Local News

Indiana Dunes Tourism held its annual State of Tourism event  Thursday, March 15, at Riley’s Railhouse in Chesterton. Lorelei Weimer, the Executive Director of Indiana Dunes Tourism, gave a state of industry presentation, featuring key facts about Indiana Dunes Country’s/Porter County’s tourism market. Ms. Weimer said that the tourism industry is growing exponentially, producing $413.4 million in economic impact for Porter County in 2015 alone, which was an 80% increase from 2000 and generated 5,075 jobs. According to Ms. Weimer, nearly six million people visit Porter County every year, and of that, 3.5 million people visit the Indiana Dunes, making

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly and Chuck Hagel – a Vietnam War veteran, former U.S. Senator, and former U.S. Secretary of Defense – discussed the importance of giving our Vietnam War veterans the welcome home they deserve but that many didn’t receive after the war. In less than two weeks, on Thursday, March 29, 2018, Donnelly will host an event at Plainfield High School for families, friends, members of the community, and all veterans of other eras, to honor our nearly 150,000 Hoosier Vietnam War veterans. Bipartisan legislation authored by Donnelly and Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) permanently designating March 29 as

Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) Secretary Dr. Jennifer Walthall and Indiana Executive Director for Drug Prevention, Treatment and Enforcement Jim McClelland announced a new tool to help Hoosiers seeking treatment for substance use disorder immediately connect with available inpatient or residential treatment services. This new tool is made possible by a partnership between the state, OpenBeds, a software platform that manages health services, and Indiana 2-1-1, a non-profit organization that provides health care and other resource referrals to those in need. The partnership brings together OpenBeds technology with Indiana 2-1-1’s database of service providers to give Hoosiers access

In an effort to accommodate an expected increase in ridership, the South Shore Line will offer additional capacity and an extra passenger train on Saturday, March 17th, Train 606 heading west to Millennium Station will have additional capacity to accommodate passengers heading to Chicago in the morning. Train 606 will make all regular stops to Chicago. In the afternoon, an eastbound passenger extra will run following the parade and dyeing of the river. It will depart Millennium Station at 4:25pm (Van Buren St. at 4:28pm), run non-stop to Hegewisch and make all local stops terminating at Carroll Avenue, Michigan City.

56 year old Sharon Ramos, of South Bend, was sentenced for ten counts of making false entries in government records, two counts of conversion of government money, and one count of wire fraud. Ramos, convicted after a four-day jury trial in November 2017, was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $550,383.66.

Bill payment assistance will still be available after the state’s moratorium on disconnecting electric and natural gas service during the winter for eligible customers ending today (Thursday). Between December 1 and March 15, natural gas utilities in Indiana do not disconnect service to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) customers who are delinquent on their home heating bills. Customers experiencing financial challenges are encouraged to contact NIPSCO to explore the options available to them. For more information on billing options and payment assistance, visit NIPSCO.com/PaymentAssistance or call 1-800-4-NIPSCO (1-800-464-7726).

The American Legion Department of Indiana announced that the Indiana Youth Cadet Law Enforcement Academy is currently accepting applications for the 2018 class. The Indiana Youth Cadet Law Enforcement Academy, which is a partnership between the Indiana Troopers Youth Services and The American Legion Dept. of Indiana, provides first-hand experiences and insight into the operations of law enforcement agencies. The program also affords these highly motivated young people an opportunity to consider law enforcement as a potential career choice. Please visit the https://www.trooper.org/camps website for more registration information and form or contact Sgt. Danielle Elwood Henderson at (317) 450-8720 for information.

Porter County is now hiring for the position of Supervisor - Porter County Highway Department. This position requires knowledge of budget preparation and administration, and estimating materials costs. The incumbent serves on 24-hour call and must be able to work extended hours during emergencies. The full-time position pays $67,299.75 annually. For more information and to download an application visit: https://www.porterco.org/Jobs.aspx

In a press release the Michigan City Police Department stated the following. “Reports from a recent posting by 24/7 Wall St. in USA TODAY, have described the violent crime rate in the Michigan City-LaPorte Metro area to have increased drastically in the last five years. We the Michigan City Police Department dispute this claim and can only speak on our statistical data that we report annually. The article itself is quite contradictory and makes it difficult to interpret. According to 24/7 Wall St. they claim to have reviewed FBI data for nearly 200 metropolitan areas nationwide to identify the cities

The Valparaiso Police Department is investigating a theft/fraud from Best Buy in Valparaiso on March 8th. The individual is a person of interest for obtaining a cellular phone fraudulently by using a identification stolen from someone else. Anybody with information regarding the identity of the individual is asked to call Detective Schafer at 462-2135 or texting information to TIP411 (847-411) and enter "Valpo" as the keyword in the message field prior to sending the information. Check out the WIMS Facebook page for a photo of the suspect.

