Mishawaka

MISHAWAKA -- One Osceola developer believes it can find success in downtown Mishawaka, even though others haven't been as lucky. In Downtown Mishawaka, along the St. Joseph River, "for sale" signs and vacancies near the Iron Works project are hard to miss. It has been that way for at least three years. Is the project a failure? "No," Ken Prince, said. Prince is the City Planner for Mishawaka. He said to the naked eye, projects appear empty, but interest is there.

ST. JOESEPH COUNTY - A man who admits to killing his girlfriend earlier this year will spend up to 40 years in prison. A St. Joseph County judge sentenced Jorge Huerta Cardenas to 40 years Wednesday morning. He pleaded guilty last month to killing his live-in girlfriend, Kim White-Stout. Her body was found strangled to death in a Cass County field. A friend told police the two got into an argument on March 23rd when White-Stout told Cardenas to move out. She was missing for several days before her body was found.

A Mishawaka woman got a scare around noon Wednesday when her dog fell through the ice on the St. Joseph River.  Jennifer Spite says her dog "Brutus" started chasing geese along the river near Merrifield Park in Mishawaka. He ended up on the thin ice and caused it to break, sending him into the river. Spite says she did what she could, but needed help to get him out.  “I couldn’t do anything except yell for help,” she said.

MISHAWAKA — A 22-year-old South Bend man told police that a woman’s request for a ride home was instead a set up for a robbery Sunday morning. According to police reports, the man said he was at a party in South Bend when he agreed to drive a girl to her boyfriend’s house in Mishawaka. But arriving at the home on Easton Drive, the man said, he was held up by an unknown man holding what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun. The victim said the robber demanded money, then became upset when he learned the victim had none.

The St. Joseph County prosecutor may file charges against a man accused of punching and pistol-whipping a Mishawaka police officer. Kenneth Kunkel, 19, was arrested last night for aggravated battery to a police officer with a deadly weapon and resisting a police officer. Andrew Swank, also 19, was arrested for resisting a police officer.  According to this police report, Sergeant Bryan Fox was on bike patrol around 10:20 Tuesday night responding to a report of several suspicious people looking into garages in alleys near Sixth and Seventh Streets in Mishawaka.

Scotty's Brewhouse, a small Indiana restaurant chain established in 1996, may be coming to Mishwaka. A Pots & Pans Production, the parent company, has signed a letter of intent to open a Scotty's in June, 2013 in Fort Wayne and April, 2013 in Mishawaka. There are already Scotty's restaurants in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Muncie and West Lafayette LINK: http://www.scottysbrewhouse.com/

MISHAWAKA - The owner of a condemned apartment complex in Mishawaka says he has plans to repair the building. Last week, the tenants at Princess City Apartments learned they had 24 hours to move out. Inspectors cited numerous complaints from the property since 2004 including mold issues and bed bug infestations. Some tenants were living in a Motel 6. Building Commissioner Bo Hundt says owner Randy Miller has spoken with city officials and is creating a plan for repairs but hasn't filed anything yet. Miller owns at least three properties that are in foreclosure.

MISHAWAKA -- It was an early wake-up call for a Mishawaka family Friday morning after an SUV crashed into their home. It happened just after midnight in the 700 block of North Logan Street in Mishawaka. We're told that a woman driving a Jeep SUV went off the road and into the house because her boyfriend, who was sitting in the passenger seat, jerked the steering wheel. Neighbors tell us that man ran off after the crash happened. No word if he has been found yet. No one inside the home was injured -- they were sleeping in other parts of the house.

A judge sentenced a former Mishawaka high school wrestler to indefinite probation and 120 days in the Juvenile Justice Center for trying to sexually assault of a fellow teammate. He will not have to serve that time if he does everything laid out in his probation, including 50 hours of community service by the end of October, having no contact with the victim or the five other defendants, and having random drug tests. Of the six convicted in the case, three are still waiting to be sentenced.

MISHAWAKA - The EPA remains on the scene this weekend in the 1300 block of Industrial Drive with multiple air quality monitoring stations set up all around the area surrounding the old Baycote site where the chemical leak occurred Friday night. EPA spokesman on site, Paul Atkociunas, says the building had a large amount of hazardous chemicals inside, including 4% cyanide solid that mixed with another material.  Workers didn't realize such a reaction would occur at the time the mixing occurred.  Atkociunas calls it "an unfortunate accident.