North Judson Truck Driver Honored to be Guest at White House Rose Garden Event, Finds Hoosier Ties in D.C.

Vice President/Former Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Jeff Tetzloff

A North Judson native was chosen from thousands of truck drivers to represent his profession and his company at an event in the White House Rose Garden last Thursday.

Jeff Tetzloff has been a truck driver for 34 years and has been an employee of Crete Carrier for the last 27 years. He has over three and a half million miles of safe driving under his belt, has won driver of the year multiple times and serves as trainer and mentor.

Because of his impressive resume, the CEO of Crete Carrier Tonn Ostergard approached Tetzloff with a unique opportunity to attend an event with “senior government officials.” He said it wasn’t until he received an email from the White House that he realized he would be attending an event where the president would be speaking. Continue reading

Kouts Students and Washington D.C. Trip Chaperones Injured in Pennsylvania Crash

A charter bus owned by the company Cavallo Bus Lines was transporting 45 Kouts students back from a class trip to Washington, D.C. when it was struck by an SUV driving the wrong way on a Pennsylvania Turnpike.

According to the Pittsburgh station KDKA-TV, the crash took place shortly before midnight in the westbound lanes near the Pittsburgh Interchange. Their intel from the Pennsylvania State Police reveals that the driver of the SUV was allegedly intoxicated. Continue reading

Few Seats Remain Open on WKVI trip to Washington, D.C.

Washington's Mount Vernon estate is one of the sites you will see!

There are a few seats available on the bus that will take you to Washington, D.C.

“We’re filling up,” said WKVI Tour Director, Ed Hasnerl. “We still have a seat or two available for anyone who wold like to go. We have some cancellations. It’s going to be an exciting time. We’ve got Alan Selge, from the Knox Middle School, who is a great historian. He is going to be sharing his DVDs and he’ll be in costume. That will be a great kick off.”

Ed talks about the sites you will visit on the trip.

“All the standard memorials – the Vietnam Wall, the WW II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and F.D.R. Memorial.”

Give us a call for information at (574) 772-6241. The trip dates are June 14th-18th.

Income Tax Filing Deadline is April 17th

You might have thought that your federal income tax returns were due next Monday. Usually when April 15th falls on a weekend, the income tax filing deadline is pushed to the following Monday. When the deadline falls on a federal holiday, it’s pushed to the next business day. This time around, April 15 falls on a Sunday and yet your taxes are not due until April 17th. Why?

April 16th is Emancipation Day which is a holiday in Washington, D.C. Emancipation Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act by President Lincoln in 1862, which freed the slaves in the District of Columbia.

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Seats Available on WKVI’s Bus to Washington, D.C.!

Washington's Mount Vernon estate

There are a few vacancies on the WKVI tour bus that will head to Washington, D.C. in June.

“It’s the 14th-18th of June and you know we’ve got six seats available,” said Ed Hasnerl who will be leading the group on the trip. “We’ve had some folks who had to change their plans and they’ve canceled. Six seats have opened up. If you would like to go, let’s get those requests in.”

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WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl Announces Next Trip

Lincoln Memorial

WKVI’s Ed Hasnerl has announced the 2012 tour of Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg Battlefield, scheduled for June 14th through the 18th.

Stops on the five day motor coach tour, in addition to Gettysburg, include the U.S. Capitol, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Plantation home, and the George Washington Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia for a special musical program.

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Services for Andy Howes Set for August

Andy Howes

Services will be held in Starke County in August for Chief Warrant Officer, Andy Howes. Although complete details are not available at this time, it is known that services will be August 2nd and that his remains will be taken on to his final resting place, Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Those services will be held August 5th. Howes’ partial remains have been in U.S. possession since 1988. They were identified through DNA samples.

Originally, plans were set for 2012 but were moved up to August of this year.

Howes was on a mission in November of 1970 when his helicopter failed to return to base.  He was a Knox High School graduate.

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Knox High School Student to Participate in Indiana’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour

Knox Community High School Junior, Connor Carlson, applied for and was chosen by Kankakee Valley REMC to participate in Indiana’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C.

The purpose of the trip is to provide young adults with the opportunity to travel to our nation’s capital. Connor will be able to experience first-hand how our government functions, learn about the complexities of today’s electric utility industry, discover the unique characteristics of cooperative business enterprise, and to meet and work with hundreds of his peers from throughout the United States.

Connor, along with other students in Indiana, will travel from Indianapolis on Friday, June 10th to Washington, D.C. with a stop in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to see the battlefield. The students will visit several places in Washington, D.C., and participate in a Town Hall Meeting where they will share their thoughts and opinions on a variety of timely issues. They will then visit with representatives of Indiana’s Congressional delegation. The group will return on Thursday, June 16th.

All of Connor’s travel expenses from Indianapolis, meals, lodging and scheduled event fees will be paid for by Kankakee Valley REMC.

Valparaiso Student Wins Essay Contest and Trip to Washington D.C.

Daane DeBoer

What does patriotism mean to you? Well to Lindsey DeBoer of Valparaiso, it means more since she lost her brother, Daane, in Afghanistan seven months ago.  Lindsey recently won a VFW Speech Contest when she wrote about the day she and her family received the news that the 24 year old Marine Corps Corporal was killed in the line of duty.

An article in last Wednesday’s Post Tribune wrote of Lindsey’s essay in a way that described that terrible moment when two Marines in their dress blue uniforms pull up to the curb outside the family’s home.

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World War II and Korean Veterans Can Register for Honor Flight

Congressman Joe Donnelly greets Joe Smrt and Harvey Hammerlund during their Honor Flight visit in 2009

Last year, two Starke County World War II veterans, Joe Smrt and Harvey Hammerlund, were flown to Washington, D.C. to visit the World War II Memorial by a veteran’s service organization called “Honor Flight”.

John Jordan, of Honor Flight, was asked if there will be an opportunity for additional World War II veterans to make the trip.

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