Deb Hansen is the newly elected President of the Starke County Health Board. Dr. Joe Bartush was elected Vice President and Brenda Stanojevic was elected as the Secretary.
Most of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the Food Inspector’s position. David Kesvormas was in attendance. He was to begin duties soon as the Food Inspector, but the contract he produced for the Starke County Health official, Dr. Teresa Alexander, expired December 31st, 2010.
Retiring Volunteer Firefighter Robert L Fraine will be honored this Saturday at the Koontz Lake Association Clubhouse from 2:00-4:00 p.m. CT.
Fraine will be honored for 50 years of service to his community and surrounding townships. He has held every office within the Koontz Lake Volunteer Fire Department. He has devoted thousands of hours to training, responding to calls and fund raising activities.
We have an update on our Andy Howes story. Andy’s brother, Rob, has returned to India where he is employed as an Aeronautical Engineer. He will not return until Christmas of 2011 so no decision on services or burial site will be made until then. It’s felt the services will be held in 2012.
As earlier reported Andy’s great-nephew, Michael, is serving in Afghanistan and will accompany the remains home from Hawaii.
Ever feel like putting duct tape over a barking dog’s mouth or worse? In this monthly report, new Starke County Animal Control Officer, Tom Bazant, told of responding to a call that an individual duct taped his dog’s mouth shut.
After some discussion, the Starke County Commissioners decided that was not a call the Officer should be responding to. They decided this was inhumane treatment of the animal and should have been responded to by the Starke County Sheriff’s Department.
A deluge of posts came into the comment area on the WKVI Discussion Board about the story on Lisa Owens yesterday. Owens is the woman who is reportedly going to get an early release from prison after being convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter in the death of her husband in 2001. Owens was sentenced to 40 years by then Starke Circuit Court Judge David Matsey after being found guilty of shooting and killing her husband in the shower. Current Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall was the Prosecutor in the case.
Starke United announced this week of a $5,000 grant from NIPSCO to provide funds to cover 2012 campaign marketing expenses. Starke United Executive Director, Edie Hall, said this gift is “thrilling” and indicated that without the funds Starke United would have a much more difficult time paying for the advertising and marketing materials.
The Starke County Health Board will meet tonight in their first meeting of the new year. This will be the first meeting for new members Bev Fraine and Jennifer Davis. There will be election of officers for the year and a discussion of the retirement of Environmentalist David Singleton.
The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. in the Health Office in the Starke County Courthouse.
After a recent food drive, George Mammarella of Economy Auto Sales presented Community Services of Starke County Diector, Joan Haugh, with a cash and food donations of over $1,200 for the Starke County Food Pantry.
A story that shocked the listening area almost 10 years ago is being updated this week. On May 21st, 2001, Lisa Owens shot and killed her husband Jeff, leaving his body in the shower for several days. In a trial, she was found guilty of an amended charge of Voluntary Manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
WKVI News has found out this week that Lisa Owens could be released from the Rockville Correctional Facility as early as May 23rd of this year.
WKVI will be introducing you to industry in the County and today, we turn the spotlight on Hoosier Custom Plastics on Hamilton Ave in the Knox Industrial Park.
Gordon Schenk is the Chief Financial Officer and Ted Hayes talked to him recently about the business that has been in operation since 2004. Schenk talked about the business, including products produced at the 17,000 sq. ft. plant.
The Starke Memorial Hospital Community Board retained Board officers at their meeting this week. Ben Bennett was again selected to be the Board President, Sandy Hansen, Vice President and Ed Hasnerl, the Secretary. Other members of the board are Jerry Wilson, Dorothy Bau, Dr. Walter Fritz and Ted Hayes.
In other news from the hospital:
The switch over to the new name of the hospital is tentatively scheduled for the end of the month. All hospitals in the Clarian system will be rebranded using I.U. Health. After the change, the hospital here will be known as I.U. Health-Starke Hospital.
