Porter County Coroner Vicki Deppe rules the death by gunshot of Morgan
Township resident Aaron Blum, 32, in August 2009 a homicide. Community
Health Systems Inc., owner of Porter hospital, reports a net income in 2009
of $243.1 million or 2.66 per share, compared to a net income of $218.3
million or $2.32 in 2008. Former Liberty Middle School principal Robert Meek
dies at 81. CHS wins the annual School Datebooks cover design contest, with
special recognition given to senior Jannon Jeffries. A Democratic caucus
elects Robert Schulte to the position of Porter County Coroner, to fill the
vacancy created by the resignation of Vicki Deppe.
CHS students Syed Shah, Luke Morgan, and Adam Potrzebowski qualify for the
National Forensic League tournament in Kansas City, Mo., in June. CHS
Drifters and Sandpipers show choirs take top honors in several categories at
the Norwell High School Show Choir Invitational in Ossian, Ind. Report:
suicides in Porter County spiked in 2009 by 133 percent, totaling 33, while
fatal drug overdoses rose by 21 percent, totaling 22.
The Chesterton Police Depart-ment hires two new officers: John Carnahan and
Troy Allen. Report: Porter County is the 16th healthiest county of all 92 in
Indiana, while Lake County ranks 84th and LaPorte County 61st. Michael Wade,
58, of Michigan City, is charged with the robbery in December 2009 of the
Super 8 Motel at 418 Council Drive in Chesterton. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky,
D-1st, is cleared of any wrongdoing by the U.S. House Committee on Standards
of Professional Conduct, in connection with his relationship with the
defunct lobbying firm The PMA Group.
March
John Norris of Valparaiso is sentenced to 65 years for the beating murder of
his girlfriend, Elizabeth Lepucki in June 2008. The Duneland School Board
enacts mandatory one-week furloughs for all year-round employees, while the
Duneland School Board approves a 108-percent increase in summer-school fees;
14 more teachers announce their retirement, including Director of Media and
Technology Randall Eckley and CHS Speech and Debate Director Robert Kelly.
Chesterton artist Mary Ann Pals has a solo exhibition of her work at the
Pines Village Retirement Community in Valparaiso.
Michael Wilson, 25, a former Valparaiso University grad student, is indicted
on a federal charge of distributing child pornography; Wilson
substitute-taught in the Duneland Schools until he was dropped from the
sub-teacher list after colleagues complained about his “demeanor.” Joseph
Campbell, 35, is taken into custody after Valparaiso Police said that he
robbed the local branch of Centier Bank; Campbell admits his involvement in
11 other robberies, including the attempted robbery in January of the
Chesterton branch of Chase Bank.
Seven trees in Dogwood Park are confirmed to have been invaded by the
emerald ash borer beetle. A manhunt in the Town of Porter for a fugitive
from a traffic stop on I-94—involving a helicopter and tracker dogs—prompts
the lock-down of Yost and Brummitt elementary schools; Angel Reyes-Palacios,
26, is taken into custody nearly five hours after the hunt began, plucked
from the Little Calumet River near the Chesterton wastewater treatment
plant, and is later indicted in federal court on a charge of re-entry of a
deported alien with a prior felony conviction. The annual Maple Sugar Time
is held at Chellberg Farm and the Bailly Homestead at Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore.
The CHS speech team finishes second in sectional competition and qualifies
31 of 36 entries for the state finals in Indianapolis. Edward Ibarra, 21, of
Valparaiso, charged with the shooting murder of Juan Garcia, his mother’s
fiance, is found not competent to stand trial. Edgar C. Tillery, 60, of
Portage, is charged with attempted murder after firing two shotgun rounds at
the Indiana Department of Workforce Development Office in Portage;
investigators said that Tillery, a DWD employee, had just received a poor
work review from his supervisor.
William Dugan, 76, of Hancock, Md., retired president and business manager
of Operating Engineers Local 150, is charged in federal court with a
misdemeanor count of demanding and accepting concrete buffalo feeders from a
company at which Local 150 members worked. Five CHS students win or place at
the Business Professionals of America competition in Indianapolis: Ryan
Tarnowski, Rachel McCrum, Ryan Thomalla, Kaci Watson, and Jon Vincent.
Report: unemployment in Porter County rose in January to 9.9 percent from
9.0 percent; in Chesterton to 10.0 percent from 8.7 percent.
ArcelorMittal announces $138 million in capital improvements, including an
upgrade of the 160-inch plate mill at its Burns Harbor facility. The Porter
County Sheriff’s Police reports: burglaries were up in 2009 by 17 percent,
auto thefts up 50 percent, simple thefts down 10 percent, alcohol-related
arrests up 41 percent, and drug-related arrests up 84 percent. All CHS
Japanese Olympiad teams finish in the Top 5 of their respective divisions,
with the third-year team of Brandon Moore, Ryan Gorman, and Celian Mooradian
finishing second.
The Chesterton Police Commission names Lt. Dave Cincoski Chief of Police;
Cincoski resigns his 3rd District seat on the Town Council. The CHS speech
and debate team qualified six more entries at the NFL tournament in Kansas
City in June: Tyler Fabbri, Syed Shah, Kira Geairn, Matt Keeley, Hayley
Miller, Kara Fasone, and Jessica Cleary. The Porter Redevelopment Commission
votes to adopt a plan for The Brickyard, with potentially 194 residential
units, including senior housing, commercial, open space, a fire station, and
future municipal uses.
Utility worker Bryan Marzullo, 38, of Valparaiso, dies after being struck by
a vehicle driven by Verna L. McCoy, 93, of Liberty Township, as he’s
spray-painting utility locations on the roadway on Calumet Ave. near
Burlington Beach Road. Robert Shannon, 35, of Hammond, is taken into custody
after the Indiana State Police said that he fled the scene of a hit-and-run
crash which took the life of construction worker Christopher Jerkins, 45, of
Valparaiso, on I-80 in Lake County. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, and
U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd, both vote in favor of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act.
The CHS speech team wins the state championship; Adam Potrzebowski, Tyler
Fabbri, Hayley Miller, and Dakota McCoy all win individual championships.
The Porter Park Board is told that there will be no Independence Day
celebration this year in Hawthorne Park. The Porter County Convention,
Recreation, and Visitor Commission unveils its new doing-business-as name:
Indiana Dunes Tourism.
