Pulaski County Airport Expansion Could Save Lives, Says Resident

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

The Pulaski County Commissioners met yesterday evening and were approached by taxpayer Tim Hoffa regarding the airport expansion project. Hoffa explained to the board that there is one vital benefit to be gained from expanding the runway, and that is the ability to save lives.

Hoffa is currently in the process of being evaluated for a double-lung transplant, and one of the qualifications for such a procedure is a nearby airport with a runway of at least 5000 feet. Hoffa said he was ecstatic when he heard about the proposed expansion, because it shortened his trip to the airport in the event of a donor match. Hoffa explained that he would have a limited amount of time to get to the Fulton County airport, which is the closet airport that meets these requirements. He stressed that hundreds of lives could be saved with this expansion, and that the Commissioners should approve and expand the runway because saving lives is more important than any other potential issues with the project.

Continue reading →

Knox City, North Judson Police Department Statistics for April

Posted on Author WKVI
police badge

Knox City Police Chief, Clint Norem, says the Department handled 396 calls in the month of April, investigated 6 accidents and filed 36 incident reports.

19 people were arrested on 24 traffic charges, 50 people were arrested on 66 criminal charges and 2 people were cited for 2 ordinance violations. There were 7 battery arrests, 10 warrant arrests and 11 drug arrests made in April.

Continue reading →

Environmental Collection Event in Starke County a Success

Posted on Author WKVI
A semi load of tires, similar to this load from last year, was hauled from the Highway Garage Saturday afternoon

The 2011 Environmental event at the Starke County Highway Garage was a big success. A record number of vehicles passed through during the four day event that occurred Wednesday, April 27th through Saturday, April 30th.

750 vehicles came through where residents were able to dispose of their materials. 450 of those vehicles came through on Saturday. 1,500 gallons of oil was disposed of, 6 semi trailers of tires were hauled away, and several semi loads of appliances and computers were taken from the Highway Garage. Two semi loads of hazardous waste was collected.

Continue reading →

Starke United Awards Grant Money to Several Agencies

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke United

Starke United recently awarded several agencies with money from donations. The Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, Community Services of Starke County, Drug and Tobacco Free of Starke County, Junior Achievement, Love INC, Starke County WIC, Starke County ABATE, Starke County CASA, The Caring Place, The Salvation Army Starke County Unit, and the Starke County Youth Club all received grant money of $3,500 or less.

Continue reading →

Rachael Franko’s Record Jump

Posted on Author Anita Goodan

On her second attempt, Rachael’s jump was measured at 17 feet 2 1/4 inches, breaking the old record of 16 feet 9 inches. On her final attempt, Rachael landed at 17 feet 5 inches, once again breaking the meet record, but also breaking her school record in the process.

Bryanne Cavender Wins TV Theme Trivia Contest!

Posted on Author WKVI
Bryanne Cavender and Lenny Dessauer

Bryanne Cavender of Knox was this month’s lucky contest winner!  She won a computer from NWI Technologies for correctly guessing a TV Theme while playing with WKVI’s Lenny Dessauer in the afternoon.  Thank you to NWI Technologies for a fantastic prize to giveaway and thank you, Bryanne, for listening!

Listen for May’s contest, Movie Quotes, an a mini vacation package for one lucky winner!  The contest will begin May 9th.

Third Annual Turkey Tracks Event a Success

Posted on Author WKVI
Anthony Peterson is successful in his hunt. His guide was Rick Story

The Third Annual Turkey Tracks event was held over the weekend in Starke County. Opening night was Friday, and the hunters, guides, and well wishers gathered at the Knox VFW for a dinner, fellowship and entertainment provided by country singer, Billy Wayne.

During the ceremony that followed the dinner, Bass Pro Shops in Portage and Clarksville gave special monetary and tracker gifts to the participants. The Clarksville representative gave each of the hunters their own monogrammed turkey callers, and Eric Corey was presented with a one-of-a-kind caller in engraved box. The Turkey Tracks organization also received a $1,000 check for the program.

Continue reading →

Lincoln Day Dinner held Saturday

Posted on Author WKVI

The annual Lincoln Day Dinner was held Saturday night at the Bass Lake Community Center. With party leaders, state, national, and local candidates in attendance, the evening was proclaimed a success for the Grand Old Party (GOP).

Following the evening festivities, WKVI interviewed three Republicans of note, State Senator Ed Charbonneau, State Treasurer Richard Murdock, and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, Jackie Walorski.

Continue reading →

Street Paving Schedule Approved for City of Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox City Council recently approved the street paving schedule for this summer.

“We do have some intersections that we’re going to take care of that are in really bad shape. We’re still able to pave up to a half of a mile of streets. We used to be able to pave one mile and now we’re down to a half of a mile with the same budget,” explained Street Superintendent, Jeff Borg.

Continue reading →

Nathan Origer Begins as New Pulaski County Community Development Commission Director

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County Community Development Commission has a new Director. Nathan Origer has been in the office for a little over a week and he says he’s ready to begin his duties.

“If you’ve got a business looking to expand here in the County, I’m the guy who’s going to help you look for grants, navigate the abatement process, the revolving loan fund process, and also potential companies coming into the County,” said Origer. “I’m going to be giving them all the reasons why Pulaski County is where they should bring their operation. I’m going to work with the community and county government, small project development, and work with the PACE program on workforce development.”

Origer was asked what aspects Pulaski County has to attract businesses.

“I think we’ve got a government that is looking forward to entertaining new clients and businesses. There are communities with strong infrastructure. Winamac is doing a sewer separation project right now to improve theirs. Medaryville is undertaking a new storm water project so they will have better drainage over there. We’ve got a good agriculture base so we could look into value added products. We’ve got a rail line on the west side of the county and we’ve got a rail bank on the northeast side of the county. We do have one U.S. Highway that has connections to some pretty important places and we’re close to I-65. It’s just an ideal location where you’ve got quality of life, lower cost of living, and still close enough to the big markets for a company to do what it needs to do.”