A fire at an Region eatery affected traffic on Kennedy Avenue in the Hessville area, Wednesday afternoon., blocked Kennedy between Martha Street and 169th Street. Hammond police say several pieces of fire fighting equipment was sent to a reported fire at the Kennedy Cafe in the 6800 block. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was not immediately known. Hammond Emergency Management first alerted us to the fire around 3:30 pm and Kennedy Avenue traffic was blocked between Martha...

Read more: Fire Blocks Kennedy Ave. Traffic Wednesday

Most of the Region could miss most of the worst of a major winter storm moving toward the Great Lakes.  We talked to Valparaiso University Meteorology Professor Dr. Bart Wolf this morning, who told us it looked like most of it will be to our north and west initially, and then shift to our east. Dr. Wolf says it looks like the storm will then head pretty much directly over the Region, with the far northeast part of northwest Indiana possibly getting the worst of it... and the rest of the Region...

Read more: Winter Storm Watch Now Includes Lake, Porter Co

The Humane Society of the United States announced today they are offering a reward of up to five-thousand dollars for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for killing a family dog named “Pearl” in northwest Indiana. The Hebron Police Department is seeking the public's help as authorities say the dog was found in a baited animal trap they allege was intentionally set near a residence across from the town's community center. around 1...

Read more: Reward Offered in Cruelty Case

Police in Bloomington, Indiana, responded to Bloomington South High School Monday, where a male student allegedly told another student of his plans to “break the record”, making references to the twenty-six people killed in the Connecticut elementary school massacre. Police say the subject indicated he had a gun in his locker and told the other student the shooting was supposed to take place this Friday. Police say no weapon was found after a search of the student's two lockers and backpack. Aut...

Read more: Police Respond to Alleged School Threat Downstate

Today's Times reports fire officials in Lynwood, Illinois, honored a four-year-old boy and his dad Tuesday night for saving family members from a fire that destroyed their mobile home Saturday. Officials say the fire appears to have started in the furnace area, but the cause hasn't been determined yet. The Times says smoke detectors were working, but didn't wake anyone up – but the boy awoke from smelling smoke, the story says, and ran to his parents, then the father ran to rescue their o...

Read more: Young Boy, Father Honored for Saving Family

One of twenty-five films being inducted into the National Film Registry today has a well-known Region connection. The list includes the 1983 classic, A Christmas Story, based on short stories written by Hammond-native Jean Shepherd.  The film, which was set in the fictional community of Hohman, Indiana (there's a Hohman Avenue in Hammond) was also narrated by Shepherd. This year's inductees also include 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's starring Audrey Hepburn. Dirty Harry, starring Clint...

Read more: 'A Christmas Story' Inducted into Natl Film Registry

News Release Congressman Visclosky's Office (Dec 19 2012):

Merrillville, IN – Congressman Pete Visclosky announced that Valparaiso-based HealthLinc, Inc., has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to obtain a new mobile school-based health center (MSBHC) that will serve young people throughout Northwest Indiana.

According to HealthLinc, the new MSBHC will enhance medical and dental capabilities for the delivery...

Read more: Grant Awarded for New Mobile Health Center

ABC News reports the FBI is scouring the state of Illinois for two cellmates who escaped the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago, climbing down twenty stories on a makeshift ladder made out of bedsheets. Authorities say Joseph Jose Banks and Kenneth Conley were last seen Monday night, and were not reported missing until Tuesday morning.  Hours after the escape, the FBI says they stormed into a house south of Chicago in Tinley Park. No one was there, but ABC News says the FBI...

Read more: Search for Chicago Inmates Continues

Officials may be moving closer to bringing down the long-empty Sheraton on Broadway in downtown Gary according to a report in the Times today, which says the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority could soon be getting a request for Regional Challenge Grant funds to put toward the old hotel's demolition. Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson wants to tear down the shuttered 14-story Gary Sheraton, which sits next door to City Hall. It opened in the late seventies, and has been closed for...

Read more: Grant Could Help Tear Down Gary Sheraton

[Photo/Indiana Governor's Office]

News Release (Governor's Office):

INDIANAPOLIS (December 18, 2012) – Governor Mitch Daniels will take a final trip Wednesday on RV One, his legendary campaign vehicle that took him from one corner of the state to another and everywhere in between. Since 2003 the governor has visited every Indiana county at least five times, and in 2004 alone, he logged tens of thousands of miles on the RV traveling the state.

“This vehicle somehow took on a unique place in Indiana lore. I still get asked about it...

Read more: One More Trip for RV 1, to RV Hall of Fame