The West Central School Board recognized staff members for their many years of service to the School Corporation.
Lisa Marlatt and Cathy Risner were recognized for 15 years; Mike Harter, Pam Ledford and Monica Franscoviak for 20 years; Diana Culp for 25 years; Darla Tanner for 30 years; Susan Gift and Carol Tanner for 35 years; and Jennifer Garten for 40 years. Susan Gift, Keith Schladenhauffen, Susan Overton and Peggy Harris opted to retire after this school year and were also recognized.
It was 10 years ago on this date that the 1943 addition of the Knox Middle School started to be torn down. It was removed to make room for the new two story building that is now used for Middle School classrooms.
A train excursion from North Judson to LaCrosse almost turned deadly yesterday when five cars of the train derailed. The cars were being pulled by the historic 765 steam engine when the cars suddenly left the track.
Mark Knebel from the Hoosier Valley Railroad Organization talked about the mishap.
The Knox VFW Post #748 will be hosting Memorial Day services until Noon on Monday, May 30th, where the the closing ceremonies and the retiring of the guard will be held at the Post Home. Several veterans, firefighters, police officers, and National Guard members will be standing vigil at the Post and a Civil War camp will be set up in the back of the facility.
Memorial Day Services in the Kankakee Valley began Sunday at the Knox VFW Post 748. The posting of the guard ceremonies began at 12:00 noon. Speakers included Tim Shepherd of the VFW, Dewayne Arndt, representing Congressman Joe Donnelly, State Representative Nancy Dembowski, and Knox Mayor Rick Chambers.
This week is “The Best of” Talking of Many Things
J.W. Hicks, Inc., with locations in both Knox and Merrillville, has announced plans to proceed with two expansions in Knox while continuing the operation in Merrillville. The company has been in Knox since 1998 and these expansions will mark the third and fourth such expansions since the plant has been in Knox.
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
The third annual Ancilla College Triathlon was held last week where over 100 individuals competed in the swimming, running and biking event.
The Pulaski County Human Services’ Annual Health and Resource Fair was held Wednesday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Winamac. Continue reading
The Knox City Police Department is investigating a burglary at the ALCO store in the Knox Mall.
According to police, on Tuesday, May 24th, officers were called to ALCO in reference to a burglary. Officers arrived on scene and found the glass in the south entry door broken out. The K9 unit was sent inside but no suspects were found in the store. Police found that a glass case containing video game systems was broken and game systems were stolen. When police reviewed the security tape, officers saw the suspect was wearing a ski mask, gloves and a hooded sweatshirt at the time of the incident and could not identify him. If you know anything about this incident, you may call in an anonymous tip to the Knox City Police Department at (574) 772-4122.
Starke County continues to be in the top ten, according to the latest unemployment report. Even though we dropped slightly, we moved up to a tie for fifth in the rankings.
Fayette County is number one at 11.7%. Elkhart, Lawrence, and Starke Counties are tied for fifth at 10.1%. The state unemployment figure is 8.1%.
The Harry L. Keller American Legion Post 92 is honored to have been asked to provide an Honor Guard for the Westville Community at the Frank Ono Park Saturday.
Ono posthumously received the Medal of Honor 10 years ago. Then-Lt. Governor Joseph Kernan presided over the services at Norwayne Field in North Judson.
Ono, a North Judson High School graduate, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic action on Hill 140 in Italy on July 4th, 1944.
The Harry L. Keller American Legion Post 92 will fire a 21 gun salute and blow taps.
Other services conducted by the Harry L. Keller Post will be:
Sunday: 11:30 a.m. CT at Round Lake Cemetery
Monday: 8:45 a.m. CT Parade; 9:00 a.m. at Pioneer Cemetery; 10:00 a.m. at San Pierre Cemetery; 11:00 a.m. Wreath deposit on the Kankakee River on Highway 421. A ceremony at the Vel Mar Park in LaCrosse will follow.
