“Livin’ The Good Life” is the theme of this year’s Bass Lake Festival, and there will be plenty of opportunities to do just that at the lake throughout the weekend. Festivities kick off at 8 this morning with the fishing derby, which continues through 6 tomorrow evening. Stop by the Bass Lake Property Owners Association Building from 7 until 9 this evening for amateur open mic night. The Carlos Ramos Band will also provide live music starting at 8 p.m. across from Fingerhut Bakery. Click HERE for a complete schedule of Bass Lake Festival activities.
After the bid approval process was put on hold on June 26, the Knox Board of Public Works was able to approve the bid for the demolition of the old Knox theater and the former office of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation in the downtown area at their meeting yesterday morning. The process was postponed due to the discovery of asbestos in the two buildings, as the board learned that the federal wage would have to be used by bidders.
The city of Knox turned some unused equipment into cash after selling the equipment on eBay, a method that Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston described as a good method of liquidating out-of-use items. Houston said the city sold a GMC van for $1183, which will go into the General Fund, as well as a snow plow blade for $185.66 toward the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund. A mosquito fogger was also sold for $1785.60.
In all, the city made $3154.26, after calculating eBay fees, and Mayor Rick Chambers agreed that it is an easy, inexpensive way of selling spare or old equipment.
It’s street sweeping time again for the city of Knox, and Mayor Rick Chambers wants to remind city residents of the sweeping routes and their hours and regulations. It is unlawful for the owner, driver or operator of any vehicle to park or stop a vehicle during the street sweeping hours and there are penalties in place for any violating this ordinance.
The city of Knox will be receiving another rebate from their life insurance company to the tune of $8309.98, according to Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston.
Houston explained that the city had received a letter from Trustmark Life Insurance Company explaining that the city would receive the rebate as required under the Affordable Care Act. The company had spent more than 20 percent of its premiums on administrative costs, salaries, sales, and advertising, and as a result, that extra amount spent must be returned to the city.
Bella Vita Executive Director Susanne LangeBella Vita has made its way into its new home near the corner of Lake and Shield streets in Knox, and according to Director Susanne Lange, they’re settling in nicely but a few maintenance items do need to be taken care of. Lange said the move went well and they’re working on getting the Baby Bucks store in order, but they are open for business and are doing intakes.
Bella Vita moved into its new location about two weeks ago, taking up the old Starke United building that they purchased for $1 from the Starke United Board. Lange said their previous building on Heaton Street in Knox was owned by the Lutheran Church and they wanted to find a location they could own that would better suit their needs, though the old building suited them well for more than two years.
Knox Mayor Rick ChambersThe old Knox laundromat is now a thing of the past, as demolition crews tore down the building this weekend after a lengthy salvage process. The contractor salvaged every item within the building, and Mayor Rick Chambers explained the landfill was spared the burden.
“Nothing from that project went to the landfill; he salvaged everything, so he’s taking the insulation, the two-by-fours, the metal. He has taken everything out of there and salvaged everything, and he’s now to the point where he was ready to demo the building,” Chambers explained.
On July 21, 1969, the switch was flipped and the radio station in Knox was on the air!
The new radio station went on the air for the first time at 6 a.m. that day. Programming only lasted 12 hours until the hours expanded to a full 24-hour broadcast day. Country music was played on the FM station until the early 2000’s when an adult contemporary format was established.
Twinkies lasted less than 24 hours on the shelves at Five Star in the Knox Mall. The Hostess treats are sold out, but more will be in stock next week. The gooey goodies made their return after a hiatus prompted by last year’s Hostess Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management purchased the bakery in March for $410 million. CEO C. Dean Metropoulos stated at that time that the company would make $60 million in capital investments to reopen locations throughout this summer, with plans to hire at least 1500 employees to get the snacks back on the shelves.
Twinkies have made their long-awaited return to Starke County to minimal fanfare, but while the snack cakes aren’t exactly flying off the shelves, some residents were excited to see their favorite Hostess treats back on sale. Five Star in Knox began selling Hostess products this morning, with a display set up and ready before 11 a.m.
