Two Knox Residents Arrested on Burglary, Theft

Patrick Sobieck
Richard Selva

Several thousands of dollars worth of railroad metals were retrieved from the Starke County Recycling Company this morning after Knox City Police and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police officers executed a search warrant at that location. This is part of an ongoing investigation of a theft report that was filed Saturday night and led to the arrest of Patrick Sobieck and Richard Selva.

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Sentencing Date Scheduled for Kimberly Hitchens

Kimberly Hitchens

Kimberly Hitchens will be sentenced Tuesday, April 26th, at 11:15 a.m. CT in Starke Circuit Court. She faces a charge of Assisting a Criminal, a Class D Felony.

Right before she was to stand trial, on April 8th, the State of Indiana dropped two charges she was facing from events surrounding a police shootout at Bass Lake in February 2010. Those included: Conspiracy to Commit Armed Robbery and Possession/Manufacturing of a Destructive Device.

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Culver Community School Board to Discuss Future of Monterey Elementary Tonight

Culver Community School Superintendent, Brad Schuldt

When the Culver Community School Board meets tonight, the future of the Monterey Elementary school will be one part of a larger discussion planned for the meeting as “possible” budget cuts at the state level. In spite of much discussion in the community, Superintendent Brad Schuldt says nothing has been decided yet. But he says the Board will have an item on the agenda to begin cutting expenses.

Monterey Elementary, which includes kindergarten through 6th grades, has in recent years, enrolled between 135 and 180 students. Closing the school would result in an increase of about six students per classroom at the Culver facility if they were transferred there. The school at Monterey is listed as the second smallest Kindergarten through 6th grade building in the State of Indiana.

Absentee Voting is Available to Knox Residents Throughout this Week

Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski

Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski reminds residents of the City of Knox that only a few more days remain to vote an absentee ballot in the Primary Election.

“Monday, April 25th, we will be open from 8:00 a.m. to Noon and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. and that will be daily, Monday through Saturday,” said Skronski. “Evening hours will be on April 28th from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. We will conclude our absentee early voting on May 2nd and you may vote from 8:00 a.m. until Noon.”

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Property Tax Collection Underway in Starke County Treasurer’s Office

Starke County Treasurer Linda Belork

The deadline date for paying the first installment of personal property taxes is just two weeks away, May 10th. Starke County Treasurer, Linda Belork, says the service in her office could be more efficient in the final rush days before the deadline, but currently, most taxpayers have not been too inconvenienced by long waits.

“Right now, taxes are coming in really well for us and most taxpayers, surprisingly, are paying for the whole year,” said Belork. “We do have some lines, but again we’re still trying to work with the County Council and the Commissioners to have our second Deputy in. They verbally gave me the approval and then at the public meeting, they backed off of it. I guess that’s an issue we’ll have to take up at budget time.”

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Ron Parker Seeks Another Term on Knox City Council

Ron Parker

With just a few days left before the spring Primary Election in Knox, the candidates are out trying to get their message across to the voters.

Ron Parker is a Democrat City Councilman, and he stopped by WKVI recently to talk about his campaign. Parker first talked about the accomplishments of the Council.

“One of the things that we have seen is improvements in our Knox Industrial Park,” stated Parker. “With Charlie Weaver from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, we’ve seen some major moves there and we’re going to see another major move and that is J.W. Hicks. They’re going to move their Corporate Headquarters here. That’s a big deal.”

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Turkey Tracks Event to be Held this Weekend

Eric Corey

The third annual “Turkey Tracks” hunting event to be held here in Starke County is set for this weekend. Organized by the Doug Corey family, Turkey Tracks allows physically handicapped youngsters to enjoy a hunting experience. The efforts are the project designed by the Corey son, Eric, who is afflicted with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

As in earlier years, local guides have volunteered to accompany the hunters into the field. Several local landowners have offered land for the shoot. Some of the youngsters, many who have never fired a gun, will be in wheelchairs.

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April Proclaimed as Child Abuse Prevention Month

April has been proclaimed as Child Abuse Prevention Month for Starke County, thanks to the Commissioners and the organization Prevent Child Abuse Starke County, operating under the Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (CADA). Ruth Matsey from CADA spoke to the audience and the Commissioners in regards to their proclamation against child abuse. Mary Armstrong-Smith, Community Partners Director of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana, also addressed the audience and expressed her concern of child abuse.

