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Congressman Todd Rokita led a letter with 15 congressional cosigners to the General Services Administration (GSA) calling to rebid their contract with Citibank due to the company's new sale policies that target customers wishing to exercise their legal Second Amendment rights. “This flagrant disregard for American citizens and their God-given Second Amendment rights cannot be tolerated,” said Congressman Todd Rokita. “Those who seek to undermine those God-given rights do not deserve taxpayer dollars and should be denied federal contracts. Congress has sworn to uphold the Constitution, and it is paramount that we stand united for the American people and their

  Congrats from TEAM WIMS to Michigan City RoboBlitz. STATE CHAMPS! The final match score was 353 to 192 in the Indiana Robotics State Championship. Team #1747 Harrison Boiler Robotics of West Lafayette - Red Alert of Greenwood, #868 - TechHounds of Carmel and #3936 - Robo Blitz of Michigan City are First Robotics IN State Championship title holders!

In the early hours Friday, Ogden Dunes Police received a report of suspicious persons seen around a car on Sunset Trl. Investigating Officers located and detained a Red Pontiac occupied by three male subjects. Inside the car was located several computers and other items. Further investigation revealed that several cars in Town on the West side have been entered and items stolen. Three subjects are in custody. If your car was entered whether anything was stolen or not please call ODPD at 762-4125.

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels has announced plans to once again freeze tuition on the West Lafayette campus. The move marks the seventh consecutive year of holding the line on tuition, which now extends through the 2019-2020 academic year. The university says combining the tuition freeze with room and board rates which have been held flat or lowered and potential textbook savings through Purdue's partnership with Amazon, the total cost of attending Purdue is lower than it was in the 2012-2013 academic year. Purdue estimates families have saved a total of about $465 million through the deferral of tuition, fee,

Friday, Governor Eric Holcomb joined Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe McGuinness and state and local officials in Columbus to mark the start of the 2018 Next Level Roads construction season. Officials kicked off construction for the year by breaking ground on a $143 million expansion of Interstate 65 between Columbus and Seymour. Across the state, more than 900 projects will be under construction on INDOT routes alone during 2018, representing a statewide investment of more than $1 billion. INDOT has developed a new user-friendly, interactive map to make it easier than ever for Hoosiers to find out which projects

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly released the following statement after the U.S. military launched strikes with the United Kingdom and France in response to the Syrian regime’s recent chemical weapons attack on its own civilians. Donnelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said, “The recent chemical weapons attack was the latest in a series of barbaric actions by the Assad regime. I support tonight’s international military response, which demonstrates that there are consequences for using chemical weapons on innocent civilians. Now, I want to hear from the president, the military, and our diplomatic leaders on the strategy moving forward.”

Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson is reminding Hoosiers that early and absentee voting for the May Primary Election has begun. From now until May 7, any eligible voter can cast an absentee ballot in-person at their county clerk’s office or request an absentee ballot by mail. Voters who chose to vote absentee in-person have until noon on May 7, the day before the primary election, to cast their ballot. Voters who choose to vote by mail may request an absentee ballot online at www.indianavoters.com or from their county clerk’s office. Request for absentee ballots by mail must be delivered by April

Sheriff John T. Boyd announced that the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office will be participating in the 4th Annual Northwest Regional Sheriff’s Camp later this year. This year’s camp will be held on August 7th, 8th and 9th at the Indiana Dunes State Park from 8:00AM-4:00PM each day. The cost of the camp is $40.00 per camper. A lunch, snacks and drinks will be provided to the campers each day. The camp is open to girls and boys of the four (4) participating counties between the ages of nine (9) and fourteen (14). Applications for the camp can picked up

The La Porte County Sheriff's Office is announcing an upcoming Town Hall Meeting hosted by the Sheriff's Office and La Porte Police Department. The meeting will take place April 24th, at Cummings Lodge. The doors will open at 6:30 PM and the meeting will begin promptly at 7:00 PM. Members of the Sheriff's Office and La Porte Police Department will be present to field questions from the public. Citizens are encouraged to attend the event so they can be provided with further information about the various aspects of the two agencies.

The "Energy Efficiency in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin's Industrial Compressed Air Systems" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report focuses on analyzing energy use, energy efficiency, and CO2 emissions-reduction potential in industrial compressed air systems in these 5 selected East North Central U.S. states. One of the major barriers to effective policy making and increased action by states and utilities to improve energy efficiency in industrial compressed air systems is the lack of information and data on the magnitude and cost-effectiveness of the energy savings potential in industrial compressed air systems in each state. For more

Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) released the following statement after voting for a balanced budget amendment Thursday: “I am disappointed in tonight’s vote. Families in northeast Indiana make tough decisions every day to balance their budgets and live within their means, and Washington ought to do the same. I will keep fighting for a balanced budget amendment, a vital step toward reining in spending and addressing our nation’s growing debt.” Because the legislation is a Constitutional amendment, it required the support of two-thirds of the House to pass. Thursday’s vote was 233-184, short of the two-thirds threshold. Congressman Banks spoke in

