News

U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced the Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act, bipartisan legislation that would address the ongoing shortage of professionals needed to provide treatment and recovery services as communities combat the opioid abuse epidemic. The bill would incentivize students to pursue substance use disorder work by providing them with student loan relief up to $250,000 if they work for six years in areas that have high overdose rates or a shortage of treatment providers. The program would be open to a number of providers including physicians, nurses, social workers,

Governor Eric Holcomb has asked Indiana lawmakers to authorize $5 million more for school safety spending before they adjourn for the 2018 legislative session. The governor sent a letter to Republican and Democrat House and Senate leaders with the request and outlined other steps his administration will lead over the next several months to improve school safety. Holcomb outlined his request with Senator Long and Speaker Bosma on Wednesday and has discussed school safety matters with Attorney General Curtis Hill and Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jennifer McCormick in the past several days.

In regards to the 60-Day insurance moratorium issued by Indiana the Department of Insurance, nine additional counties were declared disaster areas last week in Indiana. In response to the new Executive Order signed by Governor Holcomb on March 7, the Indiana Department of Insurance Commissioner Stephen W. Robertson wants Hoosiers in all of the impacted areas to know that the 60-day grace period applies to them. Commissioner Robertson signed Bulletin 241 on March 2, prior to additional impacted counties being added to the disaster emergency. The Bulletin directs insurance companies to implement a 60-day cancellation moratorium for any policyholder directly

Michigan City Area Schools' annual "Wolfpack Roundup" will take place on Thursday, March 15 at 5:30pm. Students in grades 5 through 8 -- and their families -- are invited visit area middle schools or the high school on this date, to find out what’s in store for them at the next level. Barker Middle School, Krueger Middle School, and Michigan City High School will all be open for tours, a meet and greet with teachers and staff, and other activities. Wolfpack Roundup will provide details about academics, clubs, and athletics, along with information about the Michigan City Promise scholarship. Public,

The Purdue University Northwest (PNW) Career Center will host a Professional Educators Fair on Tuesday, March 20 in the Great Hall of the Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex on the Westville Campus.. Students, alumni, and the general public are invited to attend. This event is intended for those pursuing careers in teaching, educational administration, social services, and school or mental health counseling. Public and private school systems from Northwest Indiana, Lafayette, Plymouth, Chicago and parts of Michigan, Texas, and Maryland will be in attendance with multiple employment opportunities available. The fair is free of charge and open to job

La Porte, Porter, and Starke hospitals, as well as physician clinics associated with the facilities, are ready to welcome dedicated, smart, scrub-wearing, friendly go-getters who want excellent training, advancement opportunities, and competitive compensation. The hospital network is hosting two job fairs in March to meet interested applicants for a variety of posted positions. The events are from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., March 12 at La Porte Hospital Main Lobby, and Porter Regional Hospital’s Community Room from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., March 13th,located at 85 E. U.S. Highway 6, Valparaiso. For a complete list of positions available, visit laportehealth.com/careers,

Michigan City High School will conduct a College Financial Planning Workshop entitled "Paying for College: There IS a Way!" on Wednesday, March 28, from 5pm-7pm in the high school auditorium. Panelists will include representatives from INvestEd, 21st Century Scholars, the Michigan City Promise Scholarship, the Unity Foundation, and Horizon Bank. Families will have an opportunity to ask questions regarding early financial planning for their students. They will also have an opportunity to sign up for the programs of interest at the event. The event is free and open to all families with students of any age -- most especially those

Purdue University Northwest (PNW) hosted two nights of Academic Super Bowl competitions for high school students in Porter and La Porte counties on March 7-8. Competitions were held in the James B. Dworkin Student Services and Activities Complex on PNW's Westville Campus. The Academic Super Bowl theme was "World War I," with students answering questions in six subject areas: science, fine arts, social studies, mathematics, English and interdisciplinary. Porter County high school competition The 11th annual competition for students in Porter County was March 7 with all nine Porter County high schools represented: Boone Grove, Chesterton, Hebron, Kouts, Morgan Township,

MCPD Chief Mark Swistek would like to proudly announce the newest member of the department K-9 ”AXEL” and his partner, Officer Michael Oberle. In September of 2017, applications were put out to all officers of the department who had an interest in becoming a K-9 Handler. After receiving numerous applications, Officer Michael Oberle was selected by the command staff of the department. In January of 2018, Chief Swistek along with Officer Oberle traveled to Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Indiana to select the newest recruit. Once there after several demonstrations they immediately picked Axel, a 16-month-old German Shepard from Hungary.

