Property owned by S.C.P. Building Products, LLC in Knox will go on the auction block today. The property will go on a tax sale, because over $93,000 in back taxes is owed.
S.C.P. Building Products, LLC has been doing business as The Federal Group. At one time, Rockwell Windows was doing business on the property, and was employing around 180 people, according to Starke County Development Foundation Director, Charles Weaver. Currently, there are approximately 25 people working at the Knox facility.
It’s called the Super Bowl of dog sled racing. The Iditarod Race will be held the first Saturday in March. The race covers 1,000 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska has been called “The Last Great Race on Earth”.
Monday night, Karen Land brought her dog Borage to the Henry F. Schricker Public Library in Knox. The presentation described Karen’s Iditarod racing, with Borage wandering through the crowd making friends of young and old alike.
The Knox City Police Department is investigating the theft of steel from the Norfolk and Southern Rail property on US 35 in Knox.
On Tuesday, February 15th, the police department received a complaint of individuals stealing metal from the property. Shortly after the call, a deputy from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department located the suspect vehicle southbound on US 35 and conducted a traffic stop. The stolen property was recovered in the suspect vehicle. Two North Judson men were arrested in the incident and taken to the Starke County Jail. They have preliminary charges of Theft and Trespass on Railroad Property.
The Pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Knox will be moving after being in the pulpit for 24 years. He is going to be the Pastor at the Clear Lake Lutheran Church in Freemont, Indiana and will be moving to the area in the next two months.
Pastor Miller followed Pastor Joseph Townsend and is only the fourth Pastor to minister at the church.
We’ll be interviewing Pastor Miller next week, giving him an opportunity to talk about the highlights of his pastorate in Knox.
This is Friday, and at 12:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT, Ted Hayes will travel down memory lane to a time when Sears of Knox was located downtown. Bud Straight was the Manager and Dick Pettinato the Assistant Manager. It was a time when Sears had a huge staff of almost 40 people and sold everything imaginable.
Dick Pettinato will help Ted remember those days. There were so many people at the store that the customers confused the brand names for employees.
Knox City Police arrested Dawn Mann, of Knox, on preliminary charges of False Informing and Possession of Methamphetamine after a Monday traffic stop.
Knox police officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Jason Johnson of Knox. Police found that Jason had a warrant and arrested him. Since the passenger was drinking, she was allowed to contact someone to drive her home. The officer released the woman who said her name was Dawn Johnson. It was later discovered Dawn Johnson was actually Dawn Mann and she had several warrants through Starke and Marshall Counties.
If you remember when downtown Knox was a vibrant shopping area, you probably remember the huge Sears Store that employed several dozen employees.
Dick Pettinato was one of those employees, and this week Mr. Pettinato will be Ted Hayes’ guest on “Ted Hayes Remembers”. The program can be heard at 12:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT each Friday on WKVI-FM.
Back Row: Mayor Rick Chambers, Ed Blue, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Greg Matt and Attorney David Matsey. Front Row: Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg and Ron Parker
Knox municipal water and sewer customers might be asked to sign a written contract for services in the near future. That subject was discussed at last week’s Knox City Council meeting.
Attorney David Matsey said most small town utilities demand a signed contract. He said the information could be used in court in case a party doesn’t pay or “skips” without making payment for the services provided.
One ticklish part of the contract would be how to identify the homeowner or tenant. Asking for a drivers license number or social security number must include protection for identity theft.
Knox City Council (L to R) Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg, Ron Parker, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Mayor Rick Chambers, Attorney David Matsey, Ed Blue and Greg Matt
Mayor Rick Chambers told the City Council members this week that the sign at the Community Center has to be replaced. The sign is 12 years old and is obsolete. The control box has quit.
The time clock at City Hall has quit.
“It’s an hour off and there’s no way to adjust it,” said Mayor Chambers. “They want about $300 to come in and fix that. I don’t know how long the time clock has been here. A new one is anywhere between $250 and $900, depending on what you get. We either need to get a new time clock or just do away with the time clock.”
Back Row: Mayor Rick Chambers, Ed Blue, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, Greg Matt and Attorney David Matsey. Front Row: Linda Berndt, Jeff Berg and Ron Parker
The Knox City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to purchase a building from Dean Wells, located at the north end of the city parking lot, across from City Hall. 12 hours later, the deal fell through. The Council had voted to purchase the building for $120,000 with $25,000 down and $20,000 due each year for 5 years.
It was discovered that the building needed two appraisals before the transaction could be completed so the deal fell through. The sale might be successful at a later time, but Mr. Wells informed the Council that he is going ahead with remodeling plans for the building, and that it probably would not be listed at that price again.
The City was going to use the building for storage, with a possibility of moving the Police Department there at a future date.
