The Hamlet Town Board met in special session to discuss the downtown sewer improvement project.
The Board learned that $80,000 will be left over from the project. The Board will contribute $10-15,000 to ensure that all streets affected in the sewer improvement project will be repaved curb to curb. Work is currently being done on Pearl Street and Davis Street. The project is expected to last through the summer.
North Judson-San Pierre High School has the honor of having both the Starke and Pulaski County Lilly Scholarship winners this year.
Andrew Frasure, Jr., a Senior at the school, has been named the Pulaski County winner, while Jessica Jachim was named the Starke County winner.
Jessica is the daughter of Michael and Sherri Jachim. Andrew Frasure, Jr. is the son of Ruby and Rabion Frasure, of rural Winamac.
Frasure is interested in majoring in Chemistry, and possibly pursuing a career in Dentistry. He has narrowed his college choices down to Valparaiso University, I.U.P.U.I. and the University of Indianapolis. His grade point average was 4.1 on a 4.0 scale in high school.
Also a member of several sports teams, Andrew has been selected to play in the Indiana East-West All Star game on April 23rd.
From our archives:
Starke United Inc. honored several volunteers on this date in 2000. Chairman Terry Kimmel announced that the fundraising campaign went $3,000 over its goal of $90,000. Kathy Norem was honored for her work as the Fund Raising Campaign Chair. Kimmel was also given a plaque honoring him for four years as chairman, and Mike Haugh was honored for helping to launch Starke United.
The Knox Instrumental Music and Dance Department and Knox Community Middle School was host to fifteen middle school bands this past Saturday for the annual Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Junior High, Middle School and Elementary Organizational Contests. The contest is a chance for bands, orchestras or choirs to perform in front of a panel of judges where they can receive a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Participant rating. Knox Middle School entered their 7th grade band, conducted by Mr. David Elliott, and 8th grade band, conducted by Mr. Craige Phipps into the competition where they both were awarded Gold ratings.
Congratulations to Mark Anderson, of Knox, who is the winner of the Aarons/WKVI NCAA bracket challenge! Mark won a 42” Plasma TV from Aarons in LaPorte by picking the right teams in the NCAA men’s bracket and getting the most points to win the contest. Mark was asked his strategy for the contest:
“I’ve got to admit, it was just mostly luck,” he replied. “I have been a March madness fan for years and years and I fill out a bracket with my students every single year. I watch nearly every single game and so I’m pretty hooked on it. I’ve got to tell you that this was all luck.”
Kirby Banks, General Manager of Aarons in LaPorte, presented WKVI’s Ted Hayes with the 42” Plasma TV that will be awarded this week to the winner of the first ever Aarons/WKVI NCAA bracket challenge. The Samsung TV is worth $1,042! 256 people entered the bracket challenge. The presentation will be made the winner this week.
Thank you all for entering the contest!
Starke County finally has a drug policy for certain County workers. The Drug Test Policy was voted into the Employee Handbook yesterday on a 3-0 vote of the Commissioners.
All new employees will have to take a pre-employment drug test. Those involved in accidents with County vehicles will have to take a post-accident test.
Residents of the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County may soon be enjoying the benefits of a roof without leaks, thanks to the “Friends of Pleasant View,” an organization dedicated to supporting the home. The roof has gone into disrepair, and a number of leaks have sprung causing further damage. The county previously wanted to close it, but the Friends of Pleasant View has been doing some fundraising to, hopefully, get this problem taken care of and put the rest home back in comfortable condition.
Starke County employees will see an increase in their contribution for health insurance in 2012. The various increases for individual employees, those with spouses and those with families, will take effect January 1st.
Along with the increases, it was announced that wellness incentives will be built into the policy that will allow employees to reduce the amount of the increases.
Knox City Police Chief, Clint Norem, reports that in the month of March, the Police Department had 419 calls, handled 9 accidents and had 45 incident reports.
State lawmakers are trying to decide whether to make Indiana more attractive to industry by lowering the state’s corporate income tax rate from 8.5% to 6.5%. The proposal has already passed the Senate and is awaiting committee hearings in the House.
All agree it would make the state more appealing to companies wanting to expand or relocate to Indiana, but it would also mean $76.3 million dollars less coming into the state from corporate taxes.
The Starke County Commissioners finally recommended a full-time deputy for the Starke County Treasurer’s office. Finding over $6,400 from the Treasurer’s line item accounts and the Commissioners pitching in $5,600, the Board and Treasurer, Linda Belork, found that they were still almost $3,600 short of what was needed.
After much discussion and looking over the line item accounts in the Treasurer’s budget, the money was found that allowed her to fund the person for the rest of the year at just over $18,571.00.
From the WKVI Archives:
On this date 108 years ago, Dr. Guy B. Ingwell was born. In his day, Dr. Ingwell delivered thousands of Starke County babies. He once delivered five babies in one day! He was also at one time a successful high school basketball coach.
A special meeting was called by the Starke County Commissioners to discuss possible solutions to problems with some of the county buildings, as well as various options for funding some of their recent projects. Several issues were mentioned in particular, such as the jail being short on space under a leaky roof, the courthouse elevator in need of repair with cramped offices on the second floor, and the prosecutor’s office in need of handicap access to name a few. Because of the expense of these projects, the commissioners met with representatives from H.J. Umbaugh & Associates and RQAW to discuss possible problem solutions and financial strategies.
During Doctor’s Appreciation Week last week, we learned that there is a Pediatric Office open in Knox. The Nurse Practitioner in the office is Jody Rodgers, who works in collaboration with a physician to provide health care to the community. The office is located in the Mint Leaf Plaza, south of Knox.
“It’s going to be a great resource because we’ve got handfuls of Family Practitioners in the county but we don’t have a Pediatrician’s office,” said Jody Rodgers. “Now with the IU Health Pediatric clinic opening up here in Knox, parents and families will have an alternative and additional access to health care locally.”
Students from the three Starke County schools will be attending a Shakespearean play tomorrow afternoon at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium. Thanks to a grant from the Starke County Community Foundation and the Tri Kappa organization, it is possible for actors who star in Shakespearean plays at Navy Pier in Chicago to come to the County to present a classic play for the kids.
“This year they’re doing Macbeth,” said Knox Middle School Principal Steve Cronk. “All the eighth graders from Oregon-Davis, North Judson-San Pierre and Knox, as well as seventh graders from all three schools, as many as we can put in there, will see this presentation from Noon until 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5th.”
With over $1.5 billion in new Indiana highway projects beginning work, 2011 is shaping up to be Indiana’s largest road construction season on record. As part of Work Zone Safety Awareness Week April 4th-8th, the Indiana Department of Transportation is helping educate motorists about the largest road construction projects that will impact local traffic this year.
