EMS Director Larry Brock presented his report to the Pulaski County Commissioners on Monday. Brock is seeking grants for repairing two ambulances and purchasing a generator for their Winamac station.
“We are seeking a ambulance grant to replace two of our ambulances , rechassis them, and a second grant for a generator for the Winamac station,” said Brock. “We have some rust damage due to a light that’s rusting in, of course because it’s on top of the ambulance it may fall through and we need to take care of that issue right away.”
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
The Pulaski County Commissioners were approached at their biweekly meeting on April 18 by Fred Zhart with the Winamac Tree Committee. Zhart requested approval of the use of inmates to help him dig holes to plant 28 trees this weekend.
Zhart told the commissioners that he has enlisted the assistance of inmates before, and he reminded them that he did not allow smoking or contact with other people while the inmates were assisting him. Zhart went on to say that inmates were not only grateful to get out and work, but when the returned to work they are much easier to manage.
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
Nearly 20 citizens of Pulaski County packed into the Commissioners’ meeting room to dispute the expansion of the county airport. The Pulaski County Airport Association Board has been looking into expanding their runway by 800 feet, which would allow larger corporate aircraft to land at their airport without jeopardizing their insurance, but the expansion requires the closure of road 100 West, as well as the acquisition of land from citizens. Everyone, from farmers to pilots, had something to say regarding the issue.
Property tax bills in Pulaski County were mailed out last week and you may be concerned with the absence of a homestead credit you won’t see on line 4b of your statements.
The state homestead credit has been phased out statewide. On March 14th, 2008, the Indiana General Assembly passed the property tax reform bill House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1001-2008. One component of the bill was a change in the way state property tax relief is delivered.
Beginning with 2008-pay-2009 property taxes, the State permanently assumed school and welfare costs formerly paid from property taxes in exchange for a phase-out of the property tax credits offered in the past. This lowered the property tax rate but also reduced the amount of credits given. This credit has been phased out over the past three years, so property tax bills will have likely changed in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in part as a result of this phase-out. For homesteads, the phase-out of the state homestead credit becomes complete for 2010-pay 2011 property taxes. This credit is reflected on Line 4b of your tax statement.
You should still be receiving both the homestead standard deduction and the homestead supplemental deduction. The sum total of all deductions is indicated on Line 2a of your tax statement. Each deduction is also itemized in Table 5 of the tax statement. These are the deductions you are confirming by completing the pink verification form.
Pulaski County dispatchers Back row: Helen Chamness, Lori Sturgell, Susie Hemphill, Patty-Jo Rausch, Carol Crist, Donnetta Conley. Front row: Sheri Gaillard, Connie Haschel, Sue Fox, Laura McIntosh, Michelle Twellman
This week is National Public Safety Telecommunicators week and we have been hearing from dispatchers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department. Today, Sue Fox, Chief Dispatcher at the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department, tells us about the dispatchers there.
“We have ten dispatchers and they are all EMD certified for Emergency Medical Dispatching and they will take care of all pre-arrival instructions for a person who calls in needing assistance from 9-1-1,” explained Sue Fox. “We also receive quite a bit of paperwork from the court, whether it be warrants or civil papers, and we process those papers and distribute them to the proper locations.”
Knox City Police Chief, Clint Norem, warns us of a scam that is going around the City.
A caller claiming to be from Texas called a Knox resident to say that his granddaughter was arrested in Texas after she was involved in an accident and she needs bail money to get out of jail. A woman got on the phone and using the name of his grandchild, asked for a money order for bail money. The woman really wasn’t his grandchild. It was a scam.
Yesterday, Representative Eric Koch (R-Bedford) and Representative Kathy Richardson (R-Noblesville) presented the boundaries of State House and Legislative and Congressional Districts for the next 10 years.
Locally, Representative Nancy Dembowski (D-Knox) is being knocked out of District 17 to be placed into the 20th District. That move would pair her with Republican Tom Demody. In the new 20th District, parts of Starke County will be split, with Center, Davis, Jackson, Oregon, Railroad and Washington One going into the new 20th District.
California, North Bend, Wayne, and Washington Two would be going into a new 16th District. That new district takes in those Starke precincts, all of Pulaski County, a small part of Fulton County, parts of Jasper County and parts of Newton.
Property tax statements in Starke County will be sent by mail this week from the Treasurer’s office. Treasurer Linda Belork said that the deadline dates will be May 10th for the spring installment and November 10th for the fall installment.
Pulaski County Treasurer, Cheryl DeGroot, told WKVI that the property tax statements there will be sent out this week or next week. She said the deadline dates will be May 10th and November 10th as well. Some property owners will see a big increase in taxes and others will see a decrease.
Today on “Ted Hayes Remembers”, our host will be talking about the achievements of the Lilly Scholarship Program in our area, specifically the Starke County Lilly Scholarship effort.
Ted will have not only this year’s Starke County Lilly Scholar, Jessica Jachim, but the Pulaski County Lilly Scholar winner, too. He’s Andrew Frasure.
One question Ted asked was, “At what point did studying and getting good grades become a focus?” Here is Jessica’s response:
“In third grade, I began my interest in writing and I got my first journal and ever since then, I’ve loved to write,” said Jessica. “I have 52 journals now. I began writing short stories in fourth grade on my Grandmother’s computer everyday after school. Ever since then, I’ve just developed my passion for writing.”
