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Moni Dravet  dies in crash


By Karen Caffarini
Star Editor

CROWN POINT — Family, friends, business associates and neighbors packed into St. Mary’s Catholic Church Monday morning to say good-bye to Moni Dravet, a popular local businesswoman and media aide at Taft Middle School who died in a traffic accident in White County on July 21.
   Mrs. Dravet, 47, was killed when a semi tractor-trailer collided with her 1990 Oldsmobile van while trying to avoid hitting another car.
   According to a relative, Tina Dravet of Crown Point, Mrs. Dravet was in Monticello looking for information for an upcoming family vacation while enroute to taking her son Christopher to a basketball camp at St. Joseph College in Rennselaer.
   Christopher, 12, and his sister Amanda, 9, were critically injured in the incident, while two other passengers, Pamela Malloney, 40, and her son Brian Malloney, 13, also of Crown Point, escaped serious injuries.
   The Malloneys were treated for injuries at White County Memorial Hospital and released.
   Mrs. Dravet and her children were flown to Parkview Samaritan Hospital in Fort Wayne because of the seriousness of their injuries, however. Mrs. Dravet was pronounced dead at Parkview and her children were listed in critical condition. Christopher suffered head injuries and Amanda internal injuries. Both have since been upgraded to fair condition and are in the children’s unit at Parkview, said John Gevers, of the hospital’s community relations department.
   Debbie Beasey, an officer with the Indiana State Police Motor Carrier Division out of the Lafayette Post, said she cited the driver of the semi that struck the Dravet vehicle for having mechanical problems with the trailer and because he had a radar detector, which is illegal for commercial drivers to have.
   “The trailer should not have been out on the road. It had too many defects. The truck was okay, though,” Beasey said.
   She also reported that the truck’s driver had been disqualified to drive a commercial vehicle by the state because his company did not provide the state a good medical form on him. She noted that the driver did have a good form on him at the time of the accident, however.
   Besides the two children involved in the accident, Mrs. Dravet also is survived by her husband Steve and two other children, Danielle, 14, and John, 10.
   Tina Dravet described her cousin as a very giving person who was active in the community.
   “Moni always thought of other people before herself, especially her family. She was very giving, very caring and we’ll miss her alot,” she said.Tina Dravet noted that Mrs. Dravet loved books. She was the co-owner of Readmore Books, located in Off the Square office supplies store on Main Street, and was hired as a media aide at Taft Middle School last February.
   She also was a member of the city’s Millennium Committee and taught religious education at St. Mary Catholic Church, where she was a member.



Making Waves

The Tipton family of Fort Lauderdale, Florida enjoys the cool waters of Hub Pool as a means to escape the heat.


Council OK's school annexation

By Andrew Steele
Star Managing Editor

    CROWN POINT —  The City Council on Tuesday approved the first reading of an ordinance that would annex the site of the proposed new high school into the city limits.
    A public hearing and final vote on the ordinance will be held as soon as advertisement has been made and the necessary time period has passed.
    The 117-acre site is on the south side of Burrell Drive just west of its intersection with Main Street.
    The school corporation submitted a financial impact plan last week that outlined the impact of annexing the land on the city’s budget.
    “We believe this will be beneficial to the city,” school corporation attorney James McNiece said. “The only expense we can identify are minor expenses concerning streets.”
    He said some work would need to be done by the city at the intersections of Burrell Drive and Main Street and Burrell Drive and Court Street.
    Work for police, fire, public works and administrative employees of the city will be increased little, if at all, according to the report.
    And the city will not have to pay for the extension of sewer and water utilities to the area.
    “The major expense we’re agreeing to take on,” McNiece said.
    He said the school corporation is hoping to obtain a grant to pay the estimated $1 million expense of running a sewer line to the new school site.
    City Council members reacted favorably to the school corporation’s annexation petition.
    Councilwoman Pam Roth, R-3rd, who represents the Ross Township portion of Crown Point, which is in the Merrillville school district, said her concerns about potential costs to city residents have been addressed satisfactorily.
    “I’m very pleased to see the school corporation is moving forward with this,” she said.
    The proposed construction of a high school at the Burrell Drive site has prompted thought on the future development of the entire area south of the city limits.
    As part of the project, the school corporation will extend Main Street south to the main entrance of the new school.
    Early discussion among city officials has the road extending further south to the point it would intersect with 129th Avenue, which itself would be extended westward to meet Main Street.
    City officials have also expressed the hope the county would extend 129th east to Delaware Street.
    Mayor James Metros said the city has already had communication with property owners to the south about their plans for developing their property.
    Also Tuesday, the council passed a second reading of the ordinance that would appropriate an extra half-million dollars for road work this year.
    All six council members in attendance voted in favor of the ordinance.
    Councilman Jack Kemp, R-4th, said he would support the extra expenditure though he opposed the way the extra money was raised.
    The city is borrowing the funds in anticipation of money it will receive from the state over the next two years. Kemp said the city should have moved money from other budget funds instead of borrowing it.

 

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