The Porter County Sheriff’s Police reports that sheriff’s sales on
foreclosures were up 21 percent in 2009 to 731 from 603 in 2008. The
Chesterton skate park opens with signage posting the rules of usage. CHS
students Nate Waltz and Billy Atherton are finalists in the Indiana
Association of School Broadcasters’ High School Broadcasting Competition.
Tom Anderson, after more than 20 years as executive director of Save the
Dunes, announces his resignation. William Dugan, former president of
Operating Engineers Local 150, pleads guilty in federal court to a
misdemeanor charge of violating labor law. The 10-year joint development
partnership between the Lake Erie Land Company and James Gierczyk’s
Chesterton Redevelopment Partners (CDP) ends seven years early, after CDP
fails to make a scheduled payment under an installment sales agreement.
Report: unemployment in Porter County rose in February to 10.0 percent from
9.9 percent; in Chesterton, it dipped to 9.8 percent from 10.0 percent. The
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District okays a 2-percent fare
hike to take effect June 1 of both 2010 and 2011. Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore reports visitation increased by 6 percent in 2009, with 1,944,375
visitors. Adam Erway, 32, of Valparaiso, is sentenced to 30 years for
dealing heroin.
April
IOSHA fines Beta Steel $4,200 after “serious” violations were found in the
investigation of the January explosion which took the life of Michael Kies,
35, of Hammond. The Chesterton Tribune begins its 127th continuous year of
publication. The CPD investigates a rash of forced vehicle entries on the
west side of town.
Dennis Brown, 62, of Chesterton, is charged with intimidation and criminal
recklessness after the CPD said that he fired a gunshot at his residence on
Beverly Drive, then refused to leave his home, keeping the emergency
response team on alert for seven hours. An unknown person vandalizes the
Wikipedia entry on the Town of Burns Harbor, blowing the lid off the “Great
Zombie Coverup.” The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opens its 40th shipping
season with 9,000 tons of steel coils imported from Europe.
Newly appointed Chesterton Police Chief Dave Cincoski launches a fundraising
campaign for the establishment of a K-9 unit. Jasper Circuit Court Judge
John Potter rules that Porter County may not legally withdraw from the RDA,
on the ground that the authorizing legislation which created the RDA
formerly made the county a member of it with no implied or clear right to
withdraw from it. Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Munchkin Coroner in The
Wizard of Oz, dies at 94.
WDSO holds its 20th annual Radiothon. Portions of 11th Street, West Porter
Ave., and Wabash Ave. are re-paved with federal stimulus funds granted to
the Town of Chesterton in 2009. CHS honor economics students present their
“Greening Chesterton” ideas at a special meeting of the Town Council.
Burns Harbor Police crack down on speeders and scofflaws as INDOT begins the
re-construction of the intersection of U.S. 20 and Ind. 149. Roger Holzman,
23, of Chesterton, is charged with criminal institutional mischief after
Chesterton Police said that he broke 13 exterior windows at Chesterton First
United Methodist Church, then broke into the church and broke five interior
windows. The Porter County Council votes 5-2 to appeal a Jasper Circuit
Court ruling which bars Porter County from withdrawing from the RDA.
The CHS debate team wins its third consecutive state title at Kokomo High
School. Father Terrence Chase is placed on administrative leave by the Gary
Diocese after he is accused of sexual misconduct while serving as associate
pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in 1991; Chase maintains his innocence
and no criminal or civil charges are filed against him. Chesterton Feed &
Garden celebrates its 30th anniversary. The Chesterton Utility Service Board
postpones until spring 2011 the dreaded first phase of the Downtown sanitary
sewer project.
Sheriff Dave Lain announces the creation of a Gang Task Force. Joseph Draus,
32, of Chesterton, pleads guilty to dealing a narcotic drug after the Porter
County Drug Task Force said that he sold heroin to a 16-year-old girl whom
he met at the Chesterton skate park. Brandt Baughman, property manager at
Indiana Dunes State Park, reports that more than 1 million people visited
the park in 2009 and that fees collected made the park 126 percent
self-sufficient.
A Republican caucus elects Nick Walding to the 3rd District seat on the
Chesterton Town Council vacated by Dave Cincoski on his appointment to Chief
of Police. Community Health Systems Inc. reports a net income in the first
quarter of $70 million or 75 cents per share, compared to $65.1 million or
70 cents in the fourth quarter of 2009. David Capp of Beverly Shores is
confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.
Rebuilding Together Duneland rehabs 10 homes and three community sites,
including the Duneland YMCA and the Westchester Neighbors Food Pantry. The
Town of Chesterton celebrates Arbor Day by planting a lilac tree in the
memory of the late Warren “Skip” Highwood in front of the Brown Mansion on
West Porter Ave. Stacking is reported at the intersection of Ind. 49 and
1100N as motorists fail to heed the advice to avoid the intersection as
1100N is reconstructed as part of the South Calumet District project.
The Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club celebrates its 50th anniversary with a
gala at Barker Hall in Michigan City. U.S. Steel reports a net loss in the
first quarter of $157 million or $1.10 per share, compared to a net loss of
$267 million or $1.86 in the fourth quarter. Two juveniles apologize
publicly to the Chesterton Town Council for vandalizing park equipment at
Dunes Friendship Land.
Former Chesterton Police chief George Nelson is honored by Porter County
Prosecuting Attorney Brian Gensel for his support of the Drug Task Force
over the years. Teresa Lloyd, 46, of Liberty Township, who had been charged
earlier in the year with child molesting, shoots herself to death in a field
near her home. The Porter Stormwater Management Board voted 2-1 to recommend
a doubling of the monthly stormwater fee, from $4 to $8.
The Porter Redevelopment Commission indicates its willingness to use TIF
moneys to fund $2.6 million of the $4.1 million needed to upgrade the town’s
sanitary sewer system. ArcelorMittal reports a net income in the first
quarter of $679 million or 45 cents per share, compared to a net income of
$1.07 billion or 71 cents in the fourth quarter. Construction worker Roger
Sadler, 49, of Michigan City is killed in a hit-and-run accident between the
Porter and Burns Harbor exits on I-94, the third construction worker killed
by a motor vehicle in Northwest Indiana in two months.
May
Ricardos Bustus, 21, of East Chicago, is charged in connection with the
fatal hit-and-run of Roger Sadler, 49, of Michigan City, on I-94 in Porter
County. CHS sophomore Colin Jeniszewski, 17 and 165 pounds, sets a national
record by bench-pressing 330 pounds. NIPSCO files its first natural-gas rate
case in 20 year, asking the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for an
increase which would raise the average residential household’s monthly gas
bill by 2.65 percent.
