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.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security will be taking part in an earthquake drill tomorrow. The drill will be conducted throughout the United States.
You can register online at this website and you will receive information on how to plan a drill and how to tell others about earthquake preparedness.
Lawmakers are looking to end the manufacturing, distributing and use of synthetic drugs.
State Senator Jim Merritt has authored a proposal that would add more than 60 chemical compounds found in synthetic drugs like Spice and bath salts to the state’s list of illegal substances. He says his bill would also ban molecules similar in structure to those illegal compounds to prevent drug manfacturers from slightly changing ingredients and skirting laws in the future.
The land acquisition process has been completed for the Monterey Bridge project, and hopes are high for bids on the project to be let in spring. The project involves the construction of a new bridge to route traffic away from the Monterey Bridge, which is too small and unsafe for regular traffic but cannot be removed because of its historical nature.
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.
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.
You have until Tuesday, February 14th to register your landline or cell phone numbers on Indiana’s Do Not Call list.
If you sign up before the deadline, you should see a reduction in calls or texts on April 1.
If you have already registered, you do not need to re-register. To sign up or to confirm a number is already on the list, visit this website or call (888) 834-9969.
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.
The deadline to file for the May Spring Primary Election is February 10th. A few races have already developed in Starke and Pulaski Counties.
Democrats Linda Belork and Kasey Clark have filed for Starke County Treasurer. For Starke County Commissioner District 3, a race has developed between Democrats Dan Bridegroom and Joseph Woods.
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.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department has received several complaints about a scam.
In this scam, the caller tells you that you’ve won $2.5 million in the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The caller then tells you to go to a local store and buy a Money Pack Green Scratch card and put $225 on it and send it to them in order to collect your prize.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
The House Natural Resources Committee this week passed a bill 8-4 that would allow people to pay thousands of dollars to shoot deer behind high fences.
Many outdoor groups opposed the bill. Supporters included those who grow deer to sell to shooting preserves.