The employees of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department will be remembering their fallen comrades in a Sheriff’s Memorial service on Tuesday, May 31st, at Noon ET at the Sheriff’s Department. Continue reading
Every year, 33 Indianapolis 500 Princesses and one Queen are announced before the race weekend. Riley Hoffman of Greenwood, an Indiana University sophomore, is the 500 Queen. In all, there were 278 applicants from 24 cities and 11 Indiana colleges and Universities. Continue reading
James Childress III, of Rolling Prairie, was arrested by Knox City Police Wednesday after an accident and a brief foot pursuit from police.
According to the police report, Childress was reportedly driving his vehicle in the Giles Court area and went off the road a hit a tree. Childress fled on foot. The vehicle caught fire in the engine area after the incident and the fire was extinguished by the Knox-Center Township Fire Department. The vehicle displayed false and fictitious plates.
The Knox VFW Post #748 will be hosting Memorial Day services beginning this Sunday, May 29th. Opening ceremonies begin at Noon on Sunday with the posting of the guard for a 24-hour vigil. Congressman Joe Donnelly will be speaking, along with State Representative Nancy Dembowski and Knox Mayor Rick Chambers. The Candlelight ceremony will be Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and all of the POW MIA soldiers’ names from the Iraq and Afghanistan War will be read. At Noon on Monday, May 30th, the closing ceremonies and the retiring of the guard will be held at the Post Home. Several veterans, firefighters, police officers, and National Guard members will be standing vigil at the Post and a Civil War camp will be set up in the back of the facility.
The Hamlet American Legion is holding a chili supper benefit for Retired Military Animals on Saturday, May 28th from 3:00-8:00 p.m. at the facility. Maya, a retired military dog who was rescued by Don Thomas of the Grovertown area, will receive three purple hearts during the benefit Saturday.
Maya, a 12-year-old veteran, served in the Army as well as the Marines. During her six years of service, she saved countless lives in Afghanistan and Iraq using her bomb detecting abilities. She was rescued by Don Thomas a few years ago and was able to do so by an amendment signed by then-President Bill Clinton that allows retired military canines to have owners found for them instead of being euthanized. Saturday’s benefit will help interested individuals to take things one step further and help with the expense of housing these animals, medical expenses and the cost of food.
Several buildings sustained damage after tornadoes touched down in Francesville Wednesday morning. Francesville Fire Chief, Tim Wuethrich, talked about the event.
“It appears that we had a tornado touch down in two spots in Francesville, maybe three,” said Wuethrich. “It took three poles out on the highway, leveled a building that we call Station Two, our other fire station. We had a fire truck in there that’s underneath the rubble. It took part of a roof off a house on the other end of town. I’ve been at Incident Command the whole time so I haven’t assessed the damage yet.” Homeowners with damaged roofs may need to hire local roofers to fix and restore their roofing systems. They may also need to find a supplier of timber roof trusses for their roof replacement project.
Murriah Dailey made an appearance in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday, but her case has been continued until Friday at 9:00 a.m. due to some issues with the police report. The officer has not yet signed the report, so the prosecuting attorney has been unable to file charges at this time. An affidavit for probable cause has been filed for two counts of Attempted Murder, as well as counts of Motor Vehicle Theft, Battery on a Police Officer, and Resisting Law Enforcement with a Vehicle. More charges are expected to be filed by state police after their investigation is completed.
On Thursday, June 2nd, there will be a party of sorts at the Monterey Elementary School. Patrons are invited to the school from 5:00-7:00 p.m. ET to watch a slide show, tour of the building and exchange of stories from a by-gone era.
The Knox City Council heard a report from Mayor Rick Chambers this week on a proposal to refinance the Knox Community Center bonds.
“John Julien from Umbaugh and Associates called the other day and he had mentioned this to Jeff (Houston) and I about a year ago,” explained Mayor Chambers. “The interest rates are down. The interest rates on our current loan is 5.5% and he thinks interest rates for 2.9% could be had if we put this out for bid. This loan will be paid off in 2019. Over the length of that loan, if we can bond for 2.9%, we would save $55,000. That’s a little misleading because we have $32,000 currently in an escrow account with First Monterey Bank. So, with the expense of redoing that bond and being able to use that $32,000 now, subtract the $32,000 from the $55,000 – over the course of this loan we’d be saving $22,000.”
