The Pulaski County Human Services Food Pantry is in need of supplies to help many families in need.
The food pantry staff helped 135 families totaling 404 people in the month of May. That’s 16,968 pounds of food. According to Pulaski County Human Services officials, the commodities from the Lafayette Food Bank are minimal so community support is key.
A Tuesday afternoon motorcycle crash in rural White County claims a Winamac man’s life. Travis Hunt, 32, was northbound on County Road 650 East, just north of Buffalo, when his bike was struck by a southbound vehicle. Hunt was pronounced dead at IU Health White Memorial Hospital, according to WLFI-TV. He was not wearing a helmet. The driver of the car, Raul Salazar Diaz, 37, of Idaville, was not injured. Salazar was arrested on a charge of operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license.
An investigation into the welfare of a child in Pulaski County ends with drug charges against the two adults at the home after an active meth lab was reportedly found on the property. Continue reading
A report of a possible murder victim stashed underneath a trailer north of Winamac turned out to be a false alarm after the person was found safe in Starke County. Yesterday morning two men went to the Starke County Sheriff’s Office, told officials there they had spent the night at the trailer, and people in the house had discussed the murder. Continue reading
Animal lovers of Pulaski County can prepare for the opening of the new Pulaski Animal Center.
This non-profit organization aims to prevent animal cruelty and provide homes for misplaced animals. Their purpose is to educate the community about proper animal care and promote appropriate steps to prevent overpopulation. The facility will take owner surrenders and strays, but they do not have the ability to pick animals up. They can not accept any animals with severe medical conditions or extremely aggressive behavioral issues.
Each year on the Fourth of July, the Winamac Kiwanis Club puts on a colorful fireworks show in the sky over the town park.
Putting on a fun fireworks display for our national holiday is one way they provide for local children, which is the mission of the Kiwanis Club. However, this tradition is something people of all ages can look forward to.
The Culver woman police say drove the getaway car when the main First National Bank of Monterey branch was robbed late last year was sentenced last week in Pulaski Circuit Court. Continue reading
A portion of Rinehart Park near the Pulaski County Family YMCA will soon be transformed into a skate park. Winamac teenager Clark Gudas took the effort on as an Eagle Scout Project. He told the Winamac Town Council he’s signed a contract with Hunger Skate Parks to begin construction by July 5th. Continue reading
Sewer rates for Winamac Municipal Utilities customers will go up soon. The Winamac Town Council on Monday approved a rate increase to offset what Eric Walsh with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates says is a significant drop in revenues since 2011.
“Your revenues have decreased somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000 to $90,000 on an annual basis,” Walsh told the council. A lot of that drop is due to a change in state law that caps the surcharge amount for customers outside the incorporated town limits. They were paying 50-percent more, but the town had to drop that to 15-percent last year to comply with the law. “There’s a portion of it due to some of your larger users just aren’t using as much water, and therefore their sewage bills are going down as well. The lion’s share of it is the reduction that was made via state statute last year,” Walsh explained. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Council approved an additional appropriation for the prosecutor’s office for a summer intern.
Prosecutor Stacey Mrak stressed that the money is not coming from the general fund even though it is appropriated money. She explained that the money is coming from the pre-trial diversion fund which can be used at the discretion of the prosecutor. The money needed to be transferred to another line item in the budget for payroll purposes.
The additional appropriation was for $2,700.
The Pulaski County Council discussed Monday night, at length, the number of military vehicles in possession in the county and their use.
Sheriff Michael Gayer was asked about the county highway department’s use of dump trucks acquired from the military. Sheriff Gayer said it’s not illegal for the county highway to use those trucks after two years of acquisition.
Members of the Eastern Pulaski School Board did not reach a definite decision Monday evening about whether to allow firearms on school property. Last year a change in Indiana law allowed concealed weapons with a permit to be in locked cars on school property. This prompted school boards all over the state to consider whether weapons should be allowed within the schools. The policy would not apply to students, just to a designated group of faculty members who would have to undergo training and psychological evaluation.
Superintendent Dan Foster offered his opinion to the board. Continue reading
Winamac Municipal Utilities customers will soon see a new charge on their water bills. The town council adopted a Public Fire Protection Surcharge to offset the cost of maintaining the hydrants and ensuring adequate water pressure. Eric Walsh with accounting firm Umbaugh and Associates says it will allow the town to shift the cost from property taxes to a user fee of $6.65 per month for residential customers. Industrial customers with larger water meters would pay more. Continue reading
The Pulaski County Council approved, by a majority vote of 6 to 1, Sheriff Michael Gayer’s request to transfer funds to pay for the two K9s at a cost of $25,165.38.
The payment of the K9s had to be done a different way than initially proposed but Auditor Shelia Garling, the sheriff and representatives from the State Board of accounts told the council that they could take the money out of the user fee of the law enforcement continuous education fund to the continuing education fund.
The dogs are in service with one officer and K9 working the day shift and the other officer and the K9on the night shift to give 24 hours of continuing coverage.
The Winamac Town Council has put off a decision on building a new town swimming pool for at least another month. The necessary repairs to bring the existing pool at the Pulaski County Family YMCA up to code were deemed too expensive for such an old structure. Continue reading
The Eastern Pulaski Community School Board will discuss the possession of firearms on school property when they meet this evening at 5:30 p.m. EDT in the Distance Learning Lab. Last week the West Central School Board discussed allowing faculty members to posses weapons while at work. Continue reading
The Pulaski County EMA Director Larry Hoover gave the commissioners an update on the relocation of the county’s repeater.
A repeater is a device that receives radio signals and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power so that the signal can cover longer distances. The repeater is located where the old county highway department building was on the west wide of Winamac on 60 S. That building has since been demolished but the repeater remains there. It was proposed that the repeater be moved to the Pulaski County Justice center to be more centrally located, but as Hoover pointed out to the commissioners the task is a little complicated, lengthy and expensive.
This weekend only, Hoosiers have the opportunity to fish without a fishing license. The Department of Natural Resources has declared all Indiana waters okay to fish in with no license on June 7 and 8. To celebrate free fishing weekend Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac is hosting a plethora of special events. Continue reading
A Winamac man faces multiple charges after police say he beat up his girlfriend and wreaked havoc in the emergency room at Pulaski Memorial Hospital. Pulaski County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a home in the 600 block of 300 West Monday night by neighbors. When they arrived, they found Guy Harlan, 24, covered in blood splatter standing in the yard, waving his arms and screaming at his girlfriend. According to the police report, Harlan beat and strangled her in front of their young children. She and the kids escaped and ran to the neighbor’s house. Continue reading
