The West Central School Board has voted to move forward with a form of contract with Performance Services for the wind turbine project. The Board also gave authority to Umbaugh and Associates to proceed with issuing the requests for proposals for the bonds for the wind turbine project from underwriter institutions and local banks. That should be done by July 10th and the equipment should be ordered.
Two Pulaski County residents were arrested after police found them reportedly passed out at the Marathon gas station in Medaryville on Sunday.
Police pulled up to the vehicle that was parked at the pumps. Officers woke up the occupants, Finas Conley, 43, of Francesville and Tyson Matthews, 21, of Medaryville, and both were incoherent. Police found a plate with a white powdery substance in Conley’s lap and a silver pill container. Also found was a straw with a white powdery substance on it and inside it. The pair were allegedly in illegal possession of prescription medication at the time of the incident and they were in the act of snorting it. They were detained and taken to the Pulaski County Jail.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department investigated a theft from Twice is Nice on Saturday.
The owner, Kristen Ledden, told police that Stephanie Burton, 31, of San Pierre, was in her store and caught Burton placing a pair of shorts into her purse. Ledden confronted Burton and asked her to remove the item from her purse, give it back to her and leave the store. Burton sat on a chair outside the store and Ledden called the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department.
The Spotlight on Success fell on the Knox Middle School students and their video news program at the recent meeting of the Knox Community School Board. The news program that contained school news and the weather forecast aired on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the beginning of the day. Middle School Guidance Counselor, Chris Ross, helped the students edit and record their program in the school’s “green room”. Danielle Slomka and Tyler Simola-Wallingford answered questions from the Board and explained the news program.
Eight young women from the South Bend area will compete for the titles of Miss Indiana and Miss Indiana’s Outstanding Teen in Zionsville. Teen finals are June 24th and Miss Indiana Finals are Saturday, June 25th.
Celebrating 71 years of service to Hoosier Young Women, the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant is a preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, the largest source of scholarship money to young women in the world.
Taylor Quella, of Knox, is Miss Kankakee Valley’s Outstanding Teen. She is 17 years old and she attends Knox Community High School. Taylor is expected to compete 5th in the Miss Indiana’s Outstanding Teen Competition on Friday, June 24th at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center. She joins 21 others in the competition.
When severe weather strikes in the area, there is a chance traffic signals can lose power. The Indiana Department of Transportation has technicians on 24 hours per day to manage these issues.
Under Indiana law, drivers who encounter an intersection where the signal has lost power should treat the intersection as a four way stop. After stopping and when it is safe to do so, the driver should proceed with caution through the intersection. Drivers should yield to the right of way of traffic already in the intersection.
The Starke County Relay for Life event was held over the weekend. The goal this year was $38,000 and at the closing ceremonies Relay Chairman, Megan Hamand, reported that $51,162 had been raised.
Team Imagine raised $8,000 and they were announced as the winners of the team collection event. The captain of Team Imagine is Michelle Downs, who is a cancer survivor. There were 38 teams in this year’s event, which was held at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Hamlet. Continue reading
Rodger Griffin was arrested on Thursday after a brief foot pursuit with police.
Griffin, 48, allegedly battered his girlfriend and when her son tried to diffuse the situation, Griffin reportedly threatened his life and pulled a machete and waved it at him making alleged threats. The police were called and Griffin left the residence. When officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Deparment and the Knox City Police Department arrived, they were advised that Griffin had run into the woods on State Road 8. Officers did locate Griffin and chased him through thick woods. He was eventually taken into custody and booked into the Starke County jail.
A group consisting of six Knox School students were selected to receive this year’s Unsung Heroes award. The students, Samantha Piper, Joey Miller, Destiny Wells, Chastity Griffith, Robby Snowdon, and Cheyenne Jordon surprised moderately mentally handicapped teacher, Bruce Klimek, with a cash donation for his class. Four students of the team are Knox High School Freshmen, one is an 8th grader and the other is a 5th grader.
The Knox Community School Board approved the athletic trainer contract for the next school year:
“The LaPorte Regional Health system supplies the trainer, in this case it’s Heather Skelly, who has been with us for a number of years, and we help support that contract,” said Superintendent, A.J. Gappa. “And with prices going up, we had to sign a new contract and the Board did approve that so we have our trainer for another year at least and that’s a good thing.”
In a ceremony held at the Knox South Side Fire Station Sunday, Starke County Honor Guard member, Robert Rozhon, of North Judson, was presented the Larry Hartley-Striker award for service to the unit.
Mr. Rozhon, 79, is a charter member of the award winning organization. He was a member of the San Pierre Fire Department from 1963-1976, and the North Judson Fire Department from 1976-1997.
The 34th annual Mint Festival in North Judson begins this Friday, June 17th and runs until Sunday, June 19th. The carnival will be in town and musical entertainment will be featured throughout the entire weekend in Norwayne Field.
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Herman Hopkins, of Knox, was arrested Saturday, June 4th, after he allegedly broke into the residence of Virginia Neace and battered her son. He was also reportedly in possession of stolen goods from the residence and the residence of Tony and Nina Radkiewicz.
The Starke County Election Board continues to look into the consolidation of several polling places.
The Starke County Commissioners discussed a claim submitted by Treasurer Linda Belork for stamps that she says are required to send out delinquent bill notices. The claim, which was for $6,000, was denied because the Commissioners felt they were unable to justify spending such a large amount of money on stamps with the necessary data to back up the claim. Belork was informed that she will need to pull her records and find a more specific number of stamps required for mailing.
Several citizens of Pulaski County approached the Commissioners with a slide presentation detailing many issues and potentially false figures with the proposed airport expansion project. The presentation also argued the reasoning behind the proposal.
One of the reasons that was given for the airport expansion project was that increasing the length of the Arens Field runway to 5,005 feet would decrease insurance premiums for corporate aircraft. In the presentation, insurance premiums are “based on pilot age and experience, history of claims, expected hours of operations.” Also, the Airport Layout Plan states that the proposed action would have no effect on business or economic activity in the project area or local public service demands.
Second District Congressman Joe Donnelly confirmed this week that he is part of a group of Democrat Representatives who are urging President Barack Obama to tap into the Strategic Premium Oil Reserves.
“These prices are outrageous,” said Donnelly. “I’ve asked the President to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve right away. I am trying to lead the fight against speculators. We need to be an energy independent country. We need to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and go after speculators. If we do those things, we will see prices drop.”
The Knox Community School Corporation, along with IU Health Starke Hospital and Starke United, are teaming up to offer a Kindergarten Countdown program that will begin Monday, June 20th. The two week Kindergarten mini-camp is for those students entering Kindergarten who have had no exposure to Pre-School. Peggy Shidaker, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Knox schools, says this is a great jump start program for these children.
Several complaints have been received about cars traveling too fast between Pearl Street and Indiana Street in Hamlet, and the Town Board approve changing the speed in that area to 20 miles per hour. Because there are often children playing nearby, the Town Marshal originally approached the Board to request the installation of a stop sign on Short Street to slow traffic, but Board Members Curtis Simpkins and Kerry Stone were uneasy about the idea. Instead, they changed the speed in that area from 30 MPH, and will put reflective tape on the sign to ensure drivers notice the change.
Here is the Best of “TOMT”
A car caught fire in the McDonald’s parking lot in Knox this morning. No injuries were reported and the Knox-Center Township Fire Department responded to the scene. The car was owned by Bill Wallace. There is no report yet on how the fire started.
