Fifth District Republican Senator Ed Charbonneau was recently questioned about the possible upheaval at the state legislature over Governor Mitch Daniels’ announcement to push right-to-work legislation. Governor Daniels, House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate Speaker David Long, have called getting right-to-work legislation passed their “top priority.”
Charbonneau concurred.
But even though his leadership is pushing the measure hard, Charbonneau is unsure that he can support it.
Some members of the Starke County Council and the Police Merit Board will be meeting in the near future to talk over the police pension fund. Merit Board President, Ken Arnett, discussed the status of the fund with the Starke County Council this week and for now, it looks pretty positive.
The J.E.S.S.E. Co-op is reorganizing. Rochester schools recently pulled out of the special education cooperative that administers more than 80 different special classes and resource programs which leaves 9 school corporations in our area participating in the program.
With the withdrawal of Rochester, Knox Community School Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the majority of the financial services will now come out of Plymouth Schools.
The Starke County Historical Museum will be closed today through January 31st, for maintenance and repair.
Also, when you drive by the museum, you are urged to admire the Memorial Tree donated by Hensler’s Nursery. A record number of memorial bows and names have been attached this year. Toni Snearly, Historical Society volunteer, said that 285 bows have been placed on the tree at 401 South Main St., in Knox.
A hearing will be held in Jasper County today on Linda Belork’s request to have a court-imposed Temporary Restraining Order removed allowing her to return to her duties as the Starke County Treasurer. Belork has been out of the office since August 13th after being removed by the County Commissioners following the issuance of a State Audit showing thousands of dollars in discrepancies.
The money has been found, but Belork has been blocked by the order from returning to office. Objecting to her return are the Starke County Commissioners. Judge John Potter will be seeking pertinent information from Belork’s attorney, Ethan Lowe, and Martin Lucas, attorney for the commissioners, during today’s hearing.
Indiana’s labor force increased by 13,600 in November, holding the state’s unemployment rate steady at 9.0%. Over the past four months, the state’s workforce has grown by almost 50,000. While Indiana saw a 0.4% increase in its labor force during the month, the U.S. labor force decreased by 0.2% percent in November, contributing to the decline in the nation’s unemployment rate from 9.0% to 8.6%.
The Henry F. Schricker Award winner has been selected. Debbie Mix, the Executive Director of the Starke County Chamber of Commerce, said the name will not be released at this time, but the choice was difficult this year.
“It was a very difficult choice this year because anyone to has ever been nominated is still a nominee and we had several more this year and it was a difficult choice. I’m very excited for who is going to get this award,” said Mix.
The award dinner will be held January 19th at Bass Lake.
Betty Dotlich, of rural Grovertown, appeared before the Starke County Commissioners again this week seeking information and assistance in halting the use of a structure she claims is improperly zoned. Dotlich has sought help several time in having a home owned by Julia Povalitis properly zoned, saying she doesn’t believe it meets minimum residential standards. Dotlich said it appears that it is still being used for housing.
Eight Starke County Democrats who were successful in the fall election were sworn into office on Sunday. Swearing in the office holders was 17th District State Democrat Representative Nancy Dembowski.
Sworn in were: Knox Mayor Rick Chambers, Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, incumbent Knox City Councilmen Linda Berndt, Greg Matt, and Jeff Berg, plus newly elected councilman Donald Kring.
Considering a pet for Christmas? Suzanne Crider from the Starke County Humane Society says it may be a good idea in some instances.
“It depends on what the family is prepared for,” said Crider. “We are always looking for homes for pets, but we do encourage you not to surprise someone in your family with one that they’re not expecting. It’s often a better idea to take them pet shopping and let them pick out the pet that they’re hopefully going to spend the next 10 or 12 years with.”
Crider has another suggestion for parents.
“We encourage parents to not wait until Christmas morning if you are getting a new family pet. Get them in the home before Christmas. It makes life much easier for Mom and much less hectic for everybody and it gives the animal time to settle in.”
Here’s a gift idea from Suzanne for that pet lover on your list.
“A great gift for animal lovers is always money put down at their vet. If you know of somebody who may be having a hard time and keeping up with vet care that their animal needs, ask what vet they go to and the vets will let you put money on their account. When that animal needs something, the owner can take them in and use that credit and that is a wonderful, wonderful gift to do for people.”
