All posts by Rusty Nixon

PLYMOUTH — On Feb. 27 at 2:09 p.m., Officers with the Plymouth Police Department were called to 500 West Jefferson Street for a male party who had just left the Handy Spot Liquor Store and appeared to be intoxicated.

Officers were unable to locate the vehicle. A second Plymouth Officer was on Michigan Street and located the vehicle with the same plate that had pulled out of Millea’s Liquor Store and started heading south on Michigan Street, nearly running into the rear end of another vehicle that was turning.
A traffic stop was conducted on the vehicle, and the driver was later identified as Mason Thorne, 25 years, of Knox. Thorne showed signs of being intoxicated and a field sobriety test was conducted. a portable breath test was given, and Thorne registered .241. Thorne was given a certified test at the Plymouth Hospital, which showed Thorne’s blood alcohol content was .310.
Thorne was then medically cleared and transported to Marshall County Jail, where he was booked for Operating while intoxicated, operating while intoxicated above .15.

Suspects are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

PLYMOUTH — The REES Theatre in historic downtown Plymouth is ushering in Lent by offering a Fat Tuesday lunch, which will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the theatre, 100 N Michigan Street.

Opie’s is cooking up jambalaya and cornbread. Individual king cakes will provide a bit of a sweet treat. Iced tea, lemonade and water will also be available with each $12 ticket.
A limited number of tickets are available at http://www.reestheatre.org, at the door on Tuesday, or by calling 574-276-3616.

BREMEN — While Bremen won’t have a new field house, the school corporation will still start the process of some improvements in the coming year.

The proposed field house was part of the READI grant request for the town of Bremen. The town received the grant, but the amount was lower than asked for, putting the proposed facility on the back burner for other higher priority projects. Bremen Superintendent James White told the members of the School Board that the building wasn’t feasible for the schools without a large input of financial support from the town, but the corporation will pursue the same route of working on some needed improvements around the facilities as part of a general obligation bond issue.
White said security of the buildings was a high priority and would like to re-locate the administrative offices at the high school to make the front entrance more secure. He told the board that paperwork for an agreement with the town for a School Resource Officer was underway and would like to include an office in the renovation for an SRO.
White also pointed to the need for a commercial kitchen in the schools as a tool for the Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) curriculum.
A culinary program at Bremen would be limited without access to such a kitchen. He said that the Ag department could also utilize the kitchen as part of their food science education.
White also mentioned the HVAC system at the school that needs an upgrade but said that because of the funding needed, it would be a more long-term project. The current HVAC is not efficient, and at times, rooms can be uncomfortable, but he told the board that the corporation could keep the system running in the interim.
The Bremen School Board will next meet on March 12.

ARGOS — On Feb. 21 at 4:32 p.m.,​ Marshall County Central Dispatch advised of a reckless driver near the construction zone at 13th Rd. and U.S. 31. ​

The vehicles involved both continued south on U.S. 31 to the Argos area. The vehicle that was reported as originally driving recklessly was described as a black Ford F250 with cargo in a cardboard box in the bed of the truck. During the incident,​ the reporting party had apparently been following the black Ford for several miles in a white pickup truck. The black Ford involved later drove off of the roadway and into a corn
field near the area of 17th Rd. and Kenilworth Rd.,​ south of Argos. ​
During the incident,​ the reporting party advised that the driver of the black Ford had displayed and shot a
firearm while standing in the field. ​
The black ​Ford pickup was not located by officers when they arrived in the area during the initial call. Officers later conducted a search of the corn field and performed subsequent interviews. No evidence was found that any firearms were involved in this incident. The investigation of the case is complete,​ and a report will be forwarded to the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office for any potential criminal charges.

PLYMOUTH — On Monday,​ Feb. 24, at 5:48 p.m.,​ Marshall County Central Dispatch received a call regarding a single-vehicle motorcycle accident on US 30 eastbound,​ east of Plymouth-Goshen Trail.

