It’s the political campaigning season and the Indiana Department of Transportation wants to remind candidates that all campaign signs are prohibited from federal and state highway rights-of-way.
By law, INDOT crews are required to remove all unauthorized signs within the right-of-way. Prohibited areas include all interstates and their interchanges, all intersections where at least one local, state or federal road intersects with a state or federal highway, and an area that extends from a federal or state highway to the back of a ditch, to the fence line or up to utility poles.
This is Maundy Thursday in the United States, and it is celebrated with services in many Christian churches. Holy Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, a Christian sacrament that involves consecrating bread and wine. The term “Maundy” derives from the Latin word for “commandment.” The New Testament in the Bible describes events that took place on Holy Thursday. These events include Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and the Last Supper before he was arrested. Many Maundy Thursday church traditions come from practices that took place in Europe for many centuries.
Fifth District State Senator Ed Charbonneau, of Valparaiso, has championed a bill that passed the state legislature this year that would allow local communities to eliminate personal property tax on equipment for potential companies. This, according to Charbonneau, will make Northern Indiana more appealing to hi-tech companies with high paying jobs to consider locating in our area.
“We’re doing whatever we can as a state to remain one of the best states for business friendliness because that means we’re going to be attractive to bringing new jobs into the state,” stated Charbonneau.
Local groups are planning fundraisers to help pay for annual Fourth of July fireworks celebrations.
The Winamac VFW and the Winamac Kiwanis Club are teaming up to raise money for the Fourth of July display at the Winamac Town Park. A fish fry fundraiser will be held on Friday, April 6th from 4:00-7:30 p.m. ET at the Winamac VFW. Marita Grisel, President of the Winamac Kiwanis Club, says that the VFW has returned to their prior supplier for the larger fish filets. The dinner is $8.00 which includes fish, baked beans and coleslaw. All the money raised will help defray the rising cost of the fireworks.
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
The Pulaski County Commissioners moved to stick with their decision of allowing Cathy Fritz to conduct drug testing for the county. This comes after Brandon Williams of Indiana Testing approached the commissioners to present information about their company.
According to Williams, Indiana has been working with the Pulaski County Highway Department for 25 years, handling the testing required by the Department of Transportation. Additionally, the county is under an automatically-renewing contract with Indiana Testing to conduct drug testing for the Highway Department.
Two people were arrested on Saturday after a reckless driving incident was called into the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department.
A caller said a person was driving a vehicle through the grass at the Good Oil Company and now they’re in the parking lot at the Pulaski County YMCA. The reporting officer spoke with one of the passengers, Justin Manning, and deduced that he was impaired. A Portable Breathalizer Test was administered and it reportedly showed that he was under the influence. While the officer was placing Manning in handcuffs, he could smell marijuana. Another passenger, Jesus Maldonado, was also detained as he allegedly had marijuana leaves all over the front of his clothing. A small bag reportedly containing marijuana was found in the center console of the vehicle and also on the floor. A juvenile was also detained at the scene.
The DNR Division of Forestry is asking for your help in identifying suspicious-looking trees.
Information about these trees is wanted in connection with the 2012 “Invasion of the Weird Trees” – an online publication that identifies the weirdest trees for each county based on your submissions. The publication is updated every four years.
The trees can be any species and size. The only requirement is that they be weird and be a living tree.
Past entries in “Invasion of the Weird Trees” have included trees that swallowed signs, trees grown together like conjoined twins and trees with trunks twisted like a snail shell.
Frustrated with gasoline prices? Don Good, a gasoline distributor in Winamac Indiana talks about where gas prices are going.
“The general wisdom is that we are going to see it up for a little while longer,” Good replied. “We are, though, approaching the top. There is not only a demand degradation here, but China is starting to slow down also. So it kind of appears that we are approaching the top.”
Anger, suspicion and frustration are only three of the words used to describe the public’s reaction to the gasoline prices.
“Everybody is frustrated with it. An up market just absolutely kills everyone. You just can’t move it to the street fast enough when it moves like this. We’re seeing 10-15 cent jumps a night with no reason,” Good said.
He’s said it before, and he’ll say it again, if we could only get the speculators out of the market we could stabilize these prices.
“Here’s the thing. We’ve been pushing the oversight on the commodities market for several years. We’re trying to get the speculation slowed down. Here’s something to consider: there is at least 56 cents a gallon minimum in speculation.”
Good said don’t be surprised that when the market breaks, prices will go down rapidly.
