The first report came in on Nov. 21 where a man walking a large dog in the area of Hamlet and Pearl Streets attempted to get into parked vehicles. The man was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. Officers were not able to locate the suspect when they arrived at the scene.
Interim Superintendent Greg Briles said Elementary Principal William Bennett and High School Principal Tim Pletcher are great assets to the corporation, especially during the transition of a new interim superintendent. Briles added that they were both offered fair contracts and the board accepted those for renewal.
The board also approved the purchase request for new computers for the central office.
Briles stated it was time to upgrade to keep up with changing technology.
“Our central office computers had been here for the past five years and as technology has changed over those five years we’ve kind of fallen behind a little bit. So, we’re going to upgrade those,” said Briles.
The change will help streamline processes within the central office.
Interim Superintendent Greg Briles stated that the property would be used for an upcoming project proposed by the Hamlet Fire Department.
“We’ve been working on the transfer of property in Hamlet, where the elementary school previously sat, back to the township so they would have the capabilities of potentially building a new fire station,” explained Briles.
This was one of the goals set forth the school board at the beginning of the year so this project could move along.
The paperwork for the transfer of property will be officially complete and that project should be wrapped up at the school board’s next meeting on Dec. 16.
Interim Superintendent Greg Briles commented that the public hearing went very well.
“We had a packed house and it was very refreshing that people would take the interest in coming in and expressing their opinions on the hiring of a school superintendent,” stated Briles. “There was a lot of positive feedback. There was not one negative thing said in regards to the contract. They were very appreciative of the work that our board had done in establishing a contract for the new superintendent.”
The next step will be the hiring and naming of the new school superintendent which will be done during the board’s next regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 16.
Members of the public are invited to community forums this week in Knox and Hamlet aimed at addressing the health care services and needs of Starke County residents. Commissioner Jennifer Davis is spearheading the effort to assess and address the continuum of care by identifying gaps in existing services. She says the information gathered at the meetings will be used to organize a plan for needs in the future. The first of three meetings took place last week in North Judson. A second meeting is scheduled tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in downtown Knox. The third session will take place tomorrow evening at the Oregon-Davis High School cafeteria at 6:30 p.m.
The school board members will hear your opinions on the proposed contract of employment for the Superintendent of Schools. Your input will be taken into consideration when the board discusses the contract for approval during an open board meeting on Monday, Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Oregon-Davis students are continuing a longstanding Veterans Day tradition of inviting members of the community who have served in the military to school for breakfast and convocation. High school principal Tim Pletcher says the sophomore class hosts the program as a way to say thank you to the men and women who have defended our freedom.
“It’s a nice way in a small community like this to let the community and the veterans know that the students and the staff here at Oregon-Davis appreciate everything they’ve done for us, and we realize we couldn’t do without the sacrifices they’ve made,” said Pletcher.
The salary and benefits will be published for review by the public and your support or opposition will be called upon during the hearing.
Shadow boxes in memory of seven Indiana National Guardsmen killed in combat are part of a permanent memorial to their sacrifices at the Indiana National Guard Valparaiso Armory. Each one contains items belonging to the soldiers from the 113 Engineer Battalion who were killed in January of 2012 when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Spc. Robert Tauteris of Hamlet was among those killed, along with Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Chavez, Sgt. Brian Leonhart of Merrillville, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Metzger, Spc. Christopher Patterson, Spc. Nicholas Taylor and Spc. Sergio Perez. Indiana Adjutant General Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger unveiled the shadow boxes during a ceremony for the soldiers’ families yesterday at Valparaiso University.
The Indiana National Guard will honor seven fallen soldiers, including Spc. Robert Tauteris from Hamlet and Brian Leonhardt of Merrillville.
Major General R. Martin Umbarger will help conduct the ceremony where seven personalized shadow boxes will be dedicated to the memory of the sacrifices of these Indiana Guardsmen who served in the 113th Engineer Battalion.
The Sesquicentennial celebration for the Town of Hamlet is tonight.
Clerk-Treasurer Kristina Pitts and the town board members invite all Hamlet residents to take part in the celebration which includes opening a time capsule. The time capsule had been buried at the site of the Hamlet Town Hall for decades. It will be interesting to see what has changed in the town and what officials thought should be remembered during that time period.
Another time capsule will be filled and buried.
The celebration begins at 5 p.m. CT at the Hamlet Town Hall.
Traffic to the Oregon-Davis Schools will be re-routed today due to a CF&E train that is stuck on the tracks. County Road 750 East just south of U.S. 30 will be closed most of the day, according to dispatchers with the sheriff’s office. They advise the train broke in half, forcing the temporary road closure.
The residents in the town of Hamlet are celebrating the town’s 150th anniversary this Thursday, Oct. 24.
Clerk-Treasurer Kristina Pitts tells WKVI that a time capsule buried at the town hall decades ago will be opened. Another time capsule will be filled and buried to be opened at another milestone celebration.
The celebration begins at 5 p.m. CT at the town hall. Hamlet residents will enjoy cake and ice cream along with the reveal of what is in the time capsule. A lot has changed in the area of Hamlet over the past few decades so it should be interesting what was included in the time capsule.
Oregon-Davis Interim Superintendent Greg Briles said the budget will now be sent to the Department of Local Government Finance where it will be reviewed. The budget will come back with no changes or cuts that need to be made.
The Hamlet Town Board has published an amendment to an ordinance that pertains to the removal of weeds and rank vegetation within the town limits of Hamlet.
The amendment states that residents shall cut and remove weeds and other rank vegetation from their property. Growth should not exceed six inches in height.
“I’m very pleased that through all of the adversity the students in our elementary performed exceptionally well and our junior high students performed average,” said Briles. “As the same with the elementary school, there’s always room for improvement.”
The board will also discuss two facility use requests, several personnel leave requests and field trip requests, among other regular agenda items.
The Oregon-Davis School Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. CT in the Susan G. Rowles Board Room in the Administration Building on the school’s campus in Hamlet.
