Middlebury

MIDDLEBURY - An update to a hit-and-run we've been following since July. Police have wrapped up their investigation and turned the case over to the Elkhart County prosecutor. Zion Carlstrom was hit while riding her bike with her brother on July 11 on County Road 35 near Middlebury. The 17-year-old suffered serious injuries to her brain, arms, and legs. She is now recovering at a rehab facility. Police say the man that hit her admitted to driving the car and leaving the scene, but he was never arrested.

Elkhart County police are investigating a mishap late Tuesday afternoon in the 58500 block of C.R. 37 in Middlebury. Kevin Hochstetler, 27, of Middlebury, couldn't give police any details about what happened to him, according to a police news release. Police said Hochstetler was driving a 2005 Chongqing Astronautic north on C.R. 37, north of C.R. 20, when, for an unknown reason, drove off the east side of the road. Hochstetler then fell from the motorcycle and suffered shoulder and leg pain.

TOPEKA — Starcraft says it will reopen its plant in Topeka. The company had to shut down its Topeka production in January of 2009 because of the recession. Now they plan to start again in May. They will move their Autumn Ridge travel trailers division from a plant in Middlebury, creating 50 jobs. Company officials expect most, if not all of its lines to eventually move to Topeka.

MedFlight was dispatched to an accident on County Road 22 in Elkhart County after a man drover into a tree. This happened in Goshen just before 11 Tuesday night near the Middlebury city limits. Police tell us the man was flown to the hospital in an unconscious state. Stay with WSBT on air and online for updates.

ELKHART — With the Elkhart City Council's preliminary decision to designate an old industrial building as an "economic revitalization area," Think North America moves closer to bringing 415 new jobs to the city. City council members voted 8-0 Monday night in favor of designating the former Philips Industrial building, 3221 Magnum Drive, an economic revitalization area. A final vote to confirm the council's resolution will come later. That basically means the city agrees to a package of incentives for the company to locate there.

ELKHART - A former downtown Elkhart restaurant, Mad Anthony's Old State Alehouse, is up for sale.  Mad Anthony's opened in December 2008 expecting to hire dozens of people. A little more than two years later it was announced the restaurant would close. Earlier this year, First State Bank of Middlebury filed paperwork to foreclose on the building. A judge accepted a $460,000 bid by the bank. An attorney for the bank says the building will be put up for sale.

There was a big victory this week for a group of school districts suing the state of Indiana. They say the current funding formula isn't fair to districts that are growing. The state asked a judge to dismiss the suit - but on Monday a judge denied that request. Julie Whitehead is a parent of two Middlebury students, but she is concerned about where her childrens' education is headed. "It is about my kids, but it is also about schools," Whitehead said. Whitehead is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed this year against the state.

MIDDLEBURY - This coming Saturday will be a big day for LoveWay stables in Middlebury when it holds a major fundraiser. The organization helps the disabled through therapeutic horseback riding. The recession hurts donations, but supporters are riding to the rescue to keep the program going. Tuesday, special needs students from Riverview School in Elkhart took part in riding classes at LoveWay, classes designed to help them improve memory, motor skills and balance, as well as confidence, communication and responsibility.

A helicopter was called just after noon Thursday to transport a 7-year-old boy to the hospital after he reportedly fell off a wagon being pulled by a tractor and was run over. The accident happened around 12:30 in the 60000 block of C.R. 37, about 1 mile south of Middlebury's town limits. The helicopter landed at a soccer field roughly 3 miles north of there. Kurtis Miller was riding on a hay wagon in a farm field, when for an unknownreason, he fell off the wagon and was run over by one of the wagon's wheels.

Police say two teenagers were injured Sunday when their ATV struck a tree about three miles north of Bristol city limits. The crash happened around 1 p.m. The girls — a 15-year-old from Middlebury and a 16-year-old from Motteville — were driving southbound on County Road 29 north of County Road 4 when they swerved off the road and hit the tree. The 15-year-old driver was thrown off and hit the tree with the left side of her face, receiving severe head trauma and cuts.