Local News

On Tuesday morning, a Sheriff’s Office Deputy was dispatched to Luhr County Park (3178 South CR 150 West), in rural Scipio Township, regarding an abandoned pickup truck. The responding deputy determined the registered owner of the pickup truck to be 45 year old Russell A. Aldridge. The previous day, a Failure to Appear Arrest Warrant was issued for Aldridge. Aldridge failed to appear in Superior Court I as a defendant for a jury trial that was scheduled to begin that morning. In June of 2016, probable cause was found charging Aldridge with 4 counts of Class “A” Felony Child Molestation

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating a boat incident that occurred on Lake Michigan near Whiting Beach. Two Personal Watercraft’s were operating near one other, outside of the Whiting Beach (Hammond Area) on Wednesday afternoon, when they struck one another resulting in a severe head injury to one of the operators. The identity of each operator are were being withheld, at the time of a press release from Indiana DNR Law Enforcement, due to the age of the people on board each vessel. One of the operators was air-lifted to the University of Chicago from East Chicago and is stated to

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Great Lakes Regional Administrator, Rob Scott is encouraging those affected by the severe storms and flooding from Feb. 14 through March 4, 2018 in Indiana and Michigan to register for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and submit completed SBA disaster loan applications to get the help they need. The disaster declaration covers Carroll, Clark, Dearborn, Elkhart, Floyd, Fulton, Harrison, Jasper, Jefferson, Kosiusko, Lake, La Porte, Marshall, Ohio, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Spencer, Starke, Switzerland, Vanderburgh and White counties in Indiana which are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from

The Indiana State Police received a tip on Wednesday about a person wanted on a federal warrant. Information was given about the person driving a semi that was going north bound on I-65 near Crown Point. Trooper Kim Zelnis was in the area and was able to locate the semi, a red 2019 International, owned by Arizpe Transportation and Logistics LLC out of Laredo, Texas. The semi pulled over on the outer shoulder near 61st Avenue where a felony stop was made. The driver, identified as 41 year old Ismael Rios III of Laredo, Texas, was wanted on a federal

The La Porte County Drug Task Force announced the arrest of two individuals on narcotics and weapons charges. Thirty-two year old Damien L. Smith of Michigan City was arrested at The Tall Timbers Apartment Complex for two counts of Dealing Cocaine. On Monday June 18th, members of The LCDTF, and The Fugitive Apprehension Street Team (FAST) arrested Smith on these charges, along with an outstanding warrant for Revocation of a Suspended Sentence on an unrelated narcotics charge, as well as 3 Body Attachments totaling nearly $50,000. Smith is being held at The La Porte County Jail without bond. While members

Behind the Scenes Tour Wednesdays are from 7-9 PM today, July 18th, and August 15th. Venture into off-limits spaces during this intimate tour of Michigan City’s most historic building. View the basement, closets, and former servants’ quarters. Tour lasts about two hours, the cost is $15 per adult or $10 per senior or youth, ages 15 and under. Reservations taken on Eventbrite. Tour begins at 7 pm Central Time.

The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) released its newest report on the Partnering Arts, Communities, and Education (PACE) program written by Dr. F. Robert Sabol of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. The PACE 2016-2017 Project Report reflects a collection of data on student growth in six elementary schools across the state over the past two years, during which time students received a year-long intensive arts education program. The report looks at multiple key skills and knowledge points of the students including student self-image, engagement in learning, vocabulary development, and writing skills. The report shows the PACE program model has steady, promising

CareEnroll, a company focusing on assisting patients enroll in health care plans and maintain coverage, today announced plans to expand its LaPorte-based headquarters and Fishers-based satellite office. The company, which was founded in 2015, plans to employ nearly 200 associates by the end of 2021.The company will invest more than $3 million to renovate and update its 14,400-square-foot headquarters at 1900 W. Severs Road in LaPorte, investing in building enhancements and new equipment and software. The new renovations will foster a collaborative work environment for the company’s growing team, which includes an expanded break room with canteen-style food and beverage

Porter County Sheriff’s Officers responded to a single vehicle, single occupant, fatal crash late Monday afternoon. Based on witness statements and initial investigation by officers on scene; the vehicle, a Jaguar, was northbound on State Road 49 south of the CR 900 North overpass when the Jaguar drove off the roadway of the northbound lanes of St Rd 49 into the median for unknown reasons. The vehicle then continued northbound in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes of St Rd 49, when it disappeared into the opening that leads to the railroad tracks underneath on CR 900 North.

