News

One person died in a multi-vehicle crash on I-94 early Thursday in Michigan City.  A trooper was dispatched at 5:30 a,.m. to a single vehicle rollover crash on the eastbound lanes of I-94 at the 36.8 mile-marker.  The vehicle, a 2005 Dodge Ram, had rolled to a rest in the far-right lane.  The driver, exited his vehicle and was standing away from it when his vehicle was struck by a Chevrolet cargo van.  After hitting the truck, the van spun directly into the path of a semi tractor-trailer.  That semi then struck the passenger side of the van.  The driver

La Porte County Symphony Orchestra Music Director Dr. Carolyn Watson is keeping her conducting schedule filled with guest appearances this season. In addition to her duties as the LCSO’s Music Director and the Director of Orchestra Studies at the University of Kansas, she has guest conducted the Amarillo Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Austin (TX) Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra as well as her long standing association with Interlochen. The La Porte County Watson is also in demand as the guest conductor of several All-State Orchestras. This season alone, she has been asked

The Michigan City High School Student Council presented the official food drive traveling trophy to students and staff at Knapp Elementary School on Wednesday. The final tally of results showed that Knapp collected the most food per student in the annual Food Drive, which was hosted by the MCHS Student Council. The district-wide food drive is organized by the Student Council every year as a community service effort, and every school in the district participates. This year, the 11 MCAS schools collected more than 4 tons of food, in total. Knapp collected the most at 2,684 pounds of food (or

The La Porte County Family YMCA is calling all families with youth in grades 7-12th to be a part of their free Welcome Night on Jan. 18. The La Porte County Family YMCA is launching their new Youth and Government Teen Program. This is open to members and non-members, but space is limited so they ask that participants limit the number of people attending to up to 3 people per family. RSVP by emailing Iesha Grove at iesha@indianaymcas.org. Additional details are located on the flier for this story.

The City of Valparaiso has announced that warming centers are available when temps and wind chills dip below freezing. Warming centers encourage masks and social distancing. Locations and times include: • Valparaiso YMCA, (219) 462-4185 1202 Cumberland Crossing, open Monday – Friday 5:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Saturday 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. • Porter County Public Library, Valparaiso Branch (219) 462-0524 103 Jefferson Street, open Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Friday 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. • Housing

Indiana Conservation Officer Alex Toth has been selected the 2021 District 10 Officer of the Year. Toth is assigned to LaPorte County and has been a conservation officer since 2017. In addition to his normal duties as a field officer, he also serves as a public safety diver and is a passenger-for-hire inspector. District 10 includes Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Lake, Pulaski, Jasper and Starke counties in northeast Indiana. The district award puts Toth in the running for the Pitzer Award, which is given to the top overall conservation officer in the state of Indiana and selected from the 10 district

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) has announced the creation of an endowed scholarship to benefit graduates of Thomas A. Edison Jr. Sr. High School in Lake Station.  The Helen and Frank Korpak Memorial Scholarship has been established by Dr. Jorge and Nancy Benavente and Lillian Gaskill in honor of Helen and Frank Korpak of Lake Station. The gift honors Nancy’s parents and Lillian’s sister. Benavente says with the scholarship they’d like to encourage students who graduate from Edison Jr. Sr. High School to further their education at Purdue Northwest. Benavente added that they’d also like to give people who previously graduated

The Chesterton Police Department says it would like to speak to anyone who has information on the whereabouts of 30-year-old Rachel Denise Serrano from Chesterton, the Town of Chesterton is reporting. The family says Serrano was last seen by family on Friday, Dec. 17, last heard from on Christmas, Saturday, Dec. 25. According to CPD, "on Dec. 17, Serrano left her family’s home in her silver 2012 Kia Sedona, after leaving a note indicating that she was running an errand. Serrano did not return, however, and was not heard from again until Christmas Eve, Friday, Dec. 24, when she called

