Unsold Starke County Properties To Go To Tax Sale

Posted on Author WKVI

All Starke County properties not sold in the spring tax sale will be offered in a commissioners online certificate sale beginning Thursday, July 5 at 10 a.m.

Visit SRI-taxsale.com, select Starke County and then property list to search the available properties. To place a bid, follow the instructions on the website. The winning bidder, or lien buyer, has certain rights and responsibilities, including the completion of the required legal actions to secure a tax deed after the one year redemption period.

Over 100 properties are listed in the sale that begins Thursday, July 5 and ends Monday, July 16 at 10 a.m.

Grovertown Woman Arrested after Pursuit

Posted on Author WKVI

A Grovertown woman was arrested Wednesday after backing up into a police car during a pursuit incident in Marshall County.

Marshall County officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on U.S. 30 near Tulip Road and 37-year-old Renee Craig, who was wanted on a parole violation, would not stop. As Craig attempted to turn north onto Tulip Road off of US 30, she slid on gravel and left the roadway and drove over a stop sign. She then reportedly backed up her vehicle and struck a vehicle driven by an undercover officer and owned by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.

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Storm Yesterday Causes Few Injuries, No Estimate On Power Restoration

Posted on Author WKVI
Scenes like this one in North Judson were all too common in the wake of yesterday’s storm.

Kankakee Valley REMC has reported over 7000 people without power in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, and Pulaski counties after the afternoon storm that tore through the area on Friday. KVREMC dispatched crews yesterday to affected areas to begin restoring power. Causing the outages are five substations that have been reported down due to transmission feeds from NIPSCO being out as well as broken poles and downed wires.

Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem says the hardest hit area seems to be around Bass Lake, where boats were reportedly flipped over in the water and even tossed up on land. Several trees were felled and Norem says cleanup crews have their work cut out for them.

“The hardest hit areas seem to be in California Township around Bass Lake and North Bend Township, also around Bass Lake. The crews have been out, the highway department is out, the Sheriff’s Department has been out, but there is a lot of damage in that particular area and it’s going to be a long cleanup,” Norem said.

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Fundraising Efforts Pay Off For The Starke County Fireworks

Posted on Author WKVI

Fundraising efforts for the Starke County fireworks celebration have paid off, as a total of $6499.20 has been raised thus far for the event. Knox Mayor Rick Chambers says the cost of fireworks came out to roughly $7800, and the remaining $1300 is expected to be made up by gate fees.

Donations provided $3696 toward the celebration, and two fundraisers nearly doubled that amount. The port-a-pit chicken fundraiser raised $1533, and the fish fry raised another $1044.50. The remaining $225 came from vendor fees at the airport.

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Authorities Release Driver’s Identity In Monday’s Fatal Knox Crash

Posted on Author WKVI

Authorities today released the name of the driver of a vehicle who died in a Monday morning accident on U.S. 35 and John Street in Knox. Robert E. Freye. 67, of Hamlet, died when his vehicle struck a minivan.

Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Alan Griggs performed an autopsy Tuesday in Lafayette and confirmed that Freye had suffered a heart attack prior to the accident and died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. The cause of death was determined to be a torn aorta.

The woman who was a passenger in the vehicle has been identified as Mary Hightower, 63, of Hamlet. She was badly injured in the accident and remains hospitalized. The driver of the minivan involved in the accident was Patrick McCarty, 39, of Knox who received minor injuries in the accident.

Brief Storm Causes Thousands To Go Without Power, Few Injuries Reported

Posted on Author WKVI
Several trees were reported to have fallen, some even across the road, in several areas throughout the Kankakee Valley.

A storm tore through the Kankakee Valley on Friday, cutting off power to thousands and causing a number of roads to be closed. The storm also caused at least two injuries, as two boys were injured when a tree fell on them near Bass Lake and were transported to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment.

The Bass Lake area suffered a large amount of damage from the storm. Boats were reportedly flipped over in the water or even flung up on shore, and several piers were reported to have been broken or missing entirely.

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Fallen Tree Causes Moped Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

A moped driver was injured in an accident during the storms that went through the North Judson area last night.

The moped hit a tree in the middle of the road on 250 West near 700 South. The driver was taken to IU Health Starke Hospital and later airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend with unspecified injuries. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department has not released the name of the man involved in the accident.

Temperatures Exceed 100 Degrees; Beware Heat Stroke

Posted on Author WKVI
Walter Fritz
Dr. Walter Fritz

With temperatures breaking the three-digit mark, former Starke County Health Officer Dr. Walter Fritz says residents need to be aware of the risk of heat stroke. Fritz says the longer the weather stays this hot, the more likely it is for someone to suffer from heat stroke.

“It looks like we’re in for a long haul with this, and the longer and the more severe the weather goes on like this, the more likely the possibility of heat stroke is to come up,” Fritz explained. “This is a medical condition that we all have to keep in the back of our minds and hopefully use good common sense to prevent.”

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Knox Woman Arrested For Stealing From Parked Cars

Posted on Author WKVI

A Knox woman was arrested Wednesday on a charge of theft after an investigation by the Plymouth Police Department.