The caller advised that the ​rider was conscious and alert and had minor complaints of ​injuries. When Officers arrived on scene, it was learned that the 2004 Honda CBR ridden by Timothy Murphy,​ of Plymouth,​ ​was traveling east on US 30 at a high rate of speed. Murphy ​attempted to pass another vehicle when he struck the rear of a semi-trailer, causing him to lose control.
Murphy and the motorcycle came to a rest in the grass on the south side of the road. ​Plymouth EMS transported him with minor complaints of pain.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by Plymouth Fire & EMS, along with Lyons Wrecker Service. ​

PLYMOUTH — On Feb. 25 at 11:19 p.m., Plymouth Police officers initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle at the intersection of Laporte St. and Lake Ave.

The driver, Joe Wayne Duncan, 22, of Plymouth, was found to be operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Duncan was transported to the Marshall County Jail.

Suspects are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

PLYMOUTH — On Feb. 25 at 8:45 p.m., Marshall County Central Dispatch was made aware of a video visit at the Marshall County Jail with an inmate.

It was discovered that the inmate had a protection order on the female, and she was in violation of that order. Plymouth Police were made aware of this and discovered that the female was forty-one-year-old Susie Nichols of Plymouth. Plymouth Officer Thornton made contact with Nichols, and she was placed into custody shortly after and transported to Marshall County Jail where she was booked and lodged for invasion of privacy. Nichols was given a court date and a bond of $500.00 and held on an automatic twenty-four hold due to the charge.

Suspects are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

LaPORTE – Indiana Department of Transportation contractor Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. will close State Road 104 between C.R. 525 S and C.R. 700 S on or after Monday, March 3.

State Road 104 will be closed for bridge work at the Kankakee River through mid-June. Motorists should seek alternate routes. The official detour will follow State Road 4 and State Road 23.
Stay Informed
Motorists in Northwest Indiana can monitor road closures, road conditions, and traffic alerts any time via:
Facebook: facebook.com/INDOTNorthwest
X (formerly Twitter): @INDOTNorthwest
TrafficWise: 511in.org
Mobile App: iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store for Android

PLYMOUTH — In July of last year, city officials ordered the closure and clean up of The Pointe Apartments on Kingston Road in Plymouth. Monday night, the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety heard news that might mean the clean up may be close to completion.

Anthony Collins, property manager of The Pointe, came before the board to discuss fines for the operation. City of Plymouth Building Inspector Dennis Manuwal was on the agenda to seek guidance for just how much the city will charge for the violation of orders on cleaning up the property. Manuwal had given the owner 30 days for the resolution of the issues as part of his emergency order to vacate on July 29, 2024, due to roof and electrical issues that made the facility dangerous.
The owners of the property had been given 60 days to complete repairs, and Manuwal had imposed a $5000 fine when that did not occur.
Collins and owner Bob Richards have been working to make the needed repairs to get the property up to code. Collins said that repairs have now been completed on the roof, sprinkler system, and lighting, with other electrical repairs and a new water heater. He said the floor had also been replaced throughout the building. He said that the sprinkler system still needed to be tested and the facility was pending Manuwal’s inspection.
Plymouth City Attorney Jeff Houin told the board that a $5000 fine might be outside Indiana statute for a first offense and suggested that the board lower the total to $2500. He said the board has the power to reduce or waive any fines imposed, and Manuwal asked for the board’s guidance on the issue.
Collins said that Richards had spent $250,000 on the repairs and were simply anxious to have the matter finally resolved.
In January of this year, the Marshall County Circuit Court ordered Rich-Mons Group to pay $303,702 in damages and penalties to residents of The Pointe Apartments.
The board voted to suspend the fine until their next meeting and gave Collins until Feb. 27 to have the work and inspections complete.

On Feb. 22 around 12:45 p.m. ET, a call of a verbal domestic disturbance at 2535 Michigan St. resulted in Ryan Mata, of Plymouth, to be incarcerated at the Marshall County Jail on a preliminary charge of violation of protective order.

Suspects are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.