An Indiana-American Water Company rate increase takes effect, under which
Northwest Indiana residents begin paying 27.06 percent or $6.81 more per
month; its the fifth rate increased approved by the Indiana Utility
Regulatory Commission in the last eight years. NiSource reports a net income
in the first quarter of $197.3 million or 71 cents per share, compared to a
net income of $148.4 million or 54 cents in the year-ago period. The
Duneland School Board names Craig Stafford the new principal of Chesterton
Middle School.
Primary election results: Incumbent David Lain (D) wins in the Sheriff’s
race; John Snyder (R) in the Assessor’s race; Vicki Urbanik (D) in the
Auditor’s race; Jim Biggs (R) in the race for the 1st District seat on the
Porter County Council; Jon Miller (R) in the Recorder’s race; and Chuck
Harris (R) and incumbent Robert Schulte (D) in the Coroner’s race.
Meanwhile, a glitch in the election system software is blamed for the
omission from the ballot in nearly two-thirds of the county’s precincts of
the at-large race for the Center seat on the Porter County Commissioners,
featuring incumbent Bob Harper (D) and Nancy Adams (R); both, however, had
run uncontested.
The U.S. Postal Service holds its 18th annual Letter Carriers Food Drive.
The Porter County Park Board names Walter Leakos the new superintendent. Six
weeks after he was appointed by the Chesterton Utility Service Board,
Superintendent Pat Geisendorfer tenders his resignation, forcing the Service
Board to begin the hiring process all over again.
The National Park Service invites public comment as it develops a new
Comprehensive Interpretive Plan for Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The
Spring Out to Sunset Festival is held at Sunset Hill Farm County Park. NICTD
announces the first of seven temporary weekend service outages on the South
Shore commuter line between South Bend and Gary Metro Center, as crews
replace old overhead wires.
The Scandiana Lodge of the Sons of Norway celebrates its 25th anniversary.
The Porter Town Council agrees to find some way to finance the remaining
$1.4 million needed to upgrade the sanitary sewer system, after the
Redevelopment Commission commits $2.6 million in TIF moneys for the purpose.
The National Park Service announces that most of the remaining “lease-backs”
at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore—more correctly known as reservations of
use—will expire in September, ending a long chapter in the park’s history.
Nearly four inches of rain overwhelm the Chesterton wastewater treatment
plant and cause localized flooding in Duneland. The Porter County Plan
Commission votes 7-2 to approve Porter hospital’s plan for a new
450,000-square foot, 250-private bed facility at the northwest corner of
Ind. 49 and U.S. 6 in unincorporated Liberty Township. The U.S. Department
of Interior honors Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for the highly
successful BioBlitz in May 2009, conducted in conjunction with the National
Geographic Society.
Sgt. Fred Shivalec retires from the Chesterton Police Department after 34
years of service; he is the second-longest serving member in the CPD’s
history. A sinkhole opens at the intersection of West Porter Ave. and Eighth
Street, a location prone to sinkholes. Paige Vliestra is honored as Youth of
the Year by the Duneland Unit of the Boys and Girls Club of Porter County.
The Duneland School Corporation and CHS Assistant Principal Kevin Zeck are
sued by Alberto and Maria Carrasco of Chesterton, who allege that the civil
rights of their son—who committed suicide in April 2009—were violated, that
DSC and Zeck acted negligently, and that DSC and Zeck were responsible for
their son’s death. The Discover Charter School announces that it is set to
open in the fall with 300 K-6 students and that 110 more children are on a
waiting list to get spots. CHS senior Suzanne Williams is presented with the
W.R. Canright Outstanding Senior Journalist Award.
ArcelorMittal announces that Blast Furnace D, idled at the Burns Harbor
facility since September 2008, will be returned to service. Report:
unemployment in April in Porter County was down to 8.8 percent from 9.8
percent; in Chesterton, down to 8.5 percent from 10.0 percent. The
Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce holds a bus tour of economic
development sites in Duneland.
Portage Adult Education announces the imminent closure of the Chesterton
center and 19 other satellites due to a funding crisis. The
Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club presents Paul Harris Fellowship awards to Jim
Ton and Jim Jeselnick. Report: James Gierczyk, the Illinois developer whose
Chesterton Development Partners was supposed to breathe life into Coffee
Creek Center, is sued by various Illinois banks to which he owes millions of
dollars.
June
The 120th annual commencement ceremony is held at the CHS gymnasium. Mark
Cripe, 57, of Michigan City, dies in an accident in the Bulk Transport
trucking yard at ArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor facility. Ground breaks on the
Town of Chesterton’s 15th Street municipal facility project.
The Porter County Gang Task Force holds an informational meeting at Paul
Saylor Elementary School in South Haven. The Chesterton Woman’s Club holds
its 59th annual art show at the Chesterton Art Center. Porter County
Assessor John Scott says that the Indiana Department of Local Government
Finance “made a mistake” in its claim that the county is falling behind in
keeping on track with on-time property-tax billing in 2011.
Vandals go on a spree in the Morningside subdivision in Chesterton, causing
$1,800 in damage. A strike by Teamsters Local 142 puts a stop to all paving,
and many construction projects, in Chesterton and throughout the region. The
Duneland Exchange Club presents CHS senior Scott Radcliffe with the 2010
Accepting the Challenge of Excellence (ACE) Award.
The Porter Redevelopment Commission authorizes a $5.1 million bond issue,
with a payment period of 15 years, to finance badly needed sanitary sewer
upgrades. Jim Anton is installed as the new president of the
Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club. The Indiana Court of Appeals upholds the
85-year sentence of Bruce Guess, the Liberty Township man who confessed to
bludgeoning to death Luke Oil clerk Barbara Heckman in a robbery in December
2008.
Morton Arnsdorf, M.D., 69, of Beverly Shores, is killed in a fiery crash
after being rear ended on U.S. 12 by a 17-year-old Michigan City boy.
Brendan Grube, 42, of Valparaiso, risks his life to save a drowning girl at
Lakeview Beach in Beverly Shores. A 15-inch ductile iron sanitary sewer pipe
fails and falls into Coffee Creek beneath the bridge over East Porter Ave.