An ordinance which designates LaPorte County as a “Broadband-Ready Community” is headed to the State of Indiana for consideration, the LaPorte County Broadband Task Force said on Tuesday. The LaPorte County Commissioners, on December 1st, voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to the State of Indiana which designates LaPorte County as a “Broadband-Ready Community”. The ordinance advises the state that LaPorte County is “laser-focused” on finding solutions and strategies for those struggling for access to high-speed broadband services in LaPorte County. The ordinance which was spearheaded by the members of the LaPorte County’s Rural Broadband Task Force is being submitted

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) has announced Anne E. Gregory as its next dean of the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (CHESS) effective Jan. 3, 2022. She was selected through a national search process. “Dr. Gregory’s leadership in similar roles both at PNW and her past academic institutions prove her abilities and energy to take the College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences to new heights,” said PNW Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Kenneth C. Holford. “Anne has demonstrated success in curriculum and program development, building external relationships, student retention, and external scholarly achievement. Her experience shows she will continue collaborating

Unity Foundation of La Porte County is now accepting applications for the 2022 cycle of scholarships and awards. The deadline for submission is Friday, March 25, 2022. Scholarship awards average over $2,000 each. In addition to graduating high school seniors and continuing college students, many of the scholarships are also open for adults looking to get a professional certificate, or associate, undergraduate, graduate or doctoral degree. For the 2021-2022 school year, Unity awarded more than $330,000 in scholarships to approximately 150 students. “While Unity loves investing in our students, we can only do so because of forward-thinking donors. It is these unsung heroes who established these

Holcomb unveils 2022 Next Level Agenda Governor Eric Holcomb on Monday announced his 2022 Next Level Agenda, which focuses on strengthening the state’s economy and focusing on areas that support that growth, including workforce training expansion, improving early childhood education efforts, advancing infrastructure projects, and increasing access to public health services. The 2022 Next Level Agenda details both legislative and administrative priorities in five categories for the year ahead.   Economic development To continue the momentum of a robust economic development environment, the agenda focuses on working with the legislature to eliminate the business personal property tax on new equipment

CLH, CPAs & Consultants, an accounting and business consulting firm with offices in Michigan City and Valparaiso, recently announced Senior Manager Kylee J. Fraze Norman, CPA, is taking on a new role as Tax Department Lead.   In her new role, Kylee Fraze Norman will oversee tax software for the firm, including the implementation and oversight of tax department protocol. She will also be responsible for coordinating staff development and training in areas of taxation, developing internal processes, and upholding quality control standards.   Conducting tax research will also be an important part of her role, as Fraze Norman will

Sheriff John T. Boyd of the La Porte County Sheriff's Department officially announced the transfers of Deputies Marvin McCoy and Deputy Derrick Deck, effective Jan. 1, 2022. Deputy McCoy returns to the Patrol Division while Deputy Deck assumes the role of School Resource Officer (SRO) for the La Porte Community School Corporation, specifically as the primary SRO for La Porte High School (LPHS). Deputy McCoy is a 26-year veteran of the LCSO. Since August of 2013, he has served as the SRO at LPHS. Deputy Deck is a 3-year veteran of the LCSO. Until now, he was assigned to the

The cadets of the Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) supported MCHS by providing the Color Guard for the basketball game against Penn and helping set up and then tear down for the MCHS wrestling tournament on December 23rd.  The military drill team was also practicing for their competition at Portage on February 26th.  This meet is a precursor to the MCJROTC Regional Championship meet on March 12th at Purdue University in West Lafayette.  The winner of that meet will compete in the MCJROTC championship in Orlando, Florida in April.  The cost of

The Town of Chesterton is sharing information that Tuesday is the start of the Street Department’s annual Christmas tree recycling program, according to Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg. Weather permitting, crews will start collecting natural Christmas trees on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The Town of Chesterton says to leave your Christmas trees at curbside on the regular scheduled day of your refuse and recycling pickup. If a crew doesn’t collect it, call the Street Department at 926-2222. They are also reminding that all lights, ornaments, and decorations must be stripped off the tree first.