Brett Kersey Sentenced to 20 Years

Posted on Author WKVI
Brett Kersey

Twenty-two-year-old Brett Kersey pleaded guilty in Starke Circuit Court on Tuesday to one count of Child Molestation as a Class A Felony. Kersey was sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections with five years of that sentence suspended to be served on probation. In addition, he will be placed in the Sex Offender Maintenance and Monitoring program, complete a sex offender treatment program, possess no obscene material, consent to random computer searches, and a whole host of other rules and regulations as part of his probation.

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Starke County Man Arrested on Warrant for Child Solicitation

Posted on Author WKVI
Stanford Baker

A Starke County man was arrested on a warrant for child solicitation on Monday.

Stanford Baker allegedly pulled up to his young female neighbor while in his pickup truck and she on her bike in October in the Grovertown area. He reportedly handed her a letter that contained sexual content. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department was contacted and a report was given to the Starke County Prosecutor where a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Kenneth K. Wallace’s Attorney Files Motion to Dismiss Case in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Kenneth K. Wallace

Kenneth K. Wallace made an appearance in the Starke Circuit Court Tuesday morning. Wallace’s attorney told Judge Kim Hall that he was interested in obtaining field notes from officers on duty that had responded to the incident. In addition, he requested several other forms of information that he says he was not provided with as part of the discovery process.

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State Law Allows Bidded Projects to be Done by County Employees

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

Starke County Commission President Dan Bridegroom recently informed his fellow commissioners and the public that a new state law will allow county workers to do county work that was previously bid out.

The jobs done by the county workers cannot exceed $100,000 and the workers must demonstrate the skills and training to do the work.

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Congressman Joe Donnelly Discusses Super Committee Failure to Cut Deficit

Posted on Author WKVI
Joe Donnelly
Congressman Joe Donnelly

Deadlocked on their refusals to compromise on recommendations for cutting the government deficit, both Republican and Democrat members of the Super Committee have admitted defeat.

Second District Democrat Representative Joe Donnelly was asked about that failure.

“They were not able to get enough movement on the revenue side,” said Donnelly. “We had significant cuts and we had enough to actually get into the neighborhood of the $3 trillion deficit reduction, but we could not get our friends to agree to a package that figured out how to increase revenue.”

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Hoosier Lottery Jackpot up to $25 Million

Posted on Author WKVI

The jackpot in Hoosier Lotto has grown to $25 million for tonight.

The jackpot has been on the rise since Tom and Gail Fox of Indianapolis scored a jackpot hit of $24 million on June 22nd.

You have until 10:39 p.m. ET tonight to purchase your shot at the hometown multi-million dollar jackpot. Hoosier Lotto tickets cost just $1.00 per play. For another dollar, you can add Tag 6 to your Hoosier Lotto tickets for a chance to win additional prizes from $2.00 to $100,000.

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Debris Removal, Sediment Control Planned for Yellow River in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI

Along with debris clean up along the Yellow River in Knox up to the Marshall County line, Starke County Surveyor Dennis Estok said that more work is planned for the Yellow River.

The projects on the drawing board include sediment control along the Yellow River and work on the Yellow River at Wythogan Park. Last summer, a drowning occurred at the U.S. 35 bridge on the Yellow River, and Estok said that area is really dangerous.

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Grant Received to do Work on Yellow River

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County is the recipient of a grant for debris removal on the Yellow River in the amount of $190,000. The grant money came from the Disaster Recovery Fund.

Starke County Surveyor, Dennis Estok, said there has been no removal of trees or debris in the Yellow River.

“That’s our main concern,” said Estok. “From Highway 35 in Knox going to the Starke/Marshall County line hasn’t been touched. In talking with some of the land owners, I don’t think it’s ever been touched. What we will do with this money, since it was for debris removal, we’re going to take the fallen trees and logs out of the river which will help tremendously.”

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Digital Books to Replace Libraries?

Posted on Author WKVI
Henry F. Schricker Library

What’s the future of libraries in the digital age? We posed that question recently to Shelia Urwiler, Director of the Starke County Library system.

“E-books are changing the library landscape quite a bit and no one is one hundred percent sure how that’s going to work out,” said Urwiler. “We do know that we are going to transition more to e-books and less print eventually. I heard a speaker say that he thinks it will be in the next two to three years – I think that’s a little overestimating. I think we’re looking more at 15 to 20 before print really is more for special collections and archives.”

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Starke County ABATE Holds Annual Christmas Party

Posted on Author WKVI
Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves make Christmas a little brighter for Starke County children

Over 200 children will have a brighter Christmas because of the efforts of the local ABATE organization. ABATE held its annual Christmas Party at the Bass Lake Country Club on Saturday.

