A prominent Pulaski County resident died Saturday. Lloyd Overmyer, 86, of Monterey passed away at the home of his son, Tim.
In his lifetime, Overmyer served on the Fulton County REMC Board and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Pulaski County Farm Bureau Co-op for 25 years.
The Knox City Council recently discussed the two mile jurisdiction for zoning purposes. The city has the right to go outside the borders two miles into unincorporated areas.
City Attorney, David Matsey, addressed a conflict in the ordinance as it is written. The ordinance and maps have to be brought into compliance by using digital mapping software, giving the city’s Building Inspector the authority to issue permits in the two mile jurisdiction.
Even though the Starke County Council kept the 2012 county budget the same as the one in place for 2011, one department got an increase. The Emergency Medical Service received an increase as they move toward attaining Advanced Life Support status.
The economy has been on everyone’s minds lately as well as unemployment. Unemployment figures have stalled in the 9-9.5% rate and Second District Democrat Representative Joe Donnelly was asked if that rate can be lowered in the next six to 12 months.
“I’m hopeful we can reduce that number,” he replied. “We have seen the numbers in our area come down from where they were a few years ago, but we have a long, long way to go. We’re going to continue to work at that everyday. The sponsor of the American Work Act are trying to get the members of Congress to sign on to that to help us create more jobs so the effort is there right now.”
Indiana saw an uptick in the August unemployment rate. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate went from 8.5 to 8.7 percent in August. The U.S. rate remained flat at 9.1 percent this month. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised Indiana’s July job growth numbers to show an increase of 4,100 more private sector jobs than reported last month.
Starke County is ranked #15 in unemployment at 10.3%, Pulaski is 78th at 7.3%, Marshall is 27th at 9.5%, LaPorte is 24th at 9.8%, and Porter County is 68th with 7.7% unemployment. Fayette County is ranked #1 at 12.1% while Dubois County has the lowest unemployment at 6.1%.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department is offering a basic firearms class for women this week. The class begins today and continues Thursday and Saturday.
The free course offers two evenings of classroom instruction today and Thursday from 6:00-9:00 p.m. ET and a day on the range on Saturday, September 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. Participants will need to provide their own ammunition for the day.
Wednesday, October 5th is National Walk to School Day. If you find it easier to ride your bike, you are encouraged to do that instead.
Studies show that fewer children walk or bike to school than children a generation ago. In 1969, 48% of students in grades Kindergarten through eighth grade walked or biked to school. 40 years later, it is estimated that 13% of students walk or bike to school. School travel by private family vehicle for students in grades K-12 accounted for 10-14% of all automobile trips made during the morning peak period in 2009.
Here is a look at some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week:
Three 19-year-old boys were killed in an auto accident early last Saturday morning in Royal Center. Erron Stoddard of Winamac, Brandon Lee Miller of Winamac and Bruce Leearmel Wireman of Culver were killed when their SUV crashed into the rear of a parked semitrailer. The driver, Joshua Barcus, at last report, was listed in critical condition at Parkview Hospital. Continue reading
The Knox City Police Department is conducting a death investigation after a 59-year-old woman was found unresponsive in the Oak Valley Apartments.
Officers were called out Thursday evening to Bertha Clabaugh’s apartment and found her to be deceased. Detectives say that no foul play is suspected at this time, but an autopsy is scheduled for this afternoon to determine the exact cause of death. They are currently interviewing witnesses and following protocol in this type of case.
Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department investigated a one vehicle accident Thursday morning on State Road 14 between County Roads 550 and 600 East.
Richard Stevenson, 59, of Star City told police that he was traveling eastbound on State Road 14 when, for some unknown reason, traveled into the westbound lane of traffic. He said he did not attempt to correct this action because he stated he would have lost control of the vehicle. Stevenson’s vehicle then left the north side of the roadway and collided with a pole and a mailbox before coming to rest on the side of the road.
The Starke County Council worked on the 2012 budget all day Wednesday.
“This year, what we felt was a prudent thing to do, is to freeze the budget at the 2011 level,” said Starke County Council President, Mark Smith.
Smith said no raises were given county employees for 2012.
“I always hate it when it comes down to this because folks will say, ‘Don’t you know that those people deserve a raise?’ I absolutely believe that they deserve a raise. However, if we ‘froze’ the budget but allowed a raise, what I’m telling the taxpayers is ‘You’re going to get just a little less services but we’ve decided to give a raise anyway’. At some point, there’s got to be a little bit of a leveling out there, a little bit of fiscal responsibility, to look at the big picture.”
