WARSAW — Primary election contests come into focus with Friday's passing of the filing deadline in Kosciusko County.

Voters will have a variety of choices for the May 3 vote.

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To see the full list of filings in Kosciusko County, click here.

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In Winona Lake, two people who were critical of the town’s handling of a state audit over town record keeping are running for a seat currently held by former council president Jim Lancaster, who did not file for re-election.

Jerry Nelson, who routinely asks questions at town council meetings, and Jim LeMasters, an employee of Warsaw Community Schools, are running for the Ward 3 seat.

Both called for more accountability after the audit shed light on sloppy bookkeeping and a loose approach toward employees' use of town credit cards. Two employees returned money that was deemed not legitimate uses for the town.

The town has since changed its policies in response.

Republicans once again dominate the county election landscape and have numerous incumbents refiling and unopposed in the primary.

County officeholders who filed include Sheriff Jim Smith, County Auditor Allysa Jo Schmucker, County Assessor Bobbi J. Burkhart and County Recorder Deborah A. Wright.

Incumbent judicial candidates include Superior Court 1 Judge Karin A. McGrath, Superior Court 2 Judge Torrey J. Bauer, Superior Court 3 Judge Chad M. Miner, Superior Court 4 Judge Christopher Douglas Kehler,

County council incumbents who refiled include Joe Irwin, District 2; Tony Ciriello, District 3; and David Wolkins, District 4.

Democrat Tina Holloway will challenge Ciriello for the District 3 seat in the general election.

Meanwhile, there will be one contested race for both the Kosciusko County council and commissioner.

Incumbent District 1 councilwoman Kimberly Cates will face Thaddeus Du Bois in the primary.

In the commissioner race, incumbent Bob Conley will face Donald Wiesehan, Jr. for the southern seat.

In Syracuse, four Republicans filed after Larry Siegel, an incumbent, withdrew after he initially filed for reelection. Those Republican funning for the at-Large seat are: David Rosenberry, Brandon Wolferman, Gregory Scott Abbs and Matthew Goodnight.

Democrat Yesenia (Jessie) Vetor will face the Republican primary winner for the at-large seat in the fall election.

The post Who’s running? Winona council race attracts two challengers; Several contests in county government appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — The increasing reliance by police on the use of blood tests for suspected intoxicated motorists is leading to delays in eventual arrests.

That was the case of  Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates who was pulled over in March, and whose case did not become public for a month as officials waited for results.

When the case did become public, some complained that Cates was not immediately jailed and that a deputy gave her a drive home after a blood test was taken at a nearby hospital.

Sheriff Jim Smith, who declined to discuss specifics about the Cates case, said the number of situations in which officers investigating OWI cases choose to use blood tests rather than breathalyzer tests has risen in recent years.

“That happens a lot more than what people probably realize. Most of those cases that it happens to are not what you would call a high profile case — ones that people pay a lot of attention to,” Smith said last week before Cate’s conviction and sentencing.

The use of blood tests spiked during COVID for safety's sake, but Smith officers are using the option for various reasons.

Smith could not say exactly how often officers choose blood draws rather than breath tests, but Chief Deputy Chris McKeand, who participated in the interview with Smith, said, “We probably see more blood draws than breath tests.”

One reason is because of the prevalence of drugs including heroin, meth, cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs.

“Our officers are looking for so much more than alcohol impairment and the only way to get results (on drug use) is the blood test,” McKeand said.

McKeand said officers are also turning to blood tests if there’s a chance the results might be close to or below the legal limit of 0.08.

In the case of Cates, the officer likely wanted to make sure that she was not under the legal limit for fear that he’d then be accused of targeting her for her position, Smith said.

Her blood test showed her blood alcohol level was 0.20 — more than twice the legal limit in Indiana.

Cates was pulled over on March 9 on SR 13 after an officer saw her car crossing the fog line on the outer edges of the pavement. She claimed to have had two beers, but failed three sobriety field tests and was unable to complete a breathalyzer test.

Her inability to complete the test was why Cates was taken to the hospital for a blood test.

The inability or willingness by motorists to take a breathalyzer has been somewhat common over the years for drunk driving suspects. Failure to take a breathalyzer leads to an automatic suspension of their driver’s license for one year.

Regardless, the motorist is still required to get a blood test.

Whether Cates intentionally botched the test was unclear. News Now Warsaw sought comment on the question through her attorney and she declined comment.

McKeand said officers have full discretion in choosing to drive a motorist home or help in other ways when circumstances arise.

Cates issued a statement after her sentencing on Friday when she was sentenced to six days in the Kosciusko County Jail. She will also be on unsupervised probation for a year and was ordered to pay a fine and court costs.

