News

The South Shore Line, in partnership with Indiana Operation Lifesaver, is once again participating in National Rail Safety Week this week. Their teams will continue to spread awareness of rail safety to the surrounding communities where they operate. On Thursday, South Shore representatives will be present at Millennium Station throughout the morning commute, distributing educational materials about train and grade-crossing safety, answering any questions, and listening to commuters' safety concerns. The blitzes are part of their ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the importance of safe behavior around their trains and tracks. The rail safety programs include free presentations by

The Valparaiso Police Department is seeking assistance in the search for 33 year old Nicole J. Narug, of Valparaiso. Nicole was last seen on Wednesday, September 15 at approximately 12:00 p.m. in a 2000 block of Calumet Ave.  Nicole was further contacted by phone on this day at approximately 1:30 p.m.   Police say Nicole has medical needs that require medication, and it is unknown if she has doses of the medication in her possession.  Nicole is described as a white female, 5’7, 161 pounds, with brown hair, and blue eyes. There is no current clothing description available on Nicole.   If

On Friday the La Porte Police Department congratulated CPL. Joe Toth on his retirement from the LPPD. Over the last 20 years, Toth served in the detective bureau, as well as an Emergency Response Team Leader and as a day shift supervisor.  The La Porte Police Department said on their Facebook page, “You would be hard pressed to find a more respected, caring and harder working police officer. The void left by his retirement will be felt for sometime and we are better as a community for having had him serve with LPPD. Thank you, Joe, for your many years of

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development recently released the state’s unemployment report for August. Indiana’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 4.1 percent for August, and the national rate is 5.2 percent. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force. Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 2,499 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 813 unemployed residents and a decrease of 1,686 employed residents.  Indiana's total labor force,

The following is a statement from Joe Haney of The La Porte County Board of Commissioners, District 3: I have three daughters and one of things I've taught them is that “No” is more than just a single word. “No” is a complete sentence. I don't need to give any further explanation to someone sitting 700 miles away, unconstitutionally writing things down on a piece of paper and trying to impose his will over the free will of 80,000,000 plus Americans. I do however, want to speak directly to the over 110,000 citizens of La Porte County who have entrusted me with the office of County

Representatives of Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development visited the LaPorte County Career & Technical Education’s Construction Technology program at the A. K. Smith Career Center on Friday, September 10, to recognize it as a State “Earn and Learn” (SEAL) program. SEAL certification is granted to career centers, high schools, and/or employers that have developed comprehensive work-based learning programs with education and industry partners. The A. K. Smith Construction Technology program was the first in the state of Indiana to integrate a “Career Connections” curriculum developed by the Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund, a program of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC). The material, which includes units

The Following is a statement from La Porte Community Schools Superintendent Mark D. Francesconi: We would like to thank everyone for their cooperation this week as we transition to the updated COVID-19 Intervention Plan. Our schools have demonstrated their commitment to keeping healthy students in the classroom. As always, we respect direct feedback from our school community, and have received numerous phone calls and emails from people voicing their support, as well as concern regarding the face covering requirement. This week we received a petition against the face covering requirement stated in the recent COVID-19 plan. As well, a peaceful

Earlier this week Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department (Porter County) escorted a family home with their newborn twins who had only a 15 percent chance of survival. After months spent in the hospital since April, Brandon and Megan Simpson embraced the welcoming of their twin girls, Riley and Hailey home by escort from Liberty Township Fire Department late Monday night to their home in Chesterton. Captain Brandon Simpson, who has been a volunteer firefighter for over 20 years continues to support operations at Liberty Fire and was joined by his extended family at Liberty. In April, the twins had a

The 16th Annual Hoosier Star competition was held on Saturday, September 11 at La Porte’s Civic Auditorium.  Ten youth and adult finalists from six communities in Indiana competed for the title of Hoosier Star. In a “first” for the Hoosier Star competition, Joseph Giuliani of La Porte won the Youth Division followed by his sister, Afyah Giuliani, the 2nd place winner, also of La Porte. In addition, Adult Division winner, Jarynn Sampson of South Bend, became the first former Youth Division winner to earn the top Adult Division award. Kim Kurtis of Valparaiso was the Adult Division's 2nd place winner. Lola White , of New Albany, was awarded the Joe

