The Pulaski County Commissioners discussed with Sheriff Mike Gayer why a vehicle was purchased without their approval. Gayer said that he was under the impression that, because the vehicle is a necessary tool to the Sheriff’s Department, it fell under the type of purchase that did not need approval from the Commissioners. Gayer also stressed that he was not trying to circumvent the system and he meant no disrespect, and he purchased the vehicle as inexpensively as possible.
At least ten of the people arrested in the cock fighting raid that occurred in Starke County in late February still have not had their day in Knox City Court. Those cases where the defendants announced in court that they were securing attorneys have yet to be settled. According to court documents, those defendants are trying to work out settlements through their attorneys with the prosecutor’s office. If that is not worked out, trial dates will be set and those could occur in July.
A discussion of a Pawn Shop Ordinance that would license and regulate pawnbrokers within the corporate limits of Knox met with objections from the owners of First Choice Pawn and Loan of Knox.
Hank Minix and Chris Firebaugh objected to a part of the proposed ordinance that would demand that pawn shops get social security numbers, serial numbers and hold purchased items during a 10 day waiting period.
The Eastern Pulaski School Board recognized the Valedictorian and Salutatorian of the graduating Class of 2011. The Valedictorian is Morgan Welker and the Salutatorian is Emily Paulsen.
IU Health Starke Hospital is helping prepare the next generation of nurses by allowing college nursing students to shadow registered nurses at the hospital.
“We are having two clinical rotations each semester and these are usually second or third year Med-Surg students that are coming,” said Clinical Manager of Patient Care Services, Janet Gillon. “We’re very excited about the relationship because it’s something that brings about the autonomy of nursing – bringing them forward from where they are in their school curriculum into the actual working patient care centers.”
State Senator Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso) was recognized Monday by Senate President Pro Tempore David Long (R-Fort Wayne) for achieving a perfect voting attendance record during the 2011 legislative session.
In addition to votes on bills, there are also votes on amendments, committee reports and procedural motions. Charbonneau’s floor votes totaled 535.
State records show this session, 118 Senate bills moved to the governor’s desk and 94 percent of third reading roll-call votes in the Senate were bipartisan in nature.
Forty members of Tri Kappa gathered at the Knox Community Center on May 14th to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Zeta Eta Chapter in Knox. One of the thirteen charter members, Judith Brooke, attended as a special guest.
Sandy Hansen, past Chapter President, presided at the celebration. She introduced other guests: Sue Crisman, past Council President, who came from Crown Point; Jenny McBride, Province XII Officer, a member of the Westville Chapter, and Lori Jacob, a past Province XII Officer from Walkerton. Other guests, former members of the local chapter, came from Kentucky and Michigan, as well as Selma, Plymouth, LaPorte, Culver, Walkerton, and Monticello in Indiana. Many friendships were renewed.
The North Judson-San Pierre Academic Super Bowl Social Studies squad was the Class 3 runner-up in the State Hoosier Academic Super Bowl Competition on Saturday, May 7th, at Purdue University.
The North Judson-San Pierre Academic Super Bowl Fine Arts squad achieved 5th place in the same competition.
Greetings to all and welcome new friends to the East Wing.
The middle of May and has this been a great wet spring or what??? I love May, ‘cause I love changing of the seasons, and ya know what, May is truly the changing of the seasons. Sometimes hot and sometimes cold, it’s just May.
There’s only two months of the year truly define the upcoming change in weather. May and November are those months that most clearly usher in the change of weather. Now don’t get too crazy and remind me we’ve got four seasons and not two. I know that, DUH! But do ya see a major change from December and January or March and April? Ya just don’t . How ‘bout that June and July thing, ya don’t see it there either. I’m telling ya, it’s May and November that tells us it’s a changing of the weather.
Guess I better answer a ton of email ‘bout the Bentley. So here goes. Yes, Bentley’s a Pit Bull. Yes, Bentley’s really big. Yes, Bentley’s the She’s little house dog. Just to give ya some concept of the size of the Bentley, it takes 2.775 Pup Babies to make one Bentley. It Takes 3.455 Gray Ladies to make one Bentley. It take 8.233 Spikes to make on Bentley. It takes 18.889 Sophia’s to make one Bentley.
When Bentley came to live in the East Wing, he recognized on day one the special attachment between me and the Pup Baby. After the most amazing struggle for life I’ve ever seen, me and the Pup Baby, well, we’re just buds for life. With her survival of the Badger attack and the heart worm night of the tribulation, all I can say is the will to live is strong in the Pup Baby, Mustina James. And it’s because of such will to live we’ve became friends for life. I think it’s that dog and man thing with me and the Pup Baby. It’s been around since dog demonstrated man way back in the day.
