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 Sheriff’s Department investigated a string of burglaries and theft occurring near the intersection of County Road 1100 West and State Road 14 and two people were arrested as a result of that investigation.
Detectives Dave Walters and Scott Taylor conducted surveillance in this location on August 3rd and 4th. On August 5th, Bryan Henke, 30, of Medaryville was seen by detectives breaking into a farm building in that area. A short time later, police were also able to apprehend Clay Lovely, 30, of North Judson, who was reportedly assisting Henke in the burglary. Henke reportedly told police that they were trying to steal an ATV. Both were taken to the Pulaski County Jail and have preliminary charges of Burglary. Lovely has an additional charge of Driving While Suspended. Bond was set at $25,000 each.
Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Francesville man after a pursuit incident on Friday, August 5th.
Officers were traveling westbound on 900 South approaching 1400 West when a police unit from Monticello and another from Monon passed in front of them at a high rate of speed. Police learned that the units were in pursuit of a wanted person the Pulaski County officers were attempting to locate earlier that evening and they joined in the pursuit.
Nathan VanDerAa, of Star City, was in U.S. District Court in South Bend on Monday where he plead not guilty to two counts of Unlawful User of Controlled Substances in Possession of Firearms and Ammunition and one count of Manufacture of a Controlled Substance. A plea deadline date has been set for September 13th, 2011 and if a plea is not reached by that date, he will go on trial on September 20th. He is out of jail as he was released on an unsecured bond of $10,000 on July 6th.
Monterey Town Board President Jim Fleury told WKVI News yesterday that petitions to deannex from the Culver Community School Corporation are almost finalized and should be ready to be distributed. A committee wanting to deannex and go with the Eastern Pulaski School District will be seeking the signatures of registered voters and taxpayers in Tippecanoe Township. The petitions should be showing up in businesses as early as Friday of this week.
Town Conventions will be held in Winamac, Francesville and Medaryville.
A Town Convention will be held in Winamac on Thursday, August 18th at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Winamac High School Auditorium. A vote there will determine a single Republican candidate for the position of Town Clerk-Treasurer. Republicans Christina L. (Shorter) Hoffa and Melanie A. (Parish) Berger have filed and one them will go onto the General Election to face Democrat David Weber.
Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Indiana Agriculture Director, Joe Kelsay, will present 72 families with the Hoosier Homestead Award on Wednesday, August 10th at 10:30 a.m. ET. The ceremony will take place in the Indiana Farm Bureau Building Auditorium at the Indiana State Fair.
The Pulaski County Health Department will be offering a walk-in clinic on Monday, August 15th from 3:00-7:00 p.m. ET for children that still need their immunizations for school.
Children in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade can receive immunizations for $8.00 per shot and if you are on Medicaid, you will need to bring a Medicaid card with you and Medicaid will be billed directly. Parents should take the child’s immunization card with you at the time of the visit.
The Pulaski County website was recently hacked, and Nathan Origer from the CDC approached the Commissioners with an idea to prevent it from happening again.
Origer recently requested a quote from Golden Technologies in Valparaiso for security upgrades to address some obvious security issues on the website. Golden Technologies handled most of the work of building the website originally, and they also host and maintain the website for the county.
This week is World Breast Feeding Week and Sharon Berry, OB Nurse Manager at Pulaski Memorial Hospital, says the Hospital staff is encouraging the public to be aware of this healthy choice.
“Here at Pulaski Memorial Hospital, we are very proud to be working at a Hospital that recognizes the importance breast feeding has on the health of our community,” said Berry. “Our OB Department has started the pathway to becoming a baby friendly hospital. The baby friendly hospital initiative assists hospitals in giving mothers the information, confidence and skills needed to be successful at breast feeding.”
Federal charges have been filed against Nathan VanDerAa of Star City.
On June 3rd, 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. VanDerAa had his initial hearing in federal court in South Bend on July 6th.
