Local News

Michigan City’s Mayor Ron Meer won the inaugural “Battle of the Mayors,” which pitted Meer against Mayor Mark Krentz in a showdown in support of The Salvation Army. Each mayor manned a kettle on Thursday for a 10-hour shift – Meer at the Al’s Supermarket location in Karwick Plaza, and Krentz and the Kroger store in La Porte. Meer took the victory by raking in $3,631.50 compared to the $2,589.64 brought in by the La Porte team. But everyone agrees that the real winner here is both Salvation Army locations and the communities they serve. The funds raised during this

Four Michigan City High School juniors are among the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) " Rising Stars of Indiana" Class of 2020. Each Indiana high school was invited to recognize up to four students currently in the 11th grade, based on their academic achievement. Representing Michigan City High School are Elliot Jasicki, Robert Lemon, Sara Poulin, and Megan Steinhiser. “We’re very proud of these four outstanding students," said Michigan City High School Principal Candy Van Buskirk. "They embody academic excellence and are involved in numerous activities at school and in our community. They truly are rising stars -- and

NIPSCO announced three new Indiana-based leaders within the gas operations and electric engineering and project construction areas – effective Jan. 1, 2019. Dan Douglas has been named senior vice president of NIPSCO gas, based in Merrillville, Ind. reporting to Pablo Vegas, executive vice president and president for gas utilities across NiSource. Reporting to Douglas, Steve Sylvester has been named general manager and vice president of NIPSCO Gas, based in Merrillville. Jim Zucal, vice president of electric engineering, projects and construction responsible for major projects, transmission and distribution engineering, transmission system reliability and development and infrastructure modernization project support, will also

Wednesday, Attorney General Curtis Hill confirmed his office’s investigation into USA Gymnastics and filed limited objections to the organization’s requests to continue the services of two consulting firms, Alfers GC Consulting LLC and Scramble Systems LLC. The limited objections request the court deny USA Gymnastics’ motions if the consulting firms do not agree to: 1) comply with all laws and rules regarding the reporting of suspected child abuse; 2) monitor and promote compliance with the policies designed to protect and promote athlete welfare; and 3) work toward full implementation of the recommendations contained in the Daniels Report. (The “Report to USA

The Unity Foundation of La Porte County has received a grant of $1,000,000 as part of Lilly Endowment Inc.’s seventh phase of its Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative. With GIFT VII, the Endowment is making up to $125 million available to help Indiana community foundations strengthen the towns, cities and counties they serve. The Unity Foundation can use this matching fund grant to build our financial assets and support our charitable activities. The Unity Foundation will designate these funds to support the growth of our unrestricted endowments, which over time will provide flexibility to help the foundation to

State Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) encourages students who want to learn more about state government to participate in the Indiana House Page Program during the 2019 legislative session.According to Pressel, those who are between the ages of 13 to 18 can spend a day at the Statehouse in Indianapolis helping staff and local legislators, touring government offices, and learning about the legislative process.Pressel said student pages receive an excused absence from school and groups can participate together. For more information and to sign up, visit www.indianahouserepublicans.com/pageprogram or call 800-382-9841.The 2019 legislative session begins Thursday, Jan. 3, and must conclude by April

In a story WIMS has been following, on Tuesday at at around 9:45 p.m., members of the Michigan City Police Department Patrol Division, Investigative Division, the LaPorte County HIDTA Drug Task Force, and Fugitive Apprehension Street Team, took a 16 year old suspect from the unfortunate shooting homicide into custody without incident. The suspect is being held at the LaPorte County Jail pending a Probable Cause hearing.

After months of research, visiting successful programs around the nation, and receiving testimony from experts and concerned citizens, Tuesday, the Federal Commission on School Safety (Commission) released a 177-page report detailing 93 best practices and policy recommendations for improving safety at schools across the country. Utilizing the information gathered, the Commission report offers a holistic approach to improving school safety, ranging from supporting the social and emotional well-being of students to enhancing physical building security. Acknowledging there can be no one-size-fits-all solution to this complex problem, the final report serves as a resource guide for families, educators, law enforcement officers,

In a story WIMS is following, on Tuesday at around 12:53pm, a report of multiple gunshots occurred in the 200 block of Karwick Road. Police discovered that the victim, 18 year old Dareon Brown was transported in a private vehicle to the hospital. According to witnesses the suspect fled on foot from the scene. Once at Franciscan hospital the victim was immediately pronounced deceased. As of this time the suspect is still at large. Police personnel with the assistance of witness statements, are actively pursuing the whereabouts of the suspect. Due to the proximity, Michigan City area schools were immediately

Governor Holcomb announced yesterday that applications will be accepted through March 31st for the 2019-2020 Governor’s Fellowship. The Governor’s Fellowship is highly selective and provides a unique experience in Indiana state government by placing fellows in various state agencies on a rotating basis throughout the year. The program is open to college graduates who receive their bachelor’s degrees in either the fall 2018 or spring 2019. Fellows are paid, full-time employees who participate in the day-to-day activities of state government. Many Governor’s Fellow participants have gone on to successful careers in both the public and private sector — with some

Chicago police say two officers investigating a shots-fired call on the city's far South Side have died after being struck by a train. The officers were struck about 6:20 p.m. Monday by a train operated by the South Shore commuter rail line that links northern Indiana and Chicago. During a press conference late Monday, officials identified the officers as 36 year old Eduardo Marmolejo and 31 year old Conrad Gary.

