Bit Of Burden Alleviated For Starke County Food Pantry

Posted on Author WKVI
Community Services of Starke County
Community Services of Starke County

Community Services of Starke County Program Director Cecilia Torres-Bowman says the food pantry has been doing a good job of holding its own this summer, thanks in part to regular donations from the community and the presence of mobile food pantries that have been visiting the area.

While there are no fundraisers planned for the immediate future, the food pantry’s shelves are fairly stocked thanks to regular donations. Torres-Bowman says the heat has also played a part in lowering demand from the pantry.

Continue reading →

WKVI Broadcasts Live From Zip-Thru Mart’s One Year Anniversary

Posted on Author WKVI
Front row: Lenny Dessauer and Tom Berg; Back row: Pat Dunn, Janice Estok, and Chuck Estok.

Cars packed the parking lot of the Zip-Thru Mart to enjoy some free snow cones and cotton candy in celebration of the business’s one-year anniversary.

WKVI was present and broadcasting live from the business, and while lines formed to enjoy the free refreshments, Tom Berg and Lenny Dessauer presented random customers with free lottery scratch-off tickets. While no big wins were reported from the scratch-offs, one lucky customer did receive four free tickets to Indiana Beach, courtesy of WKVI.

Starke United Golf Outing Set For Friday

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke United Golf Outing will tee off at the Bass Lake Golf Course tomorrow with a shot gun start at 1:00 p.m. CT.

This is a four person scramble with a cost of $240 per team which includes green fees, lunch and dinner. Registration and lunch begins at Noon. Take part in betting holes, a putting contest, and a skins game during this event. Team prizes will be awarded.

Continue reading →

Fallen Oak Tree Causes Fire, Car Accident

Posted on Author WKVI

The Washington Township Fire Department was called to a fire on 1025 East Monday night.

Assistant Fire Chief Dave Pearman said a big oak tree fell on some electrical lines in that area which caused two transformers to explode. The tree then fell into the road, and a driver soon struck the tree. The fire was extinguished by the fire department and the driver received minor injuries and refused treatment at the scene.

REMC was called to the scene to deactivate the electrical lines so cleanup could begin.

Starke County Council Approves Save The Hospital Funds For Facility Study

Posted on Author WKVI
David Pearman

The Starke County Council in a super-majority vote this week approved an amendment to the Save the Hospital Fund that would allow up to $50,000 to be used on a study that would assess the value of the property and operations of IU Health Starke Hospital. IU Health La Porte has been in a lease agreement with the county, but has expressed interest in purchasing the facility.

“We’re going to select a consultant with specific expertise and knowledge in this type of release,” said Council President David Pearman. “It has to be a similar situation where a county has decided to get out of the hospital business.”

Pearman expressed his opinion at this week’s meeting that it is probably better if the county gets out of the healthcare business.

Continue reading →

North Judson Town Board Passes Two Resolutions

Posted on Author WKVI
North Judson Town Board

The North Judson Town Board passed two resolutions at its meeting this week. The first resolution concerned modifications to the grant received by the board from the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission for the State Road 39 project. Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry says she received an email from a KIRPC representative who informed her that the board needed to pass a resolution concerning modifications to the grant.

The board also passed a resolution concerning the town’s anti-nepotism policy, which Henry says is included in the handbook, but a revision was required. She says although their current policy is more stringent than the state-mandated policy, the state requires that the policy address step-relatives. The handbook was revised to include the required content.

A surveyor gave the board an estimate on the cost to plot, measure, and place markers in the Highland Cemetery’s 13th section, which was never properly surveyed. She says the estimate came in at $2200, but it is a very rough estimate and will likely change. The board voted to go ahead with the plotting.

Starke County Officials Discuss Housing Prisoners in Pulaski County

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioners Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis

Starke County government officials this week discussed finances as they apply to county jail inmates being housed at the Pulaski County Jail.

With the Starke County Jail being rated for only 62 prisoners and the population approaching 80 at times, Commissioner Kathy Norem and Sheriff Oscar Cowen have been looking at ways to solve the problem – but that takes extra funds to pay Pulaski County and transport the prisoners back and forth.

Council President David Pearman explained that this is the most cost-effective solution they have found so far.