The Eastern Pulaski School Board placed Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman on contractual probation for the next year. The Board has agonized over what disciplinary action to take following Dr. Klitzman’s arrest for operating a vehicle with an alcohol content over the legal limit in July.
The Superintendent called the whole matter “humbling” and vowed to follow the Board’s action.
Knox City Police officers are investigating a break-in at the Community Services of Starke County building in Knox.
Police say that some unknown subject(s) broke a window on the south side of the building and gained entry. The subject(s) then removed a 42 inch flat screen TV from the building and that was the only item reported stolen. No other damage was reported. Police were called to the scene Thursday morning at 7:20 a.m. but it is believed the incident happened late Wednesday evening or in the early morning hours on Thursday. Evidence was secured at the scene.
Mayor Rick Chambers asked the Knox City Council members this week for permission to apply for a housing grant.
“I’ve been in contact with K-IRPC to seek a housing grant. We had one three years ago and we ended up getting about $65,000. The Council matched that with 10%. We applied originally for $150,000 and it was cut several times. So, I’m again seeking a housing grant and I’m asking for a 10% match up to $150,000. K-IRPC needs to know that we are willing to do a 10% match before they can go any farther with this grant process.”
With the case at its six-month mark since their arrest, four individuals allegedly involved in an animal fighting contest in February have been given another week for their attorney, Doug Shaw from Crown Point, to work with Starke County Prosecutor Nick Bourff to formulate an acceptable plea agreement. A request for change of venue by the defense was also denied. The defendants, Gilberto Narravo, Salvador Reyes, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, and Arnoldo Perez, were present in the Starke Cirtcuit courtroom with their wives acting as translators.
Knox City Police Officers arrested a man after he was found to be in a residence he was kicked out of and in possession of drug paraphernalia.
Joseph Johnson told police that he and his girlfriend left the house and when they returned, they heard someone in the bathroom. They found out that is was Jason Sims, who was asked to leave the residence the evening prior to this incident. Sims reportedly locked himself in the bathroom and Johnson called the police department. When officers arrived, they were able to gain access into the bathroom and take Sims into custody. Sims reportedly told police that someone let him into the home, but no one else lives at the residence and nobody else was at the residence to let him in.
After the students at Culver Community High School have had time to adjust to the new devices they’ve been gifted with, the school is proud to say things are moving along smoothly. At the beginning of this school year, students were presented with their very own Apple iPad to use for the duration of the school year. These devices can be taken home and used to do homework, research, talk with other students, read their textbooks on the device, and perform countless other helpful tasks. Unfortunately, they also open the door to new levels of procrastination, because students now have in their hands a device that they can choose to use for either school work or entertainment.
The Winamac Town Board heard from Fred Zarht from the Greenspace Winamac organization.
The organization applied for a grant called “Make Your Trees Count Grant Program” and in 2009, they were selected to receive the grant to pay for trees on the streets. The inventory was completed this year and only 437 vacancies remain where trees could be planted and they’re working on closing that gap. 282 trees were planted this spring.
The street trees that they have are valued at nearly $2 million. The annual benefits of street tress are valued at $192,649 or approximately $119 per tree. The trees absorb 2,528,527 gallons of water which saves the town $68,528 in sewer fees.
Harold’s Picks: (14-8)
Bremen-32 Culver-14
John Glenn-55 Triton-7
Knox-34 LaVille-0
Wheeler-48 South Central-7
South Newton-28 West Central-21
Winamac-34 Tri-County-7
Pioneer-21 NJSP-14
Nathan’s Picks: (17-5)
Culver-20 Bremen-14
John Glenn-50 Triton-0
Knox-35 LaVille-7
South Central-28 Wheeler-21
West Central-42 South Newton-14
Tri-County-14 Winamac-13
NJSP-24 Pioneer-20
An F.B.I. Task Force officer arrested two people at Bass Lake Tuesday evening. Police were alerted that 44-year-old Michael Simpson had escaped from a jail in Kentucky, where he was jailed on a sex crime, and may be in the Starke County. An F.B.I. Task Force officer stopped the suspect’s vehicle at County Road 600 East and State Road 10 where he found Simpson and 23-year-old Heather Wilson, both from Louisville, Kentucky. A two-year-old child was also in the vehicle.
