Local News

Northern Indiana Public Service Company LLC (NIPSCO), a subsidiary of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI) , announced yesterday, the selection of three Indiana-based leaders to oversee key business functions aimed to further enhance the company’s efforts to improve service to the nearly 1.2 million electric and natural gas customers across northern Indiana. The appointments are effective immediately. Michael W. Hooper has been named senior vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs and strategy, responsible for the company’s regulatory and legislative activities and formulating NIPSCO’s strategic vision and plans. Hooper is replacing Frank Shambo who will be retiring at the end of

Wednesday, Congressman Pete Visclosky announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a grant to the Construction Advancement Foundation of Northwest Indiana (CAF) under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. The $133,510 grant award will assist the CAF with the creation and implementation of a Crystalline Silica Training Program for construction workers and employers in Northwest Indiana, with a focus on small business employers. The training will include the recognition and correction for exposure to respirable silica produced from certain uses of concrete and other construction material containing silica. Dr. Jim Arendas, Environmental,

U.S. 41 (Calumet Ave.) in Hammond will be closed once again on Oct. 23-24th at the bridge over State Street and the Indiana Harbor Belt railroad while crews pour a bridge deck.

Monday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly received the ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award in Indianapolis. Donnelly was recognized by the Indiana Farm Bureau for his efforts to advocate for Hoosier farmers and rural communities. During the 115th Congress, Donnelly, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has reduced the regulatory burden on farmers, led efforts to expand the use of biofuels, successfully included a number of Hoosier priorities in the 2018 Senate-passed Farm Bill, and pushed the Administration to end the harmful impacts that tariffs have brought on Hoosier farmers. Donnelly has received the ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award for each

Beginning on Monday October 22, 2018, City of Michigan City Departments will be picking up leaves in all areas of the city. Leaf pick-up will occur daily, Monday through Saturday, until all leaves are picked up. All residents are encouraged to rake, blow, and/or place their leaves near the street curb along the front of their property. Compost will also be picked up along with the leaves starting on October 22, 2018. If citizens have branches that need to be picked up, you are asked to please call in your requests to the Central Service Department at 873-1500. The Street

As crews move into the final phase of Ohio Street reconstruction they will be switching traffic patterns. Starting Friday (10/19/18) @ 6:00 AM Ohio Street will be closed to ALL Traffic from just south of Southwind Drive to US Highway 20. Prior to this closure crews will open everything from 400 North (Kiefer Road) to just south of Southwind Drive to two way Local traffic only. During this portion of work they will also be working on residential driveways and sidewalks between South Court and Southwind Drive. D&M stated they are working to finish this project before winter.

A check for $5,000 was presented to Harrison Holtkamp of Interfaith Community PADS, a faith-based organization providing food, shelter, and resources for the homeless population in the Michigan City community. The check was presented to Holtkamp by Father Kevin Huber and the Golf Committee at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. The committee was able to raise the funds through their annual event, which included prize baskets and ticket sales.

This Halloween season, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office is urging parents to use online tools to know the identity of registered sex offenders in the area where they plan to trick-or-treat. An on-line sex offender registry is available for residents of La Porte County allowing parents to conduct a search prior to trick-or-treating to prevent their children from visiting these homes during door-to-door trick-or-treating. There are currently about one hundred seventy-three (173) registered sex offenders residing in La Porte County; fifty-six (56) of which are Sexually Violent Predators and thirty-two (32) of which are classified as Offenders Against Children.

Yesterday, U.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) called on United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to establish a process that allows U.S. companies to request an exclusion from the recent tariffs imposed on $200 billion of Chinese imports. This process would help U.S. companies retain global competitiveness, and would help target the effects of the tariffs on China, rather than on U.S. companies and consumers. Exclusions were established for all previous rounds of tariffs, but have been neglectfully omitted for the most recent tariffs. Reps. Walorski and Kind were joined by a bipartisan coalition of 167 Members

Portage Police say they had a pursuit Monday afternoon. The suspect, a 43 year woman from Lake County was attempting to pass stolen checks at Centier Bank. As the officer arrived the suspect fled north on Willowcreek Road. She drove through the Walgreens parking lot, blowing a tire in the process and then through the city hall parking lot and into the Strack & Van Tils parking lot and then back onto Willowcreek Road. She made a left onto McCasland and lost control when she attempted to turn onto to Swanson Road, which caused her to drive into a resident’s

