Local News

The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) continues to partner with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share the top tax filing season concerns referred to as the “IRS Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2018. Avoiding paying taxes by hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts is the eleventh scam in the 12-part series.  Offshore tax cheating is a long-running scheme to evade paying taxes by hiding income in offshore banks, brokerage accounts, foreign trusts, employee leasing schemes, private annuities or insurance plans. Individuals then access these funds through debit cards, credit cards or wire transfer. While there are legitimate

A group of students from Krueger Middle School in Michigan City spent Spring Break in the Tampa Bay area on a science field trip. The group snorkeled in Rainbow River with manatees, kayaked in a mangrove forest, visited the Clearwater Aquarium, and conducted a biodiversity study of the Gulf, among other activities. The trip was coordinated by Krueger Science teacher Kate Triemstra and also involved schools from New York, California, and Washington state. Each spring, MCAS middle school students are able to join in the spring break study trip; next April the group will travel to Washington, DC.

The Michigan City Police Department has just completed their participation in the OPO Blitz 93 covering St Patrick’s Day for Dangerous Driving. During OPO Blitz 93 St Patrick’s Day for Dangerous Driving the Michigan City Police Department had 18 extra patrols working 59hrs in overtime. Officers stopped 99 vehicles. One warrant arrest was made for False Identity Statement, one Runaway arrests, one arrest for false Identity.  Non-custodial arrests; 2 Never Receiving a License, 2 Driving While Suspended Prior. Officers wrote 71 Citations; 48 Seat Belt violations, 2 Suspended Prior and 1 Suspended infraction, 1 No Valid License, 1 Expired License

The Indiana Department of Education announced the 2017 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Mathematics and Reading Results for Indiana on Tuesday. As reflected in eighth grade reading, Indiana was one of eight states to have a significant score increase. Since 2015, Indiana’s overall student score for eighth grade reading increased four points to 272. In overall student scores in fourth grade mathematics and fourth grade reading however, there was a one point decrease. In 2017, Indiana’s overall student score for fourth grade math of 247 is eight points higher than the national average score of 239. To view the

On Tuesday, in a joint hearing of the United States Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, U.S. Senator Todd Young from Indiana called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to implement stronger protections for Facebook users and their online privacy. “I represent the honest, hardworking people of Indiana, and I keep returning to the question of: What are reasonable consumer expectations of privacy? What does the average Hoosier think, when they think about their information online,” said Senator Young. “While the scope of this problem is unclear, I believe consumers all over the internet are certainly less protected than they should be

Renowned writer and Boston surgeon Atul Gawande explores the relationships doctors have with patients nearing the end of life in the “Frontline” documentary, “Being Mortal,” which will be presented from 6–9 p.m., Wednesday, April 11 in Alumni Hall, Student Union & Library, at Purdue University Northwest, 2233 173rd St., Hammond. The film presentation will be followed by a panel discussion addressing the issues in caring for the dying. Panelists include Dr. Y. Frantz Brignol, Dr. Vatsai Patel, Father Ted Mauch, Bioethicist Jana Lacera, and Nina Stur, Associate Director of Patient Care Service, St. Catherine’s Hospital, East Chicago. This event is

A $5 million alliance between the PNC Foundation and DonorsChoose.org, is entering its second year of providing new resources to Head Start and public pre-K classrooms across the PNC footprint. The effort provides much-needed educational supplies and experiences to help prepare young children for success in school and life. From now through May 31st, PNC will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations that support public pre-K and Head Start teachers’ project requests in the PNC service area listed on DonorsChoose.org, subject to restrictions and a maximum dollar amount. The duration of the match campaign depends on the number of project requests and donations.

It takes women more than 15 months to earn what men earn in 12. But pay inequality is not the only discrepancy Indiana women face in the workplace. Today is Equal Pay Day, symbolizing how far into 2018 women would need to work order to make the same amount men did in 2017. Data from the U-S Census shows the 2018 wage gap between women and men is about 20 percent. President of the National Organization for Women Toni Van Pelt explains pay inequality impacts women their entire careers, affecting vacation time, retirement savings and other aspects of life. According

The City of Michigan City, Economic Development Corporation Michigan City, Michigan City Chamber of Commerce, Blue Chip Casino, and the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board and WorkOne will be hosting the 3rd Annual Michigan City Community Job Fair on Wednesday, April 18th. The Community Job Fair will take place in the Stardust Room at the Blue Chip Casino, 777 Blue Chip Drive in Michigan City, from 1:00 pm–4:00 pm. The event will be open to the public and attendees are encouraged to bring multiple copies of their resume, dress in business attire, and be ready for on-site interviews. Over 50 employers,

On Sunday evening, emergency responders were dispatched to the Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department in reference to the La Porte County E-911 Regional Dispatch Center receiving an alarm from the “Indiana Safe Haven Baby Box”. Shortly after the dispatch, Mr. Charles Kohler, a Coolspring Township Volunteer Firefighter, arrived and immediately went to the “Baby Box”. Mr. Kohler reported to a Sheriff’s Deputy that upon opening the “Baby Box”, he located an infant inside. Mr. Kohler removed the infant from the “Baby Box” to medically evaluate the baby. A La Porte County Emergency Medical Service Ambulance arrived a short time later.

