Knox Clerk-Treasurer Says State Audit Came Back OK

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the city council last week that the city’s audit has been completed by the state, pending official approval by the state supervisor. Houston explained that the audit, overall, went well; though he was unsure as to how city court fared with the audit. He said the only exception that the state took was that the deposits were not corresponding with what the books indicated was being deposited.

Houston explained that this was because some deposits were not listed as to whether they were cash or checks, so they could not be checked back on in the records. So, Houston said he has implemented a new form in his office that will be used to reconcile all cash and checks collected with the amounts deposited.

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Knox Redskin Brigade Advances to Regional ISSMA Competition

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox Redskin Brigade will advance to the Indiana State School Music Association Regional competition on Saturday, Oct. 13, having earned a Gold rating at the District Competition held at Concord High School in Elkhart this weekend.

Craige Phipps, band director at Knox, says a Gold rating is required in order for a band to advance to the Regional level. With the Redskin Brigade’s success at District, Phipps says they will soon advance to the Lafayette Jefferson Regional competition on Saturday, Oct. 13. The competition will take place at 12:05 p.m. ET.

Knox will also be competing this Saturday at the Plymouth High School’s “Harvest Festival of Bands.”

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Knox City Council Approves Redistricting Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

Knox City Attorney David Matsey told the council last week that the redistricting of voting precincts has been completed, but he said they made very few changes. Matsey explained that state law requires all municipalities to reestablish districts two years after the most recent census, so the city is required to complete the redistricting ordinance by the end of this year.

He said there are a number of requirements in the redistricting process, including a condition that all districts must be roughly the same size. However, Matsey said because the county will not be reconfiguring precincts, the city can retain the same districts. He presented an ordinance reaffirming the city’s current districts and suggested repealing the current ordinance and adding the new ordinance, worded exactly the same, before the end of the year.

A motion was made and passed to approve the ordinance on its first reading, and the council proceeded to vote to suspend the rules and approved the ordinance on its second and third readings as well, placing the new districting ordinance into effect immediately.

Knox City Council Approves 2013 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council this week adopted their budget for 2013, but Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston pointed out that they did hit a big of a snag. The state originally denied their intent to reestablish the Cumulative Capital Fund because the city did not publish the notice of adoption before Aug. 1 as required, but Houston said that was due to the fact that they did not have enough time to do so.

Houston said that they were behind schedule because they did not learn of the time requirement until June, and since governmental entities are required to publish the notice eight days ahead time, then hold a hearing and go through other time-consuming processes, they simply were unable to meet that deadline. He said a number of other towns and cities are in the same boat, and as a result, the Department of Local Government Finance reconsidered and accepted the city’s reestablishment of the Cumulative Capital Fund.

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Andrew Williams Bowls Perfect Game At Bowlaway Lanes

Posted on Author WKVI
The name of Andrew Williams will soon adorn the 300 Club plaque; the 12th name, to celebrate his 12-strike streak.

A new name will be added to the 300 Club at Bowlaway Lanes this week, after Andrew Williams bowled a perfect game amidst a crowd of cheers. Williams’ streak of 12 perfect frames makes him the 12th member of the prestigious club. If you want to bet on winning athletes like him, you can instantly do so on sites such as 슈어맨.

Williams said he was particularly surprised at the outcome of his game because he was at a disadvantage; not only was he not planning on bowling that day, but he was suffering from a knee injury as well.

“I was asked Tuesday night if I could bowl with the team Wednesday, but I had a hurt knee, so I figured I’d sit it out,” Williams said. “Then I got a call from Estill Shepard around 1 o’clock asking if I could fill in since one of their guys called off, I figured I might as well since we got off work early, so I was feeling pretty good.”

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Lt. Gov. Stops By Knox To Visit J.W. Hicks

Posted on Author WKVI

Lt. Governor Becky Skillman made an appearance in Knox recently to meeting with the leaders of J.W. Hicks, a manufacturer of refractory products and services for the metals industry. Skillman said J.W. Hicks is one-of-a-kind in the United States, and there are only four other companies in the world that produce similar products.