Chief Mark Swistek and The Michigan City Police Commission, made up of President Michael Palmer, Vice-President Michael Buda and Secretary John Pliske, 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 Isaac Murray and Mark Galetti. Officer Isaac Murray age 22, is the son of Timothy and Cynthia Murray, and is from Wadsworth, Illinois. Officer Murray is currently serving as a Reservist in the United States Air Force as a Senior Airman with two deployments to Turkey. Isaac was

Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry would like to remind ALL hunters and landowners about their deer donation program. After you’ve filled your freezer, you can help to feed those in need in your area by donating to Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry’s “Meat” the need initiative. Just take your deer in to your local meat processor/butcher shop and tell them you would like to donate it to Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry. There is NO charge to you! Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry partners with 82 meat processors statewide and encourages the donation of large game and livestock to their “Meat” the Need initiative,

On October 13th, Troopers were originally dispatched to a two vehicle crash on I-65 northbound lanes at the 225 mile marker. This is about 5 miles north of the Fair Oaks exit in Jasper County. Preliminary investigation shows that at around 7:20 p.m., a crash occurred between a Buick and a Hyundai Sonata being driven by 30 year old Andrew Tagli, of Mokena, IL. The Buick had become disabled prior to the crash due to it having lost the front driver’s side tire. The Buick was partially sticking out into the left lane when it was struck by the Hyundai

The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) has recently enhanced steps to identify and confront businesses engaged in illegal activity by using illegal sales transaction manipulation devices or computer programs, often called tax zappers. Tax zappers delete or modify sales transactions with the intention of avoiding paying income, sales and/or food and beverage tax. Businesses are often approached by unscrupulous marketers of these devices with the false promise of this illegal practice going unnoticed. DOR is ensuring it’s not. DOR has established a team of forensic fraud analysts, tax auditors, tax attorneys and investigators to research and adopt best practices to

As crews move into the final phase of Ohio Street reconstruction they will be switching traffic patterns. Starting next Friday (10/19/18) @ 6:00 AM Ohio Street will be closed to ALL Traffic from just south of Southwind Drive to US Highway 20. Prior to this closure crews will open everything from 400 North (Kiefer Road) to just south of Southwind Drive to two way Local traffic only. During this portion of work they will also be working on residential driveways and sidewalks between South Court and Southwind Drive. D&M stated they are working to finish this project before winter.

The Duneland Chamber of Commerce will be conducting an essay contest to kick off their Hometown Holiday Celebration being held on Saturday, November 24. Whether it’s good smells, twinkly lights, warm company or an extra sense of peace in your heart, the Chamber would like to hear from you. Share your favorite holiday memory. The winner will win a $50 gift card, conduct the fifth annual tree lighting ceremony in downtown Chesterton and be the grand marshals in the Twilight Christmas Parade. The essay must be 500 words or less and be a written by a Duneland resident under the

This past Thursday, Valparaiso Police were notified of a potential threat to Valparaiso High School and opened an investigation. The threat was made online and police immediately identified the juvenile subject. The juvenile subject, who is not a Valparaiso Community School student was arrested and charged with intimidation. The subject was detained at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center. Police continue to investigate the incident.

Michigan City High School senior Zennon Wilhelm has been named a Commended Student in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program. Wilhelm, son of Nicole Harvey and Jeff Wilhelm, has taken a full load of AP, Honors, and Dual Credit courses at Michigan City High School. He has excelled in Physics and Math at the high school level and earned a perfect score of 5 on the AP Physics exam. He also has taken several Project Lead the Way Engineering courses at MCHS. This year, through a partnership with Purdue Northwest, he attends PNW during the school day for an advanced

The Michigan City Parks & Recreation Department announces that registration is now open for the Michigan City 2018 Adult Volleyball Co-Ed & Women’s Leagues. Rosters are due Friday, October 19th. The season begins Tuesday, October 23rd. For additional information, contact Abigale at the Michigan City Parks & Recreation Department at 219-873-1506.

Attorney General Curtis Hill hascalled on the Federal Communications Commission to create new rules to allow telephone service providers to block more illegal robocalls being made to consumers in Indiana. He is part of a bipartisan coalition of 34 attorneys general issuing a formal comment to the FCC. The formal comment explains that scammers using illegal robocalls have found ways to evade a call-blocking order entered last year by the FCC. Despite the FCC’s order, robocalls continue to be a major irritant to consumers in Indiana and across the United States. In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission received 4.5 million