Calling him a “great public servant,” the Starke County Commissioners praised the service given to the county by the late Bill Schacht this week. Schacht served for many years as a member of the county’s Drainage Board.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said, “He taught me more about drainage than anyone could have, and I appreciate everything he told me. He will be greatly missed.”
The Starke County PTABOA Appointments have been made. The PTABOA Board is made up of county citizens who review assessment appeals. They also assist Property Systems Corporation, the company that does the reassessment.
The board appointments are for one year, and the three board members are called as needed.
Reappointed as the representative of the county council was Ron Simoni. The commissioners also re-appointed Ed Hasnerl and Jody Czerniak
The Knox third grade teachers sent home a special packet with next year’s incoming third graders to help keep them reading during their summer break. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Peggy Shidaker explained that these packets contain fun activities for students.
“They sent home a little bag that says ‘I Read, Therefore I Succeed,’” explained Shidaker. “Every second grader, 153 of these students, last week carried home this bag and in this bag there was a letter to their parents explaining the entire program. Through the collaboration of our third grade teachers, they filled this bag with fun activities for our students to do in both reading and math.”
The Knox Community School Board members met Monday night where Superintendent A.J. Gappa gave the members a facilities study update.
“As far as the elementary school is concerned, we’re just moving forward,” stated Gappa. “I met with Dana Wanamaker, architect with Barton, Coe Vilamaa, just to give us some estimates on general figures as to what it might be for renovation versus building a new wing. We don’t have any figures on that yet. I anticipate meeting with Curt Pletcher from Umbaugh and Associates, the financial people, because we want to pin it down to be able to tell people, if we need to do something, how much it’s going to affect each individual person.”
Gappa also said the board has some high hopes for their welding program.
“We’re optimistic and moving forward with getting a welding program going, which would be located at the southwest corner of the middle school where the old wood shop used to be,” said Gappa. “I believe that will move forward even very soon. Probably within the next month, we will have work going on to convert that room.”
The Knox High School Honor Day program was held Friday, May 18th.
Approximately $318,000 in scholarships were distributed to the graduating seniors. The Ben Bowen Award recipient was Elliott Coad, Hannah Folkers won the Bonnie Taylor Award and Shelby Gilbert and Logan Short were named winners of the Robert Hanselman Award. Some other notable scholarship winners were Sierra Brooke of the Roger Laramore Scholarship, Chelsea Whitcraft won the George W. Burkett Scholarship and Thomas Clem won the C. Slisher Scholarship.
On May 11, the Indiana Department of Corrections announced that Starke County Community Corrections has been designated a level one corrections agency. The announcement was made by Bruce Lemmon, Director of the State Community Corrections Department.
In the announcement, Lemmon said S.C.C.C. meets or exceeds standards established for the effective operation of a community correction agency.
Robert Hinojosa wishes to thank the S.C.C.C. Advisory Board for their support and guidance through the review process. Hinojosa said, “The Starke County Community Corrections agency may not be one of the biggest programs in the state, but we can certainly to be one of the best.”
With the exception of some rain yesterday, it has been a dry spring and Dave Pearman, Assistant Fire Chief with the Washington Township Fire Department, says the firefighters have been called to several fires this season due to the dry conditions.
“We’ve seen a lot more property damage and really what it boils down to is that people are going out and they might be having a small fire and they leave it unattended,” explained Pearman. “They tend to not have any tools such as a rake, shovel and a hose available and really what we’ve seen with 90 percent of those fires is had they attended the fire, had they had tools and water present that they probably could have controlled those fires.”
Mayor Rick Chamber’s office has announced that the Random Act of Kindness event has been delayed from June to September this year. Dixie Lockridge will again be in charge of the awards celebration, which will be held on Sept. 16.
Be thinking of who might be a good nominee for this award. Last year’s recipient of the award was a group of Knox High School students who held a car wash. Bruce Klimek, a teacher of the moderately mentally handicapped class at the high school, nominated the students after they raised $200 and gave it to the class for a party and supplies.
Other winners included Jose Marquez in 2010, Jeff Messer, Sr., and the late Eric Corey in 2009.
Several cases of vandalism were reported in Starke County over the weekend. The vandals spray-painted buildings at J.W. Hicks and Toll Brothers, and a truck parked at M.P.I. was tagged as well.
Starke County Development Foundation Director Charles Weaver issued a statement yesterday condemning the acts, describing them as “despicable.” The foundation is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Thursday was a busy day in the Starke Circuit Court, as several sentences were handed down by Judge Kim Hall.
After pleading guilty on April 23 to several charges stemming from an armed robbery incident at the Knox CVS Pharmacy on December 20, 2010, Jonathan and Nathan Hummel received their sentences in court.
Jonathan Hummel was sentenced to 30-and-a-half years in the Department of Corrections as per a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to Dealing in a Narcotic Drug as a Class A felony; Robbery as a Class B felony; Aiding, Inducing, or Causing a Robbery as a Class B felony, and Criminal Mischief as a Class D felony. A separate cause was dismissed and all pending cases in Knox City Court were dismissed. Hummel is required to pay $2946.13 for damages to a police squad car, and $11,924 in restitution to the Knox CVS.
