News

The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office announced all three non-compliant offenders were arrested in Operation Candy Corn.  On Oct. 14, the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) led a multi-agency county-wide compliance check of all Sexually Violent Predators (SVP) and Offenders Against Children (OAC). The sex offender compliancy check, dubbed Operation Candy Corn, targeted 123 SVP and OAC offenders in preparation for upcoming trick-or-treat activities that will be taking place in communities throughout La Porte County. Three offenders, 47-year-old Rodney A. Wood, 38 year-old Charles D. Mercado and 27 year-old Zhavaun P. Savado, were all found to be non-compliant. Detective

The La Porte Civic Auditorium will host the 34th annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Thursday, November 11. The event features the La Porte Honor Guard, dignitaries, a special speaker and La Porte High School music students. All are welcome to attend the event. Donuts and coffee will be served from 9-10:15 a.m. with the ceremony beginning at 10:30. Lunch will be provided for all veterans and a guest at the VFW Post 1130 in La Porte, following the ceremony. The ceremony is sponsored by the Mayor’s Veterans Committee.

There will be a COVID testing and vaccination clinic at the La Porte Al’s Supermarket parking lot, located at 702 E. Lincolnway, now through Oct. 30, daily, noon - 8 p.m. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available. The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine available to kids ages 12 to 17. Vaccines are free.

Family Advocates annual gala, FriendsGIVING will be held at the Civic Center on November 5th.  The CEO and founder of Family Advocates, Karen Biernacki, will be retiring at the end of 2021 and the new CEO will be announced at the Gala at 7:30 pm.  The new CEO is a lifetime resident of La Porte and is very involved in the community.    The event includes a tasting of food and drinks provided by Café Trilogy, NeMa’s Famous Mac & Cheese, Shady Creek Winery, Shoreline Brewery, Journeyman Distillery, and Indiana Beverages.   Sponsors include:  Table sponsor, NIPSCO; Cornucopia Sponsors, Quibit, PNC Bank,

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the company would change its name to Meta to reflect growth opportunities beyond its namesake social-media platform in online digital realms known as the metaverse. Thank you The Wall Street Journal and CBS News for the update. Keep listening at the top of every hour for more updates on WIMS! https://www.wsj.com/articles/mark-zuckerberg-to-sketch-out-facebooks-metaverse-vision-11635413402?mod=hp_lead_pos3&fbclid=IwAR1Rpz-ulpKthAEW8PXpzecnI8oPpP_JR8deCiBVc0gEd5kw8Hr3X955dEk

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is calling for nominations of impactful alumni to be honored in its first induction of a new PNW Alumni Hall of Fame. The callout, a component of PNW’s ongoing 5-75 Roaring Ahead anniversary celebration, will honor distinguished graduates from PNW and its legacy institutions, Purdue Calumet and Purdue North Central. PNW is establishing the Alumni Hall of Fame as part of the yearlong celebration of the fifth year of Purdue Northwest, and the 75th year of both legacy campuses. The inaugural class will be honored at a gala event in June 2022 celebrating the many ways PNW

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

The South Shore Line says with the continued increase in travelers and commuters returning to activities and work in Chicago, an extension of its current Weekday Eastbound Free Ride promotion. With this extension, weekday (Monday through Friday) eastbound trips will continue to be free throughout the months of November and December 2021. The eastbound free rides initially began Sept. 1, excluding weekends, and will now last through Dec. 31, 2021. Passengers should simply board applicable weekday eastbound trains with no ticket purchase necessary. Please do not activate mobile tickets for weekday eastbound trips. Passengers are responsible for paying all applicable

In the final week leading up to the third annual Bolt for the Heart Family Run/Walk, dubbed “Hallowrun,” organizers are focused on providing as many automatic external defibrillators for local law enforcement vehicles as possible. Bolt for the Heart President Pierre Twer said the event is seeing “phenomenal growth,” and more than 25 individuals and companies have donated AEDs through the group’s Hometown Heroes donation program. Through other fundraising and sponsorships through the event, Twer anticipates at least 50 AEDs will be provided. This year’s race is set for 9AM, Saturday, Oct. 30, at Washington Park in Michigan City. One

In Lake County, the left lanes and shoulders of eastbound and westbound I-80/94 will be closed at Calumet Ave/U.S. 41 overnight Wednesday, Oct. 27 to early Thursday, Oct. 28. The closures are for bridge work at the interchange.

Parcel Port will be holding a grand re-opening to celebrate new ownership by Jami Arnold on Nov. 4 at 717 Michigan Avenue, Room 1 in La Porte. To celebrate, the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership will conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony including speeches from Bert Cook, Executive Director of LEAP, Mayor Tom Dermody, and Jami Arnold, Owner and Operator of Parcel Port. The event will take place from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. CST with the ribbon cutting officially taking place at 4:45 p.m. CST. Patrick’s Grille will be catering, and attendees will receive a goodie bag. The community is

The Michigan City Street Department Superintendent Shong Smith has announced that there will be a delay in starting leaf pickup due to the leaves still on the trees in most areas. All residents are encouraged to rake, blow, and/or place their leaves near the street curb along the front of their property. The City says that if residents have branches, they will be picked up along with your leaf piles. The City is asking residents to keep branches separated from leaves. Leaves will not be picked up in alleyways. During the leaf schedule the street department will not be taking

The National Hockey League announced Tuesday that "the Chicago Blackhawks have been fined $2 Million for the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response in the handling of matters related to former video coach Brad Aldrich’s employment with the Club and ultimate departure in 2010. The League and the Blackhawks have decided that $1 Million of the fine money will be dedicated to fund local organizations in and around the Chicago community that provide counseling and training for, and support and assistance to, survivors of sexual and other forms of abuse." Additionally, Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman stepped

Parents, friends, teachers, and other supporters filled the Michigan City High School auditorium on Monday, October 25, as 45 juniors and seniors were inducted into the National Honor Society. NHS President Declan Rice led the induction ceremony, which featured remarks from MCHS Co-Principal Kyle Dean, Michigan City Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins, and NHS sponsor Judy Kovalcik. The focus of the evening was the four qualities of NHS: scholarship, service, character, and leadership. Jocelyn Romero-Gonzales highlighted scholarship, saying, this is “an appreciation of knowledge, searching for the truth ... asking questions, not just when we don’t understand, but also when we do understand but

Although commonly thought of as a respiratory illness, COVID-19 can affect multiple organs, including the heart and vascular system, according to cardiologists with Northwest Medical Group Mild COVID-19 illness is typically recognized by upper respiratory tract symptoms, loss of taste and smell and gastrointestinal symptoms. Moderate illness occurs in about 15 percent of people who may have fever, shortness of breath, cough and lower respiratory tract infection. Severe illness occurs in about five percent of people who develop severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis and shock. “COVID-19 does cause severe illness and death in younger and otherwise healthy people; however, advanced age, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus and

Neuro Vigor, a Purdue University-affiliated biotechnology company developing drugs that neutralize reactive aldehydes, announced Tuesday (Oct. 26) a collaboration agreement with the University of Western Australia to jointly develop proprietary drugs to initially target neurodegenerative diseases and pain in spinal cord injury, or SCI. Reactive aldehydes are highly toxic molecules released by cells in response to external or internal stress and trauma. They increase significantly in inflammatory, neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative disease states, damaging tissue at the cellular and molecular levels, perpetuating a destructive cycle of inflammation and oxidative stress. “This agreement jump-starts the science and technology needed to bring relief to patients