Continue reading →

Starke County Election Board Seeks To Reduce Per-Voter Cost of Elections

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski

According to Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski, the Election Board has been looking at a number of ways to reduce the expense of elections per voter. Skronski says that the May Primary was relatively expensive in terms of cost per voter in some precincts, such as Center 3, where the cost per voter came out to $10.79. This was the highest average cost per voter for any Starke County precinct, but Skronski says other townships with a higher voter turnout were significantly less expensive per voter, such as Oregon 1, where the average cost came out to $2.32 per voter.

Skronski says that some methods that were discussed to reduce the cost per precinct included reducing the number of poll workers in precincts with less than 700 registered voters. She says they could cut down on the cost by eliminating the presence of a sheriff at those locations, but the salaries of the poll workers would have to be increased because of their additional duties. Oregon 3, Jackson, and Center 6 precincts would be affected by the resolution.

Continue reading →

Starke County Commissioners Discuss Insurance Increase

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Commissioners discussed briefly the commissioners’ budget that is currently being prepared. Commission President Kathy Norem says there are some expected increases.

“The thing that we did take a look at Monday night, and we have difficulty predicting because we don’t get those numbers until five or six months after the budget process, is the employee health insurance. I’m aware that we’ve had some large claims this year so we elected to put in for a 15 percent increase in that,” Norem said.

Although the budget increase is 15 percent, Norem said the county’s First Source Insurance representative thinks it may be lower.

Burn Ban Issued in Starke County

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County is the latest county to enact a burn ban. The action was taken last night by the County Commissioners and will be in effect through July 2nd.

The ban does not include fireworks, although the commissioners ask that you set off fireworks with extreme caution.

The Pulaski County Commissioners have declared a county-wide burn ban effective until June 25th.

Open burning of any kind using conventional fuel such as wood or other combustible material, with the exception of grills, is prohibited. The burning of debris, such as timber or vegetation and recreational campfires, unless enclosed, is also prohibited.

The Pulaski County Commissioners ask that you NOT discharge any fireworks.

This ban is in effect until Noon ET on Monday, June 25th when conditions will be reevaluated.

Marshall County also remains under a burn ban.

Special Prosecutor Appointed To Case Against Connie Miller

Posted on Author WKVI
Nicholas Bourff

A special prosecutor has been appointed in the case between the State of Indiana and Connie Miller, the former clerk-treasurer for the town of North Judson.

Starke County Prosecutor Nick Bourff requested a special prosecutor be appointed to the case because he felt it would be difficult to avoid the appearance of impropriety if the charging decision in the case was up to him, because he was the acting legal counsel for the town of North Judson during the year 2010. He said that due to the attorney-client relationship that existed between him and Miller during that time, the decision on whether or not to prosecute based on the Indiana State Board of Accounts Special Report causes a conflict.

Continue reading →

Rachel Berdine Arrested, Charged With Helping Hunnicutt Escape

Posted on Author WKVI
Rachel Berdine

The woman suspected of aiding Joshua Hunnicutt in his escape from the Starke County Jail was arrested Sunday evening.

Officials say Rachel Berdine arrived at the Starke County Jail to visit Hunnicutt and police arrested her on an active arrest warrant for Escape and Conspiracy to Commit Escape, both Class C Felony charges.

She is being held in the Starke County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Police believe that Hunnicutt escaped from the jail on May 23 by climbing an outside recreation wall topped with razor wire, and allegedly got into a car driven by his girlfriend, Berdine, who then drove away from the scene. Hunnicutt turned himself in five days later and has pleaded not guilty in Starke Circuit Court to charges of Escape and Conspiracy to Commit Escape.

Jury Trial To Be Held Wednesday In Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse

A jury trial will be held Wednesday in the Starke Circuit Court – but the question is, who will go to trial?

Two pretrial motions and instructions hearings are set for this morning in the court; Jerrold Minix and Angela May will appear for their hearings, at which point it will be decided who will go to trial on Wednesday.

Minix faces two cases in the Starke Circuit Court. In the first case, he is charged with two counts of Burglary as a Class C felony, two counts of Theft, and two counts of Possession of Stolen Property. In the second case, he is charged with Receiving Stolen Property as a Class D felony.

Continue reading →

November Election Deadline Approaching For Starke County Chairpersons

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County Democrat and Republican Chairpersons have until Tuesday, July 3 to fill empty slots on the November Election ballot.