Starke County Council members will resume discussion tonight concerning an amendment to an ordinance that, if approved, would allow the county to use up to $50,000 in Save the Hospital Funds to hire a consultant to evaluate the hospital’s real and personal property.
The Council had discussed the proposed amendment during a special meeting on May 14, but it was voted down. Council President Dave Pearman said the motion needed a five-member approval, but only gained four “yes” votes.
“The thing that I really want to reiterate about this is this is not necessarily saying that we are going to spend even one dollar to start with, but we need some enabling legislation to allow us to seek a consultant for this project to make sure that we make the wise decision for the public’s best interest,” said Pearman.
A Knox man was arrested on Wednesday, May 16th, after police received a residential entry call.
Patrick Dunn reportedly entered a home on 200 North, walked into the master bedroom of the residence and tapped a woman on the shoulder demanding that she return a cell phone. The woman woke her husband and the pair ordered Dunn out of their home. He then left on foot.
Members of the Starke County Jail Committee toured a number of jail facilities throughout the state last week. Starke County Council President and Jail Committee member Dave Pearman was just one of the members who went to the Jasper County Jail, and he explained why the members went to that jail.
“One of the key reasons why we were taken to Jasper County Jail is their community, at the time of their jail planning, was about the size of ours. We have about 23,000 in our community and they have about 35,000 today. They have a 120-bed facility, it’s state of the art and it very much fits what we think our model possibly could be if we actually do decide to build a new facility,” said Pearman.
The West Central School Board approved cafeteria prices during their meeting last week, and Superintendent Charles Mellon said the lunch prices will be increasing.
“There’s some new guidelines coming down from the state that requires more fresh fruits and vegetables and we’re putting in a fresh fruit and vegetable bar next year,” said Mellon. “I guess the portions greater for high school students as they do for middle school students and the middle school larger than high school so that’s a little bit of a change. We had to increase the lunches ten cents for the elementary and the high school and five cents for the middle school.”
Starke County currently holds the fourth highest unemployment rate in the state, even though its rate went down a full percentage point from March to April.
The county’s 9.8 percent unemployment rate was only surpassed by Fayette, Vermillion, and Lawrence counties. Rounding out the top five are Blackford and Sullivan that tied for the position with a 9.7 percent rate.
Memorial Day Services will be held Sunday and Monday in North Judson, San Pierre, and La Crosse. The services will be conducted by the Harry Keller Post #92 American Legion, Harry Keller Unit #92 American Legion Auxiliary, and Sons of American Legion Squad #92. The services will begin Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Round Lake.
On Monday, May 28, services will begin with an 8:45 a.m. parade, followed by services at Pioneer Cemetery at 9 a.m. and the San Pierre Cemetery at 10 a.m. A wreath will be deposited in the river on State Road 421 at 11 a.m., and services will be held at Velmar Memorial Park in La Crosse at 11:15 a.m.
Taking part in the services will be the North Judson-San Pierre Band.
Two plea agreements were rejected in the Starke Circuit Court on Thursday.
A plea agreement was rejected for Jacob Hanselman, who would have pleaded guilty to Trafficking with an Inmate as a Class C felony and two counts of Theft as Class D felonies. The court would have sentenced Hanselman to two years in the Department of Corrections, and he would have been required to pay restitution for damages and items that were stolen and not returned.
Judge Kim Hall rejected the agreement and a jury trial will take place on August 1 at 9 a.m. A pretrial motions and instructions hearing is set for July 31 at 1 p.m., with a jury status hearing on July 20 at 9 a.m. Hanselman has until July 19 to file an acceptable plea agreement.
Thousands of Indiana University Health employees helped build the framing for more than 20 homes yesterday. IU Health Starke County employees were building framing for Henryville while IU Health La Porte built framing for a home in Kingsford Heights.
The employees were assisted by volunteers and local Habitat for Humanity members. The work was done during the hospital’s Day of Service commitment.
Habitat for Humanity officials say this one day of work goes a long way toward improving the lives of more than two dozen Hoosier families in need of their own space.
IU Health was named among the “Best Hospitals in America” by U.S. News and World Report. The hospital system has received the award for 14 straight years.
A new Mint Festival Queen will be crowned Sunday evening at 6 p.m. at the North Judson-San Pierre Cafetorium.
Kersting’s Cycle Center Train Adventure Ride will take place at noon today, with the group ride leaving the center followed by a one-hour scenic country motorcycle ride, followed by lunch and a 45-minute train ride. The cost is $15 per rider, and that includes the motorcycle ride, lunch, and the train ride.
There will also be a Relay for Life of Starke County Fishing Tournament from 6 a.m. until 12 p.m. CT at Bass Lake. There is an entry fee and prizes will be awarded. All proceeds will go to the Starke County Relay for Life on June 8 and 9.
A lack of recycling could force the city of Knox to increase garbage fees. According to Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, the recycling rate was down five percent last year.
This decrease in recycling efforts could impact garbage fees because the less that residents recycle, more garbage is collected. The garbage pick-up days are Monday and Thursday, and Houston said there is usually a full truck on both days. If it gets to the point that a second truck has to be sent out to finish a route, that would lead to increased fees.
