Knox Woman Arrested on Possession Charges

Posted on Author WKVI
Dawn Wilson

A Knox woman was arrested on Thursday on drug possession charges.

Knox City Police officers were called to investigate a suspicious vehicle on Delaware Street.  An officer found the suspect vehicle driving in the area of New York and East Street and conducted a traffic stop after the driver failed to stop at a stop sign.

The officer identified the occupants of the vehicle and asked to search the woman’s purse. Dawn Wilson reportedly consented and the officer found controlled substances, some legally prescribed to Wilson.  One medication was not prescribed to her and she was taken into custody on a preliminary charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.

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Yellow River Tree Removal in Progress

Posted on Author WKVI

The Yellow River tree removal project is moving along. Starke County Surveyor Dennis Estok said this week that he is in the process of forming a three-man committee to interview and score the various engineering proposals.

Estok said he is on track to present contracts for signing by May with work scheduled for this summer and fall. Work cannot be done in April or May as this is the spawning season.

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Blankenship Charged with Theft

Posted on Author WKVI
William Blankenship

The Porter County Prosecutor has filed one count of Theft against Knox resident William Blankenship III. Prosecutor Brian Gensel said that more charges could be filed once all of the reports from the investigation come into his office.

Blankenship allegedly drove a Kouts police car away from the Family Express in Kouts Tuesday night. Kouts police Sgt. Dave Johnston placed a handcuffed Blankenship into the back seat of the police car and left the car to gather evidence in Blankenship’s vehicle. Blankenship then got into the driver’s seat of the police vehicle and drove away from the scene. The vehicle was found wrecked and submerged in a ditch in LaPorte County on Wednesday. Blankenship had been on the run since Tuesday and finally turned himself into police Thursday night.

Blankenship Surrenders

Posted on Author WKVI
William Blankenship III

The Knox man who reportedly stole a Kouts police car has surrendered to police.

William Blankenship III surrendered to two Indiana State Police troopers from the Lowell Post last night. Master Trooper Kevin Murphy assigned to the U.S. Marshall Task Force and Senior Trooper Jerry Michalak assigned to the FBI Task Force met Blankenship and his family at a residence in Knox where he surrendered. Cooperation from his family members made his surrender possible.

Blankenship was taken into custody and is incarcerated in the Porter County Jail.

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Industrial Park Plant Executives Discuss Klockner Drive Project

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Economic Development Director, Charles Weaver, met with many executives of the plants that are located in the Knox Industrial Park yesterday. Weaver talks about that meeting.

“The industries and companies that are located along County Road 300 East in Knox met to hear a presentation about the planned improvement of County Road 300 East, or Klockner Drive, by the engineers that are preparing those plans,” said Weaver.

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Kouts Police Car Found, Knox Man Remains at Large

Posted on Author WKVI
William Blankenship III

William Blankenship III, 22, of Knox, remains at large, after he allegedly stole a police car Tuesday night, wrecked it and put it into a ditch.

Blankenship was under arrest by Kouts police on drug related charges following a traffic stop at the Family Express station at the intersection of State Road 8 and State Road 49 in Kouts. The arresting officer placed Blankenship in the back seat of the patrol car while the officer took inventory of Blankenship’s car. It was then when Blankenship allegedly got into the driver’s seat and drove from the scene.

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Knox Man Arrested on Possession Charges

Posted on Author WKVI
Vernon Dale Chessor

A Knox man was arrested on possession charges after a traffic stop on Thursday, January 5th.

An officer from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department pulled over a vehicle driven by Jennifer Bonnell on 200 South East of 550 East in Knox. She had allegedly driven into the officer’s lane as she approached him. As the officer turned around and activated his emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop, the passenger, Vernon “Dale” Chessor, allegedly opened his door, dropped something outside of the car, and then shut the door. The officer called for another officer to see what the object was and continued with his traffic stop.

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Toxicology Results Negative for Alcohol and Drugs in Fatal Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

The toxicology results have been released by the Marshall County Coroner’s Office and Coroner Bill Cleveanger said in the case of Richard Dennis III, alcohol and drugs were not a factor in accident that claimed his Dennis’ life on January 3rd.

On January 3rd, police say Richard Dennis III was traveling westbound on 9th Road, just east of Quince Road when he encountered a set of railroad tracks. He didn’t slow or stop at the tracks and went over the incline and over the tracks at a high rate of speed. The road conditions were slick at time and Dennis reportedly lost control of his vehicle and hit a tree. He was killed upon impact. State Police are investigating reports that Dennis may have been involved in a hit and run accident in Plymouth shortly before the fatal crash. The accident remains under investigation with the Marshall County Coroner’s Office and the Indiana State Police.

