News

 Robotic lung surgery, a minimally invasive technique that has advantages over traditional surgical methods, is now benefiting patients at Franciscan Health Crown Point. Thoracic surgery specialist Jason Fitzgerald, MD, began performing lung procedures in June 2021 using the da Vinci Xi surgical system from Intuitive Surgical, Inc. Many of the surgeries he’s done have been on cancer patients. “You can do more complex procedures with smaller incisions, so they recover faster and have less pain,” Dr. Fitzgerald said. Traditional open surgery requires the surgeon to make a large incision in the chest and then spread the ribs to see the

On Wednesday, Oct. 6, LaPorte County Commissioner Sheila Matias kicked off the first of many business reports in the LaPorte County WORKS! segment of the LaPorte County Commission meeting.  At each commission meeting, Commissioner Sheila Matias will highlight a local company so that they can focus on jobs in LaPorte County and not only “Shop Local” but also “Work Local!” At the most recent Commission meeting, Commissioner Matias presented Sullivan-Palatek, a family-owned air compressor equipment manufacturing company founded in 1984; the company has 149 employees and is currently hiring. At future meetings, Matias will continue to honor local businesses, highlight

Franciscan Physician Network Cardiology Crown Point has welcomed board-certified cardiologist Tahir M. Khokher, MD, and board-certified nurse practitioner Julia Ross, NP, to its staff of heart specialists. Dr. Khokher received his training at Sindh Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. He had his residency at Finch University of Health Sciences, Chicago Medical Center in Chicago and his fellowship at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. His clinical interests include heart failure, coronary artery disease, acute coronary syndrome, valvular heart disease, nuclear cardiology and arrythmias. Additional languages spoken include Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi. Nurse practitioner Ross received her Master of Science in nursing

Coming on the heels of Hispanic Heritage Month, Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is proud to celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) by welcoming Coco junior novelization author Angela Cervantes for a two-day visit to its Hammond and Westville campuses to meet with PNW and Northwest Indiana students. In addition, PNW’s Building Community Through the Arts program will host a Día de los Muertos celebration from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2 in Alumni Hall at the Student Union and Library on the Hammond campus. The event is a blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture that invites families

During October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, staff at the Franciscan Health Breast Center Michigan City emphasize their work to remove barriers and enhance opportunities for early detection. Mammography technician Julie Lemon says women should get a mammogram at age 40, or earlier if their family has a history of breast cancer.  For a screening mammogram, an order from a doctor is not needed, but patients must have a doctor they have seen in recent years to take the report. Mammography centers in Michigan City and Chesterton are equipped with the latest technology and staffed by five imaging specialists, each with

Michigan City Police have released a video along with photos of the suspect involved in the Sept. 30 robbery of Horizon Bank.  The video has been posted to the Michigan City Police Department Facebook page. The Michigan City Police Department would ask anyone who may know this individual, may have witnessed this incident, has any additional information, or has video surveillance / cell phone video of this incident, to contact Lieutenant Anna Painter at (219) 874-3221; Extension 1077 or at apainter@emichigancity.com. The investigation is ongoing.  Michigan City police are also reminding  the public that you can contact them via Facebook

In LaPorte and Starke counties, U.S. 30 will be reduced to one lane in each direction between State Road 39 and U.S. 35 beginning "on or after" Monday, Oct. 18 for bridge work over the Kankakee River and Shearing Ditch. Lane closures will alternate between the passing and driving lanes. Work will be ongoing for approximately five days, and all schedules are weather dependent.

There will be a mobile food distribution in Michigan City at Marquette Mall outside the old Carson Pirie Scott store on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon. United Way, through a partnership with Food Bank and CCH, is providing both non-perishable and produce, offered free of charge. All items will be pre-boxed. The event is first come, first served, for up to 250 households, while supplies last. The limit is one box per household. The event is for those in need of food assistance. This will be a drive-thru distribution. Participants are asked to remain in their vehicle and pop

This past Thursday, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office coordinated a County-wide compliance check of all sexually violent predators and offenders against children. The operation, named Operation Candy Corn Compliance, was a multi-law enforcement agency operation with deputies from the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office, investigators from La Porte, Kingsford Heights and Michigan City Police, Michigan City Fugitive Apprehension Street Team (FAST), La Porte County Drug Task Force, Indiana Department of Corrections Parole Agents and United States Marshals Service all participating in the sex offender compliance check. All one hundred twenty-three (123) of the classified and registered sexually violent predators

The Valparaiso Police Department on Friday added a new officer with the swearing-in of Jonathan Hazen.  Mayor Matt Murphy performed the ceremony within the council chambers of City Hall.  Chief Balon, with numerous officers and civilian staff, joined several members of Jonathan’s family, who were in attendance to witness the event.  Jonathan is a 2001 graduate of Valparaiso High School and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University in 2005, while majoring in Computer Graphics Technology.  Jonathan further served in the United States Army, having attained the rank of Sergeant as a member of the 2nd Battalion, 75th

