The Shore Club to Reopen under New Management

Posted on Author WKVI
Jane Sheets

After being closed for several years, the famous Shore Club restaurant and bar will be reopened under new management.

Jane Sheets, from Culver, is the new owner, and Ted Hayes stopped out at the Shore Club yesterday to take a tour. The carpenters and painters were working hard to get the place open by May 23rd.

“We’re really excited about banquets and opening the restaurant,” said Sheets. “We have a chef that started at Disney World and was there for eight years and he’s been on both coasts. I found him teaching culinary school at Ivy Tech. He will be our head chef in here. We have an excellent group that we pulled together to get everything ready to go.”

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Starke County Commissioners Move Ahead with Bridge Repairs

Posted on Author WKVI
County bridge #156 over the Robbins Ditch

The Starke County Commissioners made a decision to move forward with repairs to Bridge #156 over the Robbins Ditch at 400 North and Range Road. The heavily traveled bridge was recently closed by an emergency order.

The State had approved a plan to rebuild the bridge but that would have meant two years of the structure being down.

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Starke County Commissioners Discuss Fuel Prices with the Highway Superintendent

Posted on Author WKVI
Steve Siddall

At the most recent Starke County Commissioner’s meeting, Highway Superintendent, Steve Siddall, was quizzed on the situation with rising fuel prices. Commission President, Dan Bridegroom, made the observation that some counties were cutting back on their mowing of county roadways to conserve fuel. He said that he understood that at least two counties were going to only be mowing the intersections.

Siddall talked with Ted Hayes after the meeting about the plans here.

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Property Taxes are due Today

Posted on Author WKVI

Today is the property tax deadline in Starke County. All payments are due to the Treasurer’s office today by the end of the day. A drop off box is located outside the Treasurer’s Office if you can not make it to the office by the time the doors close to the office today. If you are mailing your taxes, they must be postmarked today in order to be counted on time.

Property taxes are also due into the Pulaski County Treasurer’s Office today.

Bella Vita Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Scheduled for Thursday

Posted on Author WKVI

A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 12th, at 9:00 a.m. CT at Bella Vita Pregnancy Resource Center in Knox. An open house will follow until about Noon. Bella Vita is at 206 S. Heaton St. in Knox.

All services at Bella Vita are free and confidential. Services include: pregnancy tests, peer counseling by trained advocates about pregnancy options, referrals to community resources, and education classes that empower women to make healthy choices as well as earn needed material items. Call (574) 772-2877 for more information.

Stamp Out Hunger Event is this Saturday

Posted on Author WKVI

Campbell Soup Company will be joining with the National Association of Letter Carriers to Stamp out Hunger across America. The Stamp out Hunger event will be this Saturday, May 14th.

You are encouraged to leave non-perishable food items by your mailbox on Saturday and the mail carriers in the Kankakee Valley will be pick up your donation where it will be distributed to your local Food Bank.

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Starke County Youth Club Radiothon Underway!

Posted on Author WKVI
WKVI's Ted Hayes (C) gets ready to talk to Knox Middle School Principal, Steve Cronk (L), and Irene Szakonyi

The Starke County Youth Club Radiothon is underway! Call 772-6241 to call in your pledge for the youth club that helps children in Knox, North Judson-San Pierre and Oregon-Davis schools.

The Youth Club is running the Summer School program at the Knox Middle School this year.  They also help kids throughout the school year with homework help, arts and crafts and enrichment activities.  Students meet after school, get a snack and get the help they need to help with their studies.

Starke County Youth Club to Hold Annual Radiothon Today!

Posted on Author WKVI
Irene Szakonyi

The Starke County Youth Club will be holding its annual Radiothon today from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Youth Club volunteers will be taking pledges at the WKVI studios to help support the after school program.

“We are a youth development organization serving children and families since 2001,” said Irene Szakonyi. “We’re really excited about our fourth annual Radiothon. The phone lines will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. CT for you to call in your pledge to support Starke County children.”

National Day of Prayer Service Held Thursday in Knox

Posted on Author WKVI
Pastor James Adcock

The Annual National Day of Prayer Service was held yesterday morning at the Knox Community Center. Sponsored by the City of Knox, and Love Inc., over 200 people attended and heard an address by Pastor James Adcock of the Bible Baptist Church.

“The World Day of Prayer is a day of reflection of where our nation is, was and where it’s going,” said Pastor Adcock. “Everything in our nation has come as a result of prayer, from George Washington to our current President, Barack Obama. Everything happens as a result of prayer and I think this is the day we reflect on that.”