Spike and Bentley are the two newest members of the family of the East Wing and as such is seems natural that they’d just get along. And they do, so they do in spades. What’s funny is to watch those two when the weather is in a changing pattern, Spike knows ‘bout the weather change well before Bentley. Even before ya can feel it in your bones, Spike knows, he just knows. I think it’s a Man Cat thing.
Now Spike grabs hold of one of Bentley’s back legs and starts to chew. Bentley don’t know what the hell is going on. All he knows is a Man Cat is chewing on his back leg and he can’t seem to get him to stop. Bentley and Spike, a Pit Bull and a Man Cat, friends for life. Living out that life in the East Wing. I’m glad they’re here, they’re friendly people, Spike and the Man Cat.
The Gray Lady James, Solomon of the East Wing. The final authority in all dog matters, large and small. The Gray Lady makes decision independent of outside input. Bentley recognized the authority of Gary Lady James early on. The Gray Lady, Solomon of the East Wing. The Lady rules.
And then there’s Sophia. 18.889 Sophia’s to make one Bentley. That don’t mean a damn thing when ya’re a cat that’s walked with swagger on the south side of Chicago in the neighborhood of Leroy Brown. When ya’ve never spent a single day on that “walk with fear” side of life.
When you simply said to Bentley on the first day of his arrival to the East Wing. “Look Bentley, here’s your spot, now just get in line, don’t make me have to show my knives.” Bentley got in line. He knew she had the knives.
And so it was that the East Wing Pecking Order had be reformatted and brought back up on line. All because of the cat. Then so it was written and so it was done. The system was rebooted, then brought back up on line. Damn Republican Cat.
Blackberry Winter, Dogwood Winter, Cold Snap or whatever ya want to call it, there comes a time ‘round the last of April and the first half of May that a cold weather pattern moves across the land, Blackberry Winter comes around.
It’s as if Old Man Winter has once as once again stuck his icicy finger into the springtime winds to test his middle finger melting point. And he loses ever time. Middle fingers melt quick in the springtime. The really neat thing ‘bout Blackberry Winter is if ya don’t have ‘em, ya don’t get the Blackberries. Seems some years ya have lots, some years ya have few and some years ya have none. I prefer the lots years, when the picking is easy.
And so it is this year, Blackberry Winter came right on time. Now with a little luck and a little rain later on in the year, we’ll have lots of Blackberries’ come summertime. And the picking is easy.
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying by “the picking is easy”. ‘Cause it take years to develop the proper technique of Blackberry Picking. Ya just go out there and start picking like a pro on day one of berry picking. I’m telling ya, it takes years of practice to come a master berry picker, to become a boneafied Blackberry Picker..
I just so happen to have been blessed by learning from the best. My first instructions into the fine arts of Blackberry Picking came from the Queen herself, the Queen of Southfork. When Lou taught ya the basics of Blackberry Picking, ya learned for the top. Me and Lou picked Blackberries on Southfork.
My middle school training in Blackberry Picking was turned over to my Aunt Maggie when we move to Tiptop. Me and Aunt Maggie, we picked Blackberries a lot, there on the mountains of Tiptop.
When I moved to Indiana, it was my Mama who taught me the final lessons in the fine arts of Blackberry Picking. It’s all in the writ ya know, that Blackberry Picking. My Mama gave the knowledge which allowed me to finally obtain my PhD in Blackberry Picking.
Did ya ever write a PhD Thesis Papers? I’ve written two, and they’re kinda cool. Now these Thesis Papers must demonstrate original thought process on the subject matter and at the same time develop a hypnotics which can be supported by logic. And one of the important points of the thesis is the use of really big words. It seems the people who decide if the Thesis is worthwhile, well, those folks, they like to see people like me use big words when we try for those PdD’s. And so I wrote the big words for hospital administration, and we got’er done.
That Blackberry Picking Thesis, the hardest damn thing I ever wrote in my life. There’s just not a lot of big word that can be used to describe Blackberry Picking. I’ll not bore with the details but the thesis paper, it involved wine and roses along with Barer Rabbit and Barer Fox and a Blackberry Patch high up on the mountain. It was the harder of the two, but it too was successful. Of the two I’m most proud to be called “ Dr. of Berry Picking.”
And so now ya know why it’s more fun to talk ‘bout when I was a kid at Tiptop or Toto, when ya just picked ‘em and ate ‘em.
Stay Safe In Afghanistan and Iraq
From the East Wing, May and November, Bentley and the East Wing, Blackberry Picking and PhD’s
I wish you well,
BobbyRay
The Knox-Center Township Fire Department was called to a fire at Sibo’s Grill, north of Knox on U.S. 35 shortly after 2:00 a.m. this morning.
According to Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, an electrical issue started the fire in the facility. The building was not a total loss, but it did suffer extensive heat and smoke damage. Thousands of dollars in damage was done to the facility.
