During their meeting this week, the Knox Community School Board took time to discuss the Newtown, Conn. elementary school shooting and safety procedures at the corporation.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa explained that the state is highly regarded in it school safety initiatives.
While Knox Community Schools are gearing up to implement the new School Messenger system, North Judson-San Pierre Schools Superintendent Lynn Johnson said their school has already made use of the program.
Johnson said the program allows the school to stay in contact with parents and inform them of anything going on with the school.
IU Health Starke Hospital President David Hyatt and Marketing and Media Representative Ted Hayes are sponsoring a community program to end drug abuse in Starke County.
The pair have collaborated with Sarah Hoshaw of Healthlinc to create “Symposium on Drugs,” which focuses mainly on methamphetamine abuse. The Symposium on Drugs will be held in April and more information on what to expect during the event will be released soon. The event will include support and education from law enforcement authorities, previous offenders and the court system. Detective Rob Olejniczak from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department and Jordan McIntire from Starke County Community Corrections have been instrument in helping plan the symposium.
Starke County is the ninth-highest producer of methamphetamine in the state. Prescription drug abuse also continues to increase.
Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that Indiana’s annual population growth rate declined for the sixth consecutive year this year.
Just less than 21,000 residents were new to the state from 2011 to 2012. The state’s annual rate of growth dropped from .41 percent in 2011 and was Indiana’s slowest one-year growth rate since 1986. With 6.54 million residents, Indiana ranked as the nation’s 16th most populous state in 2012.
The number of births in the state was also down from more than 84,800 in 2011 to 83,300 last year.
IU Health has released a new free smartphone app that makes it easier to add healthier habits to your daily routine.
The “My Healthy Habits” app is loaded with features that can help you turn positive behaviors into daily habits. Preprogram your list with healthy habits and it will help you keep up to date. If you would like to eat more fruits and vegetables, being more active and getting more sleep, a push notification will remind you to do your healthy habit.
Two Medaryville residents were arrested after a pursuit incident with Pulaski County police on Monday.
Two police officers were out on patrol together in the same area and one deputy saw a vehicle traveling on 1400 West in Medaryville, ran the license plates and found the plate to be expired and didn’t match the make and model of the vehicle on the registration. Deputy Mat Anderson pulled over the vehicle and as he got out to driver’s side of the vehicle, he saw the tires turn sharply to the left and heard the engine rev. The vehicle then drove away from the traffic stop. By that time, Deputy Ryan Austin had pulled up and the suspect ran into his squad car.
The North Judson Town Board will soon grow in size from three members to five, and Clerk-Treasurer Donna Henry said the board yesterday announced the two people who will fill those new seats.
Henry explained Josh Brown and Justin Davis, both younger members of the community, will represent the town on the board.
The Pulaski County Commissioners this week approved a new purchase for the Sheriff’s Department: a new Dodge Charger squad car from Braun Chrysler. Sheriff Michael Gayer told the council that he will obtain several more quotes from local dealerships for both quarter- and half-ton trucks to add to his fleet.
Gayer said that so far, Goble has been the only local county dealership to provide a price on the new vehicle, and Steve Dobson at Jim Dobson Ford has yet to give him a response. On top of that, Gayer’s contact at Braun Chevrolet has been on vacation and Gayer has not been able to reach him.
A number of elected Pulaski County officials were sworn into office yesterday in the commissioners meeting room in the Pulaski County Courthouse. Among those sworn in were two county commissioners: Terry Young was sworn in and will serve once again as county commissioner, and Larry Brady, who underwent his first swearing-in for his new position as county commissioner for District 2.
A LaPorte man was arrested Tuesday after an investigation into counterfeit currency used at the Plymouth Walmart.
The Plymouth Police Department received a call about counterfeit twenty dollar bills used to make a purchase at the establishment. Eleven $20 bills were retrieved and all of the bills reportedly had the same serial number on them.
The investigation continues into the fire at the Sandbar at Bass Lake.
Bass Lake Fire Chief Les Jensen said he has not yet heard back from the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office about the investigation and word about the cause of the fire may not come for a while.