Lieutenant Terry Gose, Commander of the Indiana State Police Lowell District, welcomed five new troopers to the Lowell District, Monday. Five new state troopers reported for duty Monday, December 17, 2018, at the Indiana State Police Post in Lowell.  The troopers are from a class of 54 troopers who just graduated from the 78th Indiana State Police Recruit Academy on Thursday, December 13th at the Indiana State Capitol Rotunda. During the 22 weeks of training the recruits received over 1,018 hours of combined classroom instruction as well as hands-on practical and scenario based training exercises. Some subject areas of training

The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) announced today the posting of program guidelines on the agency’s website for Arts Organization Support and Arts Project Support grants for the upcoming fiscal year and the opening of applications for those grants. “A change the Commission approved is requiring all organizations planning to apply for grants from the AOS III category to submit a letter of intent,” said Paige Sharp, Director of Programs for the IAC. “As in years past, organizations new to the AOS II and AOS I programs also need to submit a letter of intent. Organizations that received funding in these

Yesterday, Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced the end of a second consecutive, record-breaking year for economic development with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) securing 320 commitments from companies across the country and around the world to locate or grow in Indiana. Together, these businesses plan to invest more than $7.38 billion in their Indiana operations and create up to 31,112 new Hoosier jobs in the coming years – the highest annual commitment in IEDC history. These 31,112 new positions are expected to offer average wages of $26.84/hour, or nearly $56,000 annually. This average is more than 20 percent above

Valparaiso Police are investigating the attempted theft of property from the Valparaiso Wal-Mart. The attempted theft occurred on Monday at around 12:30 a.m. The males entered the store and began loading property belonging to Wal-Mart into carts. The men then began to walk out of the store without making any attempt to pay for the merchandise. The subjects were met by a store employee and fled the area in a red SUV, leaving the merchandise behind.If you have information regarding the subjects in the posted photos, please contact the Valparaiso Police Department at 219-462-2135. Information can also be texted to

U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced yesterday that their bipartisan bill, the Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act, unanimously passed the Senate. This legislation will promote federal research on congenital heart defects (CHD) and raise awareness of the impact these health problems have throughout patients’ lives. The Senate-passed Congenital Heart Futures Reauthorization Act increases the funding authorization level for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to $10 million per year, compared to the current funding level of $4 million, which will help states collect data on the prevalence of CHD and understand trends, health care

Early Friday morning, Michigan City Police officers were dispatched to the 100 block of E. US Hwy 20 in reference to a motor vehicle accident with possible injuries. Upon their arrival officers learned that a red 2001 Chevy Silverado was traveling eastbound on US Hwy 20 in an erratic manner when the vehicle suddenly ran off the south shoulder of the roadway just east of the intersection of Franklin Street. Upon leaving the roadway the vehicle collided with a NIPSCO utility pole before coming to a rest on its roof. As a witness attempted to render aid to the driver,

They may be gone but their service and sacrifice has not been forgotten as on this day the Michigan City Fire Department would like to pay tribute to Captain George Dabagia who on March 15, 1958 was fatally injured while fighting a fire at 227 Huron Street. The cause of death was from asphyxiation from smoke inhalation.  In the early years of the Fire Service firefighters had limited personnel protective gear such as the sophisticated breathing apparatus that they now wear. After the death of Captain Dabagia, Mayor Francis Fedder announced periodic physical examinations may be required for policemen and

As a reminder, weekend/holiday train schedules will be in effect on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Information regarding NHL Winter Classic extra train service to/from South Bend will be announced in the coming days. Other holiday schedules and hours: The following extra EB trains depart from Millennium Station, and will not serve Hudson Lake or South Bend. Saturday, Dec. 15 – Extra train departing at 4:25 p.m. (Van Buren St. @ 4:28 p.m.), running non-stop to Hegewisch and making all local stops terminating in Michigan City.Friday, Dec. 21 – Extra train departing at 2 p.m. (Van Buren St. @ 2:03 p.m.), running

Mayor Ron Meer will be battling it out with La Porte's Mayor Mark Krentz in support of the The Salvation Army. Both mayors have agreed to ring a bell to support The Salvation Army in their respective communities. The winner will not only help those in need in their cities, but will also receive an awesome trophy. Meer, along with his friends and family, will manning the kettle at Al's Supermarket at Karwick Plaza from 10am until 8pm on Thursday, December 20th. Beginning at 9AM, Mayor Krentz, along with other officials from the City of La Porte will be ringing