A Plymouth resident plead not guilty to eight charges in an incident that occurred in Starke County on October 16th, 2009.
Dale Hite appeared for his initial hearing in Starke Circuit Court Monday morning where he plead not guilty to two counts of Resisting Law Enforcement Resulting in Death, two counts of Reckless Homicide, and one count each of Resisting Law Enforcement, Possession of Methamphetamine, Failure to Stop at a Stop Sign and Failure to use Headlights from Sunset to Sunrise. His bond was set at $100,000 surety.
Members of the Starke County Election Board, Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski and Voter Registration Deputy, Randi Beem, recently attended the 2012 Election Conference in Indianapolis.
Five awards were given at the conference and two of those awarded were given to Starke County. Pat Mitchell and Jim Henriott received the “County Election Board Members of the Year” Award. This award is given to county Election Board members whose service embodies bipartisan cooperation in the administration and election process, and whose achievement is to represent one political party while serving all county voters.
Longtime Starke County Hospital Community Board Member, Ed Hasnerl, recently notified hospital officials that he would be stepping down from the position January 1st, 2012.
IU Health Starke Hospital official, David Hiatt, commented recently on the outstanding job Mr. Hasnerl did as a member of the board.
“There’s not much we can say about Ed that’s not positive,” said Hiatt. “Ed has been with the hospital as long as I’ve been here. I think he started serving on the Board of Advisors in 1997 and he’s always been just a staunch supporter of the hospital and really contributed a lot of his time in making sure that healthcare in Starke County is better than anything else around. We couldn’t have gotten to where we are without Ed and it’s hard to say in words how much appreciation we have for the time and effort that he’s put in to helping the hospital.”
On this date 65 years ago, three men met in the Commissioners room to map out and help organize the Board of Directors for a proposed new hospital for Starke County. Mr. L.L. Gilliland, Luther Everts and John Hill came up with names for the new board. It was a dream come true in 1951 when Starke Memorial opened its doors. Building cost? $325,000.
Since the 1970’s, the Knox Kiwanis Club has helped those in need with Christmas food baskets and yesterday, members of the Knox National Honor Society and the Student Council, plus North Judson and Knox Kiwanis members, helped assemble those baskets at Community Services of Starke County.
Financing possibilities and informing the public have been topics the Starke County Jail Committee has been working on recently. The committee has discussed holding informational meetings throughout the county to bring the public up to date on various options for rehabbing or building a new jail.
Fires, escapes, and a class action lawsuit have brought attention to the liabilities at the jail. Reportedly the second oldest county jail in the state, the facility has been overcrowded at times throughout the past year.
The Starke County Commissioners are asking for the submission of letters of interest for 2012 board appointments.
The Commissioners are asking you to consider apply for seats on the following boards: Starke County Drainage Board, KIRPC, Health Board, North Judson-Wayne Township Library Board, Aviation Board, Hospital Community Board, Alcoholic Beverage Board, Regional Workforce Board, P.T.A.B.O.A. Board, and Community Corrections Board.
Bridge #62 in Starke County has caved in. Starke County Highway Superintendent Steve Siddall talked about the situation with the Commissioners.
“Bridge #62 has fallen in. It’s not in the water. I was in Indianapolis last week and checked on permits and we have the permits to pull the bridge up. We’re getting around getting our cables because we haven’t done this six years. We are not removing the abutments. We are just removing the box beams. If I remove the abutments, that could cause erosion and that could cost us more money. It will save us money in the long run by us taking this out. It’s going to take a couple of weeks to get things around because I have to get cables. Our crane will not just pick it up. We’ll have to scoot it, drag it and slide it and then haul it to the shop,” said Siddall.
The day after Christmas usually finds many businesses flooded with customers with post-holiday gift returns.
The Better Business Bureau wants you to make sure that you understand return policies prior to making any last-minute purchases. When you shop for that special Christmas gift, request a gift receipt, understand the store’s return policy, return the merchandise unused, unworn or unwrapped from the original packaging, and understand online returns.
Another group has presented the Starke County Food Pantry with a generous donation.
The Bass Lake Lions Club is one of the many groups and individuals who have come forth to help the Community Services of Starke County’s food pantry. The Lions donated $500 plus canned food to the pantry on December 14th.
Photo provided.