Purdue University President Mitch Daniels has announced plans to once again freeze tuition on the West Lafayette campus. The move marks the seventh consecutive year of holding the line on tuition, which now extends through the 2019-2020 academic year. The university says combining the tuition freeze with room and board rates which have been held flat or lowered and potential textbook savings through Purdue's partnership with Amazon, the total cost of attending Purdue is lower than it was in the 2012-2013 academic year. Purdue estimates families have saved a total of about $465 million through the deferral of tuition, fee,

In an update to a story WIMS has been following, The La Porte County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 47 year old Jeffrey J. Bilyak of Chesterton following an investigation by members of the Sheriff’s Office Fatal Alcohol Crash Team (FACT) and Detective Bureau. The criminal arrest warrant was issued for Bilyak for the following charges: Operating A Vehicle While Intoxicated Causing Death, Reckless Homicide and two counts of Operating A Vehicle While Intoxicated Resulting In Serious Bodily Injury. Wednesday, Bilyak surrendered himself at the La Porte County Jail for the above listed charges on the arrest warrant. Bilyak

The Michigan City Police received an unfortunate call of criminal mischief occurring at the St. Stanislaus cemetery Thursday morning at 7:30am. Upon arrival of the cemetery staff, they discovered that approximately 50 grave headstones and statutes were knocked over or damaged. Additionally, a portion of the outer fence was damaged in the incident. Immediately upon hearing this disturbing information, Chief Mark Swistek sent additional officers to this area including Greenwood Cemetery to access any other damages. With this ill-fated occurrence, it appeared to be a random act of vandalism that was completely irrational. With the help of the Indiana State

The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) continues to partner with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share the top tax filing season concerns referred to as the “IRS Dirty Dozen” tax scams for 2018. Avoiding paying taxes by hiding money or assets in unreported offshore accounts is the eleventh scam in the 12-part series.  Offshore tax cheating is a long-running scheme to evade paying taxes by hiding income in offshore banks, brokerage accounts, foreign trusts, employee leasing schemes, private annuities or insurance plans. Individuals then access these funds through debit cards, credit cards or wire transfer. While there are legitimate

A group of students from Krueger Middle School in Michigan City spent Spring Break in the Tampa Bay area on a science field trip. The group snorkeled in Rainbow River with manatees, kayaked in a mangrove forest, visited the Clearwater Aquarium, and conducted a biodiversity study of the Gulf, among other activities. The trip was coordinated by Krueger Science teacher Kate Triemstra and also involved schools from New York, California, and Washington state. Each spring, MCAS middle school students are able to join in the spring break study trip; next April the group will travel to Washington, DC.

The Michigan City Police Department has just completed their participation in the OPO Blitz 93 covering St Patrick’s Day for Dangerous Driving. During OPO Blitz 93 St Patrick’s Day for Dangerous Driving the Michigan City Police Department had 18 extra patrols working 59hrs in overtime. Officers stopped 99 vehicles. One warrant arrest was made for False Identity Statement, one Runaway arrests, one arrest for false Identity.  Non-custodial arrests; 2 Never Receiving a License, 2 Driving While Suspended Prior. Officers wrote 71 Citations; 48 Seat Belt violations, 2 Suspended Prior and 1 Suspended infraction, 1 No Valid License, 1 Expired License

The Indiana Department of Education announced the 2017 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Mathematics and Reading Results for Indiana on Tuesday. As reflected in eighth grade reading, Indiana was one of eight states to have a significant score increase. Since 2015, Indiana’s overall student score for eighth grade reading increased four points to 272. In overall student scores in fourth grade mathematics and fourth grade reading however, there was a one point decrease. In 2017, Indiana’s overall student score for fourth grade math of 247 is eight points higher than the national average score of 239. To view the

On Tuesday, in a joint hearing of the United States Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, U.S. Senator Todd Young from Indiana called on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to implement stronger protections for Facebook users and their online privacy. “I represent the honest, hardworking people of Indiana, and I keep returning to the question of: What are reasonable consumer expectations of privacy? What does the average Hoosier think, when they think about their information online,” said Senator Young. “While the scope of this problem is unclear, I believe consumers all over the internet are certainly less protected than they should be

Renowned writer and Boston surgeon Atul Gawande explores the relationships doctors have with patients nearing the end of life in the “Frontline” documentary, “Being Mortal,” which will be presented from 6–9 p.m., Wednesday, April 11 in Alumni Hall, Student Union & Library, at Purdue University Northwest, 2233 173rd St., Hammond. The film presentation will be followed by a panel discussion addressing the issues in caring for the dying. Panelists include Dr. Y. Frantz Brignol, Dr. Vatsai Patel, Father Ted Mauch, Bioethicist Jana Lacera, and Nina Stur, Associate Director of Patient Care Service, St. Catherine’s Hospital, East Chicago. This event is