One Knox resident said he was elated to see the products back on the shelves, though they didn’t have the snack his wife was looking for.
Crews have begun to disassemble the bridge on U.S. 35 just south of the U.S. 30 intersection in Starke County.
INDOT spokesperson Matt Deitchley noted that the project is on schedule with the finishing date in November.
INDOT will also be closing State Road 39 between State Road 8 and U.S. 30 for two days this week. The closure becomes effective today (Monday, July 15) and will run through the end of the day tomorrow. Crews will perform a chip and seal and fog seal operation to preserve the road surface. This project is weather dependent.
Fog seal is applied on top of the chip-seal work. It is a light application that locks in loose stones and helps deter dust.
The chip-seal process involves distributing a liquid asphalt emulsion on the roadway and covering that with crushed stone to provide a new surface. When the road reopens be mindful that loose stone will be on the roadway during the initial cure of the roadway. If you follow another vehicle too closely, loose stones may fly up and damage windshields. The stones may also damage paint of vehicles. You are urged to slow down until the new surface becomes cured.
During this surface work, you are urged to use the official detour which directs northbound State Road 39 traffic west on State Road 8, north on U.S. 421, east on U.S. 30 and back to State Road 39. Southbound State Road 39 traffic will be rerouted west on U.S. 30, south on U.S. 421, east on State Road 8 and back to State Road 39.
Superintendent A.J. GappaThe Knox Community School Board members have approved textbook rental fees for the upcoming school year.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that the middle school rental fees are $113.50 across the board for use of computers in the one-to-one computer initiative. Gappa noted that the rate is slightly lower than what it was last year. Kindergarten fees dropped to $76.97, third grade fees dropped nearly six dollars to $73.93 while first grade, second grade and fourth grade prices increased slightly. First grade fees are the highest at $96.22 while the other grades hover around $80 for textbook rentals.
Knox Mayor Rick ChambersKnox Mayor Rick Chambers and the fireworks committee this week issued a statement thanking the many people, vendors and organizations that helped to make this year’s fireworks display a success. According to Chambers, the fireworks came at a cost of $988 to the city, less than it has been in the past but more than last year. He said the number of attendees remained about the same as previous years; roughly 500 vehicles paid at the gate to view the fireworks.
A new salary ordinance is in the books for the city of Knox. The city council last night passed the 2014 salary ordinance on its third reading, adopting the ordinance that includes raises for all elected officials and salaried employees. After the first reading of the ordinance, Mayor Rick Chambers explained that a few corrections needed to be reflected in the ordinance before it was passed on its second reading, and those changes were also reflected in the third reading passed unanimously by the council last night.
It’s time to put those fireworks away… until New Year’s eve.
The city of Knox has an ordinance that indicates residents are able to discharge fireworks within city limits between the hours of 5 p.m. and two hours after sunset from June 29 through July 9. You may use, discharge or ignite consumer fireworks again between the hours of 10 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2013 and 1 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2014.
Other communities in the area have the same policy.
If you violate the policy, you will be fined $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense, and $500 for a third offense and every offense thereafter.
The Knox Community School Board received an update from the principals on how things are shaping up at the buildings so far this summer.
Middle School Principal Dave Miller explained that the Starke County Youth Club summer program will be wrapping up Thursday. He added that he’s really pleased with how the students have been doing in the program. Forty students are engaged in English and Math classes in the morning and then they participate in their choice of 16 different enrichment programs in the afternoon.
An electrical fire at Mexico Lindo in Knox has caused the business to close for the rest of the day. No injuries were reported and there was no damage to the business aside from possible smoke damage, but Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Ken Pfost told WKVI that the fire was caused by a faulty wire in the electrical panel shortly before noon today. He said the fire was extinguished by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.
An inspector is expected to arrive at the business this afternoon to check out the damage and ensure that the business is safe to reopen, but Pfost said it’s unlikely the business will reopen today.
After being abandoned due to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the old Stelrema building is slowly falling into disrepair, but Charles Weaver, executive director of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, is working hard to find prospects to take the building over and pay back some $400,000 in property taxes.
