WKVI Information Center http://www.wkvi.com The Voice of the Valley! Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:51:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Warren D. Short http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/warren-d-short/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=warren-d-short http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/warren-d-short/#comments Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:50:06 +0000 Mary Perren http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46996 Funeral services for 90-year-old Warren D. Short of Winamac are Monday, June 24 at 1 p.m. ET at Arba Friends Church in Lynn. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. ET Sunday, June 23 at Frain Mortuary and one hour prior to services at the church on Monday.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/warren-d-short/feed/ 0 Rose Brinkman http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/rose-brinkman/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rose-brinkman http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/rose-brinkman/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:01:05 +0000 Ben Haut http://www.wkvi.com/?p=47004 Funeral arrangements for 88-year-old Rose Brinkman of Winamac are pending at Frain Mortuary in Winamac.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/rose-brinkman/feed/ 0 Florence “Flo” Hogan http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/florence-flo-hogan/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=florence-flo-hogan http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/florence-flo-hogan/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:04:05 +0000 Ben Haut http://www.wkvi.com/?p=47001 Read the Rest...]]> Funeral services for 85-year-old Florence “Flo” Hogan of Kewanna are Friday, June 21 at 10:30 a.m. at Harrison-Metzger and Rans Funeral Home in Kewanna. Visitation is Thursday, June 20 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Harrison-Metzger and Rans Funeral Home in Kewanna. Memorials to Kewanna Volunteer Fire Department and First Responders and/or Fulton County Humane Society.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/florence-flo-hogan/feed/ 0 Bruce Alan Beecher http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/bruce-alan-beecher/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bruce-alan-beecher http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/bruce-alan-beecher/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:02:38 +0000 Ben Haut http://www.wkvi.com/?p=47000 Funeral services for 57-year-old Bruce Alan Beecher of Wanatah are Friday, June 21 at 10 a.m. at Faith United Methodist Church in Wanatah. Visitation is Thursday, June 20 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Kosanke Funeral Home. Memorials to Faith United Methodist Church.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/obituaries/bruce-alan-beecher/feed/ 0 Sheriff’s Candidate Faces Charge of Impersonating a Public Servant http://www.wkvi.com/local/sheriffs-candidate-faces-charge-of-impersonating-a-public-servant/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sheriffs-candidate-faces-charge-of-impersonating-a-public-servant http://www.wkvi.com/local/sheriffs-candidate-faces-charge-of-impersonating-a-public-servant/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:13:14 +0000 Mary Perren http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46977 Read the Rest...]]> A North Judson man who hopes to become Starke County’s next sheriff faces a felony charge of impersonation of a public servant. The charge against Gregory R. Wireman, 38, stems from a Feb. 15 incident on CR 200 S. east of SR 39. Court documents indicate Wireman detained a woman and two men in a white van with a Michigan registration who were going door to door in the area claiming to be selling vacuum cleaners and other cleaning supplies. Wireman says several residents called 911 but officers were unable to respond, so his aunt, Donna Wheeler, phoned him for help. Wireman reportedly blocked the van in the driveway at the Wheeler’s home, took the three salespeople’s driver’s licenses and refused to let them leave. They claim Wireman told them he was a corrections officer but did not have his badge with him. Court documents indicate he admitted searching the two male salesmen prior to the arrival of Deputy James Upsall from the Starke County Sheriff’s Office. According to the incident report, Upsall turned the case over to Starke County Deputy Kelly Fisher due to a conflict of interest stemming from his plans to also run for sheriff. He also gave the salespeople the address of the Starke County Sheriff’s Office so they could file a formal complaint against Wireman.

Pulaski County Prosecutor Stacey Mrak was appointed special prosecutor in the case and filed a charge against Wireman in Starke Circuit Court on May 31. Pulaski Superior Court Judge Pat Blankenship will hear the case. He’s issued a summons for Wireman to appear in his court on Monday, July 22 at 10 a.m. EDT for an initial hearing. Wireman has hired an attorney from Chesterton and says he’s confident he will be exonerated once the matter gets to court. He adds one of his accusers has a larceny conviction from Michigan and notes the salespeople did not have the proper permits to be selling items door-to-door in Starke County in the first place.