The Porter County Substance Abuse Council awards the CPD $5,500 for the
establishment of a K-9 unit, the first of many contributions from the
community and not-for-profit organizations. The Duneland Business Initiative
Group’s Chesterton Cruise Night returns to the Downtown, featuring a dunk
tank in which CPD officers, including Police Chief Dave Cincoski, take their
turns to raise money for the K-9 unit. Laurie Wehner-Evans is named director
of community relations for Porter Health System.
The Porter County Convention, Recreation, and Visitor Commission launches
its Beyond the Beach initiative. Report: Duneland students score better than
the state average for each grade tested on the ISTEP. A CSX train derails in
Jackson Township; Michael Bowling, 45, a derail supervisor for Cranemaster
Inc. of Hammond, is killed at the scene when a crane being used to clear the
tracks falls on him.
A storm knocks out power to 95,000 NIPSCO customers and forces the
postponement of the Duneland Relay for Life. Report: unemployment in May in
Porter County was down to 8.6 percent from 8.8 percent; in Chesterton, down
to 7.9 percent from 8.5 percent. For the third time in eight years, the CHS
speech and debate team has a national champion at the NFL tournament in
Kansas City, with Tyler Fabbri taking the individual title in extemporaneous
speaking.
The Lake Erie Land Company files a foreclosure suit on loans made to James
Gierczyk, current owner and operator of the Sand Creek Country Club. Another
summer storm forces the Duneland School Corporation to move summer school
from CHS to CMS, after electric service to CHS is interrupted. The
daylighting of Dunes Creek at Indiana Dunes State Park nears completion.
Broadway is closed for paving in the Downtown, following the settlement of
the strike called by Teamsters Local 142. Chesterton Street Department
employee Phil Criswell, 44, dies after a battle with cancer. Dana Dabagia of
Michiana wins the People’s Choice Award at the Chesterton Women’s Club Art
Show.
July
Crews continue work on the South Calumet District project—interrupted by the
strike of Teamsters Local 142—and the Chesterton Redevelopment Commission is
told that the project could be substantially completed by the end of the
month. Porter hospital CEO Jonathan Nalli announces that the Damon Run
Conservancy District—and not the Chesterton Utility—will receive the new
facility’s wastewater; Chesterton officials are mystified by the decision.
The Chesterton Lions Club holds the 71st annual Turtle Derby at Dogwood
Park.
Ground breaks on the $30 million Gateway to the Dunes project, spearheaded
by the Town of Porter and funded in part with moneys made available by the
RDA; specs include a 10-foot hike/bike trail along Ind. 49, starting at
Indiana Dunes State Park, separated from the roadway by a barrier wall.
James Gierczyk, already facing lawsuits from creditors in Illinois and
Indiana—including the Lake Erie Land Company—is sued by a partner in
Arizona, who claims that Gierczyk misappropriated the whole of a $1.4
million earnest deposit, half of which the partner says was owed to him.
The second annual fireworks extravaganza at Indiana Dunes State
Park—spearheaded by the Town of Porter, supported financially by the towns
of Chesterton and Burns Harbor, and sponsored by the Chesterton/Duneland
Chamber of Commerce—is a booming success. Destiny Bahena, 9, of Chicago,
drowns at Lakeview Beach in Beverly Shores at Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore; the drowning—not blamed on rip currents—is the first at the
National Lakeshore since 2008, which two Chicago boys drowned in separate
incidents.
The shuttered Splash Down Dunes water park in Porter is put on the auction
block at a sheriff’s sale after owner Paul Childress defaults on a payment
to his former partner, Fred Pearson. IDEM grants the petition of
ArcelorMittal for a landfill permit which will allow the steelmaker to
dispose of up to 1.8 million tons of waste at its Burns Harbor facility.
Four Girl Scouts from Chesterton Troop 30121 earn the Gold Award, Girl
Scouting’s highest honor: Hayley Trezzo, Emily Pavlovic, Christa Cundiff,
and Brittney Biddle. Mikaela Smith, 10, of Liberty Township, finishes third
in the nation at the 10th annual National Braille Challenge in Los Angeles,
Calif. The National Park Service names Sue Bennett the new Chief Interpreter
at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Chesterton FOP Lodge 141 sponsors an open golf day at the Sand Creek Country
Club to raise funds for a K-9 unit. Bergland Construction of Chesterton is
awarded the $1.9 million contract to build the new Town of Chesterton
municipal facility on 15th Street. The Duneland Business Initiative Group
holds its annual Bark in the Park in Thomas Centennial Park.
The Porter Town Council intensifies efforts to remove 64 of the estimated 70
cats living in a home in the area of First Street and Main Street north of
Hjelm Road. The Duneland School Board announces that administrators and
non-teaching staff will forego raises for the second consecutive year. Town
of Porter contracted rate consultant Karl Cender recommends a 27-percent
sanitary sewer rate hike.
Fire destroys the bio-diesel storage facility at the Paulson Oil Company at
300 N. 15th St.; Chesterton and Burns Harbor ladder trucks attack the fire
from the air while train traffic along the Norfolk Southern and CSX lines is
temporarily stopped so that hoses may be strung across the tracks; the cause
of the fire remains undetermined. Kouts Clerk-Treasurer Greg Frame is found
not guilty by a jury of sexual misconduct with a minor. The 160th annual
Porter County Fair opens.
David Raby, 46, of Jackson Township, dies when a tree which he was cutting
down falls on him. ITR Concession Company, which leases the Indiana Toll
Road, raises the speed on the Toll Road in Porter County to 70 miles per
hour. Save the Dunes appeals the landfill permit granted by IDEM to
ArcelorMittal’s Burns Harbor facility.
The annual Chesterton Lions Club Duck Race and the Duneland Exchange Club’s
Frog Hunt and Community Picnic are postponed to August due to inclement
weather. The Burns Harbor Redevelopment Commission votes to designate most,
if not all, of ArcelorMittal’s facility an economic development zone, to
capture TIF revenues on future improvements there. CHS sophomore Darrian
Arch is named 2010 Miss Indiana Junior Teen.
Ground breaks on Porter hospital’s new $225 million facility, the single
largest construction project in Porter County in years. CHS grad Sloan Jones
is named Miss Photogenic and grad Jamie Cahillane is named Miss Congeniality
and second runner-up in the 2010 Porter County Fair Queen Pageant. Two die
when the car in which they are riding is struck by a South Shore train as
they try to go around the downed gates at the Porter/Lake County Line Road
crossing: Taajae McKinley, 20, of Chicago, and Victoria Lucio, 19, of Gary.
