Gabriel French received his sentence in the Starke Circuit Court last week for charges of Dealing in Methamphetamine as a class B felony. As part of a plea agreement, the defense and the state would argue the sentence to Judge Kim Hall up to a maximum of 15 years in the Department of Corrections and the other counts against him would be dismissed.
Starke County’s unemployment figures are still in the double digits. The October figures are in and shows Starke County ranking 11th with an unemployment percentage of 10.3% That is up .2% from the September figures.
Indiana’s rate is 9.0%
Counterfeit $20 bills are circulating around the Starke County area.
Carla Musial from Demotte State Bank told WKVI that they’re the best that she’s seen. A Starke County merchant got one this weekend. While the bills look real, they will mark brown, not yellow, and the hologram is missing along with glitter on the bottom of the bills and a strip.
Fred Boggess II received his sentence in the Starke Circuit Court Wednesday after being found guilty by jury of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors, Driving While Suspended, and False Informing. His sentencing took place in the Oregon-Davis High School.
During the sentencing, defense attorney Richard Ballard called Boggess’ mother, Dolores Boggess, to the stand. Dolores told the court that Boggess saved her life over the past year by taking care of her and doing odd jobs to help pay the bills. She said he did “everything he could” to help her.
A suit that took almost four years to wind its way through the court system was dismissed this week in Starke Circuit Court. Dennis Fornelli had brought suit against the City of Knox and the Knox City Police Department for wrongful discharge of duty from the police force in 2006.
The suit was dismissed on Monday, November 21st. It was originally filed on December 31st, of 2007.
The widow of Starke County’s longest-serving mailman passed away over the weekend.
Margie Green died Saturday at the age of 91. The Knox Post Office was named for her late husband, Grant Green, who served as a Knox mailman for 50 years prior to his retirement in 1970.
Margie had conducted a Kindergarten in her home before the public schools offered such a program, then started the Knox Kindergarten program under Superintendent Ralph Harbison.
After retiring from the Knox Schools, she started a new career at the age of 70 as the Starke County Voter Registration Officer for which she was named Indiana Voter Registration Official of the Year in 2005.
WKVI was at Hensler Nursery in Hamlet on Saturday morning broadcasting live and helping the staff bring in the Christmas season. Many people were there picking out their perfect Christmas tree or getting wreaths and other greenery to create the perfect scene for the holiday season. It was a great way to kick off the wonderful time of the year. Enjoy these pictures from the event! Continue reading
Santa Claus arrived right on time yesterday afternoon for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Starke County Courthouse. Accompanied by several beautiful young ladies from the recent Miss South Bend/Kankakee Valley pageant, Santa came in on a Knox-Center Township Fire Department fire truck.
On the count of three, Mayor Rick Chambers flipped the switch on the Christmas tree and proclaimed the Christmas season’s beginning.
One suspect remains at large in a shooting incident in Rochester that took the life of a former Starke County woman.
Police have arrested William Scroggs, 25, of Delong, and Jason Miller, 34, of Plymouth in the incident. They reportedly shot and killed 81-year-old Wilma Upsall at a home in Rochester after they forcibly entered into the home where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law. An autopsy confirmed that she died from a single gunshot wound.
Scroggs and Miller were arrested after police attempted to conduct a traffic stop near Monterey after the vehicle they were driving crossed the center line and was exceeding the speed limit. A ten minute police pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed on State Road 117 north of State Road 110. Miller and Scroggs fled on foot and were arrested. A third man in the vehicle, Roy Bell, 24, of Rochester remains at large today.
Jason Cooke, of Plymouth, was recently arrested by Starke County police on a warrant and has been charged with Resisting Law Enforcement and two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, all Class D Felonies.
The offense occurred on August 31st when Cooke allegedly fled from police after he initially told police to go around him while exiting the Grovertown Truck Stop. He reportedly waved the police to go around him and the officer decided that the driver didn’t want the officer to follow him and criminal activity may be involved. The driver then pulled away and drove east through the parking lot. The officer followed and started traveling east on U.S. 30 behind the vehicle. The car turned south on 1100 East and started to drive faster. The vehicle crossed the railroad tracks and went off the side of the road. The officer activated his emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop but the car kept going. The officer stated in his report that he followed the car until the car swerved into a corn field and went down the road until he saw the vehicle come out on the south end of the field. The vehicle stopped and the driver and passenger ran from the vehicle on foot. Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Knox City Police Department were unable to find the suspects.