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Auditions for ‘Nunsense: The Mega-Musical’ Scheduled for May 7th

Auditions for the Maxinkuckee Players 2011 production of “Nunsense: The Mega-Musical” are set for Saturday, May 7th in Culver. Three sessions: 9:00 a.m. to Noon, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and 5:00-9:00 p.m. ET are scheduled at the Culver High School choir room.

There are two female lead roles in the show, six secondary roles for either male or females and a number of people are needed for the chorus. There is a lot of singing and according to the Director, Becky Liechty, “reasonable” dancing for all. You can call Becky at (574) 941-2343 or reach her at bliechty@embarqmail,com if you have questions or need additional details.

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Week in Review for April 18th-22nd, 2011

Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:

Holloway Motel

Mathew Schoff, Cheryl Paschen, Kimberly Hurley, Freeman Spelts, Tracey Gaideski, and Timothy Clark were arrested Friday, April 15th, after police found three active methamphetamine labs run by individuals at the Holloway Motel. The six plead not guilty and sought public defenders after appearing for initial hearings this week in Starke Circuit Court. Bond has been set at $50,000 each. The Holloway Motel was condemned as a result of meth lab activity.

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Starke County Courthouse Elevator Remains Under Construction

Starke County Courthouse

Work continues on the elevator in the Starke County Courthouse. Carl Goodrich told WKVI that they’re waiting for the elevator and parts to arrive so the elevator can be constructed.

The old elevator in the Courthouse needed to be modernized and brought up to code. It had not been updated since it was first installed in the Courthouse. A quote from Oracle Elevator in the amount of $62,971 was approved by the Starke County Commissioners for the purchase of a new elevator.

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News from the North Judson Town Board

North Judson Town Board: Dan Anderson, Wendy Hoppe, Jane Ellen Felchuk, Attorney Cassie Hine and Clerk-Treasurer Connie Miller

The North Judson Town Board members received information on implementing a 50/50 sidewalk program at their meeting on April 4th. The Board has not made a decision on whether or not to move forward with the project. The attorney will look over the proposal and other information and bring it back for discussion at the May 2nd meeting.

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Senior Volunteer of the Year, Older Hoosier of the Year Award Winners Announced

Last year's recipient, Frank Skronski, presents Joan Chesak with this year's Senior Volunteer of the Year award. Also pictured: Joan Haugh

The Senior Volunteer of the Year and the Older Hoosier of the Year award winners were announced Thursday during a luncheon at the Bass Lake Fire Department.

“Today, we are honoring all of our volunteers for the past two years, for 2009 and 2010,” said Community Services of Starke County Director, Joan Haugh. “This is just our opportunity to give them a little credit for all of the many hours of service they’ve put in or the donations they’ve given to support our programs and the food pantry. We’re very grateful for them and if anyone out there would like to volunteer, please call me.”

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Clarence Marshall Opposes Jeff Houston for Knox City Clerk-Treasurer Seat in May Primary

Clarence Marshall

We continue with our introduction of the primary candidates to you today. Clarence Marshall is a Democrat candidate for Clerk-Treasurer for the City of Knox. He’s a lifetime resident of Starke County, primarily living in Knox.

We asked him to talk about his background.

“I worked at the Rudd-Shepherd dealership for 36 years and most of those years I was the Service Department Manager,” explained Marshall. “I did leave for a couple of years. I worked at Automatic Music for a few years and also Ed’s Auto Parts.”

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Car Care Tip: Check Vehicle’s Exhaust System

April is National Car Care Month. SCILL Center instructor, Mark Anderson, says that it may be a good time to check your exhaust system.

“Cars have an exhaust system underneath that is made out of aluminized metal which reacts with the salt that they put on the roads in the wintertime,” said Anderson. “At this time of the year, we see a lot of exhaust systems and mufflers laying along the side of the road, so this is a good time of the year to check your exhaust system. Just go behind the car and give your tailpipe a little bitty kick and see if anything rattles. If it does, you should take it in and get it fixed.”

Community Good Friday Service Planned

A Community Good Friday Worship Service is scheduled this evening by the Starke County Ministerial Alliance. The program begins at 7 p.m. at the Knox First Christian Church, 301 South Pearl Street.

Several area pastors are participating in the service. Ed Hasnerl, pastor at the Eagle Creek Community Church will bring a short message. Special music will be provided by Sally Povalitis, Marilyn McCarty, Nancy Lerch, Diane Riddle, Doris Michael and Jeanell Quillen.