Counterfeit $20 bills are circulating around the Starke County area.
Carla Musial from Demotte State Bank told WKVI that they’re the best that she’s seen. A Starke County merchant got one this weekend. While the bills look real, they will mark brown, not yellow, and the hologram is missing along with glitter on the bottom of the bills and a strip.
Funeral services were held yesterday for Wilma Upsall at the Braman and Son Memorial Chapel in Knox.
Upsall was killed after three men entered the home she was living in with her daughter and son-in-law in Rochester. She died of a single gunshot wound.
The third suspect in the incident was arrested Friday afternoon. Roy Bell was reportedly arrested at a home outside of Monterey. He was arrested without incident. He is being held on charges of Murder, Burglary and Robbery. Two other suspects in the incident, William Scroggs and Jason Miller were arrested Wednesday after a pursuit incident with Marshall County police. They are charged with the same charges.
Fred Boggess II received his sentence in the Starke Circuit Court Wednesday after being found guilty by jury of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, Possession of Chemical Reagents or Precursors, Driving While Suspended, and False Informing. His sentencing took place in the Oregon-Davis High School.
During the sentencing, defense attorney Richard Ballard called Boggess’ mother, Dolores Boggess, to the stand. Dolores told the court that Boggess saved her life over the past year by taking care of her and doing odd jobs to help pay the bills. She said he did “everything he could” to help her.
A suit that took almost four years to wind its way through the court system was dismissed this week in Starke Circuit Court. Dennis Fornelli had brought suit against the City of Knox and the Knox City Police Department for wrongful discharge of duty from the police force in 2006.
The suit was dismissed on Monday, November 21st. It was originally filed on December 31st, of 2007.
Knox City Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston, discussed the numbers from the Water Department with the City Council members at their recent meeting.
“This year we have a small loss of $54,000 in this utility,” said Houston. “It might come to a little bit less, but that’s what it’s projected to be, but that also includes $66,765 in depreciation.”
Houston said the projection is for the Water Department to lose less money next year.
Daniel Whited of Winamac was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court. Judge Jon DeGuilio sentenced him to 78 months imprisonment and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Possession with the Intent to Distribute Marijuana.
Daniel Whited was arrested last year after being sought by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department and all federal law enforcement entities for operating a marijuana growing operation in Pulaski County at 6573 W. 500 S. Officers located marijuana plants inside and outside the residence with an estimated street value of $610,000. Officers also found processed marijuana ready for packing, sale and distribution with an estimated street value of over $3 million.
The Winamac High School currently works on tri-semesters instead of two semesters, but Superintendent Dr. Robert Klitzman said that may change.
“We’re on tri-semesters and that’s been a very good approach for us in scheduling classes for our high school students but the State has really put a monkey wrench into that process in that the State Assessments do not follow the tri-semester schedule very well. Our students are having to take the State Assessment which has a lot of meaning. So, we’re looking to see if the best fit now for our students and their performance would be a typical two semester program versus the three semester. I’ve been working with the high school staff through their curriculum leaders and gathering input as to what makes sense.”
The Knox Community School Board heard from Elementary School Assistant Principal, Michelle Tarnow, who presented the Little F.I.S.H. program as the Spotlight on Success portion of the project. The Little F.I.S.H. program is available through IU Health Starke Hospital.
“F.I.S.H. is the acronym for Feeling Important Staying Healthy and the Little F.I.S.H. program offers students in the fourth grade level ideas and different recipes and different foods that they can eat and that are more healthy than others,” said Superintendent A.J. Gappa. “They each get a t-shirt and it has created some excitement with other grade levels. Our fourth grade is large enough this year that we split up the students so that not as many kids are being shown the program at one time so they come twice a month for the program.”
The widow of Starke County’s longest-serving mailman passed away over the weekend.
Margie Green died Saturday at the age of 91. The Knox Post Office was named for her late husband, Grant Green, who served as a Knox mailman for 50 years prior to his retirement in 1970.
Margie had conducted a Kindergarten in her home before the public schools offered such a program, then started the Knox Kindergarten program under Superintendent Ralph Harbison.
After retiring from the Knox Schools, she started a new career at the age of 70 as the Starke County Voter Registration Officer for which she was named Indiana Voter Registration Official of the Year in 2005.
WKVI was at Hensler Nursery in Hamlet on Saturday morning broadcasting live and helping the staff bring in the Christmas season. Many people were there picking out their perfect Christmas tree or getting wreaths and other greenery to create the perfect scene for the holiday season. It was a great way to kick off the wonderful time of the year. Enjoy these pictures from the event! Continue reading
Santa Claus arrived right on time yesterday afternoon for the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Starke County Courthouse. Accompanied by several beautiful young ladies from the recent Miss South Bend/Kankakee Valley pageant, Santa came in on a Knox-Center Township Fire Department fire truck.
