A longtime Trustee and Republican Precinct Committeeman for Indian Creek Township in Pulaski County has passed away. Newton Brown, 87, died early Tuesday morning at Pulaski Memorial Hospital.
Another race has developed for the May Primary in Pulaski County.
Incumbent Republican County Commissioner, Michael Troy “Big Mike” Tiede will face Republican challenger, Larry L. Brady for the District 2 seat.
This is not the only Commissioner race on the ballot. Republican Incumbent Kenneth R. Boswell will have competition with Republican challenger, Terry L. Young in District 1.
A hiring freeze for Pulaski County employees has been proving to be problematic for many county departments. Pulaski County Auditor Sheila Garling says that the hiring freeze prevents all departments from hiring new employees, causing several departments to find themselves in a predicament.
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski said that January 11th will be first day that you can file candidacy for office in the 2012 election.
The office of Starke County Surveyor will be up for election in 2012, as well as Starke County Treasurer, Commissioner District 1 and District 3 and three at-large County Council seats.
Five successful municipal election candidates were sworn in yesterday at the Pulaski County Courthouse. The swearing-in ceremony was conducted by Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn and Superior Court Judge Patrick Blankenship.
Sworn in were Tom Murray and Jim De Armond for the Winamac Town Board, Melanie Parish as Winamac Town Clerk-Treasurer, Richard Denney for Winamac Town Board, and Marla Dawson as the Francesville Town Clerk-Treasurer.
Punch and a congratulations cake were enjoyed by friends, and relatives who attended the ceremony with their loved ones.
Absentee voting begins this Saturday, October 29th in Starke County. Voting will be conducted on the voting machines for the races in the City of Knox and the towns of North Judson and Hamlet in the Starke County Courthouse.
Voting will be from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and Monday through Saturday next week. Absentee voting will also be available from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Monday, November 7th and Thursday, November 3rd from 1:00-4:00 p.m. and from 5:00-9:00 p.m.
What is now Pulaski County was ceded by the Pottawatomie Indians to the United States on October 26th, 1832 near Rochester. Chief Aubbeenaubee represented the Indians and John Davis represented the government.
The absentee voting period in Pulaski County begins October 31st and runs through Friday, November 4th. You can vote on the voting machine on the first floor of the Courthouse from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-3:30 p.m. ET.
Absentee voting will also be available on November 5th from 8:00 a.m. to Noon and on Monday, November 7th from 8:00 a.m. to Noon ET. Continue reading
According to a specialist in renewable energies, Pulaski County is in a prime location to take advantage of corn-based renewable fuel. Chad Martin from Purdue Extension was present at the economic summit at the Francesville Fire Station on Sept. 22, and he told community leaders that corn stover, which is the pieces of corn plants that are left over from the harvest process such as stalks and cobs, can be converted to fuel instead of thrown away or left on the field.
Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer says that this could be a great opportunity for Pulaski County to shine, because its skill in agriculture paired with a focus on renewable energy could be extremely beneficial to farmers, as well as the county as a whole.
The “No Vacancy” sign at the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County is officially lit. With their capacity of 15 residents completely full, the county commissioners this week denied a request from an individual who wanted to stay at the home.
The state ombudsman asked if the county would be willing to take someone in with an income of only $700– a little under the $1148 the home normally charges. Previously, the ARCH program offered by the state would make up that difference, but that program has been frozen for two years, offering elderly people with low income fewer places to turn.
The Pulaski County General Election ballot is ready for November. Uncontested races will not appear on the ballot this Fall.
These contested races will appear on the ballot in Pulaski County:
In Winamac, Republican Melanie A. (Parish) Berger and Democrat David Weber will be vying for the Town-Clerk Treasurer’s seat.
Pulaski County police investigated a motorcycle accident Tuesday night that injured two Starke County residents. Randy and Beverly Chambers were traveling on U.S. 35 at 10:40 p.m. when they struck a deer.
Beverly Chambers was taken to Pulaski Memorial Hospital and Randy was airlifted to a South Bend hospital.
The Pulaski County Community Development Commission has a new Director. Nathan Origer has been in the office for a little over a week and he says he’s ready to begin his duties.