Established in 1985, J.W. Hicks continues to thrive in Indiana, and Skillman said she was pleased to see their latest expansion: a second facility for refractory recycling production. She said there are few things more rewarding than seeing a company expand and grow at a time when Indiana is most in need of jobs.

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Five Arrested After Search Of Knox Residence

Posted on Author WKVI

Five people were arrested Wednesday after a search warrant was executed at a Starke County residence.

Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, Knox City Police Department and the Probation Department went to 11240 E. State Road 8 and announced their presence at the residence. Officers knocked a few times and attempted to kick in the door. At that time, Austin Owens opened the door for the police. An officer read the contents of the search warrant and police conducted a search.

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Knox City Council Approves List of Employees Exempt From Nepotism Policy

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

In an effort to adhere to new state policies, the Knox City Council this week entered a list of city employees into the official record. City Attorney David Matsey noted that this is in reference to the newly-required nepotism policies, which requires a list of current employees that are grandfathered in to employment and thus exempt from the new policy.

Mayor Rick Chambers said they had to revise the list nearly a dozen times to keep it up to date and accurate. The list consists of every employee currently employed by the city since before July 1 of this year.

The council in June passed a motion adopting a policy regarding conflicts of interest and nepotism of office, which Matsey said was the first step required to conform to Indiana’s new guidelines. The council adopted the minimum provisions required by state statutes for nepotism, prohibiting a person from supervising a direct relative. Matsey pointed out that the law does not prevent grandparents from supervising grandchildren in office, and it only affects direct supervisors.

Mayor Says Knox Brush Drop-Off Site is Being Excessively Used

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the city council this week that he has heard of a number of problems that have developed with the brush drop-off service available at the compost pile behind city hall. He said the pile has received an unexpectedly large amount of brush, requiring the city to take nearly one truck load per day from the site. More than 100 loads of brush have been removed from the compost pile so far this year.

Chambers said this might be due to a large number of people from out of town using the compost pile to drop off their brush, despite the fact that the service is only provided to residents of Knox. He said he has seen a number of out-of-town dump trucks deliver loads of brush to the site, and he is not sure what to do about the situation.

He said that the city does not want to fence in the area and it would be too costly to dedicate a patrolman to monitor the pile. The council decided to monitor the site’s activity for another year before deciding what action to take to cut down on out-of-town drop-offs.

Warm Welcome for Two Servicemen Returned To Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI
Jared Dietrich, right, and Clinton Jordon were welcomed home yesterday to a crowd of family and friends.

The Knox VFW yesterday welcomed home two local heroes: Clinton Jordon and Jared Dietrich, two U.S. Army veterans who returned home from one-year tours in Afghanistan. Jordon and Dietrich both hail from North Judson and even grew up together as they both attended the same school.

A sign was hung between flag poles at the VFW welcoming Jordon back to the community, and family and friends were present to welcome both Jordon and Dietrich home.

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Wythogan Park Walkway Now Completely Safe, Says Byer

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council learned last night that the cleanup at Wythogan Park should be complete today or tomorrow, but Park Superintendent George Byer said that does not include cleanup toward the back of the park. He said the walkway area will be completely cleared this week after more than 125 tree stumps were ground down and more than 40 root balls removed from the walking path area.

Mayor Rick Chambers requested permission from the council to use funds that had been previously approved to cut down cottonwood trees in the park. He said they had planned to use $1500 to remove the trees because they thought they were growing into the sewer lines, which could cause severe problems, but he said the loggers working on the park’s cleanup were able to remove those trees at no additional cost.

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Electrical Fire Closes Knox Taco Bell Temporarily

Posted on Author WKVI
A fire at the business caused the Knox Taco Bell to be closed for several hours.

A fire at the Knox Taco Bell yesterday brought the term “fiery hot” to the next level. An electrical fire occurred at the fast food chain at around 1 p.m. CT, but the fire had been extinguished by the time emergency crews had arrived.

Fire Chief Ken Pfost said the fire appeared to be caused by an electrical issue at an outlet near the drive-thru. He said the outlet had a poor quality extension cord plugged into it and may have overloaded the circuit, causing the fire, but did not trip the breakers. If you do not want such an incident happening to you, click on the following to find the Best extension cord reel.

