Starke County Commissioners ( L to R ) Kathy Norem, Dan Bridegroom, Jennifer Davis
The Starke County Commissioners addressed the concern of safety in the Courthouse at this week’s meeting. Commissioner Kathy Norem, who is a member of the Courthouse Security Committee, recommended that signs be posted at each entrance of the courthouse advertising that no weapons, unless authorized, will be allowed in the building. It was also advised that the same signage be posted on all County buildings.
The Commissioners have talked about installing a metal detector at certain entrances and closing off the rest for safety.
Commissioners Dan Bridegroom and Jennifer Davis agreed to the recommendation and the signs will be placed on all County buildings once the signs are produced.
A project that began in 2002 is in the construction phase and should be completed by the summer of 2012. The Koontz Lake Sewer project is making headway and Paul Warnke of the Koontz Lake Regional Sewer District is in to talk to us about it today.
“We started initial construction of the collection system about a month ago and they’re working out there everyday, five days a week, and so far, I’d have to say we’re pretty much on target,” said Warnke.
Indiana has 43 new probationary troopers assigned to state police districts throughout the State. Members of the 70th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy took their oath of office on March 4th at the Zionsville Performing Arts Center.
The recruits received approximately 917 hours of structured training since September 9th, 2010. Their curriculum included administrative subjects, general police subjects, investigations/criminal subjects, criminal and traffic law subjects.
Starke County Prosecutor, Nicholas Bourff, is in his third month on the job and has already made a suggestion to help speed up C and D Felony proceedings.
“One of the proposals I’ve made is to try, even if it’s with the C and D Felonies, to see if a case is going ahead to trial, and we know it will, to see if we could get a bench trial set, which just involves the Judge, instead of a jury trial,” said Bourff. “The one major drawback there is that if a defendant wants a jury trial, he or she has that right. If the defendant agrees to a bench trial, then it would save thousands of dollars and it would shave off quite a bit of time as far as eliminating the need for jury selection. In my experience as a defense attorney, the majority of my clients would not have had a problem with going to a bench trial.”
When WKVI asked Starke County Health Board member, Brenda Stanojevic, about funding, she said that Health Officer Dr. Theresa Alexander told the Board that funding will be a problem, but they should make it through.
The question was raised because the fee for a septic permit has decreased from $200 to $60. Dr. Alexander said she going to a meeting to find out ways to keep the office solvent.
Dr. Alexander said, “At some point, funding is going to raise its ugly head and we’re going to have to keep on top of it.”
On this date 85 years ago, Che Mah passed away. He died at the age of 88 in 1926, and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Knox. At times in his life he traveled with the Barnum and Bailey Circus and Ringling Brothers Circus. In 1900, Che Mah was playing with the circus in Chicago and saved enough money to retire. A real estate dealer, who he had fallen in love with, convinced him to purchase a farm at Eagle Lake, near Knox. Being no good at farming (after all he was only 24 inches tall) he eventually sold the farm and moved to Knox where he lived until his death.
The Starke County Emergency Management Agency is hosting a Weather Observer/Storm Spotter Training class on Monday, March 21st. Two different training sessions will be held. One session will be offered at 2:30 p.m. CT and the other at 6:00 p.m. CT at the Knox South Side Fire Station on US 35.
Tad Gentry, of Knox, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a brief police chase in Starke County.
According to Rob Olejniczak from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department, he spotted a vehicle being driven by Gentry on State Road 8 and 1025 E. in Starke County. He had false and fictitious plates and no driver’s license. The officer initiated a traffic stop and Gentry did not stop and ran from police on 1025 E. After traveling for a mile-an-a-half, Gentry lost control of his vehicle, went off the road, into a field and hit a tree. He then fled on foot for a short distance when police apprehended him and took him into custody. Officers reportedly found methamphetamine and marijuana in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Gentry has preliminary charges of Habitual Traffic Violator for Life, Resisting Law Enforcement by Fleeing in a Vehicle, Resisting Law Enforcement on foot, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of Marijuana.
Rodney Craft was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court this (Thursday) morning.
Craft plead guilty in a plea agreement to Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Marijuana with a Prior Conviction, Possession of Methamphetamine, Failure to Appear, Escape, and Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with the Intent to Manufacture Methamphetamine. All charges stem from several different criminal cases in Starke County. Judge Kim Hall sentenced Craft to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. His Starke County sentence will run consecutively with a sentence handed down in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Tuesday, March 15th. He had plead guilty to Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Cocaine and Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors with the Intent to Manufacture Methamphetamine. He received a sentence of four years on all counts. In all, he will serve 14 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Gary McCormick
Judge Hall also sentenced Gary McCormick in Circuit Court this morning. In an amended plea agreement, McCormick agreed to plead guilty to an amended charge of Sexual Battery and a charge of Strangulation. Judge Hall accepted the plea agreement and sentenced McCormick to three years on each charge. He will serve six years with none suspended in the DOC.
