Region News

Please update your Flash Player to view content.

Press "Play" to hear the latest news from THE REGION.

Portage School System Considering Alternative Energy

Written by Indiana 105

Saturday, February 16, 2013 | 9:50 am

Alternative sources of energy may soon be coming to a Portage school near you. According to the Times, Superintendent, E. Ric Frataccia told the school board that it's time to join the alternative energy game noting that other school districts are moving in that direction. The article says school officials have checked out a windmill at North Newton High School that reportedly lowers the winter utility bill to 20-dollars a month, and the solar collectors recently installed on the roof of the...

Child Support Court will Stay in Gary

Written by Indiana 105

Saturday, February 16, 2013 | 9:35 am

Child support court will not be moving to Crown Point and will stay in Gary--that statement made by Lake County's incoming Juvenile Court Judge. The Times is reporting that one of the county's longest serving judges, the honorable Nicholas Schiralli, will transfer from the county division to the juvenile system, March 1^st. The article says, he will be replacing Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura who is resigning at the end of the month to take over the Indiana Department of Child Services. Bonaventura...

Girl Scouts to Learn From Engineering Pros Monday

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 6:20 pm

On Monday, February 18, approximately 100 second to sixth grade girls from the Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Girl Scouts will be introduced to opportunities in engineering in a fun and engaging way by NIPSCO female engineers during National Engineers Week – under this year’s theme “Introduce a Girl to Engineering.”
The event is hosted by NIPSCO and being organized by NiSource Inc.’s Developing and Advancing Women at NiSource (DAWN) women’s affinity group.
The three-hour event – which w...

Authorities Seize Drugs and Guns from Gary Residence

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 5:32 pm

(Photo Courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff's Office)
The Lake County Drug Task Force, along with the Lake County Tactical Unit, announced today they seized drugs, weapons, a bullet-proof vest, and currency after executing a search warrant Thursday in Gary. The Lake County Sheriff's Office reports Markese Scott, the target of the warrant in the 22-hundred block of Taney Street, was taken into custody, and and faces numerous charges, including resisting law enforcement. Sheriff John Buncich says...

More Back-ups on WB Borman

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 4:56 pm

The left 2 lanes of westbound I-80/94 are closed near Grant St. due to a stalled truck. Expect delays as you travel westbound on I-80/94 near mile 8.3. Also, an earlier crash in the left lane westbound I-80/94 under the MLK overpass is causing stop and go conditions and 10 to 15 minute delays approaching I-65. Additionally, IDOT traffic cams are showing traffic is backing up onto northbound I-65 from Ridge Rd. to the entrance ramp to westbound I-80/94. Drivers might want to consider the Ind...

WB Borman (80/94) backed-up

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 3:57 pm

INDOT is reporting 10 to 15 minute delays and stop and go traffic westbound I-80/94 from at least I-65 until past the Cline Avenue exit ramps. Traffic tipsters reporting an earlier crash near Cline Avenue that had for a time closed the right lane. That crash resulted in a gasoline spill that has closed the entrance ramp from southbound Cline Avenue to westbound I-80/94. And last check, an earlier crash westbound on the Borman at Burr Street caused a right lane closure.

Westbound Borman...

Saturday Registration for Valpo Parks Sports on 2/23

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 3:16 pm

(Photo Courtesy of Valpo Parks Department)
Valpo Parks is offering a special Saturday registration opportunity next week to get your children signed up for spring sports before the upcoming deadlines. Youth Program Director Phil Blasko says their office doors will be open on February 23^rd, from 9am to noon, at 3210 North Campbell Street, in Valparaiso. The deadlines for each sport is as follows: Softball, ages 5-16, February 28^th; baseball, ages 9-15, March 1^st; and soccer, ages 4-12, March 8^th....

Flu Still Widespread Across Indiana

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 2:14 pm

The Indiana State Department of Health reports today that influenza continues to show widespread activity in the state. At last check, 56 Hoosiers have died this flu season, four of which were under the age of 18. State Health Commissioner William VanNess, M-D, says “We still have a few months left in this flu season...and everyone of us has a responsibility to take steps to prevent its spread.” Health officials still recommend that everyone six-months and older get a flu vaccination. For inf...

Carnegie Library Proposed to Become Carnegie Arts Center

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 1:32 pm

East Chicago is working on turning a historic building into a center for the arts. The Harbor area Carnegie Library at 136^th and Grand Boulevard is being re-purposed as the Carnegie Arts Center. The library, which closed thirty-years ago, was built a-hundred years ago thanks to a donation by steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Interior and exterior work is planned on the red brick structure, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. There were actually two Carnegie libraries...

IU Northwest Competes in 'RecycleMania'

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 |12:23 pm

For the first time, the Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary is taking part in the national RecycleMania tournament where college campuses compete to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste over an eight-week period. Now through March 30, an I-U-N committee will be keeping a close watch on the amount of waste generated and the amount of recyclables collected. Students, staff and faculty will notice new blue containers that are available for ‘mixed stream’ rec...

