The Starke County Development Foundation’s annual meeting will be held tonight at the Knox Community Center. It begins at 5:30 p.m. and the formal program begins at 6:15 p.m. You are invited to the event.
Several awards will be given including the Robert Hamilton Award which will be given to Mat Swanson and Jack Lynch.
The Knox City Council will welcome a special speaker during their regular meeting this week.
Candice Bernier, Special Projects Coordinator for the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, will focus on planning for the future of downtown Knox.
The Knox City Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00 p.m. CT at the Knox Community Center and you are invited to attend the presentation to hear those ideas and suggest ideas during the meeting. Other agenda items include the first reading of a salary ordinance for elected officials, the second reading of the change of fees and fines for the animal ordinance, and a resolution for the rebonding of the Knox Community Center.
Costumes were judged last night after a rigorous hour-and-a-half of trick-or-treating in Knox. The event was sponsored by the Knox Friends of the Park organization and it was held at the Knox Community Center. The judges had their hands full with three categories to judge in age groups 0-5, 1st through 5th graders and 6th through 8th graders. There were definitely some unique costumes!
Here are the winners: Continue reading
Country music fans, especially of the Bluegrass persuasion, turned out Friday night for Mayor Rick Chamber’s Bluegrass Jam at the Knox Community Center.
Mayor Chambers said the event gives musicians, and fans alike a chance to get out and enjoy their music of choice.
“We had a great turnout as usual,” said Mayor Rick Chambers. “We had about 270 people here. We had donations for the Food Pantry and my pickup truck is full of food. We probably have 700 or 800 pounds of food. It’s a really great turnout. We hold these events about twice a year and we’d like to do more, but the Community Center is usually rented out, so we do one in early spring and late fall.”
The Starke United campaign kick-off breakfast is this morning at the Knox Community Center. The theme for this year’s campaign is, “Together, we can inspire hope and create opportunities for a better tomorrow.”
The campaign chairman will be announced as well as the goal for the year. Julie Dessauer is the Starke United Director and she promises an inspiring breakfast, and campaign. The breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m. CT and it is sponsored by Integrity Trade Services.
Life Line Screening, the nation’s leading provider of community-based preventative health screenings, will be at the Knox Community Center on Thursday, September 15th beginning at 9:00 a.m. The event is sponsored by Pulaski Memorial Hospital.
Chief Warrant Officer, Andy Howes, returned to Starke County yesterday 41 years after he left for the war in Vietnam.
Howes left Hawaii yesterday morning in a trip that ended in Knox at 8:10 p.m. last night. Hundreds of people turned out along the way home, especially in Knox.
Classmates from as far as Florida, New York and Delaware and throughout Indiana are coming to Knox for memorial services for Chief Warrant Officer, Andy Howes. Many of his Knox High School classmates have MIA bracelets that they wore for a number of years, or put away in a known chest awaiting his return. The family has invited all who have bracelets to put them in the casket with the remains.
Howes will be returning to Knox on Monday, with a Patriot Guard escort, and memorial services will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Knox Community Center.
John Julien of Umbaugh and Associates came before the Knox City Council this week to bring them up to speed on the savings associated with refinancing the outstanding debt on the Knox Community Building. In 1997, the bonds on the building sold at a 5.5% interest rate. Julien told the Council that they could now be sold at 2.9%.
“$23,000 isn’t going to make the City rich, but it’s $23,000 that you don’t have access to right now,” said Julien. “In the grand scheme of things, I think it’s worthwhile for the City to pursue. The savings aren’t earth shattering, but it’s hard to imagine that interest rates are going to go much lower.”
250 interested people turned out for the Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center’s fundraising reception last night at the Knox Community Center. Pledge Chairman, Dr. Thomas Browne, urged all in attendance to provide the funding to help sustain this worthwhile and needed service. Following the evening, Executive Director, Susanne Lange, told WKVI’s Ted Hayes about the first two months of operation and how many are using the services.
“We’ve seen over twenty clients and have enrolled many, many girls, ages 14-34, in our Earn While You Learn program who are actually showing up consistently.”
The Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center’s First Annual Fundraising reception will be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT at the Knox Community Center. A ribbon cutting for the center was held last week, and Executive Director Suzanne Lange said tonight’s affair will be to raise funding for the operating expenses.
The Annual National Day of Prayer Service was held yesterday morning at the Knox Community Center. Sponsored by the City of Knox, and Love Inc., over 200 people attended and heard an address by Pastor James Adcock of the Bible Baptist Church.
“The World Day of Prayer is a day of reflection of where our nation is, was and where it’s going,” said Pastor Adcock. “Everything in our nation has come as a result of prayer, from George Washington to our current President, Barack Obama. Everything happens as a result of prayer and I think this is the day we reflect on that.”
