Medaryville Man Arrested on OVWI Charge

Posted on Author WKVI
Todd Fischer

Forty-four-year-old Todd Fischer of Medaryville was arrested on Saturday, Jan. 28 on preliminary charges of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated when police found him passed out in the driver’s seat of a still-running vehicle.

Police received a call concerning a possible drunk driver on County Road 700 South, and when police went to check it out, they were unable to locate the suspect vehicle—that is, until they received more information and soon found the vehicle traveling on State Road 39. The vehicle pulled into a driveway in the 2700 block of South State Road 39, and the police were able to identify the vehicle as the silver Ford Taurus they had been looking for.

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Governor Daniels Signs Right to Work Bill

Posted on Author WKVI
House Speaker Brian Bosma signs right to work bill

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed the right to work bill into law yesterday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET.

The bill was passed after 40 hours of testimony, debate and discussion over House Bill 1001. The law prohibits a business and a union from agreeing to charge fees to nonunion employees for union-provided representation and grievance services. Governor Daniels said the bill will bring jobs and opportunity for the young citizens of the state and for all of those looking for a better life.

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Final Vote on Right to Work Bill Expected Today

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The Right to Work Bill has come down to one last vote to take place today, and the outcome is all but certain. If the bill is passed, Indiana will be the only state in the industrial Midwest with this kind of law.

The bill, House Bill 1001, is almost guaranteed to pass on Wednesday, since an identical bill was approved by the Senate earlier this year, 28-22, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long is confident he has the votes necessary for the bill to pass.

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Seven Fire Departments Battle House Fire in Medaryville

Posted on Author WKVI

The Medaryville Fire Department was called to a garage fire early Sunday morning at 6551 N. 1150 W. in Medaryville. Medaryville Fire Chief, Shaun Hauptli, said that when the firefighters arrived on scene, a massive garage was on fire and it was getting close to the back of the house.

The fire was so large Hauptli said he called for manpower and water assistance from the San Pierre and North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Departments. Water assistance was also requested from Bass Lake, Winamac, Francesville and LaCrosse Fire Departments.

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Sentencing Hearing Continued for Nathan VanDerAa

Posted on Author WKVI
Nathan VanDerAa

Nathan VanDerAa’s sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court has been continued to March. His sentencing hearing was scheduled for Friday, January 27th.

On June 3rd, 2011, VanDerAa was arrested on a charge of Possession of Methamphetamine after a traffic stop and a few days later, Starke County officers arrived at his home in Star City and found that he was in the presence of a meth lab, firearms and ammunition. Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak filed methamphetamine related charges against him and the ATF was expected to file a federal charge for a firearm possession. Mrak recently dismissed the County’s charges against VanDerAa and they were transferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Bend.

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Right to Work Bill Could be Law this Week

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

With the House’s recent approval of the right to work bill drumming up a lot of heat, State Senator Jim Arnold told WKVI that the bill is now on the fast track through the legislative system, and he expects it to land on the governor’s desk by Thursday but first, Arnold says, the bill will be heard today at 9:00 a.m. in the Senate during a Pensions and Labor Committee meeting. Following that, the bill will be voted on again on Tuesday with an opportunity for amendments to be heard on the floor of the Senate.

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Pulaski County Health Department to work with VaxCare

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County Health Department is working with VaxCare to administer a program that will allow the Department to continue vaccinating insured patients.

The Indiana State Department of Health announced last year that the Immunization Program would no longer support insured patients. This practice will be effective March 1st of this year for some health departments.

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State Representative Nancy Dembowski Discusses Right to Work

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The right to work bill passed the Indiana House Wednesday and the debate on the bill lasted five hours. Democrat State Representative Nancy Dembowski said it was grueling.

“It was one of the worst things I’ve ever been through,” she said. “They’ve got all of the people demonstrating in the hallways and they shut off the speakers so the people out there can’t hear what’s being said. We insisted that they have a right to hear and we demanded they open the doors because the Constitution says that you have to have the doors open unless you want to do something in secrecy. Our people were trying to open the doors and they instructed the police to stop us. People have no idea what it was like. Person after person after person just pleaded with them that it was going to hurt the common working man and stop and they stuck together and they got it accomplished.”