The La Porte County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating a series of thefts from vehicles and other suspicious activity that has recently occurred in the 7000 to 8000 West block of CR 400 North. This is the immediate area near Creek Ridge County Park. Citizens residing in this area and rural Coolspring Township are being urged and reminded to secure any vehicles that may be parked outside on their property. In addition, the Sheriff's Office is urging citizens to remove all valuable items from all parked vehicles. Anyone who witnessess or hears any suspicious activity is asked to immediately contact

Coming on the heels of President Trump’s FY19 budget—which recommended steep cuts to core Great Lakes programs—citizens from Indiana traveled to Washington, D.C. on March 7 & 8 to urge members of Congress to restore federal support to agencies and programs that restore and protect Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes. The visit is part of Great Lakes Day, an annual affair sponsored by the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition and the Great Lakes Commission in which more than 100 citizens visit Hill offices to underscore the importance of the lakes to Indiana and the region. “Great Lakes restoration

Students in Indiana plan to join students across the country for a nationwide walk-out on Wednesday and a March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C., on March 24. Students at more than 2,500 schools across the United States are planning to walk out of class at 10 am in each time zone Wednesday to protest congressional inaction on gun control. The National School Walkout will be a 17-minute protest, in honor of the 17 people who died in the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month. The walkout is being organized by Youth Empower, a division of the national Women’s

The Purdue University Northwest (PNW) Career Center will host a Professional Educators Fair on Tuesday, March 20 in the Great Hall of the Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex on the Westville Campus, 1401 S. U.S. 421. Students, alumni, and the general public are invited to attend. This event is intended for those pursuing careers in teaching, educational administration, social services, and school or mental health counseling. Public and private school systems from Northwest Indiana, Lafayette, Plymouth, Chicago and parts of Michigan, Texas, and Maryland will be in attendance with multiple employment opportunities available. The fair is free of charge

Michigan City Area Schools is seeking nominations for the 2018 Michigan City Area Schools Wall of Fame. This annual award, first presented in 1976, honors school employees who have made outstanding contributions to the children of the Michigan City Area Schools. Employees from every area are eligible: administrators, custodians, food service personnel, instructional assistants, maintenance personnel, paraprofessionals, teachers, transportation staff, and secretarial staff. To qualify for nomination, the candidate must have been employed by the Michigan City Area Schools for a minimum of 15 years. Special circumstances may be considered for those not meeting the 15 year requirement due to

On Saturday March 24th, Chief Mark Swistek, Captain Ed Beutner, Mayor Ron Meer and the members of the Michigan City Police Department will be hosting the annual 6th annual “Easter Egg Hunt”. Once again the event is in Fedders alley located in Washington Park. Starting at 11am Captain Ed and the Michigan City Zoo will be on hand to entertain the children. At 12:00pm sharp we will start the “hunt”. Everyone is strongly encouraged to arrive early as last year traffic was backed up on Lakeshore Drive at the start of the hunt. The actual hunt will start at 12:00pm

Barker Middle School in Michigan City has been named a Distinguished School by Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a nonprofit organization that offers hands-on curricula in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science. This year, only 12 schools in Indiana received this recognition, which is based on the number of PLTW curricular offerings available to students, the number of students engaged in PLTW, and student success in their PLTW coursework. All Barker students take courses in PLTW's Gateway to Technology track, which encompasses such topics as Design and Modeling, Automation and Robotics, the Science of Technology, Green Architecture, and Energy and

To aid in flood relief efforts for the Hilltop Food Pantry in Valparaiso, Monosol, a Kuraray Division, and its employees contributed $10,000 to help the organization build a new facility. The agency lost 50 percent of its stock due to flood damage following recent heavy rains in Northwest Indiana. Additionally, an anonymous donor will match MonoSol’s contributions, raising total assistance to $20,000. The donation will help the pantry secure a down payment on a new building, after six inches of rain flooded the pantry. Hilltop will move to Heritage Hall at Valparaiso University until May 31st.

Indiana's infant mortality rate is dismal, and advocates hope a new law signed by the governor will be a step towards reducing those numbers. Legislation (SB 360) that guarantees consistent levels of care to Hoosier mothers and infants goes into effect July 1st. It creates a system that makes sure moms or babies who are high risk go to hospitals or birthing centers that have the proper medical staff and equipment to treat them. Indiana University School of Medicine doctor and professor Nancy Swigonski says too many babies are dying and that this legislation is just a start. According to

Michigan City Area Schools is seeking nominations for the 2018 Michigan City Area Schools Wall of Fame. This annual award, first presented in 1976, honors school employees who have made outstanding contributions to the children of the Michigan City Area Schools. Employees from every area are eligible: administrators, custodians, food service personnel, instructional assistants, maintenance personnel, paraprofessionals, teachers, transportation staff, and secretarial staff. To qualify for nomination, the candidate must have been employed by the Michigan City Area Schools for a minimum of 15 years. Special circumstances may be considered for those not meeting the 15 year requirement due to