Ernie Brewer, who is instrumental in gathering toys for the event, said the day is the most enjoyable for the ABATE members.

“We’re proud that we could do this for the kids of Starke County,” said Brewer.

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Annual Christmas Cantata Held Sunday

Posted on Author WKVI
The Community Choir gets ready to sing in the annual Christmas Cantata

The 52 members of the Community Choir performed twice yesterday at the Knox United Methodist Church. It was the 14th season for the annual Christmas Cantata and was performed and dedicated to the memory of Jim Keen, who sang in the choir for 10 years before his untimely death earlier in the year.

Because of illness, Director Jim Oliverius was replaced by Nan Folkers and Brian Liechty.

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Wreaths Laid at Starke County Courthouse Memorial

Posted on Author WKVI
Taps is played after wreaths are laid at the Starke County Courthouse Memorial

Wreaths were laid at the Starke County Courthouse military memorial yesterday as part of the Wreaths Around America program. Wreaths, which were donated by Hensler’s Nursery, were laid in the ceremony yesterday that involved both American Legion and VFW members.

Honored were our nation’s war heroes both past and present.

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Starke County Commissioners Continue to Block Linda Belork’s Return to Office

Posted on Author WKVI

Linda Belork
Jasper County Circuit Court Judge John D. Potter has set Dec. 22 as the hearing date on a motion to dismiss a temporary restraining order preventing Linda Belork from gaining back the treasurer’s position in Starke County. Belork has been out of office since being removed by the commissioners on Aug. 13. Acting as plaintiffs in the case are the Starke County Commissioners.

Potter set the date yesterday in Jasper County Court. The suit has been venued to Jasper County from Starke County after Judge Kim Hall recused himself from hearing the case.

Although bookkeeping errors in the treasurer’s office were eventually identified, the commissioners have continued to block her resumption of duties. Last week an interim treasurer, Kasey Clark, was selected by the Democrat County Precinct Committee. On Monday, the commissioners affirmed that Clark would receive full treasurer’s pay as long as she is in charge of the office.

If Belork is eventually successful in the Jasper County suit, Clark will be required to step down.

Starke County Commissioners Approve Purchase of Ambulance

Posted on Author WKVI

The Starke County Commissioners are gearing up for the future needs of the EMS service in the county by considering the purchase of a new ambulance, or two quality used rigs. At a recent meeting, Commissioner Kathy Norem announced that because $250,000 is left from health insurance savings she would like to spend a portion of the money on ambulances and equipment for Advanced Life Service needs.

Councilman David Pearman commented on the issue that when county begins making ALS runs, that is going to open up a new revenue source, but at the same time there will be more activity for the rigs. Pearman also noted that there are many municipalities that are privatizing their ambulance service, so there as some quality used rigs available if they can just be found.

Commissioner Dan Bridegroom said that the ambulances the county currently owns need to be thoroughly checked for issues, but it’s hard to take them out of service to do so. Another issue is that with the older rigs, parts are not always available.

A motion was made to seek the transfer of the money for the purchase of the new rig or two used ones by Commissioner Jennifer Davis. The motion was approved unanimously.

Starke United Auction Raises Over $10,000

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke United
$10,436! That’s the total from the Starke United Radio Auction that took place Friday, Dec. 2, broadcast from the CenturyLink warehouse. Starke United Executive Director Julie Dessauer says she was very pleased with the amount raised.

“We came out approximately $3,000 ahead of last year. Our total came out to about $10,400, which is great,” said Dessauer. “I definitely wanted to make sure that we did some special thank yous for WKVI, first off, Century Link, and Osinski’s Auction Service. Those were our three major components in pulling the auction off, and then of course there was all of the business participants that donated everything.”

And how about those Bears tickets? They brought in almost $600.00 for four tickets. Dessauer was happy with that, partly because she’s a Bears fan.

“They absolutely did, that was wonderful. I know that there was some fighting over them and everybody was really happy to get them,” said Dessauer.

The $50,000 campaign goal is almost in sight, according to Dessauer.

“A typical campaign would close out the end of December. Ours has typically ran a little longer than that,” Dessauer said. “I’m hoping to close out by the end of January, and we are still a little bit shy of the goal so we want to make sure that we do a little boost there and we still have appointments for businesses that want to do an employee campaign.”

Congratulations to Starke United, and a big thank you for the people who have supported the campaign.

