Local News

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

The 2017 film, “The Glass Castle”, will be presented at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 15 at the Michigan City Library, 100 E. Fourth St., Michigan City, through a collaboration between the Purdue University Northwest Odyssey Arts and Cultural Events Series and the Michigan City Public Library. The screening is free and open to the public. “The Glass Castle”, based on Jeannette Walls’ memoir of the same name, recounts the unconventional upbringing Walls and her siblings had at the hands of their dysfunctional parents. The film is rated PG-13.

Chesterton Police say they have received multiple calls from citizens reporting they were contacted by a representative from N.I.P.S.C.O. about their account being past due. CPD is warning residents to not give anyone any banking information over the phone or send a money order. Contact N.I.P.S.C.O. directly (800-464-7726) if you believe your account could be past due. If you know your account is up to date disregard the call.

Staying active is a no-brainer when it comes to improving how you look and feel, yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 44 percent of Indiana adults are getting the recommended amount of aerobic physical activity. This month the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, is challenging everyone to get moving. Move More Month is part of the association’s Healthy For Good movement, which inspires people everywhere to make lasting changes in their health and their lives, one small step at a time.

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. The eighth scam in the 12-part series is falsely inflating deductions or expenses on tax filings. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) are the two most commonly abused. These credits were designed to benefit low and moderate-income taxpayers. The EITC is a credit for qualified individuals who work and have earned income under $45,000. To claim this credit you must

It’s that time of year again, when riding your bike to work is made possible with the South Shore Line’s Bikes on Trains program. Bike cars are now available on select weekday rush hour and select weekend/holiday trains until Oct. 31. Bike-rack equipped train cars are clearly marked with a bike symbol prominently located on the windows of the car to indicate they are bike rack-equipped in addition to regular seating. Bike-rack equipped trains include weekday Trains 6, 106, 11 and 111. For more information and to find bike-rack equipped weekend trains, please visit our Bikes on Trains web page,

The La Porte County Drug Task Force announced the arrest of 27 year old Kyle S. Dilley of Michigan City. On Friday, Detective Kyle Shiparski was on duty and traveling in the area of East 10th Street and Maple Street in Michigan City. Detective Shiparski observed a parked vehicle in which two occupants appeared to be unconscious in the front seat. Detective Shiparski was able to wake both occupants, one of which was identified as Dilley. During this, illegal drugs were observed in the vehicle. A subsequent investigation ensued by the La Porte County Drug Task Force which resulted in

The public is invited to bring their “brown bag” snack and learn a little about bees in your garden during the final session presented by La Porte County Master Gardeners. This session will focus on aspects of taking care of honeybees for your garden. The last session in the Brown Bag Gardening Series on Wednesday, April 18, will feature Steve Lesniak, apiarist for Peace Bees, LLC. Get a “jump-start” on gardening this year by participating in one or all of the sessions in the award-winning Brown Bag Gardening Series, sponsored by the La Porte County Master Gardener Association. The public

The 2017 film, “The Glass Castle”, will be presented at 2 p.m., Sunday, April 15 at the Michigan City Library, 100 E. Fourth St., Michigan City, through a collaboration between the Purdue University Northwest Odyssey Arts and Cultural Events Series and the Michigan City Public Library. The screening is free and open to the public. “The Glass Castle”, based on Jeannette Walls’ memoir of the same name, recounts the unconventional upbringing Walls and her siblings had at the hands of their dysfunctional parents. The film is rated PG-13.

Yesterday at around 1:00 pm, officers with the South Bend Police Department were dispatched to the 2000 block of Western Avenue in reference to a person armed with a knife, threatening to kill a resident and others. When officers arrived, they were confronted by the knife wielding perpetrator. During the course of the incident, an officer discharged his firearm. The perpetrator was rendered aid and rushed to the hospital. Despite lifesaving attempts by medical personnel, he died. Pursuant to protocol, the County Metro Homicide Unit was activated to investigate this matter. CMHU detectives have interviewed a number of residents, neighbors

In an effort to accommodate an expected increase in passengers due to the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo and the Black Women's Expo April 6-8 at McCormick Place, The South Shore Line will offer additional capacity and an extra passenger train on Saturday, April 7, 2018. Train 606 heading west to Millennium Station will offer 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 train will depart Millennium Station at 4:25 p.m. (Van Buren St. at 4:28 p.m.), run non-stop to Hegewisch

Indiana High School robotics teams are fine-tuning their robots after advancing to the state championship from their respective district events. Kokomo Memorial Gymnasium will be transformed for the state championship competition April 13 & 14. The teams will battle each other for a few coveted positions to represent the state of Indiana at the World Championships April 25th-28th. Going into the State Championship the IndianaFIRST district leader is TechHOUNDS from Carmel Indiana and they lead with 142 district points. Ranked second is Team THRUST from Huntington Indiana with 115 district points, and Kil-A-Bytes from Indianapolis Indiana is ranked third with

On Tuesday, at approximately 6:30pm, Porter County Multi-Enforcement Group (PCMEG) received information regarding stolen guns being inside a residence in the 1400 block of Winterpark Drive in Whispering Sands Mobile Home Community. PCMEG had been informed the guns, believed to be inside the residence, were from a burglary that occurred in Valparaiso City limits earlier that morning. PCMEG was able to secure a search warrant for the residence and located the following stolen items: 4 long guns, 1 handgun, numerous rounds of ammunition, numerous knives, jewelry, numerous prescription pills also belonging to the burglary victim and marijuana inside the residence.

Slick roads lead to a rough commute in many portions of the area on Wednesday including a major backup on U.S. 20. All lanes of US 20 are were at a standstill due to semi-tractor trailers being unable to gain traction on the icy surface. As a result, there was significant traffic backups in both directions along US 20 between State Road 39 and State Road 2.

The La Porte County Drug Task Force announces the arrest of 28 year old Steven Britzke of La Porte, following an investigation. On Tuesday March 27th, 2018 The La Porte City Police Department responded to The Blue Heron Inn on a report that Britzke who had an active arrest warrant was currently at that location. Shortly after the arrival of the La Porte Police patrol division, and detective bureau, Britzke was located trying to exit the rear of a room, and was taken into custody. Cpl. Ken Iliff of The La Porte County Drug Task Force responded to the scene,

Valparaiso-based Smith Ready Mix is planning to construct a new concrete batch plant in St. Joseph County. The company will invest $2 million to build the facility in an industrial area being developed by the county near New Carlisle. The plant is expected to open this summer and create 15 jobs. In March, the St. Joseph County Council changed the zoning of the property from agricultural to manufacturing in order to accommodate Smith Ready Mix's plans. The company also has plants in Valparaiso, East Chicago, Cedar Lake, Schererville, Chesterton, Westville and DeMotte.