It’s Primary Election Day! Voters in precincts 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Center Township in Knox are encouraged to vote today and all voting will be done at the Knox Community Center. Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Starke County Clerk, Evelyn Skronski, received 182 absentee ballots in her office. 123 walk-in ballots, 37 ballots by mail and 22 Travel Board were received. Of those votes 163 were Democratic ballots and 19 were Republican ballots.
The 60th Annual National Day of Prayer is on Thursday, May 5th. A prayer breakfast will be held at the Knox Community Center for those to gather and turn to God in prayer and meditation.
The event in Knox will be from 7:00-8:00 a.m. CT and Pastor James Adcock will be the guest speaker. A full breakfast will be served for $8.00 per person. Tickets are available at the Knox Mayor’s Office. Call (574) 772-4553 for more information. The event is sponsored by the City of Knox and Love Inc. of Starke County.
Porter-Starke Addictions Councilor, Leo Smith, will conduct a seminar today at 11:30 a.m. CT at the Knox Community Center. His topic will be relapse.
Smith was asked if it’s true that most people who begin a recovery process relapse before becoming successful.
Prescription drugs have now passed street drugs as the method of choice for most drug abusers in the United States. There are more deaths caused by prescription drugs than cocaine and heroin each year. 20% of teens say they have taken a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription. Those facts don’t surprise Porter-Starke Addictions Counselor, Leo Smith.
“It’s one of the problems that people don’t see or that they don’t want to see,” said Smith. “When you get a drug from a doctor and it’s prescribed it’s like, ‘I got it from a doctor and everything’s good’ – until it starts to turn on you. This is a huge problem in Starke County. This is a huge problem everywhere. I don’t care if it’s Starke County, LaPorte County, or Porter County. It’s everywhere.”
Over 20 people died of overdoses last year in Starke County.
“That’s my understanding and in the last year, that’s 20 that they could verify,” continued Smith. “If you’re not on the front line, it does knock your socks off, but I’ve got to be honest with you, it doesn’t surprise me. I hear it first hand. I have the longest grapevine in the whole world as far as what’s going on with the prescription drug use and I hear about it all the time.”
“I got back from vacation after two weeks and the first client I saw said, ‘Did you hear about so-and-so?’ They had overdosed the Friday before I came back.”
“I haven’t fixed you after eight weeks of treatment. After eight weeks of treatment, hopefully you’ll walk out of there with some really good tools. I was laughing with some clients they other day and I said, ‘You know, I’m going to give you some Craftsmans and some Snap-ons, some Milwaukee and DeWalts, but you have to apply them and you have to use them.’ When you walk out of here, you’ll know what you are and what you need to do. Recovery is progressive. It’s a day at a time and it’s a life long process.”
Leo Smith will be talking more about drug abuse next week on WKVI. Leo Smith will be presenting a Lunch and Learn discussion on Tuesday, April 19th at the Knox Community Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. He will discuss relapse for persons recovering from substance abuse. Call 772-4040 for more information or to reserve a seat.
The Starke County Election Board is gearing up for its first election with the consolidation of four precincts into one this spring. Center one, two, three and four precincts will all vote in the Knox Community Center.
Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. CT, the public will be able to test the voting machines. The testing will be done on the first floor of the Courthouse.
Following the testing, the Election Board will meet. The Board will discuss the amendment of a resolution regarding the relocation of the precincts and the number of poll workers.
Knox City Councilman Greg Matt described the electronic sign at the Knox Community Center as a dead horse. Matt told his fellow councilmen that he had a conversation with a representative of Vanadco Signs about the condition of the unit and came away convinced that it can’t be repaired.
The sign is occasionally on, but the right message isn’t displayed and other times it’s off for no reason. A new sign with enhanced graphics, featuring 64,000 color combinations, has been priced at $14,400 for the city. This would include training for office staff who could program it from City Hall.
Mayor Rick Chambers has given Knox City Council members copies of the newest Community Center Rental Agreement.
One of the sections of the agreement spells out the restrictions of serving alcohol at an event. If alcohol is to be served, the renter must apply for and obtain a temporary beer/wine permit from the Indiana Alcohol Beverage Commission. Only a licensed bartender may supply or dispense alcoholic beverages. And security is required through the Starke County Sheriff’s Posse at the renter’s expense. The Posse members on duty must stay for the entire duration of the event and lock the facility. All events where alcohol is served must be ended by 12:00 midnight.
The 2010 Henry F. Schricker Awards Banquet will be held tonight at the Knox Community Center. Honored will be former Starke County Circuit Court Judge and current County Councilman, Marvin McLaughlin, of North Judson.
When interviewed recently by Ted Hayes, Judge McLaughlin remembered the man of whom the award is named, the late governor Henry F. Schricker.
