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State Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie) joined fellow legislators at the Statehouse Tuesday for the Indiana General Assembly’s Organization Day. Organization Day marks the ceremonial start to the 2019 legislative session. It occurs annually in November, providing state lawmakers time to gather together, meet new members and prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Members of the House of Representatives are partnering with the Indiana Division of The Salvation Army to increase awareness about childhood hunger. Advocacy groups report nearly half of all food-insecure households in Indiana have children living there, and 33 percent of those being served at Hoosier food

The Indiana State Police is now accepting applications for the 79th Recruit Academy. Individuals who are interested in beginning a rewarding career as an Indiana State Trooper must apply online at https://www.in.gov/isp/2368.htm. This website will provide a detailed synopsis of the application process as well as information on additional career opportunities with the Indiana State Police. Applications must be submitted electronically by 11:59 pm (EST) on Sunday, February 10, 2019. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted for the 79th Recruit Academy. Interested applicants can obtain additional information about a career as an Indiana State Trooper by visiting

The public is invited to get a glimpse of the future of healthcare and tour the new Franciscan Health Michigan City at an open house celebration from noon to 4 PM on Dec. 8. The new Franciscan Health Michigan City includes 123 private, inpatient rooms and robust outpatient services with advanced diagnostic imaging equipment. Along with getting a preview of the facility and the new technology inside, visitors can gain insight into their own health through screenings, including body mass index, bone density, hepatitis C, blood glucose, pulse oximetry and blood pressure. Families are welcome, with activities planned for kids,

Dr. Tamara O’Neal, who was killed Monday in a shooting at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago, was a physician with the Emergency Physicians Medical Group, contracted to work as an emergency room physician at Franciscan Health Michigan City for a little less than a year. Dean Mazzoni, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City, said in a statement she was respected and well liked. “Dr. O’Neal was well liked by everyone on our medical and nursing staffs while she was here. She was very kind and Christian-focused in her approach as an ER doctor. Our heartfelt condolences

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has submitted the final plan for spending $40.9 million awarded to the State of Indiana from the national Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust. The funding will be used for projects designed to alleviate nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions caused by Volkswagen vehicles. Indiana’s final plan was submitted to the Trustee of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust. The plan lays out the expected allocation of funding for project categories that may be used during a 10-year period for various projects permitted by the settlement’s consent decree. The next steps in this process

The Michigan City High School (MCHS) Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (MCJROTC) won the Midwest Sectional Drill Meet this past Saturday. This qualifies the cadets to compete in the MCJROTC Region 1 meet in Reading, PA on March 2nd, with the chance to qualify for the National Meet in Washington, DC on April 13th. These trips will be done at no cost to MCHS or the cadets. They are fully funded by the Marine Corps. The other qualifiers from the Midwest Sectional were Chicago Pritzker College Prep, Indianapolis Ben Davis, and Portage. There are 21 MCJROTC schools in

Four people have died after a shooting last night at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. Samuel Jimenez, a young cop with less than two years with the department has been identified as one of the victims.   Hospital officials said emergency room doctor Tamara O'Neal, who grew up in Portage, and first-year pharmacy resident, Dayna Less, a recent graduate of Purdue, were the other victims in the shooting.  The gunman is the fourth confirmed dead.  At this time it is unknown whether he died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds or from police gunfire. Tune in to CBS News at the top of every hour on WIMS for more

The Porter County Sheriff's Office would like to welcome their newest K-9 Officer, 14 month old Malinois/Shepherd mix, Django (pronounced Jango). Django started his first official shift November 5th with his handler Officer Alec Kostelnik. Django comes from F.M. K9 in Berrien Center, Michigan.

The Purdue University Northwest Sinai Forum concludes its 2018 season by featuring Lou Holtz, the legendary college football coach who led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a national championship, at 4 p.m. CST, Sunday, Dec. 2 in the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex located at 1401 S. U.S. Highway 421 on the Westville Campus. The doors open at 3 p.m. Students showing a valid high school or university I.D. may attend at no cost. Patron-level ticket holders are welcome to attend the pre-program speaker reception.

Franklin Street Bridge will be closed today from 5am-6am for maintenance repairs. Please seek an alternate route.