Local Nursing Student Receives $1000 in Scholarship Funds

Posted on Author WKVI

The Legacy of Women organization in Starke County recently awarded scholarship money to local students. The organization’s spokeswoman, Sherri Bartolli, told WKVI more about the funding.

“We have, this Fall, offered scholarship money to women who are going back to school and trying to promote themselves, either in a different career path or going back to school and finishing something that they haven’t been able to since high school. And I do have Rae Humphrey here, she was awarded the most amount of money. We gave her $1000 to apply towards tuition and books or however the school felt that she would need it,” said Bartolli.

Humphrey enrolled in college later in life, but that didn’t put her at a disadvantage.

“I was 44 when I enrolled, and sometimes I was the oldest kid in the class,” she said.

Humphrey says she has always had a passion for the medical profession.

“As a mother, I’ve always taken care of people and nursing fascinates me. I’m always watching medical shows on TV,” laughed Humphrey. “That’s one of my passions.”

Humphrey said she was ecstatic when she won the award, and said it’s going to be put to good use.

Also receiving scholarship money were Kristy Nolcheft in the amount of $750; Dawn Bailey, $500; and Rebbeca Poindexter, $250. This is the first year that the Legacy of Women has distributed money for scholarships.

If you would like more information on how to become a member of the Legacy of Women, contact Sherri Bartolli at the 1st Source Bank office in Knox.

Maxinkuckee Singers to Hold Christmas Spectacular

Posted on Author WKVI

On Sunday, Dec. 18, the Maxinkuckee Singers are holding their annual Christmas Spectacular and Silent Auction. Gregg Underwood of the Singers told WKVI that the auction has received a lot of support from local businesses and they will be auctioning off about 20 items this year before the concert.

The fundraiser is for the North Judson High School Music and Drama Department, and will start at 3 p.m. with a silent auction in the atrium along with the Madrigals and some of the band members, who will be performing select songs.

At 3:45 p.m., the doors to the main auditorium will open, where a concert will take place at 4 p.m. MC’d by Tom Berg and featuring the Maxinkuckee Singers, the concert is sure to please all in attendance. The Singers will be performing everything from sacred numbers to holiday favorites, and is expected to last about an hour.

Underwood says that the Singers have been together for a very long time, and perform a spring show and a holiday show each year.

The cost is $7 for adults, $5 for children and students, and a $20 special price for families. For more information regarding the event, you can reach Underwood at (574) 772-0911.

Knox VFW, American Legion to Participate in Wreaths Across America

Posted on Author WKVI

The Knox VFW and American Legion posts will participate Sunday in the Wreaths Across America program. Three wreaths, donated by Hensler Nursery, will be laid at the Courthouse Memorials at 1 p.m. CT. There will be a short ceremony conducted by the veteran’s organizations.

Wreaths Across America is a national campaign to honor our fallen heros, and Knox is one of 545 locations across America that will participate in the program.

Most of wreaths will be laid at Arlington National Cemetery.

IU Health Starke Hospital Working Group Discusses Capital Needs

Posted on Author WKVI

IU Health Starke Hospital
The working group selected to discuss the sale of I.U. Health Starke Hospital to I.U. Health LaPorte met recently. Representing Starke County on the committee are Commission President Dan Bridegroom, Council President Mark Smith, and Councilmen David Pearman, Marvin McLaughlin, and Tony Radkiewicz. Hospital Community Board members Ben Bennett, Dr. Walter Fritz, and Sandy Hansen are also on the committee.

I.U. Health LaPorte is the lessee of the local facility, and according to David Hiatt, who explained the offer to local officials in October, five to seven million dollars in capital needs are required at the hospital.

“We have significant needs that must be addressed now before we start planning for the long-term facility, or what is going to happen long-term,” said Hiatt.

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Starke County Linda Belork Seeking Reinstatement

Posted on Author WKVI

Linda Belork
Attorneys for the Starke County Commissioners and Linda Belork will be in Jasper Circuit Court this morning. Also named in the suit is Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, Belork’s bonding company. Starke County is the Plaintiff in the case, and Belork and Ohio Casualty Insurance are the defendants.

The case stems from the removal of Belork as the treasurer of Starke County in August. She was dismissed by the commissioners when a State Board of Accounts audit turned up discrepancies of several thousand dollars in the office. Since that time, all the money has been accounted for and the defendant is seeking to have the court reinstate her back into the office. Today’s appearance by the lawyers is set for 10:30 a.m. before Judge John D. Potter. This is only a status conference with no testimony being heard.

Last week the Starke County Democrat Party named Kasey Clark as the Interim Treasurer of the county following Belork’s removal from office.