Pulaski Commissioners Approve Property Rezone Request

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

The Pulaski County Commissioners last night passed a motion approving a request to rezone the property located at 4877 W. 200 S. in Winamac. According to County Building Inspector Dave Dare, no public comment was heard opposing the rezoning at the public hearing held on Aug. 27. He says the 11.5-acre property has housed the Anvil & Saw business for the last 27 years.

The request is to rezone the property from an A-1 agricultural zone to an L-1 light industrial zone to allow Tom Bonnell to move his business from its current location on State Road 119 to the facility on that property. A $132,000 loan was previously approved by the commissioners on the condition that the rezoning take place.

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Ora Man Arrested on Possession Charges

Posted on Author WKVI

An Ora man was arrested Saturday after a deputy from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department reportedly found drug paraphernalia in his vehicle during a traffic stop.

The officer found that Thomas L. James was driving at a high rate of speed on U.S. 35 near County Road 600 North. While speaking to James, the deputy saw a piece of drug paraphernalia under the seat. James was detained and the officer retrieved several pieces of drug paraphernalia as well as a bottle containing several prescription medications.

James was arrested on preliminary charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana less than 30 grams and Possession of Paraphernalia.

Trial Date Set For Vierke, Charged With Child Molesting, Incest

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Courthouse

A trial date has been set for a Winamac man who faces charges of Child Molesting and Incest.

Daniel Vierke, 38, was arrested on the charges in March after Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak filed a probable cause affidavit and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has a no-contact order with the victim.

During a pre-trial conference in Pulaski Circuit Court on Thursday, the State of Indiana filed a motion for a jury trial setting which was granted to begin Jan. 15 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The final pre-trial and plea agreement deadline is set for Dec. 17.

District Two Task Force On Alert For Possible Emergency Situation

Posted on Author WKVI
Ted Bombagetti

Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti has announced that the District Two Task Force has been placed on “Alert” status for possible deployment in support of southern Indiana. Bombagetti says southern Indiana is expecting five to nine inches of rain over the weekend from Hurricane Isaac, and he says they are ready to deploy should flooding occur.

The task force has a swift water rescue and tactical rescue team within the unit, and Bombagetti says these teams are ready to be mobile when called. He says the teams can be on the road in a matter of hours, and they’ve been preparing for events such as this for several months.

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District Two Task Force Geared Up, Ready to Respond

Posted on Author WKVI
Ted Bombagetti

The District 2 Task Force in Northern Indiana has not yet been deployed to help with emergency services in Louisiana due to Hurricane Isaac, but Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti said all members are packed and ready to go if they are called to duty.

The District 2 Task Force has a swift water rescue and tactical rescue team within the unit and are ready to be mobile when called. Bombagetti commented that the teams can be on the road in a matter of hours. An exercise to prepare for events such as Hurricane Issac was recently held in Pulaski County.

The District 2 Task Force includes emergency personnel from Starke, Pulaski, Fulton, Marshall, and St. Joseph Counties.

Pulaski County Wrongful Death Suit Goes To Trial

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Courthouse

A wrongful death suit is headed to a jury trial in Pulaski Circuit Court.

The family of a minor who died as a result of the ingestion of medication prescribed to Barbara J. Gilden of Medaryville and provided to the minor by her grandson is filing suit against Gilden. The family is claiming in a civil suit that Gilden was prescribed narcotics to treat a medical condition and that she knew narcotics were missing from her home and being provided to minors.

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Royal Center Man Faces Charges of B-Felony Aggravated Battery

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Courthouse

Formal charges have been filed against Paul A. Burke of Royal Center in Pulaski Circuit Court. Burke faces charges including Aggravated Battery as a Class B felony after he allegedly attempted to throw a hazardous liquid chemical on a police officer during a traffic stop.

A Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Dana Candlish of Kokomo on June 22, but when the officer pulled the vehicle over, he noticed the passenger – later identified as Burke – open his door and set something outside of the vehicle. When the officer detained Burke and began examining the container, Burke reportedly grabbed the Styrofoam cup and threw it at the officer. Fortunately, he missed, and the chemical began to bubble and smoke on the pavement.

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Crawfordsville Man Arrested in Pulaski County after Picking Marijuana

Posted on Author WKVI

A Crawfordsville man was arrested in Pulaski County on Monday, August 20 after police found him picking marijuana near a cornfield.

The Pulaski County deputy was patrolling on State Road 39 near 600 North and found a man, later identified as Joshua Allen, reportedly picking marijuana from a plant in the field. After the officer detained Allen, Allen stated that he was working with a construction crew building a grain bin and was not feeling well. He left to go for a walk and saw a huge marijuana plant growing in the field. He stated that he knew the area was known for its marijuana plants.

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Eastern Pulaski School Corporation Acquires Bus Garage Property

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

The Eastern Pulaski School Corporation is now the owner of the abandoned state highway property that the corporation has been leasing from the Indiana Department of Transportation as a bus garage.

Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman made the announcement at the recent school board meeting.

“I’ve gone back to 1984 and found correspondence with INDOT stating that we could secure that property,” explained Dr. Klitzman.

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Civil War Club Travels to Springfield

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County Jr. Historical Society Civil War Club made a trip to Springfield, Ill, on Aug. 4 to learn more about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

The group of 16 youth and adults toured the Abraham Lincoln Museum, located next to the Lincoln Presidential Library in downtown Springfield, and viewed the life-sized replicas of the log cabin that Lincoln grew up in as a young boy.

