
Call 772-7506 for more information. The tournament is at the Chesapeake Run Golf Course in North Judson.
A Child Passenger Safety Certification Course at IU Health Starke Hospital begins today at 1:00 p.m. CT. The class is approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Riley Hospital for Children. Police officers, firefighters, healthcare providers and other interested individuals from the area are invited to participate in this 32 hour course.
The classes go through Saturday June 25th. Upon completion of the course, newly certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians will assist with a free car seat check up event Saturday in the I.U. Health Starke Hospital parking area.
The Starke County Council last night approved the Starke County Commissioners’ request to transfer $100,000 into the Legal Fund from the Health Fund to defend the County in the Jack Haut Class Action Lawsuit. Haut, as previously reported, is suing the County claiming the jail does not meet humane conditions because of overcrowding.
Ed Clark of the Pulaski County Recycling Center approached the county commissioners yesterday, seeking approval of a $20,000 grant for the recycling center. The grant, which is actually the second installment of a $40,000 grant that is received each year, can be transferred to the recycling center at the discretion of the commissioners and the recycling center manager. The other half goes to fuel, tire repairs and other expenses. Clark said that there are several problems that the recycling center needs to fix, and the $20,000 would go to repairing these issues.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department was called to an accidental shooting on Sunday, June 19th.
Robert Avery, of Winamac, told police that he saw a chipmunk on a woodpile they have by the house and decided he was going to shoot at it. According to police, his girlfriend, Dawn Vanaman, knew he was going to shoot at it but she was trying to keep her kitten from running into the line of fire and instead, Dawn got into the line of fire. Avery reportedly told police that parts of the projectile shot from a rifle hit Dawn in the neck area. Vanaman was airlifted to Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne. Vanaman told police that the shooting was an accident. Avery was reportedly drinking the day of the incident.
The reporting officer forwarded the case to the Detective’s Division for further review.
Since the closing of the Monterey Elementary School, there have been rumors that some of the students will go to the Eastern Pulaski School system, instead of going into Culver Community.
Culver Community School Superintendent Brad Schuldt was asked if he anticipates losing students because of the closure.
“We expected this to be an issue, and in fact, when we did some financial planning, the numbers that we used did include a reduction of students over the next two years,” said Schuldt. “Of course the big question is going to be how many students will be moving. That is a number that is changing rather regularly. I know that some of the families have requested transcripts to be sent to a new school corporation. That’s pretty much how we can keep track of people who have actually made the move.”
Mike Materna is facing a possible prison sentence because he reportedly released hot water discharge into a ditch near his mint distillery, and that has many people “hopping mad.”
State Representative Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) is one of the people who is outspoken in his feelings about this possibility. Dermody said, (and I quote),
“To be honest with you this scares me to death. This is nothing more than a rampaging federal government.”
Although it has not become a huge problem so far, the Knox City Council members did discuss horseback riding in the city and parks at their most recent meeting.
Besides the problem of manure on the streets, there is a problem of riding in the parks. Horses can do a lot of damage if being ridden on a baseball field. In the discussion, Park Superintendent, George Byer, said there is evidence in the form of manure on the walking path, which makes it unpleasant for the walkers.
The Washington Township Fire Department will be the location of a two-day training session for current fire officers and is open to firefighters. Topics of discussion include leadership, decision-making, risk management, strategy and tactics, root cause problem solving, customer service, training, and more. The sessions will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 25th and 26th, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT.
Talk of a new Starke County Jail has surfaced again. The three Starke County Commissioners talked about visiting other county jails in Marshall, Fulton and Brown Counties to look at the configuration of the buildings.
The announcement of the fact that they would be touring these buildings was made during the June 16th meeting to discuss the Class Action Law Suit brought against the County by Jack Haut, a Starke County Inmate.
Starke County will be rolling out a new welfare application process today. Starke is one of 13 counties that will begin automating part of the process. This means it will be expanding into areas still operating only with paper intensive, face-to-face contact between case workers and clients receiving food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits.
