Brian Ball of Bass Lake experienced a very scary event Friday afternoon at his home. While erecting a tent in his yard, he was struck by a falling tree. Because of the force, he apparently suffered a concussion, but was not killed.
Fortunately a neighbor, Jim O’Hara, was nearby and rushed to his aid. O’Hara told WKVI News that he administered CPR twice when he didn’t detect a pulse.
Four new directors for the Bass Lake Property Owners’ Association (BLPOA) will be learning the ropes after they were elected Saturday. Joe Ippolito, Chris Nawaczyk, and Jack Stvan will be serving two year terms as directors for the BLPOA, and Ron Vendel will be serving a one year term as director.
A total of seven directors control BLPOA, along with four officers: Gene Novello, President; Larry Collura, Vice President; Pat Von Bampus, Secretary; and Earl McGuire, Treasurer. These individuals are in charge of handling the affairs of BLPOA, as well as sponsoring the Neighborhood Watch organization. Seven volunteers patrol the area, and members make donations that help support this program.
The Bass Lake Fire Department was called to a house fire at 6560 S. State Road 10 at Bass Lake. Fire Chief, Les Jensen, told WKVI that the two-story brick home was a total loss. The Fire Department battled the blaze for about 45 minutes before it came under control. Jensen said the home was a summer home owned by an Illinois resident. The preliminary cause of the fire is a lightning strike. The home was valued at at least $500,000. Continue reading
The courtroom was full of family and friends of John Brooke as the jury returned to the courtroom with their verdict. The judge read their decision, his face calm, revealing nothing. As he began reading the verdict aloud, family members burst into tears while Brooke remained calm and collected, even in the face of the seriousness of the charges.
The jury found Brooke guilty of six of the seven counts against him: Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery, Intimidation, Possession and Manufacturing of a Destructive Device, Resisting Law Enforcement, Unlawful Use of Body Armor, and Assisting a Criminal. The jury found him not guilty of the count of Possession of a Destructive Device.
Today on “Ted Hayes Remembers” Louise and the late Alt Williams will talk about those carefree days at Bass Lake.
Louise Williams was a Chicago girl, but dad wanted his kids out of the city in the summer. So he bought a place at Bass Lake and his wife and children ran the restaurant and resort during the week, and he came out on the weekend. Louise Williams tells us what it was like.
“It was a super place to be,” she said. “It was quiet. The only noise you would hear was the oars in the water from rowing boats, maybe sails in the wind. There were a lot of barrel rafts that we enjoyed just laying and lulling on and diving off of. It was the days of outside johns and kerosene cook stoves. I recall walking to Ruth Fishburn’s store to get kerosene for my mother in two gallon jugs and the trip back was always longer than the trip going there. There was always the joy when someone you knew would stop and offer a ride. The walk was enjoyable because you knew all the people within that mile and you stop and gab. I’d even goof off and play with a girlfriend for a while. It seems to me that those days were much slower and summers were longer.”
A jury of 8 men and four women has returned a guilty verdict on 6 of the seven charges against John Brooke in Starke Circuit
Court. The trial was conducted in front of Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall.
A stoic John Brooke heard the guilty verdict given, while friends and family in the gallery wept.
He was convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery, Intimidation, Possession and Manufacturing Destructive Devices, Resisting Law Enforcement,
Unlawful Use of Body Armour, and Assisting a Criminal.
The only count he was found not guilty on was a seventh charge, possession of a destructive device.
Sentencing has been set by Judge Hall for May 12th. at 10:00.
Brooke was part of a potentially deadly situation at Bass Lake in February of 2010 in which an occupant in his home opened fire on Starke County Police officers who were trying to serve an Illinois warrant. Michael Drogosz, the shooter in that incident was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in August.
We’ll have more information in the morning.
The trial of John Brooke continued Wednesday morning in Starke Circuit Court. The Prosecution called its first witness of the day to the stand: Starke County Detective Ron Lawson. Lawson testified that he had been called to a shooting incident on Summerholme Drive at Bass Lake and received a briefing from officers on the scene. He also said that he had interviewed John Brooke on three separate interviews to correct or understand discrepancies between interviews with Brooke, Michael Drogosz, and Kimberly Hitchens, who were also involved in the incident.
Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti said this week that the total cost during the storms the first week in February was almost $81,000. Almost $7,000 was overtime pay. The rest was in materials and fuel.
On a related topic, County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall implored the County Commissioners to set up a meeting with the Bass Lake Property Owners Association to explain the right-of-way situation at the lake. Siddall said it’s been about 10 years since residents were notified that the county has 40 to 60 feet of right of way to plow snow. Since that time, many of the property owners have been encroaching on that space to place fences, trinkets, rocks and boulders.