Nicole Kamins is named the new executive director of Save the Dunes. U.S.
Steel posts a net loss in the second quarter of $25 million or 17 cents per
share, compared to a net loss of $157 million or $1.10 in the first quarter.
A likely relic of the August 2009 tornado, a boat wedged into the limbs of a
down tree is removed by Chesterton firefighters from the Little Calumet
River near St. Patrick Catholic Church.
Eighteen head of cattle perish in a semi crash on I-94 just west of
Chesterton. The Chesterton Utility Service Board names Rob Lovell the new
Utility Superintendent; at year’s end, he’s still on the job. Hero Evelyn
Ello is honored by the CFD with its Life-Saving Award, after she performs
CPR on a man who went into full cardiac arrest at Westchester Lanes, of
which Ello is owner.
ArcelorMittal reports a net income in the second quarter of $1.704 billion
or $1.13 per share, compared to a net income of $679 million or 45 cents in
the first quarter. Community Health Systems, owner of Porter hospital,
reports a net income in the second quarter of $70.1 million or 79 cents per
share, compared to $70 million or 75 cents in the first quarter. The
Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce presents Florence Dresh with the
Golden Achievement Award, Jane Delligati with the Duneland Distinguished
Woman Award, and Kim Goldak with the Humanitarian of the Year Award at its
annual awards luncheon at Sand Creek Country Club.
The re-scheduled Duneland Relay for Life is held at Chesterton High School.
Alan Zimmerman, 42, is charged with dealing marijuana in an amount greater
than 10 pounds after the Drug Task Force, the DEA, Chesterton Police, and
other agencies raid his home in the Villages of Sand Creek and recover 763
marijuana plants, 90 pounds of loose marijuana, and thousands of dollars in
hydroponic grow equipment.
August
The 52nd annual Chesterton Art Fair is held at Hawthorne Park in Porter.
Roger Holzman, 23, of Chesterton, pleads guilty to one count of criminal
institutional mischief in connection with the vandalism of windows at
Chesterton First United Methodist Church. NiSource reports a net income in
the second quarter of $28.1 million or 10 cents per share, compared to a net
income of $4.8 million or 1 cent in the year-ago period.
Ind. 149 between U.S. 20 and U.S. 6 is closed for repairs to the CSX
grade-crossing just south of Old Porter Road in Burns Harbor; the Chesterton
Town Council enacts a heavy-truck ban on 1050N and 200W in anticipation of
truckers looking for a shortcut through town. Paul Magliocchetti, president
The PMA Group, the lobbying firm with close ties to U.S. Rep. Pete
Visclosky, D-1st, is indicted in federal court on 11 counts of making
illegal campaign contributions.
Unemployment in June in Porter County rose to 9.0 percent from 8.6 percent;
in Chesterton, to 8.2 percent from 8.0 percent. Herb and Charlotte Read are
inducted into the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame, having begun their
environmentalist involvement with Save the Dunes in 1952. Ground breaks on
the new basketball and tennis courts at Chesterton Park.
A ruling by the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for a
Portage man’s civil lawsuit against Burns Harbor Town Marshal Jerry Price to
proceed; the suit alleges the excessive use of force by Price. Report: the
Chesterton Adult Learning Center and other satellites in the region are set
to re-open in August through the joint efforts of the Regional Adult
Education Consortium and the Center for Workforce Innovation to find new
funding.
One year after Morgan Township resident Aaron Blum was found shot to death
in his father’s truck on a road in Washington Township—and his father, James
Blum, 62, found by his side, also with a gunshot wound—James Blum is charged
with his son’s murder. Patricia Mitchell files a lawsuit against the defunct
Splash Down Dunes water park in Porter, its former owner Paul Childress, and
its current owner Fred Pearson, for injuries which she says she sustained in
August 2008 on the American Revolution Water Slide. Timothy Hefner, 17, of
Michigan City, is waived into adult court to face felony charges, after the
Porter County Sheriff’s Police said that he was intoxicated when he rear
ended Beverly Shores cardiologist Morton Arnsdorf on U.S. 20, in a crash
which killed the physician.
Chesterton Town Council Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, broaches the
possibility of a stormwater bond issue to remedy various drainage problems
in town. The Westchester Township History Museum opens “The Lost Tourist
Attractions of the Dunes.” The Discovery Charter School opens for classes.
Vandalism forces the closure of the Chesterton skate park. The former United
Tractor building at 116 N. 15th St. is demolished to make way for the new
Town of Chesterton municipal facility. Report: unemployment in July in
Porter County fell to 8.6 percent from 9.0 percent; in Chesterton, to 7.8
percent from 8.3 percent.
Work is completed on a new sidewalk along Fifth Street from 1100N to Hunters
Court. Three separate sanitary sewer projects close an L-shaped stretch of
roadway in Chesterton—West Porter Ave. from Fifth Street to South Calumet
Road and South Calumet Road from Porter Ave. to Morgan Ave.—making getting
into, out of, and through Chesterton problematic. Micheal Genger, R-4th,
resigns his seat on the Porter Town Council to pursue the mission fields in
South Korea.
The Porter Town Council votes to enact a 27-percent sanitary sewer rate
hike. NIPSCO settles its natural-gas rate case, which if approved by the
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will save the average residential
customer $7.50 per year. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission issues an
order in NIPSCO’s electric rate case, reducing NIPSCO’s authorized operating
revenues by $49 million, in an action which the IURC itself estimates will
raise the average residential customer’s monthly bill by 10 percent.
Fall enrollment in the Duneland Schools falls by 213 students, a decrease
which Superintendent Dirk Baer attributes to the opening of the new
Discovery Charter School. A boy fishing in a Salt Creek headwater in
Imagination Glen in Portage hooks a three- to four-foot alligator; the gator
manages to escape. Roger Holzman is sentenced to two years in prison after
he pleads guilty to one count of criminal institutional mischief in
connection with the vandalism of Chesterton First United Methodist Church.
Water mains begin “popping” in several places along Broadway in Chesterton.
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handles one of the single biggest cargos in
its 40-year history: a 388-ton electrical transformer. The Burns Harbor BZA
votes 3-2 to grant a special exception to CR England to build a 250-semi
truck parking lot west of Ind. 149 and south of Tech Drive.