The League of Women Voters LaPorte County will present the city of LaPorte’s Mayor Mark Krentz as their speaker for the July 10 Dinner with the League. Mayor Krentz was elected Mayor in August, 2017, after Mayor Blair Milo accepted a position in Governor Eric Holcomb’s cabinet. Mayor Krentz’s previous experiences include being a member of LaPorte’s Board of Public Works and Safety, director of La Porte Savings Bank, and C.E.O. of Thanhardt-Burger Corporation, among a host of other civic activities. He will begin the evening with an opening statement, and looks forward to a question and answer dialogue with

Yesterday, Gov. Eric Holcomb outlined the immediate steps he will take to improve the state’s Department of Child Services (DCS)—including tapping the state’s surplus to increase support to the agency in key areas and appointing a new associate director to implement the recommendations of a just-completed agency assessment. The Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group (CWG) conducted the six-month assessment of the agency and developed 20 recommendations based on its findings. Gov. Holcomb called for this thorough review of the agency in Dec. 2017. The CWG report outlines 20 recommendations aligned to CWG’s findings regarding DCS’ strengths and challenges. The

A pair of ramps previously scheduled to close Tuesday, which connect I-94 to U.S. 20/U.S. 35 in LaPorte County, will now remain open for a while longer and will be closed for a shorter period of time once they do close as crews continue to work on a resurfacing project in the area. The ramps affected are the eastbound I-94 ramp (Exit 40B) connecting to U.S. 20 W/U.S. 35 N and the westbound I-94 ramp (Exit 40A) connecting to U.S. 20 E/U.S. 35 S. They will now remain open for up to two weeks and, once the closure occurs, it

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly helped the Senate pass the bipartisan annual national defense bill, which includes a number of provisions he led or supported that would support Indiana’s role in our nation’s defense and protect American security interests and U.S. defense-related jobs. Last week, Donnelly spoke on the Senate floor about his work to support Indiana’s role in the national defense and on protecting U.S. defense-related jobs. The Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would support our troops and give them a pay raise, protect critical American national defense industry jobs, and bring resources to a number

Join the La Porte Chamber of Commerce for a breakfast on Tuesday June 26th at 8:00 a.m. to  hear special guest speaker Frank Cardello from the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board (NWIWB). The breakfast will take place at Bethany Lutheran Church, located at 102 G Street, La Porte. Frank Cardello is the treasurer of NWIWB and will present an overview of the Board and its significant role in the region. Mr. Cardello’s presentation will cover the NWIWB’s work on human capital development and the initiatives, resources, and incentives available to employers. The cost is $12 for Chamber members and $17 for

Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.2 percent for May and remains lower than the national rate of 3.8 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana's unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for more than four years. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force. Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 15,928 over the previous month. This was a result of a 2,659

On Saturday morning, La Porte County Sheriff's Office Deputies were dispatched to the intersection of US 6 and US 421, South Junction to a two-vehicle crash. Deputies arrived at the scene and began the crash investigation. One of the drivers, 89 year old Donald Machler of La Porte, died in this crash. Deputies at the scene requested the assistance of the Sheriff's Office Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (FACT). Members of FACT responded and have started an open investigation. Alcohol has been ruled out as being a factor in the crash.

Friday, Attorney General Curtis Hill announced a $100 million multistate settlement with Citibank for fraudulent conduct involving USD LIBOR -- a benchmark interest rate that affects financial instruments worth trillions of dollars and has a widespread impact on global markets and consumers. (The acronyms stand for “U.S. Dollar” and “London Inter-bank Offered Rate.”) forty-two state attorneys general involved in investigating this matter allege that Citibank misrepresented the integrity of the LIBOR benchmark to state and local governmental, not-for-profit, private, and institutional trading counterparties by concealing, misrepresenting and failing to disclose these facts: -Citibank, at times, made USD LIBOR submissions to

Friday, Indiana U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski applauded the passage of dozens of bills in the House aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic through prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement efforts. Next week, the House will consider legislation Walorski introduced to improve access to non-opioid pain treatments. The bill is named for Dr. Todd Graham, the South Bend doctor who was shot to death after refusing to write a prescription for opioid painkillers. The measures approved by the House include legislation to: Crack down on the shipment of illicit synthetic opioids into the U.S. from overseas -Prevent drug traffickers from circumventing

  Road construction crews have began the Johnson Road resurfacing project. The project will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 will be from US Highway 35 to CR 300 North. Phase 2 will be from CR 300 North to the area of US Highway 20. In the active construction zones, Johnson Road will be limited to one lane of travel. Motorists who must utilize Johnson Road should expect slowed traffic, traffic backups and large equipment being operated. LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office stated “If traveling along Johnson Road during this project, please adhere to the additional construction zone signage, maintain

SR 14 in Jasper County will be closed starting Monday, June 18, until early August between I-65 and CR 900 as part of a resurfacing project. Earlier this year, SR 14 was closed from U.S. 41 to SR 55 in Newton County due to safety concerns after a harsh winter. That stretch will also be resurfaced as part of this project. In addition, the section of SR 14 between SR 55 and I-65 will be resurfaced later this year, but will remain open until then. We’ll have more details on this project as it approaches.