The 2017 film, “Marshall” will be presented at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 18 at the Michigan City Library, 100 E. Fourth St., Michigan City, through a collaboration between the Purdue University Northwest Odyssey Arts and Cultural Events Series and the Michigan City Public Library. The screening is free and open to the public. “Marshall” is a 2017 film drama about Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice and focuses on one of the first cases of his career. The film is rated PG-13. For more information about this film screening or about the Odyssey series contact Judy Jacobi, assistant

Michigan City High School will conduct a College Financial Planning Workshop entitled "Paying for College: There IS a Way!" on Wednesday, March 28, from 5pm-7pm in the high school auditorium. Panelists will include representatives from INvestEd, 21st Century Scholars, the Michigan City Promise Scholarship, the Unity Foundation, and Horizon Bank. Families will have an opportunity to ask questions regarding early financial planning for their students. They will also have an opportunity to sign up for the programs of interest at the event. The event is free and open to all families with students of any age -- most especially those

The Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) has announced it will be holding an additional public hearing on the SBOE’s proposed Accountability Rule. The additional meeting will follow the other five public hearings that the SBOE has conducted around the state. The additional hearing will take place in Indianapolis on Monday, March 19. You can provide public comments at the one of the SBOE’s work group meetings on March 21st and April 3rd, via email through the SBOE’s public comment portal until March 29th at sboe_comment@sboe.in.gov, or at the April 4, 2018 SBOE meeting. If approved, Indiana’s new school accountability rule

Trail Creek Deputy Marshal Nick Korepanow, was dispatched to a Burglar Alarm early Friday morning at approximately 3:30am, to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles located in Evergreen Plaza. Prior to his arrival, Marshal Korepanow was informed that a vehicle had struck the building. As officers arrived at the scene, a male driver identified as 25-year-old Nicholas Judge, came forward identifying himself to Officer Korepanow as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the crash. Judge stated that he entered his truck to go home when the accelerator pedal became lodged against the floor board causing his vehicle

On Tuesday, a local resident parked her vehicle at the BP gas station located at 1204 Franklin Street. The vehicle was left running while she entered the establishment to make a purchase. While inside, a black male entered her vehicle and drove off. Within a very brief amount of time, this suspect first drove to the Speedway gas station located at 5830 Franklin Street. The subject entered the business, displayed a weapon, demanded and received money from the clerk. From there, the suspect drove across the street to the BP gas station located at 9998 W 400 N. Like before,

On Thursday, Governor Eric J. Holcomb added five counties to the disaster emergency he declared Feb. 24, Feb. 26, Feb. 27 and March 2 in response to widespread flooding and infrastructure damage caused by sustained heavy rainfall. The governor signed a new executive order Thursday to include LaPorte, Noble, Posey, Wabash and Warren counties—in addition to Jackson, Kosciusko, Newton, Porter, Harrison, Jasper, Ohio, Pulaski, Benton, Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Jefferson, Spencer, Warrick, Carroll, Dearborn, Elkhart, Fulton, Lake, Marshall, Perry, St. Joseph, Starke, Switzerland and White counties—making 31 total counties covered by this disaster emergency declaration so far. For more details on

In celebration of Disability Awareness Month Mayor Meer and Executive Director of the Michigan City Human Rights Commission Carl Ridle hosted a coffee and doughnut reception at the Bus Barn Wednesday morning to thank all 100 plus Michigan City Area Schools (MCAS) bus drivers and monitors for transporting the communities’ precious cargo every day to and from school safely. For more information, visit www.emichigancity.com/cityhall/departments/humanrights.

The Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) is partnering 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. The first scam in the 12-part series is phishing schemes, designed to gather personal information or money from the taxpayer. These new or evolving phishing schemes work specifically to target taxpayers during filing season. One new phishing scam victimizing thousands of taxpayers includes depositing money into the taxpayers bank account. The scam artist gains access to client data from tax professionals, and then files a fraudulent tax

In an update to a story WIMS has been following, Valparaiso Fire and Police responded Wednesday morning to Valparaiso High School for a reported fire in a bathroom garbage can. The fire was quickly put out with damages contained to the garbage can. School Resource Officer Lt. Ed Blakley, school officials, Valparaiso Fire Department and members of the police department’s Investigation Division began to investigate the incident. Lt. Blakley located video of a 16 yr old male student, in the general area, near one of the restrooms, just prior to one of the fires being discovered by a teacher. He

This year, Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City is celebrating its 90th Anniversary. Educating the community and involving the community is part of the zoo’s mission this year as they prepare to celebrate the 90th anniversary by partnering with Artspace and Michigan City High School art program students. Artspace, a mixed-use space, offers a ground-floor studio, where a line-up of various zoo events will take place. The 90th Anniversary-Zoobilee committee has planned various family friendly activities throughout the two-month celebration. The celebration calendar will end with the zoo’s annual fundraiser Zoobilee “For the Art of Animals” – scheduled for Saturday,

The Indiana Builders Association, the Indiana Construction Roundtable Foundation and the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI) have formed a strategic partnership in order to assist in recruiting a skilled workforce in the construction and building trades. The three-year partnership, coined Build Your Future Indiana, comes in an effort to create awareness and resources that attract young workers to commercial, residential and road building industries. Build Your Future Indiana works to fight the skilled labor shortage by curating career information from professionals industry-wide to highlight key aspects and opportunities for each trade career path. This information has been developed into