Washington Township Trustee Cathy Benko asked the Starke County Commissioners Tuesday night to help fix radio communication issues for the firefighters.
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Summer is a time for celebrations, but setting off fireworks on the wrong day in the City of Knox could cost you hundreds of dollars in fines. Fireworks are only allowed June 29 to July 9, plus New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, under the city’s ordinances.
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Starke County has a new emergency management agency director. Hannah Lueth has been offered the position, following the approval of the county commissioners Monday.
Continue readingStarke County is keeping its options open, when it comes to the Emergency Management Agency director position.
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The Starke County Council discussed necessary budget cuts to the 2019 budget when they met Monday night.
The Starke County Election Board members heard appeals from three candidates concerning fines assessed from delinquent candidate financial reports prior to the November General Election.
The Starke County Election Board members will hold a public hearing today at 9 a.m. to hear appeals from three candidates who filed late campaign finance reports. The reports were due by noon in the Clerk’s Office on Friday, Oct. 19.
Firefighters from several departments told the Starke County Commissioners on Monday night that they continue to have problems with radio communication.
The Starke County Council members made several appointments to boards and commissions when they met this week.
The council reorganized with a change in leadership. Brad Hazelton was elected as council president and Dave Pearman retained as council vice president. Freddie Baker opted to step down from leading the council. He held the position in 2016 and 2017.
Starke County will mark its place in Indiana history today when the state bicentennial torch comes through the county. Celebration coordinator Dave Pearman says the intent of the 92 county torch relay and yearlong observance is to have every Hoosier take part in the festivities. The torch will come up U.S. 35 from Pulaski into Starke County around 4:30 p.m. CDT and will be shepherded through 20 marked spots by prominent members of the community or their representatives. Continue reading
The Starke County Council this week balked at a request from the county EMS department to allocate money they’ve received for services rendered to purchase a new ambulance. Business manager Mary Lynn Richie says they’ve collected a significant sum from federal Medicaid reimbursements that were not paid in prior years. Continue reading
Plans are moving ahead for Starke County’s celebration of the state’s bicentennial next year. Continue reading
A state law aimed at curbing conflicts of interest by prohibiting volunteer firefighters from holding certain elected offices does not apply to Starke County Council members. President Dave Pearman is also an 18 year veteran of the Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department. He sought clarification about the policy when he ran for reelection. Continue reading
Some changes have been made in the way fire departments are being dispatched in Starke County with the way medical calls are being handled and a meeting is scheduled for tonight to explain some of those changes.
Dave Pearman from the Washington Township Fire Department said the process is being streamlined.
“There were Post-it notes that were covering the monitors in our 911 dispatch office and we looked within the fire service and within emergency services altogether and asked ourselves what could we change about that?” stated Pearman.
“I really felt like you guys all did a really great job in getting together and preparing a budget that I thought was very slim. We have a very slim levy in Starke County, and personally I was very disappointed in the state, but the state came back and said we have to shave $465,000 off our budget,” Pearman said.
Two state certified classes were recently taught by Dave Pearman at the Washington Township Fire Department over the course of five weeks.
Pearman taught an Instructor 1 class that will bring additional instructors into the fire service which will allow them to enhance training at their departments. Those who successfully complete the rather extensive Instructor 1 training can then train students in mandatory, firefighter 1 and firefighter II classes. These training sessions are the foundation of all firefighter classes.
The Starke County Council this week performed the non-binding review of other taxing units’ 2014 budgets throughout the county, and according to Council President Dave Pearman, the proposed budgets mostly seemed to follow a trend of proposing increases in their budgets that exceed the state’s annual growth rate.
“As you know, we spend a lot of time working on our budget, trying to fit within the calculated annual growth rate, which for the state, was 2.6 percent, it was actually 3.6 for Starke County. But the expectation from the state is that, that rate would be at a 2.6 percent growth quotient. Several of the non-binding reviews had spoken to the fact that many of those budgets were over the calculated annual growth rate,” said Pearman.
