Local News

La Porte County Sheriff John T. Boyd announced the recent hiring of five new Merit (Patrol) Deputies. The deputies will fill vacancies within the Merit Division that were recently open. These five deputies are all currently enrolled in the fifteen week Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (NILEA) basic recruit program. 25 year old Deputy Tyler Oberholtzer, was born in La Porte and is a lifelong resident of La Porte County. He is a La Porte High School graduate. Deputy Oberholtzer attended Vincennes University later earning an associate degree in criminal justice. He was previously employed by Four Winds Casino. Deputy

Yesterday, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs announced that the Quick Impact Placebased Grant Program, a matching grant program designed to fund creative projects that spark community-wide conversations, is open for applications.Project funding ranges from $2,500 to $5,000, with a 50 percent match by cash or in-kind required. Eligible applicants can include community or civic organizations, local units of government or schools.Examples of eligible projects include, but are not limited to:Storefront transformations;Pop-up shop and gathering spots;Shipping container repurpose; andProject-based learning.The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs encourages unique and locally inspired projects. Successful applications will demonstrate community

Approximately 360 students at Krueger Middle School participated in the school-level competition of the National Geographic GeoBee in late November/early December. The top 10 students advanced to the final school competition. On December 12, Wyatt Bauer, a 7th grade student, won first place; Issac Williams, an 8th grade student, took second, and James Symons, a 7th grade student, finished third.The school-level competition is the first round in the annual National Geographic GeoBee, a geography competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world. At Krueger, the contest is coordinated by teacher Janine Peo. Bauer, a 7th grade honor

The St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit is continuing the investigation regarding the homicide on N. Brookfield in South Bend, occurring January 13th. The shooting victims have been identified as Ajurin Blake (deceased), 16 years of age, and an 18 year old. Family notification has been completed. There is no suspect information to release at this time, and no arrests have been made. The investigation into the death of Ajurin Blake, and shooting of Nehemiah Watts is active and ongoing. If anyone has information, they are encouraged to please contact County Metro Homicide at 235-5009 or Crime Stoppers at 288-STOP.

The Portage Police Department are looking for the public's help investigating a sexual assault incident that occured at Countryside Park on January 7th. If you were in the area or on the nearby trails and witness any, all, or part of the incident, contact Detective Biggs at 219-764-5675.

In partnership with both the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the APRHF Rail Rangers provide onboard educational programs on the South Shore Line through Illinois and Indiana. Rail Rangers Interpretive Guides narrate the passing scenery to the public -- just buy a ticket at a station or ticket kiosk, grab a seat in the designated car (program takes place in one designated car on the train), and participate at no extra cost! No reservations are ever needed for South Shore Line programs, plus you can hop-on and off at any stop. These programs are presented

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration has been informed by the USDA the state must issue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the month of February on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, rather than the previously-reported date of Saturday, January 19. In Indiana, SNAP benefits are usually issued to recipients according to an alphabetical schedule over a 19 day period throughout the month. This one-time early benefit distribution was identified by USDA officials as a mechanism provide SNAP benefits during the partial federal government shutdown. No SNAP benefits will be issued in the month of February, so recipients are strongly encouraged to

The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 198 on controlled substances in penal facilities by Sen. Bohacek. This bill makes committing a controlled substance offense on the property of a penal facility or juvenile facility an enhancing circumstance at the penalty phase. The bill was amended by consent to remove the term synthetic drug from the dealing enhancement. Representatives from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council and the Attorney General’s Office testified in support of this bill. The amended bill passed 9-0.

On August 16, 2018, Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer announced that the City would seek to conduct air testing in all residences in a four block area bounded by Tryon Street, Walker Street, Michigan Boulevard, and 8th Street, in an effort to determine if vapors from the former Concord Cleaners ground water contamination plume are entering homes in this area. It has been determined that pollution from dry cleaning chemicals used by the former Concord Cleaners has gotten into the ground water and migrated with the ground water to the north/northwest toward Trail Creek. The plume area has been defined

A slight chance of freezing drizzle before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 34 degrees. Tune in for more updates on local weather!