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Right to Work Bill Passes Indiana House

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

The right to work bill passed the Indiana House yesterday.

The final vote was 54-44. The bill gives workers the freedom to choose whether or not to financially support a union. It states that an employee cannot be forced to join to financially support a union in order to get or keep a job.

House Bill 1001 was heard on third reading yesterday after the majority of the Democrat Caucus boycotted the first few weeks of session by failing to show up to work. Members of the House Republicans attempted to address right to work last session, however the Democrats denied the House a quorum by fleeing to Illinois for five weeks. The issue was tabled and further studied in the Interim Study Committee on Employment this summer.

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December Unemployment Rates Show Little Improvement

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Workforce Development

Starke County’s unemployment rate went up in December. The rate was only slightly higher at 10.7%, which is the 11th highest in the state.

Indiana’s rate was not changed from November at 9%.

Fayette County had the highest rate at 12.3% followed by Vermillion, Elkhart, Tipton, and Blackford. Dubois County had the lowest rate at 5.9% followed by Davies, Hamilton, Knox, and Switzerland.

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Legislators Considering Smoking Ban

Posted on Author WKVI

Legislators are considering a smoking ban in this session of the legislature that would prohibit smoking in public places, enclosed areas of a place of employment, in certain state vehicles and within 12 feet of a public entrance to a public place or an enclosed area of a place of employment. The bill allows smoking iqos heets uae cigarettes in certain gaming facilities, cigar bars, and retail tobacco stores if certain requirements are met.

Yet tobacco is legally sold in virtually every country in the world and, after decades of understanding its harm, it remains not only legal but highly accessible and profitable (to everyone but the consumer) in US.

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College Goal Sunday Set in Plymouth

Posted on Author WKVI

Students looking for help on the FAFSA form can get that assistance during College Goal Sunday on February 12th at Plymouth High School.

This free program is designed to assist you in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form. The FAFSA is required for students to be considered for federal and state grants, loans and scholarships at most colleges, universities and vocational/technical schools nationwide. The deadline to file for the FAFSA is March 10th. In one afternoon at College Goal Sunday, you and your parents can get help in finishing the complicated form and get it filed online.

Tax forms and other income and benefit information are required. For more information, visit this website.

Township Government Portion of Government Reform Bill Fails to Pass

Posted on Author WKVI
Indiana Statehouse

A bill that would have reshaped county government died yesterday. Republican Representative Kevin Mahan, of Hartford City, pulled a bill that would have eliminated township advisory boards and required referendums in each county on whether to keep township government at all. The bill was to have been debated Friday.

Oregon Township Trustee Mark Allen, a Democrat, traveled to Indianapolis to attend the hearing.

“There was quite a push to keep townships alive and I think it’s a great thing, especially in your rural communities,” said Allen. “Where I live, you’ve got a volunteer fire department that the township trustee is in charge of and you also have a township assistant.”

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Some Republicans are Voting Against Right to Work

Posted on Author WKVI
State Representative Tom Dermody

Even though Republican Governor Mitch Daniels has made right to work his number one priority item for this session of the Indiana General Assembly, some Republicans are voting against the measure. One was Senator Ed Charbonneau, of Valparaiso, who voted against the bill Monday.

Republican Representative Tom Dermody, of LaPorte, has said he will vote against the measure.  Continue reading →

Winamac Man Arrested for Alleged Battery Incident

Posted on Author WKVI

31-year-old Wesley Hurley, of Winamac, was arrested Saturday after an alleged battery incident.

A deputy from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department was notified of the incident and was enroute to the residence when he saw a man waving his arms in the air to gain his attention. The officer walked up to the residence where he could hear a man yelling at a woman. The woman then opened the front door and the officer could see that she had been crying and her clothes were torn and she was injured.

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Medaryville Fire Department Investigates House Fire

Posted on Author WKVI

The Medaryville Fire Department and the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating a house fire that erupted Sunday evening.

Fire Chief Shaun Hauptli said that when the fire department arrived on scene, the southern part of the home at 210 W. Main Street was engulfed in flames. The home was occupied at the time of the fire and it was on the market. The home was considered a total loss. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

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