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Knox, Plymouth, John Glenn March To 40th Annual ISSMA Competition

Posted on Author WKVI

Knox, Plymouth and John Glenn marching bands will be participating in the 40th annual ISSMA Marching Band competition season beginning this Saturday, Sept. 29.

One hundred seventy-six high school bands will compete with over 16,000 students in the District competition. Winners will advance to the Regional competition on Oct. 13. The top ten scoring bands from each northern and southern Regional contests will move to the Semi-State level and then to the marching band finals on Nov. 3 in Indianapolis. The state competition will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium.

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Train Accident In Knox Saturday Caused Four-Hour Road Closures

Posted on Author WKVI

A train accident in Knox over the weekend brought traffic to a halt, as U.S. 35 and other streets were closed for nearly four hours while the wreckage was cleared. Fortunately, no injuries were reported; the train crashed into an unmanned service truck on the rails at around 9:15 a.m.

The Starke County Sheriff’s Department said a Norfolk Southern service truck was performing maintenance on the tracks Saturday morning when a train rolled through, and a miscommunication caused the train to crash into the truck. Luckily, the repairman was outside the vehicle making track repairs when the accident occurred.

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Train Accident Causes Major Headaches in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

A train accident in Knox has caused some community concern, but officials say the accident resulted in no injuries and they are working on getting the area cleaned up.

The Starke County Sheriff’s Department told WKVI that a Norfolk Southern service truck was performing maintenance on the tracks when a train rolled through town. The conductor reportedly thought the service truck was out of his way but miscalculated, striking the service truck.

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Knox Man Arrested For Allegedly Driving Drunk

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly driving drunk.

Jack Stoddard, Jr. was reportedly driving his vehicle around 1:30 a.m. when he lost control of his vehicle at the intersection of County Road 25 North and County Road 600 East. Officers arrived on scene and found Stoddard and a female passenger out of the vehicle. Stoddard told police that he lost control of the vehicle during an argument with his girlfriend.

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Knox Man Faces Two Cases In Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse

A Knox man appeared in the Starke Circuit Court this week for his sentencing hearing, but the state withdrew the plea agreement after he racked up a number of new charges.

Fifty-one-year-old Lolus Johnson was arrested in March for allegedly stealing a pair of sandals from Dollar General. When police found him and patted him down, they allegedly found a marijuana cigarette and other controlled substances. He was arrested and faces charges of Theft, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Marijuana.

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Fall Foliage Falling – Pickups Planned for North Judson, Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

The town of North Judson will have fall brush pickup beginning Oct. 1. If you have brush you want picked up, you must have it placed on the side of the alley or street before Monday morning.

The Street Department will be making a one-time only sweep down the streets and alleys of North Judson. This will be the last scheduled brush pick-up for this year. If you happen to miss the deadline, you are encouraged to take brush, grass or leaves to the town dump for disposal. Sign for the key at the Water Works office.

Fall leaf pickup for the city of Knox will begin on Oct. 9. Place all leaves in front of your residence next to the curb on the street in a long row, not in the alley. The garbage contractors will not pick up bagged leaves. Keep all trash out of leaf piles so the vacuum can pick up the leaves. Place any branches and limbs separate from the leaf pile. You may also drop off leaves, grass, garden material, or brush at the city compost pile behind City Hall.

Wythogan Park To Open Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers

Knox Mayor Rick Chambers has announced that Wythogan Park will open today.

The walking trail will be open to the public but visitors are asked to maneuver around the park with caution. Some areas will still be closed due to debris.

Contractors will continue working in the park until all of the debris is cleared out, but the majority of the larger logs and branches have been cleared from the park.

The park was closed after a July 24 storm reeled through the Knox area, causing thousands of dollars in damage within Wythogan Park. The storm also caused millions of dollars in damage to the Starke County Airport. The Starke County Courthouse suffered damage as well as the radio tower at the Starke County Sheriff’s Department. All entities are still attempting to pick up the pieces after the storm nearly two months later.