Pulaski County Jail Impresses State Inspectors

Posted on Author WKVI

The Pulaski County Jail underwent an inspection last week by an inspector from the Indiana Department of Corrections.

In his report, Lee Hoard said that Sheriff Michael Gayer, Commander Phillip Cherry and the staff are to be commended on the maintenance of the jail. The jail is clean and the staff are professional and receptive to suggestions and recommendations. The offenders were interviewed and stated that the felt safe in the facility, the food was good and the staff treated them well. The only recommendation made was to provide two dates on leftover food: date in and date out.

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Winamac Man Arrested for Fraud, Theft

Posted on Author WKVI
Andrew Sturgeon

Andrew W. Sturgeon, 25, of Winamac was arrested Tuesday by Pulaski County Police on a warrant. The warrant included charges of Fraud on a Financial Institution, a Class C Felony; and Theft, a Class D Felony. Sturgeon allegedly stole $947.77 through false deposits and withdrawals.

According to the police report, officers were dispatched to First Federal Savings Bank in Winamac. When the officer arrived and spoke with Assistant Branch Manager Rhonda Lower, he was told that a customer, Sturgeon, had been making deposits at ATMs that were not correct. On June 24th, Sturgeon reportedly made a deposit of $300 at an ATM near the bank. When checked, there was only $30 in the envelope. After making the deposit, Sturgeon withdrew $260 from the account, which actually had a balance of only $30.92.

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Starke, Pulaski County 4-Hers do Well at State Fair

Posted on Author WKVI

Several area 4-Hers have done well on their projects at the Indiana State Fair.

The following Starke County 4-Hers received a Merit Ribbon for their projects: Mason Awald for his Electric project, Samuel Back for his Weather project, Alex Haney on a Foods project, Haley Hartmann for Cat Posters, Alivia Hesters for Foods, Rachel Lenig for foods, Gage Minix for Crafts and Shooting Sports Education, Hanna Shidler for Home Environment and Mia Shively for Photography.

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Two Arrested on Burglary Charges in Pulaski County

Posted on Author WKVI
Bryan Henke
Clay Lovely

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.

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Francesville Man Arrested after Pursuit in Pulaski County

Posted on Author WKVI
Randall Grigsby

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.

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Nathan VanderAa Pleads Not Guilty in Federal Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Nathan VanDerAa

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.

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Tippecanoe Township Taxpayers to Decide on Deannexation

Posted on Author WKVI
Monterey Elementary School

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.

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Town Conventions to be held in Winamac, Medaryville and Francesville

Posted on Author WKVI

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.

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Pulaski County Health Department to Hold Immunization Clinic

Posted on Author WKVI

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.

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Pulaski County Website Recently Hacked

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

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.

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Pulaski Memorial Hospital Sponsors Baby Shower for Tot Shop

Posted on Author WKVI
Pulaski Memorial Hospital

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.”

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Federal Charges Filed against Nathan VanDerAa

Posted on Author WKVI
Nathan VanDerAa

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.

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Candidate Filing Deadline Approaches for Municipal Election

Posted on Author WKVI

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.

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Four Area Post Offices to be Reviewed for Closure or Consolidation

Posted on Author WKVI

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.

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Winamac Pair Arrested on Possession Charges

Posted on Author WKVI
Jeffery Jacobs
Michael Mills

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.

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Pulaski County Commissioners Agree to Provide Learning Center with Free Room

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

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.

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