Ed Hasnerl Named Starke County Historian

Posted on Author WKVI

WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl has been officially named as Starke County Historian by the Indiana Historical Society. He replaces Marvin Allen who has moved to Florida. He was nominated by the local historical society last November.

The county historian acts as a contact person for people in the state and around the nation who have questions about county history. The position is a voluntary, working position.

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Meth Lab Found Behind Church in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

An officer from the Knox City Police Department was called to a meth lab dump site behind the Pentecostal Church on Wednesday.

Police arrived at the church at 509 S. Roosevelt Road in Knox were they met with a surveyor from Stephenson Land Surveying. The lab was not on the church grounds, but the surveyor said that he found a large tarp on the ground in the woods behind the church and saw footprints that led up to the tarp. The man thought a person was underneath the tarp and called out but received no answer. The surveyor then lifted up the tarp and saw items that are used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. He told police that another lab was found about 80 feet away under another tarp.

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Knox City Council Discusses 2012 Mayoral Appointments

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers

The Knox City Council discussed the 2012 Mayoral Appointments at their recent meeting. There is currently no water superintendent for the city because the previous superintendent was released from duty earlier this week. A seat on the Starke County Alcoholic Beverage Board is also open, and Mayor Rick Chambers told the council that he will possibly be seeking an Ordinance Officer in the summer. That position was previously handled by the police, but according to Chambers, that hasn’t worked out as well as he’d hoped.

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Wythogan Park Train Bridge to Undergo Risk Management Inspection

Posted on Author WKVI

City Attorney David Matsey mentioned during the recent meeting of the Knox City Council that he had received a claim from an attorney in Connecticut in regards to a drowning victim in the Yellow River. The claim will be handled and covered by the city’s insurance carrier, but Knox Mayor Rick Chambers told the council that he plans to set a date for a risk management inspector to inspect the train bridge over the Yellow River.

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Public Hearing Held on Klockner Road Project

Posted on Author WKVI

Thirteen citizens turned out last night at the public hearing presentation by engineers for the $2.4 million dollar Klockner Road Project on Knox’s west side.  Most of those in attendance were interested how the project was going to impact their property.

The engineers from Lawson-Fisher Associates of South Bend explained the process for acquisition of property that will total 3.7 acres.

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Knox City Council Discusses Risner Lawsuit

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox City Council met this week with newly elected councilman Donald Kring taking the seat of 16-year council veteran Ed Blue.

One of the matters brought before the council at the meeting was a pending lawsuit from Edward Risner, who claims that the city breached a verbal contract when they refused to burn down his house as part of a training exercise. Mayor Rick Chambers told WKVI that Risner believes he had a verbal contract with the fire department to burn his house down, and use the opportunity as a training session.

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Starke County Youth Soccer Sign-ups begin this Week

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Youth Soccer League committee is already thinking forward to the 2012 season. Sign up begins Saturday, January 7th at the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox from time is 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The youth sign up fee is $35.00 for grades preschool thru 8th grade and $90.00 for a family of three. After three children, the cost is $20 per child. You can also sign up on the web at this website.

Also we would like to remind you that the Qatar World Cup is next year, so if you are planning to go over there, this is the perfect time to look for the dates and times of the matches so you can create your itinerary accordingly.
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Knox Man Arrested after Police Receive Calls about Man Carrying Gun

Posted on Author WKVI
Robert Wisilinski

A Knox man was arrested Friday after police received calls about a man carrying a gun.

A witness told police that he was letting his truck warm up when Robert Wisilinski approached his property on Pearl Street, stopped and stared at him. The witness said he saw a hand gun in his hand and then Wisilinski walked away. He reportedly saw Wisilinski tuck the gun in his pants behind his back. Police caught up to Wisilinski who reportedly said it was only a BB gun. He was taken to jail.

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Knox Man Arrested after Argument and Damaging Rental Home

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox man was arrested Friday after he reportedly caused damage to a rental home.

Police were called to 405 E. Danker Street where Jessica Skorup stated that she had an argument with David Howard and wanted him to leave the residence. She entered the home she was going to rent with Howard and allegedly found him making holes in the closet walls with a pole. Howard was told to leave and he continued the destruction.

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Public Hearing on Proposed Klockner Drive Project This Week

Posted on Author WKVI

Citizens of Knox and landowners affected by the Klockner Road Project in the Industrial Park will be brought up to date on the proposed work at a meeting Wednesday night to be held at the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox.

According to Starke County Development Director Charles Weaver, the road was designed as a rural thoroughfare and was never meant to carry the truck traffic now using it.

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