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Starke County Community Corrections Receives State Grant

Posted on Author WKVI
Bob Hinojosa

Starke County Community Corrections Director, Bob Hinojosa, has announced that he has been notified that the Starke County office has been awarded a state Community Corrections grant for $183,718. The funds will be used to staff and maintain the office from August 1st, 2011 until July 31st, 2012.

This is the fourth year the Starke County Community Corrections has received the grant.

This is Correctional Employees Week and Hinojosa wanted to bring it to the attention of the Starke County Commissioners at their recent meeting. Hinojosa pointed out that the offender population has become more aggressive in the past decade and he thinks all law enforcement personnel deserve recognition during this special week. The Commissioners agreed and complimented Hinojosa of the exemplary work done by Starke County Community Corrections.

Wet Season Delays Spring Planting for Starke and Pulaski County Farmers

Posted on Author WKVI

A rainy and cool spring season has caused planting problems for farmers in Starke and Pulaski Counties.

“Those things combined have made for a very wet season which, in general, has delayed planting and we’re well behind the average planting for this time of the year. I’m specifically talking about corn planting. For example, the information that we had this past week indicated that across the state, we had planted two percent of the corn, compared to sixty-nine percent at the same time last year,” said Alan Kurtz, Ag and Natural Resources Educator at Purdue Extension.

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Starke County I.T. Director Makes Modifications to Video Arraignment System at Jail

Posted on Author WKVI
I.T. Director Bob Smith

I.T. Director Bob Smith appeared before the Starke County Commissioners this week. Smith notified the Commissioners that he needed to make some “tweaks” in the Video Arraignment Program and the Starke County Jail monitoring system to make them work more effectively.

“We found out there were a few glitches that was missed, so this is an additional requirement we need to meet for the law that Judge Hall informed me of,” said IT Director, Bob Smith. “We just want to make sure that we are covering everything and getting it up to par.”

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Roberta Clemons and Jose Santiago, Jr. Sentenced in Starke Circuit Court

Posted on Author WKVI
Roberta Clemons

Roberta Clemons was scheduled for jury trial on Wednesday in Starke Circuit Court, but instead, she plead guilty to all charges. There was no plea agreement. The potential jurors watched the defendant plead guilty and then they were free to leave the courtroom.

The Sentencing Hearing took place shortly thereafter. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Clemons to the maximum of three years on each of the three counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, a Class D felony. The sentences will be served concurrently. She was ordered to participate in an intensive drug treatment program in the Indiana Department of Corrections. If she successfully completes the treatment program, she may petition the Court to modify her sentence.

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Starke County Commissioners Approve Ordinance Restricting Weapons at Courthouse

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse

The courthouse is now a weapon-free zone, thanks to the ordinance passed by the Starke County Commissioners at their recent meeting. A public hearing was held regarding the proposed ordinance that would restrict firearms and other weapons at courthouse facilities as well as other public meetings. There was no public comment, and the Commissioners voted to approve the ordinance.

“We’re just trying to protect our court, protect our judge, protect the people who work at the courthouse, and also us,” said Commissioner Dan Bridegroom.

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President Bush Visited Class of Former Koontz Lake Resident’s Daughter on September 11th, 2001

Posted on Author WKVI
Daisy Davey

With the death of Osama Bin Laden, many people are remembering back to September 11th, 2001. That was the awful day that planes attacked the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. At the time of the first attack, President George Bush was in Sarasota, Florida. He was visiting a second grade class promoting education at the Emma Booker School. He was reading “The Pet Goat” to the students.

When the news of the tragedy hit, we were all notified of the President’s whereabouts. It was then that we, here, realized that the Principal of the school was the daughter of a Koontz Lake resident.

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The Late Almo Smith to be Featured on ‘Ted Hayes Remembers’ Program

Posted on Author WKVI
Almo Smith

On “Ted Hayes Remembers” this week, he’ll feature an interview with the late Almo Smith.

In his days in Knox, Almo Smith worked at the Kingsbury Ordinance Plant, sold insurance, served on the Hospital Board, and was the City Court Judge. He was also one of the founding fathers of WKVI radio. Mr. Smith hired both Harold Welter and Ted Hayes to get the station “off the ground.”

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Jack Haut Files Suit Against Starke County Sheriff, Commissioners

Posted on Author WKVI
Jack Haut

A litany of complaints have been filed by an attorney for Starke County Jail prisoner, Jack Haut. The Class Action allegations were made on behalf of Haut and those similarly situated pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Most of the complaints have to do with alleged overcrowding. Specifically, the Haut suit claims that because of overcrowding prisoners are forced to sleep on the floor in dayrooms for months at a time.

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