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Eastern Pulaski Schools To Adopt RISE Evaluations

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

Eastern Pulaski School Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman spent some time discussing the new teacher evaluation model with the school board this week.

“Education in Indiana has changed somewhat in that there is a prescribed procedure, methodology, timing and organization in how teachers are going to be evaluated,” said Klitzman. “At Eastern Pulaski, as many schools in the area and statewide, we’re going to start using the DOE prescribed evaluation instrument called RISE.”

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Eastern Pulaski Schools Receive Donations For Supplies, Upgrade

Posted on Author WKVI
Dr. Robert Klitzman
Dr. Robert Klitzman

The Eastern Pulaski School Corporation recently received two donations. Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said the North-Central Co-op donated $840 to the elementary school, specifically for classroom supplies for the teachers.

“They just decided it was a project they wanted to do,” explained Klitzman. “Mrs. Collins [Principal of the Elementary School] did go down to their facility to accept the donation and asked them if they had children in our school corporation and no one did. They just wanted to do it to help us.”

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Kiwanis Club’s Farmers’ Market Returns to Winamac

Posted on Author WKVI

In celebration of the return of the Winamac Kiwanis Club’s Farmers’ Market Festival, the club is inviting every member of the community to downtown Winamac on Saturday, Sept. 8. Glenn Wilson of the Kiwanis Club says this year’s festival will be packed with live entertainment, food vendors, craft booths, and of course, the popular pancake breakfast – on top of a couple new features.

“We’re adding a couple extra features to the festival this year that we’ve never had in the past. We’re going to have live entertainment as well as a 5K run, which we’re calling the Harvest Hustle, and a three-on-three tournament for middle school-age students – that’s sixth through eighth grade. Students from all area schools are welcome,” Wilson said.

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Braun Corporation CEO to be Featured on CNN

Posted on Author WKVI
Ralph Braun

Ralph Braun, CEO of the Braun Corporation and Braunability in Winamac, will appear on CNN this weekend in a piece called “The Human Factor” hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Braun will discuss how he designed a four-wheeled and three-wheeled electric scooter to help in his mobility needs. He was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy when he was six and has been using a motorized scooter as a way to be mobile.

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Civil War Club to Host Historical Cemetery Tour

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County Jr. Historical Society Civil War Club has announced they will be hosting an Historical Cemetery walking tour of the Winamac Cemetery on Sept. 8 during the farmer’s market. Featuring local veterans from the War of 1812, a local resident who served in the Revolutionary War, and many others who participated in historical battles, the tour will begin at 1 p.m. at the Winamac Cemetery west of town.

Parking is available in the northern section of the cemetery near the Memorial Gardens, and Linda Irving will lead the tour. Roughly 12 headstones will be featured on the tour and each will be viewed with a description of the person, their family history, and their historical significance to the county. A self-guided walking tour booklet along with a map of the cemetery will be presented with biographical information of each person and stone visited.

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Pulaski County CDC To Develop New Website

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede

Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer told the commissioners this week that the county council has earmarked $15,000 in next year’s budget to go toward the creation of a county website. Origer says he would like to get county organizations together to come up with a website they can all use and agree with.

He also informed the commissioners that an organization is looking to connect Pulaski County to a nationwide bike trail, U.S. Bicycle Route 35. He says their plan is to come from Illinois, through Starke, Pulaski, and other counties, and ultimately link up to U.S. 35. The organization is asking for the commissioners’ approval.

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18-Year-Old Charged With Theft, Burglary Of Winamac Home

Posted on Author WKVI

Criminal charges have been filed against an 18-year-old male accused of stealing $60 from woman in Winamac.

According to the criminal information filed in the Pulaski Circuit Court, Mitchell A. Wolff had broken into the home of Jane Dilts in the 600 block of North Hathaway Street on July 16 with the intent to steal. He is charged with Burglary as a Class B Felony and Theft as a Class D felony.

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Intoxicated Winamac Man Arrested Following Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A Winamac man was arrested after a late Friday night accident that injured two people.

A call had been placed into the Starke County Dispatch Center of a man speeding and driving off the side of the road. A short time later, Starke County emergency personnel were called to a two-vehicle accident at County Road 450 South and County Road 210 near Bass Lake. The driver of the vehicle that reportedly caused the accident, Gregory Moore, was extricated from his vehicle and taken to IU Health Starke Hospital. A blood draw was performed which showed that Moore was intoxicated at the time of the crash with a BAC of 0.25, which is more than three times the legal limit.

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San Pierre Woman Arrested Following Battery Incident

Posted on Author WKVI

Pulaski County officers were called to a Medaryville residence Saturday night in reference to a fight.

Stacy Conley, 26, of Medaryville told police that she and her sister had gotten into an argument because she would not provide her sister with a clean urine sample for a drug test. Her sister, 25-year-old Kimberly Wireman of San Pierre, reportedly became upset and started screaming at her. Conley stated that her sister was going to borrow her car and when she went out to the vehicle, Wireman was already in the driver’s seat and Conley took the keys out of the ignition. Wireman then reportedly grabbed Conley’s hair and began to hit her while dragging her into the van. Police saw that Conley had been hit in the face. Conley stated that she probably struck Wireman in the face as she was being pulled into the van.

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