“If you’ve got a business looking to expand here in the County, I’m the guy who’s going to help you look for grants, navigate the abatement process, the revolving loan fund process, and also potential companies coming into the County,” said Origer. “I’m going to be giving them all the reasons why Pulaski County is where they should bring their operation. I’m going to work with the community and county government, small project development, and work with the PACE program on workforce development.”
Origer was asked what aspects Pulaski County has to attract businesses.
“I think we’ve got a government that is looking forward to entertaining new clients and businesses. There are communities with strong infrastructure. Winamac is doing a sewer separation project right now to improve theirs. Medaryville is undertaking a new storm water project so they will have better drainage over there. We’ve got a good agriculture base so we could look into value added products. We’ve got a rail line on the west side of the county and we’ve got a rail bank on the northeast side of the county. We do have one U.S. Highway that has connections to some pretty important places and we’re close to I-65. It’s just an ideal location where you’ve got quality of life, lower cost of living, and still close enough to the big markets for a company to do what it needs to do.”
Property tax bills in Pulaski County were mailed out last week and you may be concerned with the absence of a homestead credit you won’t see on line 4b of your statements.
The state homestead credit has been phased out statewide. On March 14th, 2008, the Indiana General Assembly passed the property tax reform bill House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1001-2008. One component of the bill was a change in the way state property tax relief is delivered.
Beginning with 2008-pay-2009 property taxes, the State permanently assumed school and welfare costs formerly paid from property taxes in exchange for a phase-out of the property tax credits offered in the past. This lowered the property tax rate but also reduced the amount of credits given. This credit has been phased out over the past three years, so property tax bills will have likely changed in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in part as a result of this phase-out. For homesteads, the phase-out of the state homestead credit becomes complete for 2010-pay 2011 property taxes. This credit is reflected on Line 4b of your tax statement.
You should still be receiving both the homestead standard deduction and the homestead supplemental deduction. The sum total of all deductions is indicated on Line 2a of your tax statement. Each deduction is also itemized in Table 5 of the tax statement. These are the deductions you are confirming by completing the pink verification form.
The Starke-Pulaski Junior Achievement Organization is gearing up for a night of bowling at Bowlaway Lanes in Knox. This is the first of what is hoped to be an annual fund-raising event, and it will be held Wednesday night, February 23rd.
Each County is organizing teams to bowl.
Thirteen people have filed for candidacy for the 2011 Municipal election in the Starke County Clerk’s office. The two latest candidate filings include Donald Kring for Knox City Council and Bob Yung for Hamlet Town Board.
Clerk Evelyn Skronski explained that candidates filing for positions in the North Judson and Hamlet town elections have until August 1st to file while candidates for the City of Knox election have until February 18th to file. In general, Primary Elections are not held for the candidates of major parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, in towns under a population of 3,500 unless the town has adopted an ordinance to nominate candidates at a primary election. This applies for candidates running for positions in Hamlet and North Judson. If there is a party opposition on any of the seats open for candidacy in North Judson or Hamlet, a Town Convention will be held to determine the candidate for the General Election. Those are typically held in August.
The same rules apply for candidates in Pulaski County in the towns of Winamac, Medaryville and Francesville. One candidate has filed for candidacy for the 2011 Municipal Election. Christina Hoffa has filed for Winamac Town Clerk-Treasurer.
In light of the winter storm warnings that have been issued for this area, the Pulaski and Starke County Emergency Management Agencies are advising persons to be prepared for hazardous winter weather. All emergency information will be announced on this station.
The first baby in Pulaski County arrived Tuesday afternoon at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. Katilyn Michelle Baker arrived at 3:56 p.m. ET. Katilyn’s parents are Lisa Nicholson, and Levi Baker of Star City. There are plenty of relatives awaiting little Katilyn’s arrival home, including a “big” sister Madison Elizabeth who is 18 months old.
We’ve enjoyed a few snow free days in this new year, but don’t get too excited. As we all know, Indiana weather can change quickly from one day to the next which means we could see another big snow event at any time.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is ready for the next event as their top priority is snow and ice removal. INDOT uses all available resources to keep roads open, maximize the mobility of the traveling public and help minimize accidents due to winter traveling conditions.
An earthquake about five miles below the ground hit north central Indiana shortly before sunrise Thursday morning.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 3.8 magnitude earthquake centered five miles southeast of Greentown, Indiana. According to published reports, the Indiana Geological Survey had no records of an earthquake this size in Central Indiana ever.