You can read her statement in our story from last week.

In her statement, she expressly apologized for her behavior and said she sought assistance in the matter.

The case against Cates was assigned to a special prosecutor in Whitley County and a judge in Marshall County because of a possible conflict of interest.

Cates, who lives in Syracuse, has served two stints on county council. In both instances, she was chosen by a GOP caucus to fill vacancies. She currently serves as the District 1 representative.

Smith said he found nothing improper about how her case was handled and said he was “proud” of the decision-making used by officers.

"There’s nothing here that’s below board or questionable from a leadership standpoint,” Smith said.

“We’re not playing favorites," he said. "We don’t do that in the sheriff’s office. I will not allow it.” 

The post As was the case with Cates, police often seek blood tests in OWI cases appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

PLYMOUTH — Kosciusko County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates expressed regret and embarrassment over her drunk driving incident earlier this year.

Cates made the comments Friday when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and was then sentenced to six days in jail by a judge in Marshall County. 

(Read Kim Cates' full letter to the community at the bottom of this article)

The jail time will be served in Kosciusko County. 

She was originally facing two charges, but a plea agreement reduced that to one.

Cates, who was 59 at the time of her arrest, was originally charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and endangering a person, and operating a vehicle with an ACE of 0.15 or more.

Cates was pulled over around 11 p.m. on March 9 on SR 13 after a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy driving behind her for about five miles witnessed her vehicle cross the fog line several times and weaving inside her lane of traffic.

After being pulled over, Cates failed all three sobriety tests and was unable to complete a field breathalyzer test. A blood draw at a nearby hospital showed she had a blood alcohol level of 0.20 — two and a half times the legal limit in Indiana.

Because of the potential conflict of interest in Kosciusko County, the case was assigned to Whitley County Prosecutor DJ Sigler and eventually overseen by Marshall County Superior Court 2 Judge Dean A. Colvin.

On Friday, she was joined in court by two family members including her mother.

In testimony before her sentencing, Cates said her arrest left her remorseful and feeling humiliated.

Given her position on County Council, Cate’s attorney, Scott Reust, told the judge the circumstances had become somewhat of a public event.

In a public statement issued Friday morning through her attorney, Cates said she's sought counseling and took responsibility.

Her statement reads, in part:

"It is a profound understatement to say that I am disappointed in myself. But more importantly, I am pained to the core at having disappointed my family, my community, and the people for whom I serve as a Councilperson. Being a Councilperson is a tremendous honor and privilege," she wrote.

"I offer no excuse for what I did. I have completed a substance abuse assessment and the recommended counseling and believe I have focused and learned from my poor decision," she wrote.

Her driver’s license was suspended for 90 days, but she’s been using an ignition Intoxalock, a device that requires her to breathe into a device to make sure she is sober before using the vehicle.

Since her previous use of the device exceeded 90 days, Reust informed the judge that they filed paperwork to terminate the use of the device, and the judge agreed.

She was also sentenced to 359 days of non-reporting probation and is expected to begin serving her sentence on Sunday, Sept.

She also must pay fines and court costs.

KimCatesLetter

The post County Councilwoman Kimberly Cates sentenced in drunk driving case appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

Of the seven candidates running, Kim Cates was chosen. She tells News Now Warsaw it was a tough battle.

"I was surprised, actually, of the outcome because I was intimidated. We had good people with very good qualifications," she explains. "But that's okay-- competition makes us better."

Immediately after being selected for the role, Cates says she looks forward to contributing.

"I'm going to have a huge learning curve because of this particular board, so I need to make sure I get in there and do a lot of reading and researching," she says. "Even though I've got like 30+ years of experience on boards, every board is different."

Cates served five years as a member of the Turkey Creek Township Advisory Board and as the board president to the Turkey Creek Township Fire Territory. For nine years, she served as the Republican precinct chair for Turkey Creek Township 2.

She defeated 6 other candidates: Tressa Nichols, Josh Finch, Harold Jones, Paul Finley, Brett Harter, and Jon Fussle.

Kosciusko County Republican Chairman Mike Ragan tells News Now Warsaw there were 69 people eligible to vote in the caucus made up of precinct committeemen. 62 of those were in attendance, with 60 voting in the final round.

Kim Cates will be sworn in at the County Council meeting Thursday night.

RELATED POSTS:

• Recap: Get to know the County Council candidates
• Former County Councilman seeks return to office
• Two more seek County Council seat
• A third person files for vacant County Council seat
• Two seek Kosciusko County Council seat
• Kosciusko County Council President Bob Sanders Dies at 69

The post Kim Cates voted in as Kosciusko County Council seat by GOP Caucus appeared first on News Now Warsaw.