Chicago Man Arrested in LaPorte County on Cocaine Charges
A Chicago man is in the LaPorte County Jail after police arrested him on cocaine charges.
The LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit learned that a large shipment of cocaine was destined for LaPorte County. Investigators rapidly gathered information and learned that the shipment was to be delivered to a retail parking lot in Michigan City via automobile. Investigators from the Michigan City Street Crimes Unit, the DEA and Metro operations detectives began surveillance and the targeted suspect vehicle was located and stopped in a parking lot. Police came upon the vehicle and a Michigan City K9 alerted to drugs in a compartment in the vehicle. Investigators conducted a search and found one kilogram of cocaine inside the compartment. Officers also seized more than $30,000 in United States currency.
Knox Man Arrested after Leaving Children Alone in a Home
A Knox man was arrested Wednesday after police found he left his children unattended in a home.
According to the police report, the Starke County Sheriff’s Department received a call that a person in a red truck was doing donuts in the parking lot at the Oak Estates apartments. The Knox City Police Department officer called to the scene didn’t find anyone there at the time, but the officer did locate the suspect vehicle at 345 Ruthie Drive with one of the rear truck tires on fire. The reporting officer noted that there was a pile of melted rubber behind the tire and there was a large skid mark in the road. The officer approached the residence and found Curtis Bradley in the home and asked if the truck outside was his and Bradley confirmed it was his. The officer told him that the truck was on fire and they went outside to the truck. Bradley reportedly tried to touch the burning tire and the officer pulled him back so he wouldn’t injure himself. Bradley then started to swing his arms at the officer wanting to fight. The officer told him to put his hands behind his back and Bradley resisted. After some force, Bradley was taken into custody. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire.
Hamlet, Knox Fire Crews Respond to Call Outside of Hamlet
Residents were tearing down a house at 2323 E. 480 N. outside of Hamlet Wednesday afternoon when a fire started and got out of control.
According to Hamlet Fire Chief, Bob Goetz, scrap from the destruction of an abandoned house on the property started on fire. The fire got out of control and spread to a garage. The Hamlet Fire Department responded to the scene as well as the Knox-Center Township Fire Department and the fire was extinguished. Minimal damage was reported to the garage. There were no injuries reported.
FCC Mandates New Radio Band Frequencies; Starke County to Change to Narrow Banding
Firefighters and others using radio communication equipment attended a meeting Monday night called by Starke County EMA Director, Ted Bombagetti, to explain the future mandate to change radio bands. Because of space demands, the FCC is compressing the bands down to what is called “narrow-banding.”
“There’s too many people that want to get radios and there’s not enough frequencies open,” explained Bombagetti. “So the FCC has decided that they’re going to cut the space in half between each frequency. Right now, we’re operating in a space of 25 mhz and they’re going to cut it to 12 1/2. This allows more licenses to become available to the public.”
John Brooke and Kimberly Hitchens Combined Trial Begins Friday in Starke Circuit Court
The combined trial of Kimberly Hitchens and John Brooke is expected to begin with jury selection on Friday, April 8th at 9:00 a.m. in Starke Circuit Court.
According to court documents, on February 15th, 2010, Starke County officers went to a home at Bass Lake to serve an arrest warrant to Michael Drogosz, who allegedly planned an ambush on police when they served him the warrant. Kimberly Hitchens told police that Drogosz was not at the residence when they appeared. Drogosz was at the residence and in possession of assault rifles and incendiary devices and he did open fire on police with an assault weapon. An accomplice, James Reed, reportedly called John Brooke to come to the residence. He appeared carrying an assault rifle and wearing body armor.
North Judson-San Pierre School Board Approves Retirements
The North Judson-San Pierre School Board met in special session Tuesday night to discuss retirements.
Superintendent Lynn Johnson said nine retirements were approved and eight of those were due to Reductions in Force. Incentives were given to teachers to retire as part of a Reduction in Force initiative. The Board will post a couple of those positions and hope to fill those internally but applications will be accepted. Two positions will be Elementary positions and two will be secondary English positions in the Middle and High Schools.
Indiana Civil Air Patrol to Conduct Training at Starke County Airport
The Indiana Wing of the Indiana Civil Air Patrol will be conducting a weekend search and rescue exercise at the Starke County Airport. Approximately 130 Senior, Junior and Auxiliary cadets will bivouac from Friday night until Sunday.
