Knox Mayor Rick Chambers reported this morning that construction work on the bridge on US 35 on the north side of Knox is approximately 2 weeks ahead of time with the contracted work. However, new replacement parts are not going to be delivered until June 1.  During this period of time, crews will be working to repair the south support pillar which is in worse shape than originally believed, and when new parts for the bridge are delivered on June 1, the original schedule will be followed.

Wendy Hoppe, owner of Hoppe PRO Hardware in North Judson, Indiana has been nominated in the category of Influential Woman of the Year in Construction for this year's awards banquet, to be held at the Radisson Star Plaza on May 31, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.  Hoppe is one of three nominees in that category.  Winners in each of several categories will be announced at the awards banquet.

Hoppe is currently the President of the North Judson Town Council, has served for eight years on the Board of Directors of the Starke/Pulaski Habitat for Humanity, and is currently serving her second year on the Board of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation.  Hoppe was the first licensed female plumbing contractor in Indiana, and has held that license for over 25 years. She has been in the hardware business for the past 40 years, taking over the family business 5 years ago.  Prior to that, Hoppe was a sales representative in the hardware business for over 25 years, covering parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

Peter Laman has announced his resignation as Port Director for the Port of Indiana - Burns Harbor, and will be replaced in that position by Anthony Kuk.  Kuk comes to the Port after serving as general manager for Nexeco Solutions' Midwest operations based in Chicago.  Kuk will officially takes over this position today.

The Department of Labor issued its April jobs report this morning. The good news was that the unemployment rate dropped from 8.2% down to 8.1%, which was coupled with the bad news that only 115,000 new jobs were created during the month. Experts had expected 170,000 new jobs for the month. Most analysts believe that the fall in interest rates coupled with the news of fewer new jobs points toward fewer people continuing to seek employment. In order to be included in the count of unemployed for calculating the unemployment rate, it is necessary that someone actually be actively seeking work. In the past several months, it appears that more people have dropped out of the ranks of seeking employment, which has more to do with the lower unemployment rate than the creation of new jobs.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has announced that it is now offering a series of free and online training sessions to help people in Indiana build the skills they need to obtain the job they want.  Successful completion of these online courses could lead to a National Career Readiness Certificate, which could be of assistance in attempting to land a job.

At the present time, there are 10 different courses to choose from, which are the following:

• Reading for Information
• Applied Mathematics
• Locating Information
• Listening
• Observation
• Applied Technology
• Writing
• Business Writing
• Work Habits (Soft Skills)
• Teamwork

Congressman Joe Donnelly has just announced that Starke County will receive a $503,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) to help improve access to the Starke County Rail Park - Knox, primarily with intersection improvements at State Road 8 and County Road 300 East.

The entire project is estimated to cost $1,006,000, with the County funding $400,000, and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation will fund the balance of $103,000.  The project has been discussed for most of the past 5 years, and with this grant, will now become reality.  Bids could be taken in late 2012 or in January of 2013, with the work completed sometime in 2013.

The ditch at the intersection will be moved slightly to the south, at the request of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.  The intersection can then be widened at that point so that trucks can safely pass.  Preliminary work has already begun with respect to environmental issues.  Upon completion, improved access to the Rail Park is expected to create an additional 100 jobs and leverage $20 million in private investment.

Congressman Donnelly, in making the announcement of the grant said, "Improved access to this area will mean improved access to jobs, services, and centers of trade for both the county and the region."

A bridge re-decking construction project on U.S. 35 over the Yellow River just north of Knox will begin on Monday, April 30, and will continue for 3-4 months.  During construction, travel will be restricted to one lane at a time, which will be controlled by temporary traffic signals on both sides of the bridge. Those traffic signals will begin operating today, just prior to the beginning of construction.

According to figures released last week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD), Starke County, as well as the State of Indiana both reported a continuing decline in their respective unemployment rates for the month of March.

Indiana reported that an additional 5,300 jobs were created in March, leading to a new rate of 8.2%, identical to the national unemployment rate for this month, down from 8.4% in February.  This was the fourth straight month that the unemployment rate for the state declined.  The state rate has not been less than the current rate since December of 2008.  The Indiana rate continues to be one of the lower rates in the Midwest, with only Ohio at 7.5% being less.

On the county level, the rate for March went from 11.3% down to 10.8%, and since January of this year, has dropped from 11.7%, a significant decline in the unemployment rate.  The county also experienced its third highest level of employment in the last 12 months.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has updated the status of construction at the Koontz Lake Dam through the middle of April.  At that time, the project was approximately 76% completed.  This project was let in January of 2011 for a total bid price of $4,646,759.  The project includes a new bridge on SR 23 near Koontz Lake.

The United States Department of Labor last Friday reported a lower than expected number of new jobs were created for the month of March.  A total of 120,000 new jobs were reported, far below estimates of around 200,000 that was expected. Despite the low total, the national unemployment rate fell from 8.3% down to 8.2%.