Purdue University says if you want to save big on your air conditioning bills to wait a few years to coat your home with the world’s whitest paint.  It may dramatically reduce or even eliminate the need for air conditioning. The paint, developed at Purdue University, has earned a Guinness World RecordsTM title. The record appears in the 2022 edition of Guinness World Records, available for purchase starting Thursday (Sept. 16). Breaking a record for the whitest paint wasn’t a goal for the researchers – curbing global warming was. “When we started this project about seven years ago, we had saving energy and

On the South Shore Line, due to 43rd Street bridge work taking place on Sept. 18 and 19, passengers on westbound train 510 (arriving @ Millennium Station @ 11:43p) and eastbound train 601 (departing Millennium @ 12:45a) will be bused between Metra’s 51st/53rd St. Station and Millennium Station Saturday night into Sunday. Train 510 and train 601 will not serve Van Buren Street, Museum Campus/11th Street or McCormick Place stations beginning 11:30 p.m. on Saturday and continuing until Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. Passengers seeking to board/detrain at these stations on train 510 or train 601 are advised to utilize

Lubeznik Center for the Arts, one of 278 nonprofit organizations throughout the state of Indiana, has been awarded American Rescue Plan Act funds through the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC). Each organization received $3,000 through the program. The grants were distributed through IAC’s Arts Recovery Program with American Rescue Plan Act funds directly from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) with additional NEA funds through Arts Midwest, Indiana’s regional partner. LCA says that grant funding from organizations such as IAC and donations from corporations and private individuals, as well as member subscriptions, allows the organization to continue its mission to

The Indiana State Department of Health updated the weekly Covid county advisory levels on Wednesday. Porter County is in yellow level at a 1.5 out of 3. Lake, St. Joseph and Jasper counties are at an orange level with a score of 2. LaPorte and Starke counties are at an orange level with a score of 2.5. Newton County is at a red 3 out of 3 level. 

Michigan City Police say that one person is dead after a drug overdose Sunday afternoon.  Officers were dispatched to 300 Block of South Street at 12:30 p.m., in reference to a drug overdose.  When officers arrived they assisted LaPorte County EMS and Michigan City Fire Department with 20-year-old Michigan City resident Dennis E. Barger III, who appeared to be under the influence of opiates. Barger III was immediately transported to Franciscan Health Michigan City where he was later pronounced deceased.   While Officers were speaking with witnesses, a second Michigan City resident, a 26-year-old female, also showed signs of being under

The Save the Dunes organization was able to literally save a dune through a partnership with the Town of Long Beach, and funding provided in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan Coastal Program.  Beginning in 2019, Save the Dunes and the Town of Long Beach began the project to restore the natural dune habitat and enhance public access at “Stop 24”, one of the town’s public dune and lakeshore access sites. Save the Dunes said that Stop 24 was overrun with invasive plant species, and that the path to

Michigan City Police are seeking to identify individuals who robbed a gas station Monday morning. Police say that on Monday at 5:03 a.m. the GoLo gas station located at 1701 Greenwood Ave. was robbed by three African American males. These males then ran north away from the business following the robbery.  Police say residents that live directly north of the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and South Woodland Ave are asked to review any residential surveillance systems they may have from 5 to 5:10 a.m. to look for individuals running or entering a vehicle during this time. Police are asking the

A Covid testing and vaccination clinic is available in La Porte at Rural King Parking Lot (East end of the lot, behind Walgreens) now through Saturday Sept. 18 from noon-8 p.m. Rapid antigen and PCR tests are available. The vaccine is free. You can choose either Pfizer (two vaccines) or Johnson & Johnson (one dose). 

The Valparaiso Police Department is pleased to announce the arrival of K9 Keno, assigned to Lt. Jerame Simpson, to the department.  K9 Keno is an 18-month-old Dutch Shepherd, who was purchased with funds obtained from the Porter County Substance Abuse Council Community Grant. Keno and Simpson recently completed full utility training at F.M K9 of Berrien Springs, Michigan, from where Keno was purchased. The certification falls within the North American Police Work Dog Association standards, in which all Valparaiso Police K9 teams meet annually.  Keno is now certified in narcotic detection, tracking, building/area search, article search, and obedience.  Simpson is