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.
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.
The North Judson Town Board discussed the State Road 39 project and its progress last week.
The project is going smoothly and paving on State Road 39 should begin this week. Another half block has been added to this project as leftover funds allowed for the completion of additional work. This will take care of the sewer separation issue on that part of town. Only a small section of town needs to be done before all of the storm water and sewer drains are separated throughout the town.
North Judson Police Chief, Doug Vessely, announced the hire of a new officer at the recent Town Board meeting where he was introduced to the Board members.
Officer Frank Thomas attended the 193rd class at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield and graduated on Friday, September 30th. The course is 600 hours and includes academics, emergency vehicle operations, physical tactics, vehicle S.T.O.P.S. crash investigation, criminal investigations, patrol techniques, report writing, and standardized field sobriety training. Vessely stated that Officer Thomas passed every aspect of the training including firearms training where he qualified as an “expert”. He finished training with a 93.3 academic average.
The North Judson Town Board approved spending $50,000 on street paving this year.
The Board discussed, at length, what streets to pave at what cost. The Board settled on paving the intersection at Ufkes and Campbell Drive, West Sycamore Street, Sycamore from Luken Street to the Railroad Museum, 1,100 yards at Highland Cemetery, and the railroad crossing at Arlington Avenue.
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.
A North Judson man died yesterday after a skid loader reportedly fell on him when he was working on it.
Pulaski County Coroner, Steven VanDerAa, told WKVI that Daniel Trusty, 52, was working on the machinery in his garage on Monday at the time of the accident. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and the Coroner were called to the scene to investigate the incident.
The Braman and Bailey Funeral Home in North Judson is handling arrangements, which are incomplete.
A Hunter Education Class is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 8th and 9th, at the Kankakee Fish and Wildlife Area in North Judson.
The free course, which runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT each day, offers classroom instruction and a written test for certification. Attendance both days is required. Children who are under the age of 14 need to attend the class with an adult. Lunch and refreshments are not provided so you must bring your own to class.
Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers arrested a Knox and a North Judson resident Wednesday night after they were found to be in a residence in which they were not allowed.
Officers were called to a residence on 150 North where a woman taking care of the homeowner’s children tried to gain entry into the home to gather clothes for the children. When she put the key in the door, the door simply pushed open. She told officers that she locked the door before she left the home earlier in the day. When officers arrived on scene, they saw a different woman, Kristen Thompson, coming out of the home. She was asked if anyone else was in the home and she said Donnie Fletcher was in the home. Officers called for Fletcher to come out of the house and he didn’t answer. While searching the home, they heard a crash from the garage and found Fletcher standing on the stair platform. He was placed into custody. Police found methamphetamine related items and the finished product in the residence. A search warrant was issued to collect the items.
The North Judson Town Board learned that the State Road 39 sewer separation project is moving along. The Board members approved the first pay request in the amount of $306,614. $15,330 of that will be retained until the completion of the project. The project is being funded by a grant.
The Board is also reviewing a newly proposed animal ordinance. It will be discussed at the next Board meeting on Monday, October 3rd.
The North Judson Town Board approved a resolution to allow a trade of equipment between the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department and the Knox-Center Township Fire Department. The North Judson Department will get a 1980 Ford pumper truck with a 750 gallon tank and in exchange, Knox will receive an air bag system that is capable of lifting up vehicles to help in emergency situations. The Knox City Council members approved a similar resolution at their recent meeting.
The annual Ancilla College Recognition Banquet will be held Thursday, October 6th, on the campus.
During the evening, two important awards will be conferred on a pair of important people to the college. The first award is the Sister Mary D. award given to a person who has shown outstanding leadership in promoting Ancilla College. The recipient of the award is Betty Chesak, of North Judson, who has for many years worked tirelessly to raise money for scholarships through the Alumni Association.
Two people have been arrested in connection with burglaries at two downtown businesses in North Judson.
North Judson Town Marshal Doug Vessely said that 16 cases of beer and several bottles of liquor were taken from Grand Central Station and a set of Wilson golf clubs and a bag were taken from Rosa’s Resale Shop. After an investigation, officers recovered the stolen property from a residence in the 300 block of Main Street.
The Starke County Election Board set absentee voting times for the November Municipal General Election yesterday. Absentee voting will be available Saturday, October 29th and Monday, October 31st through Saturday, November 5th from 8:00 a.m. to Noon and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. in the Starke County Courthouse. On Thursday, November 3rd, the hours will be from 1:00-4:00 and from 5:00-9:00 p.m.
The Travel Board will start collecting votes beginning October 20th.
Kersting’s Cycle Center presented it’s 9th annual charity event Saturday. Jason Kersting said the Motorcycle, Music and Memories event was a success.
“It’s a big festival that we put on here at the shop and it’s only for one day,” said Kersting. “We have the food vendors come in, we had four live bands and the actual motorcycle ride took off at 1:00 p.m. ET and that ride collects donations to the MDA and it’s in memory of Nella Kersting. That raised $1,090 just from a few guys getting together to go for a ride. I know that my mother would be really honored to know that event is taking place in her name.”
A Starke County juvenile has been waived to adult court to face six charges against him.
On August 19th, it is alleged that Tyler Rudd, 16, of North Judson, attempted to escape from an officer at the Muncie Reception and Detention Center after the officer had un-cuffed Rudd so he could use the bathroom. Rudd also reportedly used his thumb to poke the officer’s eye and he also hit him in the face causing a facial and eye injury. In this case, he has been charged with Battery as a Class C Felony and Battery as a Class D Felony and an additional charge of Attempted Escape, a Class C Felony.
Charlie Vorm, President and CEO of American Oak Preserving Co, Inc., with International Headquarters in North Judson, Indiana and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) announced today the beginning of construction on a new 6,000 square foot structure by American Oak. The new building will be a refrigerated structure that will be used for the short-term storage and sale of Christmas trees and wreaths coming from a supplier in North Carolina from approximately November 15 through December 15. The products will be available online from such retailers as Sam’s Club, 1-800-Flowers and Home Depot, with orders transmitted to American Oak for shipment directly to customers. The building will have three loading docks. It is expected that during this 30-day period, several shipments per day will be both received and sent. While no new production employees are expected to be hired, the current production employees will work an additional month to 45 days. During any period the building is not in use for this purpose, it will serve as a warehouse for other American Oak products.
The North Judson Town Board took a good look at what the paving schedule would be in the near future and the members decided that chip and seal work may work more in their favor than the cost of paving.
In other news:
Officers from the North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Department are looking at quotes for a new rescue truck and Town Marshal, Doug Vessely, told the Board that he is gathering quotes for five new police vests.
The North Judson Town Board approved a change order with the State Road 39 project during their meeting this week. The project originally came under bid by approximately $108,000 and with this leftover grant money, the Board approved sewer separation work to be done on two additional blocks at a cost of $75,969. That leaves $33,000 left in available grant funds for change orders. Nies Engineering is currently working on sewer separation project.
Weeks after Indiana began the nation’s broadest school voucher program, thousands of students have transferred from public to private schools such as to an all girls catholic school. This has caused a spike in enrollment at some Catholic institutions that were only recently on the brink of closing for lack of pupils.
John Elcesser, Executive Director of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association, said it’s not surprising that Catholic Schools are receiving so many of the vouchers. Most Catholic schools already have state accreditation, which some private schools lack.