Voting for the purchase was Greg Matt, Jeff Berg Council President Ed Blue. Voting against were Council members Linda Berndt and Ron Parker.
It has snowed a lot this year! We asked Knox Mayor, Rick Chambers, if the City’s snow removal budget is in good shape:
“We’re doing excellent with our budget,” replied Mayor Chambers. “We haven’t had to work a lot of overtime. I think this past weekend was the first weekend that our street crew has actually worked overtime. We ran out of sand and my Street Department Superintendent did find a new supply of sand so we’re in good shape.
After announcing his reelection last week, Republican Knox City Court Judge Charles Hasnerl made it official this week when he filed his candidacy in the Starke County Clerk’s office.
Hasnerl has been the Judge of the City Court since 1996 and said in a prepared release that he looks forward to facing the challenge of handling 3,000-4,000 cases a year with new technology. He also praised the establishment of the Starke County Community Corrections organization for giving him sentencing alternatives that he did not have in the past.
A pregnancy resource center will be opening in a few weeks. Susanne Lange, a registered nurse, will be the administrator of the crisis center that has been named Bella Vita, which means beautiful life. If you’re an expectant mother, a site like adatewithbaby.com – a 3D ultrasound provider in Toronto, offers baby gender reveal services for all expecting mothers.
“What we’re going to have what we call crisis counseling,” Lange explained. “When a woman or girl comes in and she’s trying to make a decision, we’ll have trained counselors that she can sit with and talk about her options and make a decision. Our ultimate goal is to save the life of the unborn child”
Indiana State Police officials closed southbound Interstate 65 near the Winamac exit Tuesday afternoon in order to investigate a series of crashes that involved seven cars, semitrailers and SUVs.
George G. Kallis, 88, of Knox, caused several accidents on the interstate by driving the wrong way about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Kallis met several vehicles on the interstate and they all swerved to miss Kallis as he traveled northbound in the southbound lanes in I-65. James Denton of Oak Lawn, Illinois was the only injured driver and he was taken to Jasper County Hospital in Rensselaer with neck and back pains. His car was totaled. He had driven his Jeep between two semis and hit one semi’s drive tandems and diesel fuel tanks. This action caused another semi to rear end his vehicle.
Mark Smith for Knox Mayor. That was news a couple of weeks ago when Mark Smith, local funeral home operator, signed to run in the Democrat Primary against Rick Chambers.
Yesterday WKVI got a chance to talk with Smith about why he was running.
“I’ve had an interest in the Mayor’s office in Knox for the past two or three elections,” stated Smith. “Two elections ago I had committed to the Democrat Central Committee that if Oscar Cowen were elected as Sheriff, that would vacate two years worth of his seat on the County Council and I committed to that seat and I did not want to go back on my word.”
Ben Lipke and Donna Brown prepare for the Grand Opening of the Five Star store
This is Friday, and Ted Hayes presents “Ted Hayes Remembers” twice today, at 12:20 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. CT. Today’s guest is Ben Lipke, who in 1964, was the first manager of Five Star and part owner.
Ben will talk about those early years. As Ben told Ted, the Knox location was one of seven in the Five Star chain. And, even though he might be a little prejudiced, Ben always thought the Knox store was the best.
The Knox City Council discussed Halloween at it’s most recent meeting. Even though it’s a little early, the Council established Monday, October 31st as the official Trick or Treat night.
The reason they discussed Halloween is that the Knox Kiwanis Club has traditionally put on the Trick or Treat costume judging and party. The Council has been informed that the Kiwanis Club may not be able to sponsor the activities this year.
Knox City Police Chief, Clint Norem, has released the January statistics from the Police Department.
The Department received 376 calls and investigated 15 accidents. There were 7 Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated arrests and 2 Public Intoxication arrests. 10 people were arrested on 15 traffic charges and 25 people were arrested on 54 criminal charges. One person was arrested on a battery charge and 5 people were arrested on active warrants. 17 drug charges were filed.
Judge Charles Hasnerl announced last week his campaign for re-election to the Knox City Court in the 2011 Municipal Election. Hasnerl, a Republican, has served as Knox City Court Judge since 1996. Judge Hasnerl presides over misdemeanor and infraction cases for all of Starke County and Knox ordinance violations. There are 3,000-4,000 cases filed annually through Knox City Court.
Judge Hasnerl is a Valparaiso University graduate and he and his wife, Lisa, reside in Knox with their three daughters.
The City of Knox does not have a Fire Department. That was explained to the Knox City Council this week by City Attorney, David Matsey. The discussion was held after Mayor Rick Chambers read a letter asking the City to sign a contract to provide fire coverage in Jackson Township.
Matsey explained that the Knox-Center Township Volunteer Fire Department is incorporated. It is funded by the city of Knox ($115,000 yearly) and Center Township ($30,000 annually) but is an entity of its own.