Chief Mark Swistek and The Michigan City Police Commission, are proud to announce the hiring of two new officers. Sworn in by City Clerk Gale Neulieb, and Chief Mark Swistek during a ceremony in the Community Room were Officers Michael Ortega and Daniel Revoir.Twenty-five year old Officer Michael Ortega, was born in Hammond then later moved to Dyer, Indiana. Michael graduated high school from Lake Central High School in 2011 and acquired a bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Purdue Northwest Hammond, Indiana in 2015. For the past four years prior to accepting a new career with the Michigan City Police

The City of Michigan City recently said farewell to Battalion Chief Tom Zawacki who has retired. The retirement of Battalion Chief Tom Zawacki has created the opportunity for several firefighters to be promoted. Battalion Chief Tom Zawacki served the City of Michigan City proudly for over 40 years. Receiving the promotion to replace Assistant Chief Zawacki is Captain James Young. Battalion Chief Young has 28 years of service and is assigned to “C” shift. Lieutenant Randy Dibble was promoted to Captain. Captain Dibble has 31 years of service and is assigned to “C” Shift at Station #3. Driver Operator Craig

The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 28 on enhancement of penalties for crimes involving synthetic drugs by Sen. Bohacek. This bill makes certain offenses involving synthetic drugs an enhancing circumstance at the penalty phase. It removes certain misdemeanor prosecutions concerning synthetic drugs and synthetic lookalike drugs from eligibility for conditional discharge (diversion).As amended, it also allows for charging the act of dealing or manufacturing synthetic drugs that behave like a legend drug as the same level of offense that would be dealing or manufacturing the legend drug.Representatives from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council and the Attorney General’s

La Porte County Sheriff John T. Boyd, announced that the Indiana Sheriff’s Association (ISA) will again be awarding college scholarships to qualified high school seniors or college students who are pursuing a degree in criminal justice studies. There will be approximately forty $750-dollar scholarships awarded to qualifying students throughout the state.The ISA Scholarship Fund was established for the purpose of receiving, investing, and dispensing of funds to provide college scholarships to qualified students who are committed to pursuing an education and career in the law enforcement field. To qualify for one of these scholarships, the applicant must be an Indiana

The Michigan City varsity girls swim - 200 Free Relay Team broke the school record with a time of 1:45.11. Years of preparation culminated Saturday in the successful opening of the new Franciscan Health Michigan City hospital. The first patient at the new facility at 3500 Franciscan Way arrived at the emergency department at 6:05 a.m. Transportation of existing patients at the Homer Street location began at 8 a.m. and the final patient arrived shortly after noon. In all, 52 patients were transported by crews from Superior Ambulance. The move was assisted by the Michigan City Police Department and LaPorte

The last day to return completed applications for this year’s JPA is January 15th. Applications are still available in the lobby of the Valparaiso Police Department and additional information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ValparaisoJuniorPoliceAcademy. You can also contact Ptrl. Pat Yokovich at pyokovich@valpopd.com with inquiries

U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) announced recent staff changes in her Washington, D.C., and Mishawaka offices.Ben Falkowski recently departed as Chief of Staff after more than six years with Congresswoman Walorski to join Gula Graham as Vice President. Prior to serving as Chief of Staff, Ben also served as District Director.Mike Dankler is now Chief of Staff. Mike has been with Congresswoman Walorski since 2015, previously serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director. He will oversee Walorski’s D.C. and district offices, as well as continue managing trade policy for the congresswoman. Brian Spaulding has been promoted to Deputy

Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairwoman of Franciscan Alliance, greets patient Stephan Lemons with a warm blanket as he arrives at the new Franciscan Health Michigan City hospital on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019. Years of preparation culminated Saturday in the successful opening of the new Franciscan Health Michigan City hospital. The first patient at the new facility at 3500 Franciscan Way arrived at the emergency department at 6:05 a.m. Transportation of existing patients at the Homer Street location began at 8 a.m. and the final patient arrived shortly after noon. In all, 52 patients were transported by crews from Superior Ambulance.

On August 16, 2018, Mayor Ron Meer announced that the City would seek to conduct air testing in all residences in a four block area bounded by Tryon Street, Walker Street, Michigan Boulevard, and 8th Street, in an effort to determine if vapors from the former Concord Cleaners ground water contamination plume are entering homes in this area.  The purpose of this Press Release is to provide an update on the results from those sampling activities. Important Background Facts The City is not a Potential Responsible Party (PRP) for the contamination and they are not having this Vapor Intrusion sampling

Chief Mark Swistek and The Michigan City Police Commission, are proud to announce the hiring of two new officers. Sworn in by City Clerk Gale Neulieb, and Chief Mark Swistek during a ceremony in the Community Room were Officers Michael Ortega and Daniel Revoir.Twenty-five year old Officer Michael Ortega, was born in Hammond then later moved to Dyer, Indiana. Michael graduated high school from Lake Central High School in 2011 and acquired a bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Purdue Northwest Hammond, Indiana in 2015. For the past four years prior to accepting a new career with the Michigan City Police