Kent Danford is seeking another term as a Starke County Commissioner. Danford, a Republican, is a former commissioner, who lost in a race to Dan Bridegroom in 2008.
Danford was asked why he decided to run for another term.
“There were several things. The main thing was I felt like I still had more things that I had to give back to the people. I’m a taxpayer and I felt like there were some things that could be done yet,” said Danford.
A smoking ban for Indiana just might have a chance this year in the Indiana Legislature.
Governor Mitch Daniels has thrown his support behind the legislation this year. The House Bill gives bars an 18 month transitional period to adhere to the ban. Casinos would be exempt. Fraternal and veterans organizations would be exempt under certain conditions. Continue reading
With today’s large amount of snowfall, Starke County has been placed under a travel advisory status of “Advisory.” A travel advisory status of “Advisory” means that routine travel or activity may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation. Citizens should use caution or avoid these areas.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom says the plow trucks have been pulled off the streets for the day, but will resume clearing the roads at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service has issued the following alert for Marshall and St. Joseph counties.
Starke County officials were brought up to date this week on the progress made by the EMS to attain Advanced Life Support Certification.
According to EMS Director Paul Mathewson, inspectors approved the rigs for Advanced Life Support care and gave their approval for certification.
The regular meeting of Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County was held Wednesday and produced no action on the status of Jennie Carter as Coalition Coordinator of Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County. The President of Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County, Judy Jelinek, said no action could have been taken as the lack of a quorum prohibited the Board to conduct business.
Another meeting has been scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 15th at the Girl Scout Cabin in Knox. Carter is still the Coordinator, and Jelinek said that the executive session is scheduled to discuss personnel matters. A yet to be announced open meeting for the public and press will be held after the executive session. No time or location has been announced for that public meeting.
Today is the last day to file for candidacy in the May Primary Election.
Several contested races have already surfaced for the Primary Election. In Starke County, Linda Belork and Kasey Clark, both Democrat candidates, have filed for Treasurer. Democrats Dan Bridegroom and Joseph Woods have filed for County Commissioner District 3.
It was 11 years ago that the first Starke County Pageant was held at the North Judson-San Pierre Socialatorium. One of the highlights of the evening was an appearance by the 2000 Miss Indiana Betsy Bobel.
The first Miss Starke County was Jayne Cowen, who said after being crowned that introducing crime prevention programs in schools would be her platform.
After competing in the Miss Indiana Pageant, June 14th, 2001, Jayne went back to Indiana State University where she finished her degree work.
A Knox man was injured in a single vehicle accident in LaPorte County.
LaPorte County Police officers responded to a call at 12:07 this morning of a car in the ditch at 1500 S. 100 W. in LaPorte County. Eugene Sinn, 57, told police that he didn’t remember how he got there or how long he was there. According to LaPorte County officials, the officer reportedly asked Sinn if he had been drinking prior to the accident and stated that he had been drinking. He was taken to the hospital for medical treatment for facial cuts and a laceration over his upper lip.
More money needs to be poured into the site of the old Starke County Landfill. Brian Horvath, the Senior Project Manager of Weaver and Boos Consultants appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week to report on conditions at the landfill.
Of the 12 probes placed on the property to detect methane gas, four showed up positive. The county now has 60 days to correct the situation.
Horvath said that trench 15 to 20 feet deep will need to be dug and then filled with gravel . The trench will provide a preferential pathway for any gas in the ground. The gas would then be vented into the atmosphere.
The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department responded to a single vehicle accident on 1500 South, one mile East of State Road 39 last night around 8:00 p.m. One occupant was taken to the hospital.
Knox City Police Department officers were called to a rollover accident on Bender Street near Pacific Avenue around 10:00 p.m. last night. This was also a single car accident and minor injuries were reported in this accident.
The Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers were called to a rollover accident early this morning at 1075 W. State Road 10. This was a one vehicle accident with one person injured.
All of these accidents are still being investigated and we hope to get more information on these cases once more information is available to us.
One of the more exciting local races in the 2008 Starke County General Election involved commissioner candidates Kathy Norem and Mark Allen. Both were attempting to fill a vacant seat on the board and 9,223 votes were cast in that specific race. At the end of the night, Norem, a Republican, edged Democrat Allen by 73 votes.