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officers arrested two people, Friday, May 13th, on methamphetamine related charges.
At approximately 6:30 p.m. ET, officers observed a vehicle pull up to a home near Beardstown on U.S. 35. Officers knew that the occupant of the home is in the nursing home and so they stopped and watched the occupants in the vehicle from a distance. After a while, the officers pulled into the driveway to check their story and one occupant fled into a building. At that time, Avery A. Mullins, 28, of Grovertown and Otis T. Young, 30, of Plymouth, were taken into custody. A wanted persons check found that both subjects were wanted on outstanding warrants in Marshall County.
Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent, Dr. Robert Klitzman shared a few pieces of legislation that came out of the General Assembly with the School Board members at their recent meeting.
“Teacher evaluation is going to be more geared toward student data and how the students have improved in their actual achievement,” said Dr. Klitzman. “That’s going to be folded into the evaluation for teachers. Collective bargaining has been greatly restricted. Over the years, collective bargaining with our teachers has grown more and more and that’s through an agreement on both sides. It’s not a one sided thing. Our legislature passed a bill that limits what you can bargain so even if a school and a Teacher’s Association wants to go and bargain other things, legally they can not. This is what’s put in the statute.”
Graduation for the SCILL Center students is this week.
“Our graduation this year is going to be on May 18th, at 6:00 p.m. Knox time,” said Instructor Mark Anderson. “We’ve got 26 students that are going to be graduating this year. All of our students managed to get at least one ASE certification.”
This week, Indiana will be a key participant in what is possibly the largest ever Indiana exercise and the first ever national level exercise to be designed around a natural disaster. Participants include thousands of local and state emergency responders from eight states, as well as numerous federal officials in Washington, D.C. and the White House.
With gas prices over $4.00 a gallon, many of you are attempting to stretch out a tank of gas too far and that could leave you stranded on the roadside. AAA cautions you that allowing your car to run out of fuel can not only put you in a dangerous situation, it could result in costly repair bills.
Running a vehicle extremely low on fuel may cause sediment in the bottom of the tank to clog the fuel pump pickup, the fuel filter or even the fuel injectors. When a minimum level of fuel is not maintained, it could cause the electric fuel pump inside the tank to overheat.
The fate of Marsh Manor on Main Street in Knox will be decided on May 25th. According to Planning Commissioner Greg Matt, the building has been boarded up after the last of the renters were evicted. According to some, the building had been home to several “squatters” too before it was finally emptied.
Once a home to Dr. Kelly, a prominent dentist in the community, the home had been turned into an apartment building. It had fallen on hard times during the past few years, with a fire the final blow to its viability as a rooming house.
“We lost a good man last week,” said Ted Hayes. “Don Paul was one of those guys who was a good husband, a good father, and a good grandfather. He was good for 4-H in Starke County having devoted thousands of hours in his lifetime to making sure 4-Hers had good guidance, and better still, a good role model.”
“But when I think of Don Paul, I will remember him as a great team-mate with his wife, Mabel. If you know Mabel as I do, you know she’s a take charge woman in a good way. And that was alright with Don because he was always there for her. Her accomplishments, which were many, made him so proud.”
“I remember the night Mabel was honored with the Schricker Award. There wasn’t a person in the room who was happier for her, than her husband Don.”
“And his grandchildren, well, his shirt buttons popped when mentioning their accomplishments.”
“Yes, we lost a good man last week. He’ll be missed by all who knew him. But we were all richer because he lived among us. We were all richer because of the example he set.”
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Residents from the town of North Judson discussed gas prices with the North Judson Town Board members at their recent meeting. The residents expressed their concern that the prices in North Judson are higher than the surrounding communities.
The Culver Community School Board voted to close Monterey Elementary School at its meeting this week. More cuts are forecast as the Board has to cut $855,000 from the budget in the next two years. Continue reading
Author and race car driver’s wife, Nancy Roe Pimm, was a guest at the Henry F. Schricker library this week. Nancy’s husband, Ed, raced in the 1980’s in the Indianapolis 500.
In her library presentation, Nancy talked about some of the drivers, and the drivers’ wives that she grew close to. She talked about Al Unser, Sr. Continue reading
Rhonda Cavinder and Shirley Fosler of the local Zeta Eta chapter of Tri Kappa recently attended the 59th State Convention of Tri Kappa, held in Indianapolis. As delegates, they attended business sessions and educational workshops, and sold the local chapter’s Tri Kappa ribbon, vinyl clings, and handmade cards. The Fine Arts winners from Province Conventions were on display, and Joan Byer of the Knox Zeta Eta Chapter received a second place on her entry in the Green Craft category, a quilt made from neckties. Continue reading