The Republicans need to fill the positions of Surveyor and Treasurer, while the Democrats need to find a candidate for County Commissioner in District 1, which includes the townships of Oregon, Washington and North Bend. Anyone from these townships are eligible.

The Starke County Clerk’s Office also indicated that any candidate wishing to file for a school board position can file a petition in the clerk’s office beginning July 25 through August 24.

Starke County Environment Days Event Made Starke County A Little Cleaner

Posted on Author WKVI
A trailer load of tires was collected during last year's event.

The Starke County Environment Days event was a success.

Starke County Environment Management Director Carrie Trent said that one-and-a-half semi loads of electronic equipment, three trailer loads of tires and one trailer of household hazardous waste were collected, along with two large shipping boxes packed with bottles of prescription medication.

A total of 467 vehicles came through the Collection Day that took place Friday and Saturday at the Starke County Highway Garage.

Wendy McIntire Wins “Original Boyz From The Hood” Contest At SCPL

Posted on Author WKVI
Henry F. Schricker Library

Local attorney and WKVI board member Leroy Gudeman and Ed Hasnerl, WKVI’s Talking of Many Things host, were two of the 30 pencil drawing subjects in the recent “Original Boyz from the Hood” contest held at the Henry F. Schricker Library. Patrons were invited to look at the pictures and try to figure out who the pictures depicted.

The library announced the winners yesterday, and they included Wendy McIntire who correctly identified 19 of the subjects and won first place. Carla Stoll identified 14 for second place, and Iva Griffith was the third place prize winner with 11 named correctly.

Diantha Upham invites everyone to watch for women in the community in the next few months.

Starke County Unemployment Rate Improves

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County dropped out of the top five Indiana unemployment counties in May. The county’s 9.6 percent rate for unemployment placed it in eighth place, tying La Porte County for the position.

Other rates for nearby counties include Pulaski at 6.2 percent, Marshall at 8.1 percent, Fulton at 7.8 percent, St. Joseph with a rate of 8.9 percent, and Porter at 7.3 percent.

Every county in the state had a lower rate than that of March, and the US rate was 8.2 percent while Indiana’s rate was 7.9 percent.

DuBois County at 5.4 percent and Hamilton at 5.5 percent were the lowest in the state.

Water Department Fees May Soon Increase, Says Knox City Council

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox City Council

In an attempt to make the Knox Water Department more self-sufficient, the Knox City Council is considering a rate increase of $6.70 a month. The increase would be spread out over two years, and, if approved, could mean a monthly increase of $3.75 per month as early as August.

Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston explained the hike, which was recommended by Umbaugh and Associates, would ensure the water department could continue regular operations.

“The reason I wanted this rate study done was to make sure we had enough money to pay for our bonds, and other financial obligations. Basically, I wanted to make sure the water department was on sound financial footing,” said Houston.

Continue reading →

North Judson Mint Festival Features Betty, Allen Chesak As Grand Marshals

Posted on Author WKVI
Betty and Allen Chesak

The North Judson Mint Festival Parade was held under clear skies and hot and humid weather conditions yesterday afternoon. The parade, one of the highlights of the three-day event, featured Betty and Allen Chesak as the Grand Marshals.

Betty Chesak had been featured in an article in 1976, the Bicentennial Year, and the beginning of what is now the Mint Festival.

“Seems like just yesterday doesn’t it? When you’re having fun time flies,” Chesak said.

Continue reading →

Fire Rating Outside Knox City Limits May Be Lowered

Posted on Author WKVI
Knox-Center Township Fire Chief Ken Pfost

The Knox-Center Township Fire Department is looking to create a committee to research the possibility of lowering the fire rating outside the Knox city limits. Fire Chief Kenny Pfost explains the fire rating procedure.

“ISO – which is Insurance Service Offices – they rate the residents of Knox, as well as throughout the county, at a certain fire class protection,” said Pfost. “For instance, residents in the city of Knox are rated at a Class 6 and residents in the county, or outside of city limits, are Class 9.”

Class One represents the best public protection and Class 10 indicates no recognized protection. Those with Knox addresses who are outside of the city limits were recently notified that their fire rating had gone from a classification of six to a nine. Pfost explains why that happened.

Continue reading →