Shawn Mattraw, a member of the Starke County Community Corrections staff, has been selected to be the Northwest District Director for the association. In this capacity, Shawn will organize training for district members in Evidence Based Program initiatives.
“It’s going to give me greater responsibility, not just at the local level of Community Corrections, but also at the state level in terms of overall policy development any revisions with statutes and things like that that impact and affect anybody in the Northwest region,” explained Mattraw. “The Northwest region, including Starke County, consists of 12 other counties. It’s a task I’m really looking forward to. It gives me an opportunity to broaden my experiences and develop things more at the state level that impact us all in Community Corrections.”
The Starke County Commissioners have passed an ordinance that would halt nepotism in hiring in county government. The ordinance was created in part to stop complaints from the public about employees working under direct supervision of a family member. In the ordinance, the definition of relatives was spelled out with 17 listed from father and mother to relatives by adoption.
The ordinance applies to all elected or appointed directors.
A former Starke County woman was found murdered at her home in Rochester.
Indiana State Police officers responded to 6832 W. Olson Road where the owners of the residence reported a possible murder. The residents came home from work and reportedly found a rear door to the house open. Police say the owners found Wilma Upsall’s body on the floor of the residence and investigators say she was shot and died from her injuries. An autopsy will determine an exact cause of death.
Knox’s big August festival might be in jeopardy following an announcement last night that the Friends of the Park Organization would be dropping its sponsorship of the Harvest Days Festival. The organization had been in charge of the three day event for the past six years. Friends of the Park President, Tony Radkiewicz, explained the organization’s decision.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall will be on the bench today, but it will not be on the third floor of the Starke County Courthouse. Judge Hall is taking his court on the road.
“We’re going to have court at Oregon-Davis High School,” said Judge Hall. “The reason for this is that for many years, Oregon-Davis would bring a bus load of Seniors to the Starke Circuit Court and watch the court proceedings and they always enjoyed that and it was always educational for them. For the last couple of years, for various reasons, they haven’t been able to get to the Courthouse. I’ve been talking with some teachers and we’ve decided that we’re going to bring court to the Oregon-Davis High School. I checked with the Supreme Court and the staff there was not aware of any other court in Indiana doing this, but they thought it was a good idea. This morning, we’re going to have the prosecutors, defense attorneys and the Sheriff there with some of the inmates and we’re going to have regular court.”
As the discussion of a new Starke County Jail has progressed, the question is how many beds the facility should have. In recent months, the county jail has had times when the facility was housing up to 80 prisoners.
When planning for a new jail that could be in operation for 40 years, it is important to consider how many prisoners could be housed at one time.
Starke County Prosecutor, Nicholas Bourff, made the announcement yesterday that there is a new Deputy Prosecutor in the office.
“Autumn Ferch has joined our office as a Deputy Prosecutor,” said Bourff. “I’ve known Autumn for a very, very long time and I see value in bringing someone into the office who grew up in Starke County and who calls Starke County home. She will be handling everything in the Knox City Court, as well as several ‘D’ felonies in Starke Circuit Court. She will also handle child support cases too.”
We asked Autumn Ferch why she decided to go into law.
The Knox National Honor Society is planning on distributing food baskets to families in need this holiday season and the organization is looking for donations to aid in the effort.
Donations of new toys and non-perishable food items can be dropped off in the High School’s Main Office until Thursday, December 15th. Canned or packaged food will be accepted, along with new or very clean toys and baby food and formula. The National Honor Society will also accept cash donations so certain items can be purchased for the cause.
The WKVI/Five Star Food Drive was a great success. Joan Haugh, Director of Community Services of Starke County, called with the totals yesterday morning. Over $1,000 was collected in cash donations, and that includes $500 from Five Star.
Joan said that over 300 pounds of food was collected during the five hour food drive. She said that she’s appreciative of the help and that food will help feed families in Starke County for the holiday season.
A county-wide Thanksgiving Eve Service is scheduled at the Eagle Creek Community Church, on Wednesday November 23rd., at 7:00 p.m. CST.
Rich Wallen, Worship Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Griffith, will bring a Thanksgiving message in music.