Join PFLAG Michigan City & LaPorte County Meeting (Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Michigan City and LaPorte County Chapter on Tuesday, April 10th, at 6:30 pm. Join them in learning about LGBTQ+ resources available in our area. There will be a panel of presenters. Please come prepared with any questions you’d like to ask and kindly record resources to share with our resource directory committee. Meetings are for those 18 years of age and over—are held the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm and will always include advocacy, education, and support. We meet at PARC

The La Porte County Public Library will celebrate World Creativity & Innovation Week on Tuesday, April 17 from 4:00pm – 7:30pm in Spark Labs at the Main Library, with support from the YALSA grant awarded to the library, by having adult and teen volunteers work side by side to lend a hand and make a difference assembling 3D printed parts into prosthetic hands. All assembled hands will be donated to enablingthefuture.org. All ages are welcome to come and take part in this wonderful community event. Don’t know about 3D printing? Want to learn more of what happens at Spark Labs?

Porter County Sheriff’s Officers were called to a single vehicle fatal crash early Sunday morning. Initial investigation showed that a 2013 Chevy Equinox was traveling westbound on US Hwy 12 just east of Tremont Road when the vehicle went off of the roadway to the right for unknown reasons. A passerby observed the vehicle fully engulfed in flames, into a tree. The two occupants, whose identities have not been confirmed due to the crash and fire, were located deceased inside of the vehicle. Porter County Coroner’s Office will be releasing information on the victims when identification has been confirmed and

As Indiana residents are busy trying to get their paperwork in order to file income-tax forms by the Apr. 15 deadline, scammers are busy, too – trying to take their money. Now that it's time to file income-tax forms again, people in Indiana and across the country are getting calls from scammers who pretend to be with the I-R-S. Mandla Moyo with A-A-R-P Indiana says many folks are intimidated when they hear from someone claiming to be from the federal government, and thieves know that. To file a tax return electronically, all someone needs is a name, date of birth

State revenue in March missed the most recent forecast by nearly $43 million. The Indiana State Budget Agency says last month's total of just over $1 billion is also nearly $22 million below the same month in 2017. However, the state says the monthly estimate for March was affected by having fewer processing days. The General Fund revenue totals fell below projections by 4 percent. The state says revenue not processed in March will carry over into April. The estimates are based on the revenue forecast, which was most recently adjusted in December. The SBA says sales tax, corporate tax,

At approximately 7:05 PM on Sunday, Coolspring Township Firefighters received an alarm from their fire station alerting them that the baby box had been accessed. Lt. Chuck Kohler was the first to arrive at the station one minute after being notified and found an newborn infant in the baby box. La Porte County Emergency Medical Service and the La Porte County Sheriff's Office also responded to the fire station. The infant was transported by ambulance to Franciscan St. Anthony's hospital in Michigan City, Indiana. The infant appeared to be in good health and had no apparent medical issues.    

The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations that May 1 is the filing deadline for federal economic injury disaster loans in Elkhart and LaGrange counties in Indiana as a result of frost and freeze on May 7 - 9, 2017. Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or

An anti-shoplifting program developed by Corrective Education Company (“CEC”) and implemented by Walmart at 36 Indiana locations created legal issues and questions that warranted a review by the Indiana Attorney General. Upon receiving notification of the Attorney General’s concerns, Walmart voluntarily agreed to discontinue the program. The Attorney General’s Office began its review of the CEC program following a request for a legal opinion by Tippecanoe County Prosecuting Attorney Pat Harrington. Harrington reported his concerns that the CEC agreements employed by Walmart in Tippecanoe County were “private” agreements to relinquish law enforcement action, which Harrington believed to be inappropriate and

The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) is instituting a one-time grace period for all businesses required to file an Annual Withholding Reconciliation (WH-3) form for withholding tax. All employers were statutorily required to file the WH-3 form by January 31, 2018 for the 2017 tax year. However, the one-time grace period extends the deadline to April 30, 2018, to encourage all businesses to be in compliance. Every business identified by DOR’s records who has not submitted a WH-3 this year, will receive a letter with instructions on how to file a WH-3. All W-2 forms must accompany the annual WH-3

La Porte County Sheriff John T. Boyd announced the release of the 2017 Annual Report. The amount of calls for service in 2017 rose 17%. Offenses investigated rose 10%. Also in 2017, the Sheriff’s Office became certified in the National-Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) which provides different requirements as to how offenses are classified. With this, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office became the first Sheriff’s Office in Indiana to receive the NIBRS certification. In 2017, a total of 4,256 subjects were arrested by Deputies of the Sheriff’s Office, a 5% increase. A 40% increase in traffic citations occured in