September
David Canright, managing editor of the Chesterton Tribune, is recognized for
his years of service on the Porter County Convention, Recreation, and
Visitor Commission. An IRS audit questions Porter County employee contracts
and fringe benefits. The Schoolhouse Shop holds its 21st annual Outdoor Art
Fair.
The Purdue North Central Veterans Club closes out the summer with a
fundraising 12-hour music bash at American Legion Post 170. The CHS guidance
program is once again the recipient of the Indiana Gold Star School
Counseling Award. Coroner Robert Schulte reports eight confirmed or
suspected fatal heroin overdoses so far in 2010, with at least four of the
victims Dunelanders; Porter Starke Services Inc. raises the possibility of
tainted heroin being sold.
The South Calumet Road sewer separation project begins, as detours force
motorists to snake their way through the Downtown. The National Association
of Homebuilders gives its highest energy-efficiency certification to Sarah
Oudman’s home in The Village of Sand Creek; Oudman is president of Treasure
Homes Inc. The Porter County Commissioners vote to ban the sale of synthetic
marijuana.
The 2010 Porter County Epidemiological Profile shows 44 percent of
high-school seniors used alcohol at least once a month, 25 percent of
juniors used marijuana, and nearly 18 percent of sixth-graders perceive
little or no risk in the use of cocaine. The Porter County Republican Party
opts to close to the public the caucus called to fill the vacancy on the
Porter Town Council created by the resignation of Micheal Genger; the caucus
elects Trevin Fowler. Thomas Campbell, 62, of Valparaiso, dies of injuries
sustained in a two vehicle accident on U.S. 6 in Liberty Township.
The Duneland Resale Shop celebrates its first anniversary at its new
location, 801 Broadway in Chesterton. Local police officers, firefighters,
and U.S. service members remember 9/11 at a ceremony at Coffee Creek
Watershed Conservancy. Four CPD officers are promoted: to Sergeant—Chris
Swickard, School Resource Officer Randy Komisarcik, and Det. Don Maloney;
and to Corporal—Nick Brown; Officer Jamie Copollo earns her detective’s
shield.
The CHS Trojan Guard takes fourth at the Goshen High School Invitational.
The 29th Wizard of Oz Festival comes to Downtown Chesterton, with
celebrities John Fricke and Rick Ewigleben. Duneland Heritage Days is held
at the Chellberg Farm and Bailly Homestead at Indiana Dunes National
Lakeshore.
Report: Great Lakes shipping pumps $14 billion into Indiana’s economy. Four
CHS seniors are named National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists: Tom
Biel, Ryan Gorman, Brian Mabry, and Kirsten Markey. Paul Magliochetti, whose
defunct lobbying firm, The PMA Group, donated tens of thousands of dollars
to the re-election campaigns of U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, pleads
guilty to a federal indictment charging him with making hundreds of
thousands of illegal donations to scores of campaigns dating to 2003.
The Burns Harbor Town Council votes to appeal the BZA’s issuance of a
special exception to CR England. Folks have little to say at a public
hearing before the Chesterton Advisory Plan Commission on a revised
Comprehensive Plan. United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard
is named to President Obama’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and
Negotiations.
The Visiting Nurse Association of Porter County celebrates its 40th
anniversary. NIPSCO submits its own calculation of the impact of an electric
rate order issued by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission: not a
10-percent average residential hike as estimated by the IURC, but a 16.8
percent spike. The National Park Service announces that, beginning in 2011,
it will discontinue the sale of the $20 annual pass at West Beach.
ARTour 2010 celebrates art in Chesterton. Delores Brooks retires from the
Chesterton Cemetery after 66 years of service. Report: unemployment in
August in Porter County fell to 8.6 percent from 8.7 percent; in Chesterton,
to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Constantine Dillon tells the
Chesterton / Duneland Chamber of Commerce that the National Lakeshore is an
economic driver, and with 1.96 million visitors in 2009 is more popular than
Mammoth Cave, the Everglades, and Gettysburg national parks. The National
Park Service conveys the five remaining historic South Shore commuter line
cars to the East Troy, Wis., Electric Railroad. The Indiana State Department
of Health reports two cases of West Nile virus in Porter County.
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor files a notice with the
Indiana Utility Regulatory of its intent to contest the IURC’s order in the
NIPSCO electric rate case. CHS senior Nicholas Brahos is named a winner of
the National Council of Teachers of English Achievement in Writing Award for
2010. Tori Schroeder is named 2010 Homecoming Queen and Jay Broder the King
at the CHS homecoming football game.
The Chesterton Town Council honors its longest serving municipal employees.
The Chesterton Town Council names Alex Rodriguez to the Police Commission to
fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Nick Walters. The IRS
announces its intent to pursue a $175,000 penalty against Porter County for
the way some employee contracts were handled between 2007 and 2009.
The Friends of the Indiana Dunes purchases a new ATV for Indiana Dunes State
Park. The Tri-Towns consider the idea of establishing a Duneland fire
territory. Long-time Porter County public defender James Tsoutsouris dies at
74.
October
Michael Wilson, 26, of Valparaiso, who substitute-taught in the Duneland
Schools, pleads guilty to federal charges of distribution of child
pornography and possession of child pornography. Six CHS students are among
the 34,000 in the country commended by the 2011 National Merit Scholarship
Program: D.J. Gallagher, Brandon Moore, Salvador Mujica IV, Manny Orlich,
Katelyn Povlinski, and Jeffrey Waltz Jr. The CHS Trojan Guard advances to
ISSMA regional competition, with a Gold Superior rating at district
competition at Concord High School in Elkhart.
Gov. Daniels fires Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Chair David Lott
Hartley, citing ethical issues; those issues involve former IURC general
counsel Scott Storms, now employed by Duke Energy Group, who had previously
communicated with Duke about that position while presiding over hearings
concerning the utility. Recycling containers provided by the Recycling and
Waste Reduction District of Porter County move to a new home: at WiseWay
Foods at 1600 Pioneer Trail in Chesterton.
Portage-based Persistence LLC announces plans for a $40 million indoor
sports facility on land immediately south of the Indiana Toll Road and east
of Ind. 49, the so-called Rossman property; the project would be financed
with recovery-zone bonds made available through the American Reinvestment
and Recovery Act of 2009 and administered by the Chesterton Economic
Development Commission. The CHS debate team takes first place at Fort Wayne
Carroll. The Chesterton Town Council instructs Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann
to draft an ordinance which would ban smoking at businesses in Chesterton.
