HealthLinc Holds Back to School Health and Wellness Fair

Residents visit the HealthLinc Back to School Health and Wellness Fair

HealthLinc, Inc. hosted a Back to School Health and Wellness Fair yesterday afternoon at the Knox HealthLinc Clinic. Uninsured and underinsured children were able to receive immunizations and sports physicals for the start of the school year.

HealthLinc Site Manager, Angie Gardner talks about other activities during yesterday’s event.

Continue reading

No Injuries in Wednesday Afternoon Accident

This vehicle was damaged after a two car accident at the intersection of Main and Culver Road in Knox

A two vehicle accident occurred at the intersection of Culver Road and Main Street in Knox yesterday afternoon.  While no specific information has been given about the accident, it is known that one of the vehicles involved ran the stop light at the intersection.  No injuries were reported.  Continue reading

Detectives Investigating Inmate Injury At Starke County Jail

Starke County Sheriff's Department

An internal investigation is being conducted into allegations of how an inmate was injured in the Starke County Jail.

Starke County Sheriff Oscar Cowen confirmed that an inmate was injured while incarcerated in the jail. Luther Lovins had been arrested by North Judson police on July 12 for a charge of Disorderly Conduct. He was released on July 26.

Continue reading

Trial Continued For Man Charged With Rape

Christopher Stonebraker

A Starke Circuit Court jury trial has been continued in the case of Christopher Stonebraker, who has been charged with Rape as a Class B Felony and Domestic Battery, a Class D Felony.

Stonebraker was arrested on Nov. 28, 2011, and it is alleged that he raped his ex-wife and pushed her head into a wall, causing her tooth to chip. The probable cause affidavit stated that he also scratched her back in the presence of two children. Stonebraker was arrested by an officer from the Indiana State Police and taken to the Starke County Jail.

There were some issues with the discovery documents and the defense requested the continuance. The case will be tried in Starke Circuit court in October.

Wythogan Park Still Too Dangerous For Visitors

Many branches like this one are dangling dangerously above, presenting a serious hazard to visitors.

Uprooted trees, downed power lines, fences torn asunder – this is just some of the damage at Wythogan Park in the wake of the July 24 storms.

The park has been closed as a result of the devastation, and Park Superintendent George Byer urges residents to stay away. He says the risk of injury is too great to enter the park, because there are a lot of branches dangling by a thread that could fall at any moment.

Continue reading

District 2 Task Force Gets Some Exercise In Winamac

A District 2 Task Force exercise was held in the Winamac Town Park.

The District 2 Task Force wrapped up operations yesterday in the Winamac Town Park. Sherry Fagner, District 2 Service and Support Element Leader, explains what the exercise entailed.

“What we’ve done the last two days is set up our equipment, our base camp, and completed a field operation exercise,” said Fagner. “We’ve had a lot of people in from the state and the other task forces to check out what we have. A lot of the other task forces are in the learning stage of forming their service and support groups so they came in to see what we have. We’re doing some best practices from their groups as well as with ours.”

Continue reading

Starke County Airport Limping Along After Storms

The Starke County Airport is back in working condition, but Airport Manager Pam Beharry says the airport has been crippled. The main hangar door is still damaged and the roof is unstable, and she says they still need to repair their fence as well. Further, she says the destroyed tee hangars prevent them from making money by housing planes, and the only source of income is the sale of fuel.

“I mean, the revenues have stopped. Now our jet fuel is the only revenue coming in right now,” said Beharry. “Oh well – just be thankful nobody got hurt, that’s the main thing.”

Continue reading

More Than $20,000 Approved For Knox Housing Improvement Project

Knox City Council

The Knox City Council at their meeting this week approved the city’s match for the Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Commission’s housing improvement project grant. The match for the grant is roughly 10 percent of the $200,000 total, coming out to $22,500 that the city must provide to improve housing for the 12 eligible households that have applied.

A motion was made and approved for their 10 percent share, and a motion was also made and approved to accept the 12 applicants into the housing improvement project.

The council also discussed their appointment to the Knox Planning Commission. This nine-member board consists of two appointments by the county commissioners, four citizens appointed by the mayor, and three appointments from the city council. The three appointments from the council need to be either city officials or employees, and Mayor Rick Chambers said he will go through their list of employees and see if anyone is interested in the position.

Last Public Meeting Tonight For Starke County Jail Project

The last in a series of public meetings concerning the Starke County Jail project is tonight at 6 p.m. CT at the North Judson-San Pierre High School Auditorium.

The DLZ Corporation will provide construction options and Umbaugh and Associates will discuss the financing options.

In the first meeting, DLZ presented the jail committee and those in attendance with the proposal for a new 32,406 square foot jail facility that could be built on a site of anywhere from four to 10 acres, at an estimated cost of $14 million. Umbaugh and Associates revealed that in order to fund this project, the county would issue bonds with a 20 year maturity at $1.18 million annually. Income taxes would finance these bonds with an increase of 0.65 percent of adjusted gross income.

Continue reading

Study Suggests Spanking Leads To Problems In Adulthood

A study in the latest Journal of Pediatrics suggests physical punishment of children increases their chances of mood, anxiety, and personality disorders, and it also increases the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse in adulthood. Researchers used data from nearly 35,000 American adults and found that two to seven percent of mental disorders were attributable to physical punishment.

This research reinforces what experts already know about spanking, says Cyndi Scott of the Coalition Against Child Abuse and Neglect.

Continue reading