The Starke County Election Board appeared before the County Commissioners last week to get approval of the new boundaries for the State Senate Districts and the State House Districts as a result of the State’s redistricting process. County Clerk, Evelyn Skronski, said that two districts will represent Starke County for the House.
Starke United Executive Director, Julie Dessauer, announced yesterday that emergency funding has been approved for the Community Services of Starke County Food Pantry. A check was sent to the food pantry in the amount of $1,500.
The Food Pantry has expressed the need for donations during the summer to help the 220 families it serves each month. The food pantry has received much needed donations from the public and can use more. For more information on how you can donate, call Cecilia Torres at 772-7070.
The Starke County Community Foundation is offering three unique scholarships this summer.
The Back Home Again in Indiana scholarship is for non-traditional students including those who want to advance in their current field or re-enter the job market. Applicants must live in Starke County.
The Legacy of Women Scholarship is also for non-traditional students and is exclusively for Starke County women who are invested in their communities as well as working towards a college degree.
Ed Hasnerl is inviting you to go on another fun-filled adventure with him to Branson. Ed says you will be leaving on October 17th for Branson.
“A number of the folks who are going on this trip with me have been to Branson with me before,” said Ed. “This is our ninth trip.”
Ed said each trip to Branson is a little different.
“There are 100 different shows in Branson and we try to give a variety. Some we do go back to and see – some of the favorites. We are going to a repeat program this year. We’re going to see the Oak Ridge Boys, but we haven’t seen them in nine years.”
Four people were arrested Saturday after officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department served an arrest warrant on a Knox man.
Officers arrived at 0655 S. State Road 23 in Knox to serve an arrest warrant on Gabriel French. Officers found an active methamphetamine lab at the residence. While officers were waiting for the search warrant, several other subjects arrived at the residence and were detained. While executing the search warrant, officers found several methamphetamine labs, precursors, drug paraphernalia and several hand written notes on how to manufacture methamphetamine.
A Knox man was arrested Friday after a home search found the suspect in possession of legend drugs.
Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers and a probation officer went to the home of Kristopher Rogers and reportedly found ammunition, paraphernalia and a pill bottle with several pills, according to police. Rogers told police that he had prescriptions for the pills and that it was from three or four years ago.
Brian Ball of Bass Lake experienced a very scary event Friday afternoon at his home. While erecting a tent in his yard, he was struck by a falling tree. Because of the force, he apparently suffered a concussion, but was not killed.
Fortunately a neighbor, Jim O’Hara, was nearby and rushed to his aid. O’Hara told WKVI News that he administered CPR twice when he didn’t detect a pulse.
North Judson and Hamlet residents wishing to file for candidacy for the position of Town Clerk-Treasurer or Town Board have until Monday, August 1st at Noon to file in the Starke County Clerk’s Office. Clerk Evelyn Skronski talks about the current filings.
“North Judson has a Clerk-Treasurer race going for the General Election right now and they also have their three Council seats. The incumbents are all signed up for that and there’s nobody running against them. Hamlet has got some races coming up for a caucus in August. The Clerk-Treasurer and the Council seats all have opposition so they’ll have to eliminate a candidate in that particular party so that they can have a ballot for the November General Election,” said Skronski.
Senator Dick Lugar and the staff at Healthlinc in Knox are partnering to present the 2nd Annual Back to School Health and Wellness Fair on Thursday, August 4th. The event will be held at the Healthlinc office at 104 E. Culver Road in Knox from 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The State’s unemployment rate increased slightly in June. It inched up from 8.2% to 8.3%. Indiana, though, is still below the national average of 9.2%.
Starke County moved into the number five unemployment slot with the June report. Starke has an unemployment rate of 10.3%. That’s up slightly from the May report.
The second performance of Nunsense-The Mega Musical will be held tomorrow afternoon at the Argos High School Auditorium. This is the first year the performances will move around. The first five will be at Argos, then there will be two performances in Bremen, two in North Judson, and the final two in the newly remodeled Culver High School Auditorium.
The second day of the trial of Jack Haut in Starke Circuit Court ultimately ended in a verdict for one count of Reckless Homicide, a Class C felony after his truck struck the motorcycle of Tom White, killing him. After a brief deliberation, the 12-person jury returned with a guilty verdict, and Haut’s sentencing is set for August 17th at 11:00 a.m.
A Greenwood, Indiana man was arrested in Starke County Sunday after cutting off his electronic monitoring device attached to his ankle and fleeing his home.
An anonymous tip was called into the Starke County Sheriff’s Department that Zackary Schacht was in the area on a warrant out of Johnson County. Officers went to the residence in question and found Schacht at the residence. Police announced their presence and Schacht ran. K9 officer, Chad Keen, warned Schacht to stop or the K9 would be deployed. Schacht did not yield to the warning and K9 Marco was given the command to apprehend the suspect. The K9 stopped Schacht from fleeing. Schacht was then taken to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment. When he was medically cleared, he was transported to the Starke County Jail on the active warrant and was charged with Resisting Law Enforcement.
Kankakee Valley REMC and NIPSCO customers are being asked to conserve electricity as much as possible.
REMC has been working with its large power customers by implementing agreements that allow for interruption of service. Residential and small commercial customers are asked to voluntarily limit the use of electricity as much as possible. All load management problems are being used to reduce demand. Turn off all unnecessary lights, delay the use of major appliances until late at night or early morning hours and set thermostats no lower than 78 degrees.
The Starke County Council members heard from Starke County Sheriff’s Matron, Chris Smith, at their meeting this week. In her report, Smith said the 9-1-1 fund should be solvent for the remainder of the year. She quoted a figure of $57,826 in the fund.
The bad news is that long term, the fund may go into the “red”. One problem is that the 9-1-1 fund is financed primarily by land line telephone customers. With so many people switching to cell phone service and abandoning land line service in their home, the same fee is not being received. As a matter of fact, no one seems to know how much the cell phone companies should be paying.
The Center of Workforce Innovations is seeking qualified individuals who can serve as advisors for its Encore Career Advisor Initiative. The Encore project is a seven-county initiative that will provide high school students career information, assist them with their career decision-making and career path planning following graduation.
WKVI is celebrating 42 years of broadcasting today! Be listening live for special guests throughout the day today! Call in your favorite memory at 772-7600. We’ll post pictures throughout the day. Continue reading
The trial for Jack Haut began yesterday in Starke Circuit Court with opening statements from both sides. Haut is charged with Reckless Homicide following an accident that occurred on July 2nd, 2010, when a white pickup truck Haut was driving collided with the motorcycle operated by Tom White, killing him instantly.
The ordinance regulating dog kennels is slowly making progress to being approved, and it’s been sent back to the tech committee for further revision. Previously, a committee consisting of many dog owners collaborated on making a revision to the proposed ordinance that would differentiate between commercial and non-commercial kennels, but none of the members of the Planning Commission had a list of the people on that committee.
Paul Warnke and Ken Jones came before the Starke County Commissioners this week to report on the progress of the Koontz Lake Sewer Project.
Jones told the Commissioners that the project is ahead of schedule and street and road restoration began this week which is making the public very happy.
The restoration could not begin until NIPSCO pressure tested the power to the grinder pumps. After that was done, the cuts in the road could be restored. Continue reading
