Elkhart

Elkhart Police report there was an attempted kidnapping Thursday evening in the 2600 block of S. Nappanee Street at a car wash. It was reported that the victim and her 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son were cleaning their vehicle. The mother look over to see a white male 60-70 years old with a grey beard with pock marks or scars on his cheeks in a late 90s tan GMC Safari Van. The male was sitting in the driver’s seat of the van and had his arm out the window with candy in his hand talking to the children.

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Officials at a northern Indiana museum say it was "a very pleasant shock" that a 19th-century sculpture it had owned for more than 40 years ago recently sold at auction for $7.55 million, exceeding estimates for the work.

Elkhart Police are reporting a deadly shooting occurred this weekend. 

UPDATE:

Friday Goshen Schools announced that there will be no class on Nov. 19 when teachers will rally at the Indiana Statehouse for "Red For Ed" Day. 

Today the school posted the following on its website: 

In order to support GCS teachers and staff who wish to participate in the Indiana State Teachers Association Call to Action Day at the IN General Assembly Organization Day, GCS will be closed on Tuesday, November 19. The number of staff members planning to attend the Call to Action Day is high enough that GCS is unable to procure sufficient substitute teachers for the day in order to have a safe and productive day of instruction. We realize that closing school creates complications for our families and therefore we wanted all to be aware of this decision as soon as possible.  The make-up day will be on Friday, February 14, 2020.

GCS appreciates the support from the Goshen community with the passing of an operating referendum to help offset the lack of funding GCS receives from the state of Indiana. However, the GCS staff is planning to attend the event in Indianapolis to stand up for all public education in the state. Traditional public schools in Indiana have not been adequately funded, while charter schools and vouchers have seen increases in funding. GCS should not have to ask the community for a referendum in order to help pay teachers better salaries and to keep class sizes at manageable levels, but with the significant funding losses GCS has experienced, there was no choice.

Therefore, GCS teachers and staff are standing up for students, for reasonable class sizes, for more qualified teachers in the state’s classrooms, and for better funding for all traditional public schools

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — School days are being called off for tens of thousands of Indiana students as their teachers make plans for attending a union-organized Statehouse rally.

Some school district officials say so many teachers are taking personal time off for the Nov. 19 rally that they wouldn't be able to find enough substitute teachers to cover classrooms. But they also say they support the push by teachers for a bigger boost in school funding.

The president of the Indiana State Teachers Association says at least 4,000 teachers have registered for the Statehouse lobbying effort on the day legislators are gathering for organization meetings ahead of their 2020 session starting in January.

The union says more than 30 school districts have canceled classes or are having students work online from home that day.

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Officials in a northern Indiana county say precautions that beekeepers took prior to aerial spraying to combat a rare mosquito-borne virus apparently spared their honey-producing hives from losing bees to the pesticide.

The League of Women Voters and the American Democracy Project are sponsoring several upcoming forums to allow voters to meet candidates who will be on the ballot in Nov. 2019 municipal races. Information about the events is below. 

ADP/LWV POLITICAL DEBATES & FORUMS – FALL 2019

--ELKHART—MISHAWAKA—SOUTH BEND—

Today the Indiana State Dept. of Health issued a warning about mosquitoes and a rare virus that has been detected in Elkhart County. Earlier this month in Michigan, the disease was confirmed in Berrien County and a person died from it in Kalamazoo County. 

Here is the Indiana Dept. of Health release in its entirety: 

INDIANAPOLIS—State health officials are urging Indiana residents to protect themselves from mosquito bites in response to the detection of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus activity in northern Indiana.

Elkhart Police released the following information on a discovery made along the river Tuesday evening:

On September 10, 2019 at 7:18 pm officers were dispatched to the 200 block of South Michigan St in regards to a body in the St. Joseph River.

Officer along with members of the Fire Department arrived on scene and located a male deceased in the river. The body was found on the north side of the river near Lexington Ave and Vine St. The Elkhart County Homicide Unit was called in to investigate the incident.

Two 16-year-olds have died in separate shootings.

The first occurred Friday night in the 1,800 block of Sampson in South Bend.  The victim is identified as Curtis A. Frazier, Jr.

Friday South Bend police responded to a call of shots fired around 9:35pm and found two people with gunshot wounds. Frazier was dead at the scene. The other victim, Makyi E. Toliver, 18, of South Bend survived. 

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Economists are warning that a downturn in shipments of recreational vehicles from the northern Indiana "RV Capital of the World" suggests an impending recession.

RV Industry Association data shows more than 80% of recreational vehicles sold in the U.S. are produced in Indiana, and roughly 65% of those come from Elkhart County.

The wholesale shipments of RVs are down 20% so far this year. Companies such as Elkhart-based Thor Industries Inc. have slashed output and cut back the work week to slow production.

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana-based payroll processing company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming its financial woes on a "complex scheme" orchestrated by its founder.

UPDATE: 

Elkhart police say one of the dead men is the suspected shooter. Elkhart County Homicide Unit Cmdr. Mark Daggy identified the dead victims as 66-year-old Gail Shields, her boyfriend, John Malk, along with the suspected shooter, 76-year-old Lawrence Faco. The wounded woman wasn't identified.

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) — Some Indiana school districts are raising pay to keep and attract bus drivers.

Doug Thorne, chief of staff at Elkhart Community Schools, says there's a significant shortage of people in the U.S. who have a commercial driver's license.

A new driver will get $19.99 per hour after 55 days in Elkhart. The top rate is $22.47 per hour. There's also a $250 bonus per semester under certain conditions.