The Arrow Head Country RC&D Forestry Committee and Forester Bruce Wakeland invite you to the Country Kettle in Knox, tomorrow, to discuss issues you may be having in your woodland areas. The event will be tomorrow, June 21st, from 7:00-8:30 a.m. CT.
Wakeland and representatives from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Purdue, Consulting, and Industry Foresters will be available for conversation and questions.
WKVI is announcing plans for its fall motorcoach tour to Branson. See the beautiful Ozark Hills burst into Fall colors. Listen to WKVI throughout the day for Ed Hasnerl with the details.
The four-day, three-night trip inclues shows in which you’ll see Andy Williams and Ann-Margaret at Andy’s “Moon River” Theatre, and the Oak Ridge Boys as they celebrate their 30th Anniversary of their hit, “Elvira!”.
You’ll enjoy a dinner and show cruise on the crystal clear waters of Table Rock Lake while on the Showboat Branson Belle and you’ll spend a morning at the “National Harvest Festival” in Silver Dollar City plus much, much more.
Call (574) 772-6241 and Ed will send you all the information in the mail.
Here’s just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
The Starke County Relay for Life event was held over the weekend and over $60,000 was raised. Team Imagine raised $8,000 and they were announced as the winners of the team collection event. Continue reading
Twelve members of the Philanthropic Educational Organization Chapter B in Knox and North Judson recently traveled to Indianapolis to attend the State P.E.O. Convention held at the Wyndham West Hotel and Convention Center.
Chapter B hosted the Golden Girl Luncheon honoring 34 women who have been members for 50 years. Approximately 570 members and guests attended the luncheon with Chapter B providing the decorations, programs, entertainment and biographies of the Golden Girls. All 144 chapters in Indiana, representing 5,642 members, sent delegates and guests to the convention.
The Starke County Commissioners met yesterday to discuss the Class Action Suit brought against the County by inmate Jack Haut. Because the suit is not covered by insurance, the County must come up with the money for legal expenses. County Attorney, Marty Lucas, advised the Commissioners that it will cost a minimum of $100,000 in attorney fees. And he said don’t expect a quick resolution.
Haut, in his suit, is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief because of the conditions at the Starke County Jail. One part of the suit is the claim that the jail is consistently overcrowded.
A week after a Parkview Heights woman reported an attempted abduction of a child, Knox City Police still are investigating. Officer Harold Smith said yesterday that they have few leads outside of those given by the woman.
The incident was reported to have occurred Thursday afternoon, June 9th. At that time, the woman said a man entered her fenced-in backyard and attempted to grab her one-year-old toddler. Amber Howard said the possible abduction began with the man knocking her seven-year-old daughter off of a swing and onto the ground.
Four individuals in relation to the animal fighting contest that took place in February appeared before Judge Kim Hall in the Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning with defense attorney Douglas Shaw. Gilberto Narravo, Salvador Reyes, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, and Arnoldo Perez were present with their spouses, who agreed to act as translators from English to Spanish and vice versa. The four men are charged with counts of Attending an Animal Fighting Contest, a Class D Felony.
In the state of Indiana, 800,000 Hoosiers a month rely on food stamps, including thousands in our listening audience. Yesterday it was announced that the Hoosier Food Stamp program has earned a $1.65 million dollar bonus from the Federal Government. Indiana’s 7.13% error rate in 2009 dropped to 2.6% in 2010. The national rate is 3.8%
Even though record numbers of Americans are relying on food stamps to make it through the recession, Indiana’s accuracy rate dramatically improved. Without better accuracy, the program would have paid $311 million too much and denied $45 million.
The food stamp program is the nation’s largest assistance program.
Starke Circuit Court Magistrate, Jeanene Calabrese sentenced Christina Orange yesterday. Orange was charged with Dealing in Methamphetamine, Assisting a Criminal, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with Intent to Manufacture, Possession of Methamphetamine, Maintaining a Common Nuisance, and Dumping Controlled Substance Waste.