Autism rates have skyrocketed with one in 88 children falling on the autism spectrum. This study comes as a professional group is considering changing the diagnosis criteria, which could bring another overhaul of the statistics related to autism.
A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal, found that one in 88 eight-year-olds in 2008 were diagnosed with autism, a 23 percent increase from 2006.
Experts remain divided on the cause of the increase. Some say it stems from better surveillance and diagnosis. Others point to environmental factors.
Autism Speaks, a national advocacy and research funding agency, said the figures mean the U.S. needs to take immediate action to help families and children on the spectrum and invest in research to help explain why the numbers are rising so rapidly.
To be diagnosed with autism, a child must have deficits in three areas: communication, social skills and the ability to shift focus.
The state’s top climate expert says warm weather should continue for the next three months. However, with the warm weather comes a risk of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms.
Dev Niyogi says we can expect cold weather to pop up every now and then and that could threaten flowers and trees that are in bloom.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a vandalism incident at the Star City West Cemetery.
On Wednesday, police met with former Cemetery Trustee, Paul Abbott, who helped the officer locate the affected area. Damage was found to headstones in the south east corner of the cemetery and on the east side of the roadway. Four headstones and bases were knocked over. One of the headstones was broken into many pieces. Police noted that headstone appeared to have been struck with something.
The estimate of damage was not immediately known. Current Cemetery Trustee, Ron Heater, said that he would contact the family members about the damage.
Governor Mitch Daniels recently signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 1 which specifies that a person may use reasonable force against any other person in certain circumstances, including police officers.
You may prevent or terminate an officer’s unlawful entry into your home or the officer’s criminal interference with property lawfully in the person’s possession. Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer says there are a few instances were police entry is justified.
The last day to register to vote in this year’s Spring Primary Election is Monday, April 9th.
There are three registration options for you to consider: You can register at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles when you go to renew your Driver’s License, you register online at this website, or you can go to your county’s clerk’s office and fill out a registration form.
If you are already registered to vote and are not able to go to the polls, but would like to vote absentee, in-office absentee voting begins Monday, April 9th, at 8:00 a.m. CT in the Starke County Clerk’s Office. You may vote absentee until Noon on Monday, May 7th. Primary Election Day is Tuesday, May 8th and polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. prevailing time.
Two people have been arrested in the battery of Dennis Howard, of Winamac.
On March 16th, Pulaski County Sheriff’s officers were notified by personnel at the Pulaski Memorial Hospital about a man wanted on an active arrest warrant and he had just been beaten by two subjects.
If you are unemployed and are finishing the first 26 weeks of regular state unemployment insurance and moving to federally funded extended benefits will now be required to go to WorkOne for an in-person interview of your work search records.
All unemployment insurance recipients must report three places they looked for work each week, but only those who receive a notice are required to go to WorkOne. In April, you will begin receiving notices in the mail. Make sure your address is up to date in Uplink, Indiana’s online unemployment insurance filing system, to ensure you get the notice.
What does the Superintendent of your school district receive in salary and compensation? Beginning July 1st, school corporations will have to hold public meetings before signing contracts with Superintendents where they disclose the total annual compensation in the contract. The boards will then have to take public comment and post the contract on their websites.
The state Department of Transportation is asking Adopt-A-Highway groups to help in the annual spring cleanup of Indiana’s highways.
INDOT and Adopt-A-Highway groups are planning a statewide effort to clean up Indiana’s highways during Trash Bash 2012. The event runs from April 7 through April 22.
Congressman Joe Donnelly has sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to reduce the price of gasoline. He stated that opening the reserve has proven to reduce gas prices.
Last year, President Obama allowed the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the reserve and that action reduced the gas prices six percent.
The Northwest Indiana Community Action Corporation, on behalf of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, has announced that they will be opening the Housing Choice Voucher Program Waiting List for Starke and Pulaski Counties.
“Walk to School Day” in the Town of Winamac is scheduled for Thursday, April 12th.
Students will gather at 7:15 a.m. ET at the Downtown Depot on the corner of Main and Logan Streets in Winamac and the walk will begin at 7:30 a.m. ET. The students will walk down Main Street to the north side of the County Courthouse, to Monticello Street to Riverside Drive and it will end at the Elementary and Middle Schools. Safe Routes Task Force leaders, Kiwanis Key Club members and local law enforcement will also participate in the effort. You are also welcome to join in.