On the count of three, Mayor Rick Chambers flipped the switch on the Christmas tree and proclaimed the Christmas season’s beginning.
Here is just some of the news that made the news in the Kankakee Valley this week.
Traci Jacobs of Knox and Richard Warner of North Judson were arrested on Thursday, November 17th after one pot method meth labs were found at a residence in North Judson. They were charged with several drug possession charges. Jacobs was also arrested on active arrest warrants for Failure to Appear. Continue reading
The third suspect in the shooting death of 81 year old Wilma Upsall has been arrested. Police received a tip, and arrested Roy Bell at a home outside of Monterey. He was transported to the Fulton County Jail.
Bell was reportedly taken without incident. He was arrested at about 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. Police did not reveal who’s home Bell was at when arrested.
He’s being held on the same burglary, robbery and murder charges as two reported accomplices in the shooting death that occurred Tuesday near Leiters Ford. Also being held are William Scroggs, 25 of Delong and Jason Miller, 34 of Plymouth.
Upsall lived with her daughter and son in law at the rural Olson Road residence and was found shot to death in her home Tuesday evening.
One suspect remains at large in a shooting incident in Rochester that took the life of a former Starke County woman.
Police have arrested William Scroggs, 25, of Delong, and Jason Miller, 34, of Plymouth in the incident. They reportedly shot and killed 81-year-old Wilma Upsall at a home in Rochester after they forcibly entered into the home where she lived with her daughter and son-in-law. An autopsy confirmed that she died from a single gunshot wound.
Scroggs and Miller were arrested after police attempted to conduct a traffic stop near Monterey after the vehicle they were driving crossed the center line and was exceeding the speed limit. A ten minute police pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed on State Road 117 north of State Road 110. Miller and Scroggs fled on foot and were arrested. A third man in the vehicle, Roy Bell, 24, of Rochester remains at large today.
Jason Cooke, of Plymouth, was recently arrested by Starke County police on a warrant and has been charged with Resisting Law Enforcement and two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, all Class D Felonies.
The offense occurred on August 31st when Cooke allegedly fled from police after he initially told police to go around him while exiting the Grovertown Truck Stop. He reportedly waved the police to go around him and the officer decided that the driver didn’t want the officer to follow him and criminal activity may be involved. The driver then pulled away and drove east through the parking lot. The officer followed and started traveling east on U.S. 30 behind the vehicle. The car turned south on 1100 East and started to drive faster. The vehicle crossed the railroad tracks and went off the side of the road. The officer activated his emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop but the car kept going. The officer stated in his report that he followed the car until the car swerved into a corn field and went down the road until he saw the vehicle come out on the south end of the field. The vehicle stopped and the driver and passenger ran from the vehicle on foot. Officers from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Knox City Police Department were unable to find the suspects.
Shawn Mattraw, a member of the Starke County Community Corrections staff, has been selected to be the Northwest District Director for the association. In this capacity, Shawn will organize training for district members in Evidence Based Program initiatives.
“It’s going to give me greater responsibility, not just at the local level of Community Corrections, but also at the state level in terms of overall policy development any revisions with statutes and things like that that impact and affect anybody in the Northwest region,” explained Mattraw. “The Northwest region, including Starke County, consists of 12 other counties. It’s a task I’m really looking forward to. It gives me an opportunity to broaden my experiences and develop things more at the state level that impact us all in Community Corrections.”
The Knox City Council has decided to refinance the remaining payments on the Knox Community Center. John Julien, from Umbaugh and Associates, appeared before the council to announce that re-bonding rates would go from 5.6% to 2.5%, and the city could realize savings from $14,000 to $25,000 over the course of the payments.
The Starke County Commissioners have passed an ordinance that would halt nepotism in hiring in county government. The ordinance was created in part to stop complaints from the public about employees working under direct supervision of a family member. In the ordinance, the definition of relatives was spelled out with 17 listed from father and mother to relatives by adoption.
The ordinance applies to all elected or appointed directors.
The West Central School Board has decided to proceed with eliminating the Middle School Principal position.
Superintendent Charles Mellon told us that he has notified Principal, Kay Beasey, of the decision. She has the opportunity to meet with the Superintendent and the Board to discuss the situation. The restructuring of the Middle School/High School has not yet been finalized but Superintendent Mellon said they are working on that process.
Pulaski County Maintenance Director Morry Demarco told the commissioners this week that he is ready for winter. All the winter equipment is ready to fire up, the salt is in place, and the equipment has been served. He also mentioned that the 28 heating units in the county buildings are up and ready to run, and each of them have been test-fired.
Demarco also told the commissioners that he performed some sidewalk repair on the west entrance of the courthouse and also took some before and after pictures. He said that the job was a simple patch job, but the weather was interfering with his ability to get it done.