“Once we get to a court and we can tell the entire story, that one, I’ll be found not guilty and exonerated of these charges but also maybe bring some light to the issues with this van and these vacuum cleaning salespeople, who were not even licensed to be in the community. They had no permit to sell door-to-door, and they were not even licensed to be here,” said Wireman.

Wireman adds there are two sides to everything, and says he’s looking forward to telling his side of the story. .

“I don’t want to be accusatory, and I would hope that that’s not the motivation with the sheriff’s office. I certainly would not see doing that myself. There’s two sides to every story, and how this investigation was handled and all that kind of stuff will come out down the road as the trial goes on and things go on, and we want to do that as quickly as possible. We want to get that done as quickly as possible and get this thing out of the way,” Wireman said.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/local/sheriffs-candidate-faces-charge-of-impersonating-a-public-servant/feed/ 0 Walkerton-Lincoln Township Library Opens on Limited Schedule http://www.wkvi.com/local/walkerton-lincoln-township-library-opens-on-limited-schedule/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=walkerton-lincoln-township-library-opens-on-limited-schedule http://www.wkvi.com/local/walkerton-lincoln-township-library-opens-on-limited-schedule/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:12:08 +0000 Anita Goodan http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46976 Read the Rest...]]> The Walkerton-Lincoln Township Public Library is open, but with limited hours just a few days after the IRS put a lien on the library for failure to pay back federal withholding taxes.

St. Joesph County Auditor Peter Mullen told WKVI that the library was in arrears approximately $48,000 and the IRS contacted his office to file the necessary paperwork to put a lien on the library. The library closed in mid-May and just reopened on a limited schedule.

In the last week, the IRS and Walkerton Library officials have made arrangements to keep them in business by not seizing $17,000 from tax distributions that are to be made to the library in the tax draw. The library was to receive $44,000 in a tax draw Monday. It will be decided how to pay the remainder of the money owed in a later setting.

The library is now open on Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. This schedule is only good until July 1 when it is reevaluated. The library is now run solely on volunteers.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/local/walkerton-lincoln-township-library-opens-on-limited-schedule/feed/ 0 Starke County Council Amends Payment for Jail Suit Legal Fees http://www.wkvi.com/local/starke-county-council-amends-payment-for-jail-suit-legal-fees/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=starke-county-council-amends-payment-for-jail-suit-legal-fees http://www.wkvi.com/local/starke-county-council-amends-payment-for-jail-suit-legal-fees/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:11:05 +0000 Mary Perren http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46975 Read the Rest...]]> Starke County officials have agreed to pay the fees stemming from the jail overcrowding lawsuit from a different fund than previously announced. Last month the council announced plans to pay the $90,000 from the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax, or CAGIT, fund. Instead the commissioners revisited their action and opted to use money in the CEDIT, or County Economic Development Income Tax, rainy day fund. Council President Dave Perman notes the money in the CEDIT fund was set aside for a purpose such as that, and using it will allow the CAGIT money to be used to cover other expenses in the county’s general fund.

The public will get a first look at plans for a new jail east of Knox on State Road 8 during the July 22 council and commissioners meeting. That presentation is scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. at the county annex building.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/local/starke-county-council-amends-payment-for-jail-suit-legal-fees/feed/ 0 Kirby Dealer Confirms Vacuum Cleaner Salespeople Were Independent Contractors http://www.wkvi.com/local/kirby-dealer-confirms-vacuum-cleaner-salespeople-were-independent-contractors/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kirby-dealer-confirms-vacuum-cleaner-salespeople-were-independent-contractors http://www.wkvi.com/local/kirby-dealer-confirms-vacuum-cleaner-salespeople-were-independent-contractors/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:10:04 +0000 Mary Perren http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46974 Read the Rest...]]> A representative of a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Kirby Vacuum Cleaner dealer confirms that the three people in the white van who were attempting to sell products door-to-door in Starke County back in February all worked for his company at the time. Alexandria Marie Cortese, 23, and Collin Joel Paul, 23, are still employed by Cezo, Inc. in Grand Rapids. Craig F. Randle, 27, worked for the company at the time but left a few months ago. The three filed complaints against Greg Wireman of North Judson, who is running for Starke County Sheriff, claiming that he told them he was a corrections officer. Wireman now faces a D felony charge and has been summoned to appear in court next month.