Alan T. Hildebrand, a Certified Public Accountant with Cross Roads Business Advisors, appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week. Hildebrand represents Teachers Credit Union, owners of the housing development at Chesapeake Run Golf Course in North Judson, and presented a petition the commissioners to accept the roads in the subdivision. If accepted, the county would be charged with maintenance of the streets on the property.
Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said he had observed the paving work done on the property and was impressed. He did express concern over the closeness of the street lamps to the roads, saying this could cause a problem in snowplowing.
The commissioners did not take possession of the roads at this meeting, pending presentation of a legal description of the streets.
North Judson Park Board President Bob Kolanowski told the Town Board this week that a new park caretaker has been hired. Jon Harrison was hired after six applicants were interviewed. Jon Harrison takes over the position from James Harrison, his father, who passed away last year. He worked with his father at the Park before and has the experience necessary to fulfill the caretaker’s duties.
The Board also held a discussion about increasing the Board to five members. The board, which numbers three, talked about what is required for that increase to take place. No decision was made during Monday night’s meeting.
The Board also approved a special event permit form.
Following a valiant battle against cancer, Diane Squibb, 63, passed away yesterday.
Diane is the wife of Knox United Methodist Church Pastor Ray Squibb who has hosted the “Sunday Morning Day by Day” program for several years. Diane often accompanied her husband to the studio and occasionally was part of the program.
She worked at the Henry F. Schricker Library in Knox, until becoming too ill to fulfill her duties.
The Rannells Funeral Home, Hamlet Chapel is in charge of the services.
Retired Starke County Police officer Fred “Freddie” Baker is the latest candidate to sign up for the May primary. Baker has filed for a position on the Starke County Council. He will be running in the Democrat Primary as a council at large candidate.
Other candidates to file for Starke County Council at-large seats include Republican Bryan H. Cavender, Democrat Robert (Bob) Sims, Democrat Judy Benninghoff and Republican Talia Reed.
The Indiana Sheriff’s Association will be awarding college scholarships to qualified high school seniors or college students who are pursuing a degree in criminal justice studies. Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen encourages you to apply for one of 40$500 scholarships awarded to qualifying students throughout the state.
You must be an Indiana resident, be a current member of the Indiana Sheriff’s Association or a dependent child or grandchild of a current member of the association, attend an Indiana college or university, major in law enforcement field and enroll as a full-time student.
The application deadline is April 1st.
In an effort to explain how the embezzlement of $7,140 could go undetected for almost a year, the Starke County Tourism Board issued a timeline and statement yesterday in the Jennie Carter case.
According to the timeline, Carter, Coordinator of the Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County organization, wrote a check for that amount of money on March 21st, 2011 to the Drug Free organization. She claimed it was for money owed to the Indiana Department of Revenue in taxes. Cosigning with Carter was the Tourism Board President, Rich Wieczorek, who is not suspected of wrongdoing. The check was cashed by Carter, who took possession of the money.
The Starke County Commissioners decided this week to not allow the number of polling places to be reduced from 17 to 10 in this year’s May Primary election. The Election Board members were told that the reduction would be too much of a change, and that the Commissioners would rather have it phased in during another election year. Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said they asked the Board to sit down with Democrat Chairman Ken Wallace and Republican Chairman Brenda Stanojevich and they opposed the proposal.
A Knox man was arrested Sunday, January 29th after he reportedly hit a patch of ice and hit a tree while driving under the influence.
John Lenig told a Starke County Sheriff’s Department officer that he hit a patch of ice on Toto Road near State Road 23 and he hit a tree. After the vehicle hit the tree, it burst into flames. Josh Workman said that he drove upon the accident and saw that the car had hit the tree and was on fire. He saw Lenig out of the car and a female passenger, Amber Sheperd, still trapped in the car. Workman removed her from the wreckage and took her to IU Health Starke Hospital. She was later airlifted to a South Bend hospital for treatment of a broken neck and an internal injury.
The Starke County Commissioners emerged from an Executive Session yesterday to announce financial improprieties involving taxpayer money by Jennie Carter. Carter is the Coalition Coordinator for Drug and Tobacco Free Starke County.
According to County Attorney Martin Lucas, the commissioners came to the conclusion that Carter committed financial improprieties by transferring funds from the Convention and Visitors Board to the Tourism Board.