Eight Civil Air Patrol aircraft will be used in the exercise, which will be a staged plane crash. Col. Mark Reeves will be in charge of the training session.
Starke United Annual Meeting and Recognition Dinner Tonight
The annual Starke United Meeting and Recognition night will be tonight. New Executive Director, Julie Dessauer, talks about the evening.
“The Annual Membership Meeting will be April 7th at 5:00 p.m. at the Community Services building,” explained Starke United Executive Director, Julie Dessauer. “The keynote speaker will be Judge Marvin McLaughlin and event is sponsored by IU Health Starke Hospital.” Continue reading
Purdue University Entomologist Dr. Tom Turpin Presents Program to Ag Alumni
Dr. Tom Turpin, an Entomology professor at Purdue University, provided the program this week at the Purdue Ag. Alumni Annual Meeting held at the Toto Cafe.
“Many of them are pests, of course,” said Dr. Turpin. “We have many disease carrying insects like mosquitoes and then we have those that feed on our crops and those who feed on our possessions like termites in our homes. The pest status of some of them makes us concerned about them but that’s a very small percentage. Less than three percent of all the species are actually problem insects.”
Knox High School Drama Department to Present Fiddler on the Roof
The Knox High School Drama Department will present Fiddler on the Roof on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the High School Auditorium.
“Fiddler is an older show and it is set in 1905 in Russia in a little village of Anatevka,” said Director Terrill Hahn of the musical. “It’s got some great classic songs in it like ‘Matchmaker’, ‘If I Were a Rich Man’, ‘Tradition’, and ‘Sunrise, Sunset’. All of those songs I’m sure people are familiar with.”
Miss Hahn says this play has been a challenge for the actors and everyone involved.
Lisa Napierkowski Arrested on Warrant after Traffic Stop
Lisa Napierkowski was arrested Monday on a warrant for Trafficking with an Inmate and Dealing in a Schedule IV Controlled Substance after a routine traffic stop.
According to police, A car driven by Otis Young was stopped at 700 E. and 100 N. in Starke County on Monday and Lisa Napierkowski was apprehended as a result of the traffic stop. It is alleged that in late February, Lisa had brought Clonzapam to the Starke County Jail lobby bathroom and placed them under the trash bag. An inmate, Korey Draper, then admitted to gaining possession of the drugs which numbered 40. He told police that he put them in a pill bottle and placed them in a vent. When jailers searched the vent, the pills, credit cards and syringes were located and placed into evidence.
Officials Close Three Bridges in Starke County
Starke County officials closed three bridges last week and determined that at least half of the bridges in the county need to be replaced or repaired.
The following bridges were closed:
Bridge #9 over the Jane Ditch (700 N and 500 E) in Oregon Township;
Bridge #62 over the Smith Ditch (Range Rd. and 500 S) in California Township;
Bridge #156 over the Robbins Ditch (Range Rd. between 400 and 500 N) in Davis Township.
Pulaski County Health Department Unable to Provide for Medicaid After July 1
Individuals covered under Medicaid or by private insurance will soon have a hard time finding health service in Pulaski County. Starting July 1, new federal guidelines state that the Pulaski County Health Department can no longer provide service to those covered under Medicaid if a Medicaid provider exists in the county, and individuals covered by insurance for vaccines can also no longer receive service from the Health Department. Because the Health Department is not a Medicaid provider, and a provider does indeed exist in the county, the Health Department will be unable to render services to those individuals. They are currently looking into becoming a provider, but it can be a long process.
North Judson Town Board Approves Special Event Permit for World War II Reenactment
On Monday night, the North Judson Town Board approved a special event permit submitted by the Illiana Historical Association. The members in the organization hope to participate in a World War II reenactment event on Friday, June 3rd through Sunday, June 5th, on the old railroad bed property, east of Luken Street, north of the new Firehouse. More details of the event will be available as the event draws closer.
Knox School Board Discusses 2011-2012 School Calendar
The Knox Community School Board discussed the 2011-2012 school calendar Monday night. The calendar shows that the first day of school for Knox students would be Wednesday, August 10th with the end of the first semester as December 21st. June 1st, 2012 would be commencement. The first and second semesters would equal 90 days apiece. Superintendent, A.J. Gappa, told the Board that the schedule works with the Jesse Cooperative and the vocational programs as well.
Hamlet Sewer Improvement Project Continues; Streets Affected to be Repaved
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.
Andrew Frasure, Jr. Named Pulaski County Lilly Scholarship Winner
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.
