WKVI Information Center

Knox City Council #2 — Back Row: Mayor Rick Chambers, Ed Blue, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Greg Matt and Attorney David Matsey. Front Row: Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg and Ron Parker

Mayor Rick Chambers informed the Knox City Council this week that he is exploring ways to protect city equipment from lightning strikes.

“Jeff, Ed and I, met with the company called Flotronics, a company that engineers and designs electrical systems components to stop lightning damage,” the Mayor told the Council. “They came up with some figures at the Wastewater Plant, $12,449 and $8,295 at the Water Plant. So, it’ll be about $21,000. It’s to protect the wires so the lightning doesn’t go through the wires into the machines and it’s put on in layers, like three different layers, of protection.”

Fire Destroys Bass Lake Home

The Bass Lake Fire Department was called to a house fire at 6560 S. State Road 10 at Bass Lake. Fire Chief, Les Jensen, told WKVI that the two-story brick home was a total loss. The Fire Department battled the blaze for about 45 minutes before it came under control. Jensen said the home was a summer home owned by an Illinois resident. The preliminary cause of the fire is a lightning strike. The home was valued at at least $500,000. Continue reading →

Michigan City Man Arrested in Stabbing Incident

LaPorte City Police Department officers are investigating a stabbing incident that occurred in the 900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in LaPorte. When officers arrived on scene, a 23-year-old female, a 55-year-old female and a 63-year-old female inside were all suffering from stab wounds.

Bella Vita Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Held Thursday

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held yesterday at the recently opened Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center in Knox. The Center is located in a home that was owned by Frances Meyers on South Heaton Street.

“I have the honor to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors for Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center,” said Rhonda Adcock. “This day, for me, represents a vision that has become a reality. What started out as a desire to just help hurting women came from hearing burdens and stories of others, a vision to have a crisis pregnancy center here in Knox. Starting on the Steering Committee, and now the Board, has given me a front row seat to see that vision become the reality that you see within this house today.”

John Brooke Sentenced to 22 Years in the Indiana Department of Corrections

Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall sentenced John Brooke this morning. Brooke is the last of the suspects involved in the police shootout at Bass Lake in February 2010. Brooke was found guilty of six charges in a jury trial in April. Judge Hall categorized Brooke’s counts into three different criminal episodes and sentenced him according to those elements.

Brooke was sentenced to 15 years on the count of Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery and 4 years on the count of Possession/Manufacturing of a Destructive Device. Those sentences will be served concurrently. Brooke was sentenced to 4 years on the Intimidation charge, 1 year on the Resisting Law Enforcement charge and 1 year on the Unlawful Use of Body Armor charge. Those sentences will run concurrently together. Brooke will serve 3 years on the Assisting a Criminal charge. All of those sentences will be served consecutively for a total of 22 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. None of the sentence was suspended and he will be credited for 452 already served in jail.

Health Fair Scheduled for Saturday at Pulaski Memorial Hospital

Pulaski Memorial Hospital will host a community wide Health Fair on Saturday, May 14th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET at the Hospital.

The emergency staff will be demonstrating the use of the new robot for stroke victims. The pharmacy will offer a disposal program for out-of-date medicine and massages will be available for a free will donation that will go to the Pulaski Memorial Auxiliary. Prizes will include a Wii game console, a three month membership to the YMCA, gift baskets, and a bone density test.

SCILL Center Students Perform Well on ASE Certification Tests

The students at the SCILL Center recently took ASE classes for certification.

“There were 152 tests that were given over a week’s period of time, which included steering, suspension, brakes, electrical and electronic systems, engine performance, engine repair, automatic transmission systems, transaxles, manual drive line, axles and heating and air conditioning,” explained SCILL Center Instructor, Rod Dawson. “In each of the categories, we had actually 19 students that were taking each one of these tests, and they scored over a fifty percent in each of them with a pass rate. I was quite impressed with the students and it was an excellent showing for the first time around. I felt that the students needed to take all eight areas and it just validates what they actually are doing here for training.”

Ted Hayes Spotlights Class of 1961 in Today’s “Ted Hayes Remembers” Program

Linda-Lock — Linda Lock. This picture is from the 1961 Sandbur Yearbook

TED HAYES REMEMBERS 5-13 (download or listen)

You’re invited to listen to “Ted Hayes Remembers” today at 12:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT. He will talk about the Knox High School Class of 1961.

It was the biggest class to graduate to that date (110). The varsity basketball record of 19-1 still stands as the best ever. Mark Simmons taught Government and History, Jane Beeson taught Home Ec., Henry Meurer was the High School Band Director, Bob Beeson was the basketball coach and Dale Snelling was the football coach.

Linda Lock and Ron Fletcher were chosen as Mr. and Miss Knox High School. Linda was also the Homecoming Queen her senior year.

Starke County Sheriff’s Department Investigates Fatal Accident

Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers responded to a one vehicle car accident Wednesday on 600 E. near 400 North in Hamlet. A red pickup truck was located in the ditch and was occupied by Don Paul, 74, of Grovertown. Paul was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital where he was pronounced dead. A medical condition is believed to have caused the accident. Assisting at the scene were the Hamlet and Knox Fire Departments.

John Brooke to be Sentenced Today in Starke Circuit Court

John Brooke, who was found guilty by a jury in his actions surrounding a police shootout at Bass Lake in February 2010, will be sentenced this morning in Starke Circuit Court.

Brooke was found guilty by a jury of six of the seven counts against him on April 15th. Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery, Intimidation, Possession and Manufacturing of a Destructive Device, Resisting Law Enforcement, Unlawful Use of Body Armor, and Assisting a Criminal were among these counts. The jury found him not guilty of the count of Possession of a Destructive Device.

Kevin Eggert Pleads Guilty to Intimidation

After his first plea agreement was denied by Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall on April 20th, another plea agreement was reached in the case of Kevin Eggert who has plead guilty to one count of Intimidation, a Class C Felony. Eggert has been incarcerated for 148 days since his arrest, and the victim, Misty Ross, was present to give her approval of the plea agreement.

Knox Resident Injured in Motorcycle Accident

Corey Czarnecki, of Knox, is resting in a Chicago Hospital today after a Tuesday night motorcycle accident that occurred in LaPorte County.

Czarnecki was riding his motorcycle on County Road 600 North when a dog suddenly darted in front of him. The police report stated that when Czarnecki hit the brakes, he left a 13 foot rubber skid mark and the bike traveled 120 feet before coming to rest. The owner of the dog, Dawn Scott, said she saw the dog run toward the road. When she ran to the site of the accident, she found Czarnecki laying on the side of the road.

Eastern Pulaski School Board Approves Summer School Class

The Eastern Pulaski School Board approved one summer school class at its meeting this week.

“We’re going to offer summer PE,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman. “Right now, we have 55 students signed up. It’s a three-and-a-half hour block of PE and they’re able to do so many things that you can not do during the school year because of time constraints. They’ll do activities like canoeing, biking and fishing.”

Random Act of Kindness Event Scheduled for June 12th

The annual Random Act of Kindness event will be held June 12th. Do you know of someone who should be recognized for a single event or continued kindness efforts? If you do, submit them to Darla Cook at the Knox Mayor’s office. The sooner she gets your nomination, the sooner she can invite your nominee to the June 12th celebration. A non-partisan committee will judge the entries.