The Starke County Commissioners will meet tonight where contracts will be signed for the elevator at the courthouse. Paperwork from K-IRPC and DLZ will be approved in that process.
The search for a Starke County EMA Director is on tonight’s agenda. The commissioners will be discussing making it a full-time or part-time position. Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler will have a report from the highway department, Maintenance Director Jim Coad will present a fire contract for the second annex building, and EMS Clerk Mary Lynn Ritchie and Assistant Director Travis Clary will provide a department report.
The Culver Town Council will meet in a work session this afternoon to discuss the proposed theater project.
The town council previously discussed purchasing the movie theater and renovating the structure. The current owner isn’t confident that the repairs can be made within a specified budget. The council members want to be sure to have architects or local contractors evaluate the renovation needs and offer opinions on needed repairs.
The Starke County Building Corporation will meet this morning at 8:30 a.m.
The corporation members will be going over outstanding claims for payment by the commissioners from the construction of the second annex building.
The meeting is set in the Starke County Commissioners meeting room in the Starke County Annex building.
Firefighters battled a house fire in the 4100 block of East 200 South in Knox Sunday night.
According to Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Kenny Pfost, the Indiana State Fire Marshal deemed the fire accidental. The fire started in a recessed lighting fixture in the front porch area of the home.
Pfost added that crews from the Knox-Center Township Fire Department, Hamlet-Davis Fire Department and Washington Township Fire Department were at the scene for about four hours battling the blaze.
The Pulaski County Commissioners are expected to continue their discussion of repairs and upgrades to the courthouse.
The North Judson Town Council has taken the first step toward upgrading the town’s wastewater infrastructure.
The crowdfunding effort for a proposed amphitheater in the Culver Town Park was a success.
A little over $45,000 was gathered in the fundraising campaign. The opportunity was put forward in order to get an Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority matching grant of $30,000 toward the project. The project also has grant support from the Marshall County Community Foundation in the amount of $25,000. The estimated cost of the project is $143,000.
Portions of highways in La Porte County will hinder work commutes when the partial work week winds up on Wednesday, July 5.
The south junction intersection at U.S. 6 and U.S. 421 in Westville will be closed beginning Wednesday through the middle of August. Crews with the Indiana Department of Transportation will be rehabilitating the intersection with new concrete. No traffic will be allowed through the intersection and northbound motorists will be detoured utilizing U.S. 421, U.S. 30, State Road 39 and back to State Road 2. Southbound travelers will reverse the route.
North Judson’s chicken debate is expected to continue during tonight’s town council meeting. The town’s existing animal ordinance prohibits chickens and other farm animals from being raised within the town limits, but there are still some chickens in town.
North Judson’s new town marshal officially took over this week. Kelly Fisher was sworn in by Clerk-Treasurer Alicia Collins, during a special town council meeting Tuesday morning. Fisher previously served 18 years as a deputy with the Starke County Sheriff’s Office.
Water and sewer infrastructure for Culver’s Sand Hill Farms workforce housing development will cost an estimated $400,000. That’s according to Mark Sullivan with Midwestern Engineers. He met with the town council Tuesday to give an update on the project.
Changes made to the Hearing Aid Assistance Program of Indiana means more funding for hearing aids for eligible children.
Beginning today, children ages three and older will be eligible for up to $2,000 per hearing aid, including bone anchored hearing aids, through a participating audiologist. The new requirements increase the age range and an additional $500 in funding.
Road crews will take a break during the Independence Day holiday.
Officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation say road work will cease until the morning hours of Wednesday, July 5. Road restrictions will be removed in select areas to ease the flow of traffic during the holiday. Some closures and restrictions will remain on larger projects. Contractors will reposition barriers and barricades to accommodate the increase in traffic.
Traffic and road conditions plus construction information on state highways can be accessed online at http://indot.carsprogram.org or call 1-800-261-ROAD (7623).
Local police officers and state police troopers will be out in full force targeting impaired drivers. Sobriety checkpoints, roving patrols and saturation patrols are planned.
Fireworks are one way of celebrating during the Fourth of July season and it’s important that consumers follow the laws.
Indiana State Fire Marshal Jim Greeson said state law allows fireworks to be legally ignited from June 29 to July 3 from 5 p.m. local time until two hours after sunset and on July 4 from 10 a.m. to midnight. The use of fireworks is also allowed July 5-July 9 from 5 p.m. until two hours after sunset. Check local ordinances as dates and times may vary.
Fireworks may be used on the user’s property, on property with the owner’s consent or at a locally identified discharge location.
La Porte County Police are looking for a suspect who attempted to abduct a child in the Fish Lake area Thursday night.
Police say a man stopped at the residence in the 7400 East block of State Road 4 at Fish Lake. The homeowner was working outside of the home and his one-year-old son was also outdoors. The suspect told the homeowner that he was in need of assistance as his car broke down. The man asked the homeowner for some water. As the homeowner went inside to get the suspect some water, the man attempted to put the child into a duffle bag.
The Railroad Township Board has once again voted to appoint Susan McCormack to the North Judson-San Pierre School Board, but this time, they did it legally. They originally made the decision last week, but didn’t take the vote in public, as required by law. So board members met again Thursday to rescind that action and do it again in public.
The City of Knox may be able to tear down an additional house as part of its blight elimination effort. Over the past year or so, the city’s torn down 10 uninhabitable homes, with funding from the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority.