Potential candidates wanting to file for a Clerk-Treasurer or Town Board position in the towns of North Judson, Hamlet, Winamac, Monterey, Francesville or Medaryville have until Monday, August 1st at Noon to file.
So far, the towns of Hamlet, Winamac, Francesville and Medaryville will be conducting Town Conventions. A Town Convention is held when there is competition between candidates in the same political party for any town office. In the Town of Hamlet, there is a race on the Republican ticket for Clerk-Treasurer and two Town Council seats are contested on the Democrat ticket. In Winamac, there is a race for Clerk-Treasurer on the Republican ticket. In Francesville, there are four people seeking a seat on the Town Council and only three seats are available so one candidate will be eliminated in that Town Convention. In Medaryville, four Democrats filed for a seat on the Town Council and a Town Convention will determine the candidate for that party for the General Election.
When was the last time you received a newsy letter in the mail from a friend or family member? If you’re like most, it’s probably been a long time, but you definitely receive packages with kingcitynorthway shipping company.
Post offices across the country are on the chopping block. This fall could be the biggest consolidation in postal service history. Over the next 3 months, 3,200 post offices will be reviewed for closure or consolidation. Revenues have declined and mail volume continues to decline. Email and electronic bill paying are only two of the culprits. Another is the pullback in advertising mail because of the recession.
Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department arrested two Winamac residents at a campground on methamphetamine related charges yesterday afternoon.
Police were called to a Pulaski County campground for a report of suspicious activity. A person who is familiar with the residents and campers at the campground noticed a vehicle that appeared out of place. Officers arrived and found 24-year-old Jeffrey L. Jacobs and 35-year-old Michael Mills in Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Paraphernalia. They were transported to the Pulaski County Jail on those preliminary charges.
Workers from the Indiana Department of Transportation are working on the Quigley Ditch Bridge on U.S. 35 in Winamac as part of a bridge replacement project. The project began on Monday, July 11th.
The Adult Learning Program of Pulaski County has been assured office space by the commissioners after being approached by Miche Grant, vice president of the Center of Workforce Innovation in Valparaiso, and Robert Hronum, teacher at the adult learning center.
The county currently provides office space at no cost to the center, allowing them to put more revenue into teacher resources and material instead of paying rent. Grant said the commissioners have been supportive of the program since the beginning, and that support has really paid off: since September, nine individuals have earned their GED, and two people left the program because they gained employment.
The State’s unemployment rate increased slightly in June. It inched up from 8.2% to 8.3%. Indiana, though, is still below the national average of 9.2%.
Starke County moved into the number five unemployment slot with the June report. Starke has an unemployment rate of 10.3%. That’s up slightly from the May report.
Kankakee Valley REMC and NIPSCO customers are being asked to conserve electricity as much as possible.
REMC has been working with its large power customers by implementing agreements that allow for interruption of service. Residential and small commercial customers are asked to voluntarily limit the use of electricity as much as possible. All load management problems are being used to reduce demand. Turn off all unnecessary lights, delay the use of major appliances until late at night or early morning hours and set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees.
The Pulaski County United Fund has helped 12 Pulaski County residents with the 1010 Grant. The two-year grant was awarded to Pulaski County from the Indiana Association of United Ways/Funds.
These residents, who qualified for the Energy Assistance Program by demonstrating financial need, received support from the grant to cover utility deposit fees. Deposits for water, electric and gas service were made to the Town of Winamac, Kankakee Valley REMC, Fulton County REMC, and NIPSCO on behalf of the recipient.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak found herself in the hot seat in front of the Commissioners as she requested reimbursement for sales tax that was paid on some items bought from Sam’s Club and Walmart. When the chairs were purchased, one of the employees of the Prosecutor’s office did not use the tax exempt form, requiring them to pay the sales tax. Mrak said that sales tax has been reimbursed before, and she was unable to use any tax exempt forms at Walmart because the item was purchased online and shipped to the store.