The Porter Town Council enacts an ordinance banning the sale of synthetic
marijuana. Joseph Draus, 33, of Chesterton, who admitted selling heroin to a
16-year-old girl whom he met at the skate park, is sentenced to six years in
prison. The Burns Harbor BZA votes to spend up to $5,000 to hire an attorney
to defend the special exception which it granted to CR England, after the
Burns Harbor Town Council files an appeal of that decision in court.
Minister Bruce Binkley is the keynote speaker at the ninth annual Community
Prayer Breakfast. Misleading anti-Bob Harper ads, authorized and paid for by
the “Valparaiso Republicans,” raise eyebrows; Harper’s opponent in the race
for the Center District seat on the Porter County Commissioners, Nancy
Adams, says that she has nothing to do with the ads. William Dugan, former
president and business manager of Operating Engineers Local 150, is
sentenced to three years of probation and fined $30,000 after he pleaded
guilty to violating federal labor law.
Chesterton Town Engineer Mark O’Dell begins compiling a project list for a
proposed $835,000 stormwater bond issue. Sanitary sewer projects along South
Calumet Road and West Porter Ave. are finally completed and the roads
re-paved, at last cutting the Gordian knot which had become the dominant
traffic pattern in Downtown Chesterton. The Porter County Council defers a
decision on whether to authorize raises for its roughly 700 employees.
Burns Harbor Clerk-Treasurer Jane Jordan is named Master Municipal Clerk by
the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. Jeanette Neagu is named the
new president of Save the Dunes, succeeding Deborah Chubb. Porter County
Assessor John Scott says that the county has met the state requirement to
have 25 percent of reassessment completed by Dec. 1.
The Porter County Convention, Recreation, and Visitor Commission reports
that tourism generated $311.5 million in 2009. The Indiana Financial
Authority okays $23 million in recovery-zone bonds for a proposed indoor
sports facility in the Town of Chesterton. The Porter Advisory Plan
Commission endorses the adoption of new rules which would prohibit the
planting of invasive species at Porter Beach.
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handles the largest shipment of project
cargo in its 40-year history: 134 complete turbine units carried by 11
ships. The Westchester Township History Museum opens “The History of Burns
Harbor” exhibit. The newly re-modeled Nature Center at Indiana Dunes State
Park is dedicated.
CHS Principal James Goetz is named 2010 District High School Principal of
the Year by the Indiana Association of School Principals District 1. Report:
unemployment in September in Porter County falls to 8.3 percent from 8.7
percent; in Chesterton, to 7.6 percent from 7.9 percent. U.S. Steel reports
a net loss in the third quarter of $51 million or 35 cents per share,
compared to a net loss of $25 million or 17 cents in the second quarter.
ArcelorMittal reports a net income in the third quarter of $1.35 billion or
89 cents per share, compared to $1.704 billion or $1.13 in the second
quarter. The Chesterton Town Council grants a 10-year tax abatement for a
proposed nursing home to be built on Dickinson Road by Long-Term Care
Investments, over the objections of The Waters of Duneland. Community Health
Systems Inc., the owner of Porter hospital, reports a net income in the
third quarter of $70.4 million or 76 cents per share, compared to a net
income of $70.1 million or 74 cents in the second quarter.
St. Anthony Memorial Health Center breaks ground on a $22 million ER
department on the site of the old Jewel/Osco on Indian Boundary Road.
NiSource reports a net income in the third quarter of $33.2 million or 12
cents per share, compared to a net income of $15.4 million or 5 cents in the
year-ago period.
November
Nathaniel Worden, 29, of Valparaiso—already sentenced to 35 years in federal
prison after pleading guilty to a charge of advertising child pornography—is
ordered to pay one of his victims $533,244. The Chesterton Art Center
celebrates its 50th anniversary with its Art after Dark gala.
The GOP sweeps all but one countywide race in the general election, as more
Republicans vote straight-ticket than Democrats and more Democrats just stay
home: Nancy Adams (R) wins the Center District seat on the Porter County
Commissioners; Jim Biggs (R), the 1st District seat on the Porter County
Council; Robert Wichlinski (R), the Auditor’s race; Jon Snyder (R), the
Assessor’s; Karen Martin (R), the Clerk of Circuit Court’s; Chuck Harris
(R), the Coroner’s; Jon Miller (R), the Recorder’s; while incumbent Sheriff
Dave Lain’s victory is the one bright spot for Democrats. In the race for
Duneland School Board, voters retain incumbent Mike Trout but unseat John
Marshall for Ralph Ayres.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore celebrates its 40th anniversary. The
Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission okays the settlement agreement in
NIPSCO’s natural-gas rate case, saving residential customers around $7.50
per year on their gas bills. The Duneland School Board tours the new
addition at Liberty Elementary School.
Dead livestock are found mutilated on a Morgan Township farm. After more
than eight months of concentrated fundraising, Fraternal Order of Police
Lodge 141, representing the officers of the Chesterton Police Department,
has sufficient moneys to acquire two K-9 units: Job, partnered with Officer
Erik Herbert; and Igor, with Sgt. Dan Rocha. CHS Class of 1965 holds its
45-year reunion.
In what is believed to be its single largest entry ever in a regular season
tournament, the CHS debate team—with 54 students competing—defeats 10 other
schools at the Larry B. Stuber Memorial Debate Tournament at Valparaiso High
School. Friends and foes of a proposed smoke-free ordinance make their
opinions known to Chesterton Town Council members. The Chesterton/Duneland
Chamber of Commerce announces a new brand for the Town of Porter: “Front
Porch to the Dunes”; the Town of Chesterton’s, “Artcentric.”
The Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club holds its annual Veterans Day
commemoration; Rich Gardner Sr. is honored with the Paul Harris Fellowship.
The Porter County Plan Commission votes to approve plans for a 109-acre
medical campus park, including a medical office building and assisted living
and family homes in the neighborhood of the new Porter hospital facility in
unincorporated Liberty Township. 2002 CHS graduate Tamara Carnahan Weaver is
named an Indiana deputy attorney general.
Chesterton resident Paula Wiese, who teaches art at Portage High School, is
named Secondary Art Educator of the Year by the Art Education Association of
Indiana. The Chesterton Utility Service Board announces that it may forego a
sanitary sewer rate increase in 2011. NIPSCO responds to the outcry over a
16.8 percent hike in the electric rate for residential customers—authorized
by an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission order in August—by proposing to
cut that hike in half, to 7.9 percent or $5.94 per month.