Documents from the Michigan Department of Corrections and Kent County, Mich. clerk’s office indicate Paul was convicted in 2009 of larceny in a building. It’s unclear whether the conviction was for a felony or a misdemeanor charge. The Cezo representative with whom WKVI spoke said the company does perform background checks on all of its independent contractors. Additionally, he advised that Kirby allows its representatives to enter people’s homes until 9 p.m. each evening. When asked if that is in accordance with the law, he replied it’s “company policy.” The Starke County auditor’s office has no record of any of the three vacuum cleaner salespeople obtaining the necessary county transient merchant permits to sell items door-to-door. A permit was issued April 24 to a man named Jonathan Gross, who does not work for Cezo.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/local/kirby-dealer-confirms-vacuum-cleaner-salespeople-were-independent-contractors/feed/ 0 Underage, Unpermitted Driver Sent to Hospital in Car Accident http://www.wkvi.com/local/underage-unpermitted-driver-sent-to-hospital-in-car-accident/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=underage-unpermitted-driver-sent-to-hospital-in-car-accident http://www.wkvi.com/local/underage-unpermitted-driver-sent-to-hospital-in-car-accident/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:09:02 +0000 Ben Haut http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46973 Read the Rest...]]> A 15-year-old driver and his 45-year-old passenger were taken to the hospital Monday evening after their vehicle was rear-ended on State Road 331 near 4C Road in Bremen. According to a news release by the Indiana State Police, state police officers and rescue personnel were called to the scene shortly before 5 p.m. for a personal injury accident.

Officials arrived on scene and found a 2000 Plymouth Neon had collided with the rear end of a 1967 Austin Mini Cooper. The purported driver of the northbound Mini Cooper, Theodore Hochstetler, 15 of Bremen, had slowed to make a left-hand turn into a private driveway when the Neon struck the rear of his vehicle.

The driver of the Neon, Rick A. Willard, 52 of Nappanee, reportedly told a witness that he was distracted prior to the impact and didn’t notice the vehicle slow down to turn. Willard was uninjured in the crash.

However, Hochstetler and his passenger, 45-year-old Johnny R. Kuhns of Bremen, were both transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend to be treated for injuries they sustained in the crash.

An investigation revealed that Hochstetler was driving the vehicle with neither a driver’s license nor permit, and while alcohol or drugs do not appear to be a contributing factor in the crash, it is unknown why the adult passenger was allegedly not operating the vehicle and the unlicensed 15-year-old was reportedly behind the wheel.

The crash investigation is ongoing.

]]> http://www.wkvi.com/local/underage-unpermitted-driver-sent-to-hospital-in-car-accident/feed/ 0 Bridge Replacement Project to begin Thursday on U.S. 35 http://www.wkvi.com/local/bridge-replacement-project-to-begin-thursday-on-u-s-35/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bridge-replacement-project-to-begin-thursday-on-u-s-35 http://www.wkvi.com/local/bridge-replacement-project-to-begin-thursday-on-u-s-35/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:08:59 +0000 Anita Goodan http://www.wkvi.com/?p=46972 Read the Rest...]]> The bridge on U.S. 35 west of Hamlet will be closed beginning Thursday, June 20.

Indiana Department of Transportation officials will be replacing the bridge that goes over the CSX railway just south of U.S. 30. The construction is expected to end in November.

If you are traveling north on U.S. 35, the official detour takes you west on State Road 8, north on State Road 39, east on U.S. 30 and back to U.S. 35. If you are traveling south on U.S. 35, you will be detoured west on U.S. 30, south on State Road 39, east on State Road 8 and back to U.S. 35.

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