It’s projected that more than 54 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this Thanksgiving, which would be the most since 2005 and almost a five percent increase over 2017. With construction season winding down, impacts on major thoroughfares from construction should be pretty minimal. In the Northwest District: I-80/94: The left shoulder is closed in both directions between Colorado and Clay streets, just east of Gary in Lake County. I-65: The shoulders are closed in both directions between State Road 2 and State Road 14 in Lake, Newton and Jasper Counties. U.S. 41: The right lane is closed

Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales is recalling approximately 91,388 pounds of raw ground turkey products that may be associated with an illness outbreak of Salmonella Reading, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Friday. The raw ground turkey products items were produced on September 11, 2018. The following products are subject to recall: 1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 93% LEAN | 7% FAT" with "Use by" dates of 10/01/2018 and 10/02/2018. 1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O TACO SEASONED GROUND TURKEY" with a "Use by" date of 10/02/2018. 1-lb. packages of "Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 85% LEAN | 15% FAT"

Last Tuesday night, Michigan City Police Department officers were dispatched to Taco Bell, on Franklin St. in  Michigan City reference an armed robbery that just occurred. Officers were told that an unknown male suspect entered the restaurant and instructed employees to open the cash register as he held a gun to the head of one of the employees. The employee complied and opened the cash register.  The suspect removed an undetermined amount of currency and fled the restaurant. Witnesses said that the suspect arrived and left in a light colored 4 – door vehicle, being driven by an unknown white

Applications for the 2019 Innovate WithIN ™ pitch competition, a statewide initiative hosted by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Indiana Department of Education (DOE) and Ball State University, are now open to high school students across Indiana. Student teams are invited to submit video pitches online before Feb. 6, 2019, and new to this year's program, middle school students interested in entrepreneurship are invited to register for workshops offered at the regional competitions in early 2019. Innovate WithIN ™ , which is in its second year, gives Hoosier students the opportunity to create their own business plans and showcase

The Valparaiso Police Department is seeking high school students that represent good citizenship and have an interest in a law enforcement career. The Department is again sponsoring the Junior Police Academy in 2019. The academy consists of two classes per week, starting February 18, 2019 through May 1, 2019 and are scheduled for 2-3 hours, per topic presented. The course is designed for high school students to meet officers and learn about the daily activities of police work. The topics presented include: traffic enforcement, crash investigation, crimes against young people, drug investigation, physical tactics, K9, SWAT, and various education topics

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) released the 2017-2018 School Accountability Grades. Roughly 22 percent of schools improved one or more letter grades, with nearly 9 percent improving their letter grade to an A. Overall, close to 64 percent of schools received an A or B. Due to differences between federal and state accountability equations and standards, IDOE also released federal accountability grades for the 2017-2018 school year. Roughly 67 percent of public schools received the same letter grade for both state and federal accountability systems, with 31 percent of schools receiving a higher letter grade on the state accountability

Chesterton Fire Department has installed Safe Haven Baby Box #5 at Station #500 (702 Broadway, Chesterton). The Safe Haven Baby Box is positioned on the east side of the fire station. This is the 5th Safe Haven Baby Box installed and second since 2018 law (Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department in La Porte County and Woodburn Fire Department in Allen County). Chesterton Fire Dept is second station staffed 24/7 to install a Safe Haven Baby Box since new Indiana law. Safe Haven Baby Boxes cost roughly 10K to install. The City of Chesterton has been taking donations for this project

Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb led the Jobs for America’s Graduates’ (JAG) national board of directors meeting on Thursday, in Washington D.C. Gov. Holcomb was elected in January 2018 to serve as JAG’s national board chair. JAG has served over 1.2 million youth in its history and is currently helping 63,000 young people in 1,250 schools and other locations in 34 states achieve academic, career and life success. After more than two decades of operation, JAG has proven to be one of the most cost-effective and successful state-level strategies for tackling high dropout rates, low academic performance, youth unemployment and

Winter will have to come and go before shovels will penetrate the dirt on the lot located at Ohio & 9th Street, but there's plenty of work to be done indoors as Marquette and Habitat for Humanity prepare to construct a new home. The two organizations have begun their search for a family to take ownership of the home, which figures to be completed in late spring of 2019. In fact, Marquette and Habitat for Humanity hope to identify that family before Christmas. One of the many benefits of taking ownership of a Habitat for Humanity home is that the

The LaPorte County Drug Task Force announced the arrest of 24 year old Luis F. Sosa-Ortega of South Bend for Dealing in Cocaine. The LaPorte County Drug Task Force began an investigation in the spring of 2018 when information was provided by the public that Sosa-Ortega was supplying cocaine to individuals within LaPorte County. Following an investigation, evidence was presented to the Honorable Judge Michael Bergerson in La Porte County Superior Court #1 by The LaPorte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  Probable cause was established, and a warrant was issued for the arrest of Sosa-Ortega. On Thursday November 15th, the La