Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, has been giving us fire prevention tips this week in observance of National Fire Prevention Week. Today, he talks a little about the Fire Department:
“It’s a 25 member department,” explained Pfost. “Shawn Kidder has been doing a great job with fire prevention. Actually, he did a headstart program and and elementary school on Monday.” Continue reading
Just because it’s October doesn’t mean the Knox City Park crew is idle. Park Superintendent, George Byer, and his assistant, Clarence Marshall, have been working on playground equipment. Maybe your children would enjoy the refurbished spring loaded animal ride on the east side of the park. It’s been refurbished to make it ADA acceptable. One piece of equipment, the handle bars, had to be custom made.
The heart of the community has been torn asunder following the tragic loss of a Knox High School student. Andrew “Drew” Shearin was a 17-year-old junior whose life touched an unbelievable number of hearts before he was prematurely torn away from his family and friends, spurring an unbelievable amount of sorrow in the community.
“Drew was an extremely popular and engaging student and will be greatly missed by his peers, our staff, and the Knox community,” said Knox High School Principal Elizabeth Ratliff. “We also offer our heartfelt sympathies to the family for their loss.”
A reward of $1,000 is being offered by the owner of Five Star in Knox for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of persons who broke into the store early Monday morning. The burglary took place sometime after 1:00 a.m.
The burglars used an acetylene torch to try to cut into an ATM machine, but no money was stolen. The police told WKVI news that the suspects broke into the store by prying open the back door.
A Knox man is recovering after being attacked by a dog at a residence at 2320 East 200 South on Thursday, October 6th.
Marshall Garlach saw his neighbor’s child in his front yard and didn’t know if his neighbor knew he was at his house, according to the police report. Garlach walked the boy home. He opened the gate to enter the property and walked the boy up to the door. It was when Garlach started back toward the gate and the attack began. He said the male dog knocked him to the ground and then the female started to attack him too. Garlach told police that he didn’t know how he did it, but he got away to call 9-1-1.
The Knox community continues to mourn the loss of Knox High School Junior, Drew Shearin. Drew died in a car accident on State Road 8 east of Knox late Monday night.
Drew was a Drum Major for the Knox Redskin Brigade, who is set to take the field Saturday for the ISSMA Regional Marching Band competition to compete for a chance for the State title in Indianapolis on October 29th. Director Craige Phipps says that the band will march in Chesterton this Saturday.
The Knox City Council meeting began last night with a heated exchange initiated by Republican City Council candidate, Thom Morin. Morin charged impropriety in his opponent being able to campaign at the Knox Center-Township Volunteer Fire Department annual pancake breakfast Sunday morning.
Donald Kring, the Democrat candidate, said following the meeting that he only did what has traditionally been done at community events in the past when he placed campaign material on the tables. He said he asked for permission before the breakfast began and was informed that all candidates could avail themselves of the opportunity if they so desired.
Knox residents are reminded that a burning ordinance is in effect. It is unlawful to maintain any form of leaf burning or wood burning of any kind, on private or public property.
The Police Department will issue a warning notice to a first time violator, then a $50 citation will be issued. Each separate offense shall be considered a separate violation.
Today is the last day to register to vote in this year’s General Election. Visit this website to update your voter registration information or your may register by mail or in-person at a county voter registration office, the Indiana Election Division or a branch office of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
National Fire Prevention Week is this week and Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost, has this fire prevention tip.
“Keep paper, dish towels and other combustibles away from the stove top,” he urged. “Some people have paper towel dispensers below the cabinets and it is recommended that a toaster is not placed underneath that dispenser.”
Pfost said it’s important to have house numbers visible so firefighters can find your home in case of a fire.
The investigation into the burglary at Five Star continues and is being handled by the Knox City Police Department where they will be reviewing security cameras that caught three suspects in the store. The burglary occurred shortly after 1:00 a.m. Monday morning.
Police told WKVI that the suspects broke into the store by prying open the back door. The suspects did minimal damage in the store and they attempted to get money from an ATM, but no money was stolen. A complete inventory has not been done to see if anything was taken. Police are are looking for the vehicle used in the incident, a late 1990s model Chevy Malibu.