Chief Pens Times Article on Crime in the Region

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 |12:21 pm

Just days after officially marking one full year as Police Chief of East Chicago, the Times is scheduled to run an article by Chief Mark Becker on crime in the Region. Becker served as Police Chief in Portage about four years just before taking on his current role, and prior to Portage, he retired as senior supervisory resident agent for Northwest Indiana after more than three decades with the FBI. Becker says he was humbled by the request from the Times to do such an overview. "The Times...

House Dems Say Pence Tax Proposal Will Be Heard

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 |12:12 pm

Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City
House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath of Michigan City today said House Democrats would ensure that Governor Mike Pence’s income tax cut proposal will be heard – even though the Republican House majority did not include in the just-released budget bill. "The House of Representatives," Pelath said, "is going to have an up or down vote on Governor Pence's tax cut proposal," and, he added, "some Democrats are going to support it." Pelath says the governor's proposal i...

Charges Filed in Winfield Bank Robbery

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 |12:01 pm

[Photo/Lake County Sheriffs Police]
Multiple charges including robbery and confinement have been filed in connection with a robbery at the Centier Bank on East 109^th Avenue in Winfield earlier this week. Lake County Sheriffs Police identified the suspect today as 39-year-old Christopher Gerlach of Crown Point. Authorities say Tuesday evening, a man entered the bank, demanded money, then fled on foot. Police say no weapon was displayed. Soon afterwards, police heard about a suspicious person...

Gun Summit in Gary Targets Many Issues

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 8:46 am

Officials attending a two-state gun summit in Gary Thursday say lines of communication need to be open between Indiana and Illinois, as law enforcement tries to stem the tide of gun trafficking across the state line, in particular between Cook County, Ilinois, and Lake County, Indiana. Law enforcement and other officials from Indiana and Illinois attended the "Gun Trafficking Suppression Summit", where authorities also said gun shows were one of the main topics -- and so-called "straw purchasers", people who buy guns there then resell them to criminals. Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff John Buncich said problems in Cook County and the city of Chicago are "bleeding over" into Lake County, and vice versa, and "that's why law enforcement and everybody, the community as...

Indiana: Main Supplier in IL./Chicago Gun Crimes

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 8:39 am

Cook Co
Gary Mayor, Karen Freeman-Wilson and Cook County, Illinois Sheriff, Tom Dart
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and the city of Gary hosted the “Gun Trafficking Suppression Summit” Thursday afternoon at the city's Genesis Convention Center. 80 officials from over 20 Illinois and Indiana law enforcement agencies discussed strategies to prevent guns from landing in the wrong hands and how to close the loop on inter-state gun trafficking.

Immediately after the summit Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Cook...

Snowfall Leads to Hazardous Conditions This Morning

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 8:36 am

Driving conditions have deteriorated across the Region with snowfall causing very slick conditions. Numerous accidents have been reported, especially in Lake, Porter and La Porte Counties. INDOT is informing motorists that, despite deicing, motorists must use winter driving skills and slow down.
A couple of trouble spots in particular -- Interstate 65 in Lake County and State Road through Porter and La Porte Counties.
###
###...

President Obama Visiting Chicago Today

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 8:31 am

President Obama takes his State of the Union agenda to his hometown today, and ABC's Ann Compton reports he will not ignore the epidemic of gun violence in Chicago. On the eve of his visit, President Obama took a question on a Google online chat: "Do you think we should ban handguns? Obama: Well, I actually don't think we should BAN handguns." The President calls for a broader approach. "The package we put forward will have an impact on handguns by instituting a universal background check...

Notre Dame Raises Tuition Nearly 4 Percent

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 7:53 am

University officials say undergraduate tuition at Notre Dame will go up nearly four-percent for the 2013-2014 academic year, the same percentage increase as in each of the three previous years. When you include average room and board rates , student charges add up to more than 57-thousand dollars.
News Release:
Undergraduate tuition at the University of Notre Dame will increase 3.8 percent for the 2013-14 academic year to $44,605. The rate of increase matches that of the previous three years,...

Indiana Lawmakers Criticize Sequester Cuts

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 7:49 am

First we faced the fiscal cliff... now, the sequester.... impending automatic government spending cuts, approved by Congress. First District Congressman Pete Visclosky issued a statement calling the across-the-board cuts “mindless” and “unacceptable”. Indiana US Senator Joe Donnelly says there will be significant spending reductions, but it remains to be seen whether they will take place through sequestration, saying there's discussion being made toward significant cuts "but in a more thoughtf...

Hammond Library Could Merge With Lake Co

Written by Indiana 105

Friday, February 15, 2013 | 7:47 am

There's legislation moving through the Indiana House that would merge the Hammond Library with the Lake County Library system. The language, in House Bill 1145 sponsored by Munster State Representative Mara Candelaria-Reardon, passed out committee unanimously Thursday according to the Times today. A couple years ago two Hammond library branches closed due to budget issues.
###...

More Articles...