On Tuesday, June 26, an employee from AutoPark called the Plymouth Police Department to report a customer going through employee cars in the parking lot. Police were told that a video was taken of the suspect entering one car and placing something in her pocket.

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Knox City Council Approves Using Riverboat Funds To Build Handicap Ramp at Courthouse

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

The Knox City Council this week approved a motion to use $4000 from Riverboat revenue to put in a handicap ramp on the west side of the courthouse. The committee planned to use funds out of the 50/50 sidewalkfund, but work that had been done in front of city hall and expenses as part of the city’s leaf pick-up had drained the sidewalk repair fund.

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Torres-Bowman Announces Retirement From Community Services of Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI
A retirement party was held for Cecilia Torres-Bowman, pictured.

Cecilia Torres-Bowman has retired from Community Services of Starke County after dedicating 20 years of her life to the organization. She says she’s done a little bit of everything while there.

“For almost 20 years, I’ve done a little bit of everything – mostly with the food pantry and the Energy Assistance Program,” said Torres-Bowman. “I also lent out health equipment and the resource manuals, so there have been quite a few things I’ve been doing.”

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Summer Study Committee To Look At Housing D Felonies In-County

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Jail

With state corrections facilities running out of room, a summer study committee is looking into the possibility of housing criminals charged with Class D felonies in county jails rather than the Department of Corrections.

Because of this, the Starke County Jail Committee has been encouraged to plan for a facility with 130 beds rather than just 100 to ensure that even if the state does decide to send D-felony offenders back to the county, they won’t have to worry about overcrowding.

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Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act

Posted on Author WKVI
IU Health Starke Hospital
IU Health Starke Hospital

The Supreme Court has upheld President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The law requires individuals not covered by employer or government-sponsored insurance plans to maintain minimal essential health insurance coverage or pay a penalty unless exempted for religious beliefs or financial hardship.

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Tax Abatement Approved For Hoosier Custom Plastics

Posted on Author WKVI

After tabling the matter twice, the Knox City Council this week finally signed documents stating that Hoosier Custom Plastics is in substantial compliance to the terms of their tax abatement.

Council Attorney David Matsey said they were hesitant to sign the forms because documents that were necessary to ensure they were in compliance had been sent to the wrong department – some documents went to the clerk-treasurer’s office that should have gone to the auditor’s department, and vice versa. However, the council ultimately agreed that the company is in compliance, and approved the forms.

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No Rest In Sight For The Knox Redskin Brigade

Posted on Author WKVI

The summer months usually mean a summer vacation for students, but not for the members of the Knox Redskin Brigade. Director Craige Phipps says the marching season and the regular band season is right around the corner.

“We start full-bore at the end of July and run through the end of May,” said Phipps. “We really do try and give them as much time as we can, but even with that, there’s things that need to be done through the summer.”

Phipps said the staff talked about what type of show to do this year and the music from “Cirque du Soleil”came up in conversation. He explains the show’s concept from there.

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Starke County Community Foundation Distributes $30,000 In Scholarships

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Community Foundation recently distributed $30,000 in scholarships during their annual reception.

Twenty-two scholars received 29 scholarships. Cody Hendershott was named this year’s recipient of the Ed Hasnerl/WKVI Scholarship and received his award during the reception. The 2012 Lilly Endowment Community Scholar, Katelyn Schwenk of Oregon-Davis High School, was also recognized.

More than 50 Starke County students applied for the 29 Community Foundation scholarships and 15 students applied for the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.

Cost of Renovation of Starke County Jail Greater Than New Jail

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Jail Committee looked at plans for a renovated or new county jail yesterday afternoon, and one surprising figure presented was that renovation of the current jail would cost more than a new facility.

That’s because $750,000 to $1 million would be needed to house the prisoners for 18 months while the renovation is being completed. Also adding to the cost of renovation would be soft costs, as a renovation project would take longer than new construction.

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Exercise Group To Resume Normal Operations At Knox Community Center

Posted on Author WKVI
The exercise group attended the meeting en masse to be heard regarding the council's decision.

Applause filled the room at this week’s meeting of the Knox City Council, as they approved a motion to allow an exercise group to resume use of the community center at no charge.

The group had been using the Knox Community Center free of charge since 1998, but were recently asked to move operations to the Girl Scout Cabin in order to avoid paying a fee to use the center. Virginia Wireman-Duncan, the leader of the exercise group, said they felt they should be able to use the center free of charge because they did not charge any of their members any kind of fee in order to exercise with the group.

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Knox 21st Century Scholars Site To Close June 30

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox support site of the 21st Century Scholars is closing its doors effective June 30. The Knox site supports students in Starke, Pulaski, Jasper and Fulton counties.

The 21st Century Scholars Program was initiated to ensure that every student who wanted to go to college could afford to do so. Income-eligible seventh and eighth grade students who enrolled in the program and fulfilled a pledge of good citizenship could receive tuition up to four years at any participating public college or university in the state.

The Regional Coordinator at the Knox site, Kelly Manning, said that even though the support site is closing, the scholarship will still be available.

“The promise of the scholarship is still there for the students, just not the support from the support sites,” said Manning.

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