This week is National Severe Weather Preparedness Week. As part of the observation of this week, tornado drills are expected to be held today. The Starke County Sheriff’s Department will hold drills today at 9:30 a.m. and at 7:00 p.m. CT. Knox schools will also hold drills at 9:30 a.m. today. Tornado sirens will be going off in Knox, Hamlet and in North Judson at those times. The sirens you will hear during these drills will be the sirens to listen for in case of severe weather in the area. If a tornado warning has been declared and you hear the sirens blare, you are urged to go to your home’s basement or other safe place to take cover.
Is Richard “Dick” Lugar in trouble with his own party? If you talk with the 67 County Chairmen who have endorsed his opponent in the spring primary he is.
Richard Mourdock is the Indiana State Treasurer and a favorite of the conservative wing of the party that considers Lugar too much of a moderate. He is rated one of President Barack Obama’s favorite Republican Senators.
Lugar was first elected to the Senate in 1976 when he defeated then-U.S. Senator Vance Hartke. He has been so popular that in the 2006 election, the Democrats didn’t even run a candidate against him.
New Starke County Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Alexander, came before the County Commissioners at their most recent meeting to ask for two changes. She asked for a change in fee structure and a change in implementing a fine.
On the fee structure, she asked for a reduction in the septic permit fee from $200 to $60 because the future Sanitarian will not be able to conduct a soil sample. That will need to be done by a Soil Specialist, arranged for by the contractor or applicant.
Thom Morin presents his handicapped parking plan to the Knox City Council
Thomas Morin recently appeared before the Knox City Council and the Starke County Commissioners with a detailed 22 page document that lays out a handicapped parking plan for city and residential parking.
In his presentation, Morin explained to the Knox City Council what he wanted for the downtown Knox business district.
The Starke County Election Board will meet today at 10:00 a.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Courthouse. The three member board will be conducting a poll worker review for the 2011 Municipal Election, proofing the 2011 primary ballots for the City Election, and conducting other business that might come before the Board.
The 2011 City Election is important since it will be the first since the consolidation of Knox’s four precincts.
“We’re consolidating Center one, two, three and four from their current locations to the Knox Community Center,” said Evelyn Skronski, Election Board Secretary and Election Administrator. “Hopefully this is going to make it more cost effective and voter comfortable.”
Skronski said depending on how well the City Election goes, there might be some other consolidation before the 2012 election.
“We’re considering consolidation precincts in Wayne, Washington, Oregon, and California and relocating a couple of others. This could happen in 2012 for the next Presidential Election.”
Skronski said the consolidation seems to be a good move.
“Voting Centers have been in the news a lot lately and this is just one trial run step towards seeing if consolidation will work.”
We asked her about the set up at the Knox Community Center for the Spring
Primary.
“There will be two inspectors and the judges, clerks and sheriffs. The voters will come in the front door and split off; one and two to the left and three and four to the right and they will continue on just like they would if they were at their regular precincts.”
A reporter and cameraman from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) visited Knox on Wednesday, March 9th. The pair were here to record a piece on time, and how it affects people’s lives.
Reporter Rajini Vaidyanathan visited the WKVI studios, where the BBC crew did some filming on how broadcasting to listeners in two time zones often causes confusion.
Bruce Wakeland (L) took the Starke County Commissioners on a tour of the property in 2010
The Starke County Commissioners accepted trusteeship of a piece of property offered by professional Forester Bruce Wakeland this week. The County will be the trustee of the property that the Commissioners hope will be come a real asset to all who live here.
“129 acres is available to create a Starke County forest and I hope the public can enjoy it,” said Bruce Wakeland. “The public can learn about the marvelous wildlife area we have here in the County and how you can have good, healthy forest management and still have a beautiful place to see and enjoy. I think it’s going to be a really good asset for the County and I’m going to enjoy working with the property over the next however many years I have left.”
James Skibbe, the State of Indiana Eligibility Manager for the Starke County office of the Division of Family Resources, will present an upcoming program entitled “Understanding the Spenddown.”
Persons on Medicaid have a difficult time understanding the concept and reasoning behind the spenddown that is required before Medicaid funding can be used to meet physician or hospital expenses.
Washington Township Fire Department was the site of an Instructor 1 training session that was open to Starke County Firefighters as well as firefighters in District 2 on Sunday. Washington Township was approved as the site for the course by Chief John Grolich of Plymouth who is the District 2 training coordinator. Those taking the class included firefighters from Starke County, Bremen, Argos and Etna Green.
Starke County Community Corrections will be moving from their current location on North Heaton Street to 1911 South Heaton Street in Knox
The Starke County Community Corrections staff will be moving this weekend to a new location. The staff will move to 1911 South Heaton Street, in the strip mall north of Christos Restaurant.
The first working day in the new office will be Monday, March 14th.
Administrator Bob Hinojosa is inviting the public to tour the facility during a Grand Opening celebration on March 22nd from 1:00-4:00 p.m. CT.