Five fire departments were called to the popular bar in Starke County early Sunday, Dec. 2 after a report came in about smoke and flames coming from the establishment at about 4:26 a.m. It took three hours to extinguish the fire.
The Knox Community School Corporation will be implementing a new system to better keep parents and patrons aware of upcoming events or other important news concerning the corporation.
Superintendent A.J. Gappa said the School Messenger ties into the PowerSchool database.
Free income tax preparations will be offered in several new areas this year.
The Northwest Indiana A$$et Building Campaign will begin sponsoring free income tax preparations at the Pulaski County Human Services building in Winamac this year. This location was added to help more families file their income taxes, avoid user fees and collect their maximum benefit.
They will continue this same effort at the Community Services of Starke County.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistants helped over 1,300 tax returns and approximately $1.2 million was returned to the communities they serve. If you would like to learn how to can volunteer to help low-wage earning individuals and families with free tax preparation, call Leona Liuzzo at (219) 794-1829 ext. 2432.
The Knox Community School Board honored Board President Harold Welter and fellow board member Nathan Marcum Monday as they attended their last board meeting as members Monday night. Superintendent A.J. Gappa presented the pair with engraved clocks as a momentum of their time served on the board. Welter also received a plaque for serving as the Board’s President. Welter and Marcum were not re-elected to their positions in the November General Election.
A band of moderate to heavy snow is expected along with snowfall accumulations of two to five inches. Officials say the winds associated with this system will be a major concern as they anticipate sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. Winds will whip snow around, causing visibility concerns and difficult travel conditions.
On a night that saw the Oregon-Davis Lady Bobcats win their 8th game of the year, junior guard Ashley Campbell was in the spotlight early as she reached the 1,000 point plateau in a 67-57 win over Rochester. Campbell entered the game needing just three points to hit the 1,000 point mark, and did so just minutes into the ball game when she made a 3-point shot. Ashley was very humbled after the game, crediting her teammates as the reason she was able to reach 1,000 points. Campbell became the eighth player in Oregon-Davis girls basketball history to score at least 1,000 points in a career and the first to do so since 2010 graduate Gabi Minix. With her 20-point performance Ashley now has 1,017 points for her career. The question now becomes, will Ashley be able to break Gabi’s single-season scoring record of 581 points?
Congratulations to Ashley Campbell of Oregon-Davis high school on becoming the latest basketball player in the Kankakee Valley to reach 1,000 points!
As the nation recovers from the unbelievable tragedy that rocked the town of Newtown, Conn., schools around our area have been taking extra precautions and conducting drills to ensure they know how to respond if the unthinkable were to occur.
At Culver Community Schools, students at the elementary school coincidentally conducted a lockdown drill the day before the Newtown tragedy occurred. After the tragedy, Superintendent Brad Schuldt said the middle school and high school conducted their lockdown drills, which is something the schools do annually.
A Plymouth man was arrested Friday after Plymouth police officers arrested him on a valid arrest warrant.
Officers arrested Danny L. Steinke on an arrest warrant for Burglary and Theft as he was a suspect from an incident at the Stone Creek homes in Plymouth in September.
A vandal went off-roading at the Plymouth Speedway this weekend, when police say someone broke through two separate sets of entry gates, entered the Speedway, and tore up parts of the property with a vehicle.
Police say multiple windows were shattered on one of the shacks located within the property, and consequently, the suspect vehicle may have front or rear damage from striking the gates.
Officials say the incident took place sometime over the weekend.
Anyone with leads on any possible suspects please contact the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at (574) 936-3187.
The swearing-in ceremony of Starke County officials doubled as a retirement party for attorney Steve Dodge. Starke County Clerk Evelyn Skronski swore in four officials to their new responsibilities because the two judges on standby were unable to make it to the ceremony.
Kasey Clark was sworn in to the position of county treasurer, while Dennis Estok took the oath for the position of county surveyor. Freddie Baker and Bob Sims were sworn in to their new seats on the county council.