WKVI ran a story quoting Bob Howard, former Starke County Health Board President, that he suspected Dr. Walter Fritz had requested that the Commissioners not name him back on the Board for another term.
Dr. Fritz denied asking for his removal when questioned by WKVI. He did say that he kept in touch with the Commissioners during his many years as the County’s Health Officer, discussing many topics.
The new Health Officer is Dr. Theresa Alexander who began her duties January 1st.
Last week, the Starke County Commissioners replaced two Starke County Health Board members, Bob Howard and Madge Whickcar. Howard, as previously reported, had served for ten years, eight of them as President. Named to replace the pair were Jennifer Davis and Beverly Fraine. Both were Democrat appointments.
WKVI News has received word that Warren Allen, who for many years served as the Oregon Township Trustee, is convalescing at the Catherine Kasper Home in Donaldson after an undiagnosed illness left him in critical condition.
Allen was rushed to the hospital after falling ill two weeks ago while going over procedures with his nephew Mark Allen who was elected in the fall election to the position.
The Hamlet Town Board reorganized and made appointments at its recent meeting. Curt Simpkins was retained as the Hamlet Town Board President and as the KIRPC representative, John Goble, Sr. was retained as the Street Superintendent, and the Town Attorney is Martin Bedrock. Frank Lonigro Jr. was named the Street Building Code Enforcement Officer and the Jeremiah Patrick was retained as Town Marshal.
The Town Representative for the Starke Development Foundation is Bob Yung, the Water/Wastewater Operator is John Goble, Sr., and Bobby Goetz is the Hamlet Fire Chief. Mary Stone, John Jeffers, David Fretz and Carol Bracich were named to the Hamlet Park Board.
A special Prosecutor will be called in for the trial of Kimberly Hitchens and John Brooke. Hitchens appeared before Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall on Friday where the defense requested a special Prosecutor for the proceedings due to a conflict of interest. Judge Hall granted the request. The special Prosecutor has not yet been named.
Judge Hall also granted a request that would combine Hitchens’ trial with John Brooke. Hitchens trial was to begin this month. The combined trial will begin Monday, February 21st.
New Starke County Prosecutor Nicholas Bourff is facing a ticklish situation as he is getting his feet on the ground in the office. His Chief Deputy, Todd Wallsmith, cannot appear before Judge Kim Hall in Starke Circuit Court. That is because Judge Hall is Wallsmith’s uncle. So, how does the new Prosecutor plan to work around this obstacle?
“There are some issues there,” said Bourff. “It’s going to take some work and some creativity on my part to make that work, but there are a lot of cases that get handled in the City Court here in Knox and those are cases that are dealt with County-wide. Todd can handle any case that is dealt with there.”
Two people were arrested by the Hamlet Police Department, Wednesday, after a police pursuit.
Hamlet Police Chief, Jeremiah Patrick, told WKVI that at 10:30 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Larry Catt, 21, of Hamlet, failed to stop after police initiated a traffic stop. A vehicle pursuit ensued and ended at Catt’s residence at 607 W. Davis Street in Hamlet. While police officers were taking Catt into custody, Lonzo Jackson came out of the residence with a large knife on his belt and in a rage, demanded that police leave his driveway and release Larry from custody. Jackson was told to go back inside the residence and he did not comply. When police attempted to take Jackson into custody, he ran into his residence and locked the door. Hamlet Police and Starke County Sheriff’s Department officers made their way into the house and Jackson was taken into custody after a struggle.
The Community Corrections program in Starke County is providing an alternative for jail time for some prisoners who qualify. Shawn Mattraw, Case Manager, talked with Ted Hayes recently about the programs available.
Ted asked about the number of clients Community Corrections has.
“We currently have 50 under our supervision,” Mattraw replied. “We have been the mid-60s and we were probably in the mid-60s for about two consecutive months.”
A two vehicle accident occurred this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Starke County police responded to the accident at 250 South and US 35 and minor injuries were reported. The intersection was blocked during the time of the investigation and is open now. Again, only minor injuries were sustained by the parties involved.