The West Central School Board had to reduce the teaching staff by two-and-a-half teachers and three to five instructional assistants were let go. The school lost 54% of its primetime funding, or about $40,000, that provides for the salary of the instructional assistants.
David Scarberry and Rose Martin, along with their attorney Richard Ballard, appeared in court Thursday in relation to methamphetamine charges, and requested a motion to suppress. Martin and Scarberry testified that they didn’t explicitly give officers permission to search the bedroom they rented from Amy Ahlenius.
The North Judson Mint Festival begins today! Music from Narrow House will open the Festival at 5:00 p.m. at Norwayne Field and the carnival and food booths will be opening around that time. The Mint Idol Contest will be at 6:00 p.m. at the St. Peter Lutheran School and the Father and Grandfather of the Year recipients will be announced at 7:00 p.m. in Norwayne Field.
The North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department will be burning down the old Blue Bird Inn in North Judson in a training exercise on June 26th.
The North Judson Town Board has been after the owner to clean up the property at 523 Lane Street, which he has not done, and recently, the owner was late in paying $1,343.30 in inspection fees to the town. The bank, who now owns the property, gave permission to the fire department to burn down the property in a training exercise.
Are you a college, or high school student looking for something to do this summer? If you haven’t found a job yet, maybe you could volunteer your talents. There is an online volunteer center in Starke County that can plug you into something you might be interested in doing. All you have to do is access the site at to look at the listings in not only Starke, but three other counties too. The program is open to all ages.
Kathy Wojkovich is the Volunteer Center Director for the United Way Region, and we asked her to talk about the site.
If you ever visited the Knox VFW during celebrations of patriotism you probably saw Harvey Hammerlund. Dressed in his Navy Blues with a pipe in his mouth, Harvey Hammerlund was the epitome of what’s good about this country. Hammerlund passed away Wednesday, June 14th.
“It’s probably appropriate that Harvey died so close to Flag Day, June 14th, because Harvey honored that flag and he honored his country,” said WKVI’s Ted Hayes. “If the definition of patriotism is feeling, expressing or inspired by love of one’s country, then you could put that tag on Harvey Hammerlund. He and Joe Smrt flew to Washington, D.C. on one of the first Honor Flights. While there, they visited the World War II monument. Like a slow drum beat, the World War II veterans are leaving us, but they’ll never be forgotten. They’re wonderful people, like Harvey Hammerlund.”
For a complete obituary notice, visit the Obituary page on this website.
The North Judson Fire Department was called to a house fire at 5315 W. 500 N. in northern Pulaski County.
Residents were in the home when the storms went through Wednesday morning and it was around 9:00 a.m. when they heard a loud crack. Minutes later, the smoke alarms went off and as the residents were exiting the house, flames were already showing from the ceiling. All occupants made it out safely. When the fire department arrived, Fire Chief Joe Leszek said the home was completely engulfed and the house was a total loss. An investigator from State Fire Marshall’s office will be at the scene today to determine the cause of the fire.
Since December 2007, IT Director Bob Smith has been overseeing all computer-related projects, repairs, installations, and countless other activities in Starke County, and with about 120 county PCs to maintain, he has certainly had his hands full. And so, when Smith announced his resignation to the county commissioners, they were compelled to accept his resignation with a heavy heart. Smith’s last day as IT Director of Starke County will be July 29. Because of the vast number of responsibilities that comes with being a one-man department, Smith announced his resignation over a month in advance to not only finish out some of the current projects, but also to give the county time to find a replacement.
Now that the Monterey Elementary School is closed where will the students attend school next year? Many of the over 130 elementary school students could be going to Winamac Elementary. With that possibility, the Eastern Pulaski School Board this week discussed the possible need of transporting those students from Tippecanoe Township to Winamac.
The City of Knox has joined Hammond and LaPorte in opposing an electric rate increase proposed by NIPSCO for electric. The resolution will be sent to the State Regulatory Agency stating the reasons for the opposition.
The resolution is supporting Hammond’s lawsuit against the increase.