Burns Harbor Town Council Member Cliff Fleming is awarded the 2010 Lifetime
Achievement Award by the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development
Center. Machelle Blount, who spearheaded the return of the Wizard of Oz
Festival to the Chesterton Downtown in 2009, is named Woman of the Year by
Duneland Working Women. Chesterton Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann tells the
Redevelopment Commission that he does not know whether Persistence LLC will
close its sale of recovery-zone bonds—to finance a proposed $40 million
indoor sports facility—by the Dec. 31 deadline.
The public is invited to meet Rusty the Turkey at Chesterton Feed & Garden.
The Duneland holiday season opens with the Hometown Christmas Celebration
and the Twilight Christmas Parade on the day after Thanksgiving. Gary
Danowski, 62, of Lake Villa, Ill., dies in a spectacular six-vehicle crash
at the intersection of Ind. 49 and Gateway Blvd. Chesterton author Heather
Augustyn establishes herself as a world authority on ska—the Jamaican music
which birthed reggae—with the publication of her book, Ska: An Oral History
December
The Chesterton skate park is vandalized, again. The Porter County Council
votes 4-3 to appoint hotelier Jeff Good to the county’s seat on the RDA,
even as it pursues its appeal of a Jasper Circuit Court judge’s ruling
denying the council’s right to withdraw from the RDA; Good’s appointment is
later endorsed by the Porter County Commissioners. Report: hunters take 85
deer over two phases and four days at Indiana Dunes State Park, the most
deer taken since 2003 and more than double the number take in the last cull,
in 2008.
“It’s a Jim Dandy Christmas: Toys from the 1930s and 40s” exhibit opens at
the Westchester Township History Museum. Folks get their first look at
alternative draft plans for the $16 million Brookdale Park, to be built on
65 acres north of the CSX right-of-way and between Meridian Road and C.R.
50W in unincorporated Liberty Township; when finished, the park will feature
a variety of sports fields for year-round use. The CHS Music Department
holds its 38th annual Madrigal Dinner. The Chesterton Town Council votes
unanimously to “intervene” in the Damon Run Conservancy District’s petition
before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, after Porter hospital’s
decision to flow its wastewater through Damon Run—and not to the Chesterton
treatment plant—mystifies town officials.
The fourth annual Rock for Tots benefit concert is held at the Chesterton
Moose Lodge. A power failure at CHS forces administrators to start classes
in the dark; juice is returned by 10 a.m. Local realtor Don Johnson is sued
by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, which alleges improprieties in
Johnson’s foreclosure consulting services.
The Duneland Community Advent Festival is held at St. Patrick Catholic
Church in Chesterton.
The Chesterton Tribune wins first place in the Hoosier State Press
Association Foundation’s 2010 Better Newspaper Contest, in the Best News
Coverage Under Deadline Pressure category, for its stories in the Aug. 19,
2009, edition, on the previous night’s tornado; reporters Vicki Urbanik,
Margaret Willis, Alexander Newman, and Kevin Nevers all contributed articles
and pictures.
A colossal crane sways a new 8,900-pound foot bridge into place in Coffee
Creek Park, replacing the old one battered and broken by the floods of
September 2008.
NICTD projects a $1.7 million deficit for the South Shore commuter line in
2011; General Manager Gerald Hanes says that, if necessary, the shortfall
could be covered by the line’s $2 million in cash reserves. A lake-effect
blizzard, accompanied by winds gusting to 50 miles per hour, closes the
Duneland Schools, strands scores of motorists on highways—including, for 15
hours, Chesterton Police Chief Dave Cincoski on U.S. Highway 30—leads to
dozens of crashes and slide-offs, carves thousands of tons of sand from Lake
Michigan’s shoreline and foredunes, and blows down the screen at the 49er
Drive In.
Angel Reyes-Palacios, who lead Duneland police agencies on a five-hour
manhunt in March, is sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after pleading
guilty to a charge of re-entry of a deported alien with a prior felony
conviction. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, votes against a tax-cut
extension bill, while U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd, votes for it; the House
passes the so-called “compromise” bill by a comfortable margin. The National
Park Service begins work on a Shoreline Restoration and Management Plan for
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; the public is encouraged to provide input.
Report: unemployment in November rose in Porter County to 8.2 percent from
7.9 percent, while it fell in Chesterton to 7.0 percent from 7.2 percent.
Mark Maassel is named president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum. The
Chesterton Town Council approves an expenditure of $30,000 in emergency
CEDIT funds, after Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg reports a shortage
of road salt, on the first day of winter.
The Chesterton Town Council okays in principle the extension of the Orchard
Pedestrian Way, planned by the Town of Porter, into the Town of Chesterton
in the area of Waverly Road and Woodlawn Ave.; the Town of Porter will
maintain that stretch of the Pedestrian Way until such time as the Town of
Chesterton links it to its own portion of the Dunes-Kankakee Trail. Porter
County Commissioner John Evans, R-North, accuses the LaPorte District of
INDOT of “blackmail,” after INDOT threatens to recommend to the Federal
Highway Administration that Porter County be forced to repay the $3.2
million cost of building the elevated bridge over U.S. Highway 12 leading to
the U.S. Steel Midwest facility.
The Porter Park Board unanimously rejects the Town Council’s request to
transfer all Parks and Recreation Department employees to the council’s
jurisdiction; Council President Michelle Bollinger says that such a transfer
would streamline park operations; Board President Patty Raffin says that the
Park Board was established in 1934 as an autonomous board with its own
employees as provided by Indiana Code. The Porter Town Council deadlocks at
2-2 over a motion to elect Member Dave Babcock to the 2011 presidency;
Clerk-Treasurer Carole Pomeroy breaks the tie by casting her vote for
Babcock.
The Indiana
Bureau of Motor Vehicles announces that, effective Jan. 1, motorists will no
longer be able to obtain registration cards, stickers, or license plates at
their local license branch but will instead have those items mailed to them.
Mark Snyder, former owner of Sunrise Farms, sues the Chesterton Police
Department, alleging among other things fraud and perjury in its
investigation of an alleged incident at Synder’s store in 2005; that
investigation led to charges of public indecency and battery being filed
against Snyder but the Porter County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office later
dismissed those charges.
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Posted
12/31/2010