The November General Election is now less than one month away. Voters will be selecting a Clerk-Treasurer, Town Council members and Mayors, in some cases in this Municipal Election.
For the City of Knox, only one race is contested and that is the City Council District One race with candidates Don Kring, a Democrat and Republican Thom Morin. That will be the only race that will appear on the ballot. This year’s legislature approved the printing of only contested races on this year’s ballot. Starke County Clerk, Evelyn Skronski, said that may cause some confusion for voters.
This week is National Fire Prevention week.
“Fire Prevention Week lasts all week through the 15th,” said Knox-Center Township Fire Chief, Kenny Pfost. “We try to educate not only children, but adults as well on fire prevention tips and techniques and how to be safer.”
“October is always a good time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Make sure that you have at least two exit plans. If you live in a two story house, you need to have some sort of escape devise if you should have a fire so you can escape the second floor. You should have something like a collapseable ladder. You need to have a meeting place outside to where everyone can meet up when they’re outside of the house.”
WKVI morning man, Tom Berg, plus Anita Goodan, Nathan Welter and Ed Hasnerl greeted people driving by the radio station this morning as the morning show went outside for the day. The staff enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and continue to enjoy the traffic driving by the station. Stop by and enjoy donuts from Fingerhut Bakery (Anita is in a sharing mood today) and look at an electric car from the Cambe dealership in Knox. Thank you to Five Star and Schwan’s for food today! A bouncy house is set up so you can take advantage of some stress release, thanks to Jumps “R” Us. Thanks to Lenny Dessauer for helping to set up everything today! Continue reading
Monday is Columbus Day and some bank branches will not be open and Post Offices will be closed in observance of the holiday. Knox City Hall will be closed on Monday.
License branches normally open on Monday will be closed on Monday, October 10th, and those branches will resume normal hours of operation on Wednesday, October 12th. Local customers needing to conduct business with the Knox, Demotte, or Monticello license branches can visit this website. Some transactions can also be completed by phone through the BMV Customer Service Center at 888-692-6841.
George Mammarella from Economy Auto Sales in Knox presented Community Services of Starke County Executive Director, Joan Haugh, with a donation of $1,200 for the Food Bank. As part of Economy Auto’s September customer appreciation month, George and Della Mammarella pledged a $30 donation for each vehicle financed during the month. 40 vehicles qualified for the donation.
North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department Fire Chief, Joe Leszek, reports that the department only had five total fire runs last month. 3 were for medical assistance and 2 were for vehicle accidents. One of those calls came from the town of North Judson, three came from Wayne Township and one came from Rich Grove Township. There were a total of 12,000 gallons of water used in September.
An officer from the Knox City Police Department arrested a Knox man on drug charges and being in possession of Chinese throwing stars.
The officer noticed a vehicle traveling on State Road 8 from 500 East without properly functioning license plate lights. The officers pulled over the vehicle for the equipment violation. When the officer was talking to the occupants of the vehicle, the officer noticed a strong smell of marijuana. The driver, Nolan Wood, reportedly told police that there was a small amount of marijuana in a sandwich bag underneath the passenger seat. The bag was confiscated from the vehicle. The officer also found a case containing two swastika shaped throwing stars. Wood allegedly told police they were his and he was taken into custody.
Dogs in the city limits of Knox can be a problem for many reasons. Even though a dog may be gentle and kind to its owners, it might be vicious to others.
Vicious dogs was a topic of discussion last week at the Knox City Council meeting. It all came about when several people who received citations for offenses were just walking away from ownership. Not only was the fine for a vicious dog $250.00, but other lesser offenses were, too.
It was discussed at a past meeting that the fines should be reduced for the lesser offenses, but the $250.00 fine should remain for vicious dogs. One woman owed $750.00 in fines for lesser offenses. In this case, she said that she was going to give up ownership of the dog because she couldn’t afford the fines.
The Knox City Council heard Mayor Rick Chambers talk about police hand guns last week. The police officers are in line for new guns, and the Mayor talked about the Sig Sauer 40 caliber guns that Chief Clint Norem is recommending.
