Valparaiso Police say the city's crime rate dropped by 14-percent last year, compared to 2011 statistics. The data show the department experienced a decreased in major crimes, a category that includes homicide, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. Police say a major element in the decrease was the drop in thefts last year. As for any initiatives for 2013, Sergeant Michael Grennes says the Chief has made it a priority to focus on school safety.
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Read more: 14% Crime Drop in Valparaiso in 2012

Strack and Van Til at Parrish Avenue and 133rd Avenue in Cedar Lake, January 28, 2013.

Cedar Lake's first "green" business, the new Strack and Van Til supermarket will open its doors later this spring.  Ian Nicolini, Cedar Lake Town Administrator, says the town is proud to have the new store be the town's first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) built project.   Nicolini says along with evergy efficient LED lighting, the 50,000 square foot facility will feature skylights to take advantage of natural...

Read more: Cedar Lake Welcomes More Green Development

Two burglary suspects are dead and a third hospitalized after their getaway vehicle crashed and struck two trees in Gary this morning. The Lake County Sheriff's Office reports the deceased were pronounced by the Lake County Coroner's Office staff at 11:10 this morning. Authorities report a burglary in progress was reported in the four-thousand block of Connecticut Street, and as Gary Police approached, the three male suspects fled in a vehicle and the pursuit ended on the 44-hundred block of...

Read more: Two Burglary Suspects Die in Crash, 3rd Hospitalized

Authorities are asking motorists to avoid northbound State Road 49 at County Road 500 North due to a crash. Valparaiso Police Sergeant Michael Grennes says if possible, try to avoid that area until about 2:15 this afternoon. He says the crash did cause minor injuries, and no further information is available at this time.
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Read more: Crash at State Road 49 County Road 500 North

Published reports say as many as ten showdogs... champion Shetland Sheepdogs and Chinese crested dogs... are believed to have died in a house fire in the 16-hundred block of Elm Street in Calumet Township Monday night. Fire crews from Lake Ridge, Griffith and Merrillville responded, and authorities say no humans were injured. Officials are still trying to determine the cause.
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Read more: No Cause Yet for Calumet Twp House Fire

Indiana State Police Lowell Post say a traffic stop south of the Winamac/Fair Oaks exit in Jasper County sent two people from Chicago and Bolingbrook, Illinois, to jail after the alleged discovery of forty pounds of a substance called “Khat” worth approximately 20-thousand dollars. Police say “Khat” is a flowering plant mostly grown in the Horn of Africa that users ofte3n chew it for a “stimulant-euphoric effect” . Troopers say both suspects were charged with with Dealing a Schedule 1 Drug Class...

Read more: ISP Bust Two Illinois Men with Khat in Jasper County

Gary Police say two people were killed in a crash on Monroe Street this morning. At this hour investigators were still on scene. The vehicle reportedly struck trees, but no other information was available at this hour.
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Read more: Two Killed in Crash in Gary

A new report says more than two in five Indiana residents are “living on the edge of financial disaster”.with nearly no savings to fall back on in the event of an emergency, like job loss or health crisis. An assessment by the Corporation for Enterprise Development says 42-percent of Hoosiers are “liquid asset poor” – not having enough money to cover basic expenses at the federal poverty level for just three-months if they suffered a loss of stable income. The same report says almost half of US...

Read more: Report: Many Hoosiers on 'Edge of Financial Disaster'

[Photo provided/Indiana State Police]
A semi-tractor and trailer went off a northwest Indiana interstate overnight into some trees, where the vehicle was suspended over Trail Creek waterway. Indiana State Police at the Lowell Post report at approximately 1:10 a.m. [Wednesday, January 30, 2013] a 2007 Kenworth semi tractor pulling a box trailer, loaded with approximately 41,000 pounds of auto parts, was east bound on I-94 in La Porte County, when the driver stated his wheel jerked to the right...

Read more: Semi Crashes into Trees at Trail Creek

Police in East Chicago are investigating a homicide. The Lake County Coroners office says 50-year-old Earnestine Tarver of East Chicago suffered gunshot wounds in the 39-hundred block of Fern Street and was pronounced dead shortly before 11-o'clock Tuesday night
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Read more: Homicide in East Chicago