Andrew had this response:
“Ever since I started school, my parents were a big influence on me,” said Andrew. “They taught me to work hard and to give everything my best effort. All my coaches that have coached me throughout my entire athletic career, they’ve taught me to work hard at everything I do. In going through Elementary School and Middle School, I realized I had a talent for math and science and in High School I really progressed on this talent and I feel that Chemistry is my best subject.”
Jessica and Andrew will be with Ted today on “Ted Hayes Remembers”. The program airs at 12:20 p.m. and at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Individuals covered under Medicaid or by private insurance will soon have a hard time finding health service in Pulaski County. Starting July 1, new federal guidelines state that the Pulaski County Health Department can no longer provide service to those covered under Medicaid if a Medicaid provider exists in the county, and individuals covered by insurance for vaccines can also no longer receive service from the Health Department. Because the Health Department is not a Medicaid provider, and a provider does indeed exist in the county, the Health Department will be unable to render services to those individuals. They are currently looking into becoming a provider, but it can be a long process.
Ruby Frasure, Andrew Frasure, Jr., Rabion Frasure, and North Judson-San Pierre High School Principal, Annette Zupin
North Judson-San Pierre High School has the honor of having both the Starke and Pulaski County Lilly Scholarship winners this year.
Andrew Frasure, Jr., a Senior at the school, has been named the Pulaski County winner, while Jessica Jachim was named the Starke County winner.
Jessica is the daughter of Michael and Sherri Jachim. Andrew Frasure, Jr. is the son of Ruby and Rabion Frasure, of rural Winamac.
Frasure is interested in majoring in Chemistry, and possibly pursuing a career in Dentistry. He has narrowed his college choices down to Valparaiso University, I.U.P.U.I. and the University of Indianapolis. His grade point average was 4.1 on a 4.0 scale in high school.
Also a member of several sports teams, Andrew has been selected to play in the Indiana East-West All Star game on April 23rd.
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
Residents of the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County may soon be enjoying the benefits of a roof without leaks, thanks to the “Friends of Pleasant View,” an organization dedicated to supporting the home. The roof has gone into disrepair, and a number of leaks have sprung causing further damage. The county previously wanted to close it, but the Friends of Pleasant View has been doing some fundraising to, hopefully, get this problem taken care of and put the rest home back in comfortable condition.
On this date 108 years ago, Dr. Guy B. Ingwell was born. In his day, Dr. Ingwell delivered thousands of Starke County babies. He once delivered five babies in one day! He was also at one time a successful high school basketball coach.
An Idaville, Indiana man was arrested after a two day manhunt in Pulaski County.
On Monday, March 28th at 10:09 p.m. ET, Pulaski County Deputy Ryan Austin stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in the area of County Roads 700 West and County Road 500 South. The passenger immediately exited and fled on foot into the darkness. The driver, Jacqueline S. Mayhill, 31, of Monticello, was taken into custody and arrested for Possession of Methamphetamine. The passenger was identified as Charles Douglas Warren, age 47, of Idaville, and was not immediately captured. A manhunt using K-9s was eventually called off at 1:30 a.m.
Starke County is number 8 out of the 92 Indiana counties in high unemployment. The most recent figures cover the February figures. Starke County was up .1% to 12.2 %. The state rate is 8.8%.
Pulaski County came in as the lowest surrounding county with an 8.3% for 74th place. Marshall is 10.5% for 31st place, LaPorte County is 11.2% for 22nd place, Fulton County is 10.3% for number 36, St. Joseph County is at 10.1% for number 42, and Porter County is at 8.5% for 71st place.
Pulaski County United Fund, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of two community leaders to the Board of Directors. Becky Ballard of Francesville and Bonnie Reinhold of Winamac were appointed and they will serve as Directors on the 2011-2012 United Fund Board along with Marita Grisel, Karen Fritz, Daniel Murphy, Michael O’Connor, Kathie Scott, Brenda Walters, and Fr. Herbert Woolson.
The Pulaski County United Fund supports 10 local non-profit agencies serving the human service needs of Pulaski County. The 2011-2012 campaign, “Sharing with United Fund”, will be going strong in communities across Pulaski County. For more information about the Pulaski County United Fund, call (574) 946-7320.
Inmates of the Pulaski County Jail might not have so much free time in the near future, according to Sheriff Mike Gayer who approached the Commissioners with a plan to put the inmates to work. The inmates have been used quite a bit in previous years, but because of a recent concern with injuries that practice has almost come to a halt.
Pulaski County Commissioners Tracey Shorter, Kenneth Boswell, Michael Tiede
The Pulaski County Airport Association Board approached the Commissioners Monday to inform them of their need to extend their runway an additional 800 ft. The runway, which is currently 4200 ft long, is required to be at least 5000 ft in order for corporate aircraft to land without jeopardizing their insurance. This is a huge issue for corporations, such as the Braun Corporation, because they are forced to lower the amount of weight on their aircraft in order to land on a shorter runway. This adds up to a substantial amount of difference in cost of operation, because the fewer trips an aircraft has to make, the better; Each time an aircraft has to shut off and then start up again, cycling the fuel through the system, it costs about $2000!
Sam Frain, of Winamac, has been named the 2nd District Acting Republican Party Chairman, upon the death of GOP Chairwoman, Joyce Smith. Frain has been fulfilling many of Smith’s duties over the past two years because of her illness.
A caucus will be called in April to permanently fill the vacancy. Frain has announced that he will be a candidate for the position.
Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer told WKVI that the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department has had many calls concerning missing people; specifically those with Alzheimers, Dementia and Autism. The Sheriff would like to start a registry and have individual profiles on file at the Sheriff’s Department so if your loved one is missing, he/she can be located easily.