The public can see several species of owl such as the Screech, Barn, Barred, Snowy, Great Horned Owls at Humane Indiana’s upcoming Festival of Owls. Humane Indiana’s Wildlife team is gearing up for its 6th Annual Festival of Owls, sponsored by Cleveland Cliffs, Urschel and NIPSCO, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23. Humane Indiana CEO, Brian Fitzpatrick said the event quickly outgrew the space at the not-for-profit’s Wildlife Center located in Valparaiso. In addition to the live owl species, the event also offers an exploratory science station where kids can dissect owl pellets, use microscopes to look at owl feathers while

The La Porte Park and Recreation department is reminding the public about the dedication celebration of the Kesling Park disc golf course from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday. The ribbon cutting will take place at 11:15 at the first hole (just east of the 18th Street parking lot), followed by a skills clinic for anyone interested in learning how to play disc golf. The celebration will also include music, refreshments and giveaways. The park department is thanking the Healthcare Foundation of La Porte for funding the course installation.  For more information on the dedication celebration or disc golf course, contact

Horizon Bank announced the promotion of Tracy Woolsey to Senior Vice President, Senior Corporate Sales and Customer Experience Officer at 515 Franklin Street in Michigan City, Indiana. Woolsey joined Horizon in 1999 and has over 20 years’ experience working with business owners acting on behalf of Horizon as Trustee of their Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).  As an ESOP Trustee, Woolsey oversaw the company valuations, reviewed their financial statements and negotiated the purchase and sale of hundreds of these businesses stock into and out of the ESOP.  In addition, Woolsey oversaw Employee Benefit plan administration, retirement plan design, implementation, development,

Unity Foundation of La Porte County is supporting area nonprofit and community service agencies with its most recent round of ‘Power for Good’ Community Grants, totaling nearly $200,000 for 74 local projects throughout La Porte County. These grants will help local organizations provide vital access to education, literacy, prevention and supportive services for local residents. The applications were evaluated by a committee of dedicated members from throughout La Porte County.  You can see the lists of 2021 Grant Recipients, their programs/projects receiving funding, donors, organizations who provided funding assistance and corporate sponsors on the Unity Foundation of La Porte County’s

Natural gas market prices will cause potentially higher winter heating bills compared to last year, according to NIPSCO.  NIPSCO says that due to current market price projections for natural gas and assuming normal winter weather, its natural gas customers could expect to see increased costs this winter compared to last year, which it says is a trend across much of the country.  Each year, NIPSCO and other Indiana energy providers provide a forecast for home heating bills during the upcoming cold weather season. Projections take into account market forecasts, supply trends and storage levels, and are based on normal weather

The La Porte County Symphony Orchestra welcomed six new Board members who started in August.  Dr. Rima Binder, a resident of Long Beach, is retired from the faculty of Northeastern Illinois University and currently serves as Vice-President of the Friendship Botanic Gardens Board of Directors. Binder is also President of the American Chapter of the Lithuanian University Women’s Association. Dr. Ashley Kirkwood is an Obstetrics & Gynecology Specialist with Northwest Health in La Porte. Originally from London Ontario, Canada, Kirkwood graduated from St. George’s University Medical School and has been affiliated with Northwest Health for six years. Cecelia Largura will

The Indiana State Department of health updated their weekly COVID county advisory level map on Wednesday. La Porte, Porter, and Lake counties remain at the yellow level with a score of 1.5. St. Joseph County remains at an orange level with a score of 2. Jasper County moved up from an orange level with a score of 2 to an orange level with a score of 2.5. Starke County has moved up from an orange level with a score of 2.5 to a red level to a score of 3. Newton County moved down from a red level with a

The La Porte County Health Department released the following statement Wednesday regarding an environmental incident at the Meijer Gas Station in Michigan City: “Local Health Departments are required by statue (IC 13- 23 - 16) to inform the public of the discovery of released regulated substances at an underground storage tank site or in the surrounding area under 329 IAC 9- 4 - 1 (1) or a pill or overfill under 329 IAC 9- 4 - 4 (a). The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) was notified on October 11, 2021, of such an incident from the owner or operator

Franciscan Health says their annual diaper drive has already reached unprecedented levels with enough donations to purchase up to half a million diapers, more than ten times the number from the previous year’s drive. Franciscan Health Foundation Executive Director Rick Peltier credits Foundation Board Chair Joe Allegretti’s desire to make a bigger impact in the drive’s fifth year. Allegretti reached out to the Medical Executive Committee at Franciscan Health Dyer/Hammond/Munster to see if they could provide donations to help purchase far more than the 44,198 diapers collected in the 2020 drive. The Medical Executive Committee responded with a $20,000 gift,