Local News

Today:  Gary native and Indiana legislative candidate Belinda Drake is with us to give her eyewitness-view of a Saturday confrontation between state Senator Eddie Melton and a Statehouse police officer -- an incident which is now under investigation as an alleged racial profiling incident. Melton and his Indianapolis colleague JD Ford were with Drake and several other people who had participated in a rally outside the building and went indoors to escape a strong thunderstorm, but that was where the incident took place.  Senators Melton and Ford issued a joint statement Monday afternoon through the Indiana Democratic Party organization.  We also have another Welcome Project conversation, and we bring back our conversation with Lake County Plan Commission chairman Bill Emerson about a July 15th public hearing on zoning law changes that may affect citizen unput on solar panel farm projects.

The coronavirus pandemic is changing the hiring process. One company is helping businesses hire people through a drive-in model.

The Small Business Administration released national data on who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan through June. But the lack of detailed information included for smaller loans limits the ability to hold those businesses and organizations accountable. 

Indiana employers are losing $1.8 billion a year due to a lack of stable childcare for employees according to the latest report from the state’s Early Learning Advisory Committee.

GARY - A 30-day public comment period with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now underway on the proposed cleanup plan for the Cline Avenue Ditch Site in Gary.

The site, located near the northeast corner Gary Avenue and Cline Avenue (Indiana Route 912), has been impacted by oil entering the ditch and ultimately discharging into the Grand Calumet River.

Hoosiers in need of help with their rent can now apply for assistance from a federally-funded state program.

Today:   Purdue University economist Larry DeBoer is with us to talk about the new analysis created for the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute on Indiana's taxing structure and its impact on local, county and state governments amd how the coronavirus pandemic --and the economic recession it caused-- is affecting urban, growing and rural counties.  Northwest Indiana financial advisor Greg Hammer talks about Wednesday's income tax return and tax payment filing deadline, extended from April 15th because of COVID-19.  And Union Township Schools superintendent John Hunter is with us to tell us about the successful campaign launched in June to ask voters to extend a 2013 tax increase to cover expenses for the Porter County school district.

A new group needs your help to keep invasive plants like Bell’s honeysuckle and Oriental bittersweet out of the Great Lakes region. 

Former Secretary of State Todd Rokita is the Indiana Republican Party’s nominee for attorney general.

The Small Business Administration released national data on who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan through June. But the lack of detailed information included for smaller loans limits the ability to hold those businesses and organizations accountable. 

MERRILLVILLE - The Merrillville Community School Corporation is unveiling its re-entry plan, which includes students going back to school on-schedule, if their parents choose to return them to campus.

The Board of Trustees approved the 2020-21 plan, proposed by Superintendent Nick Brown at Tuesday’s meeting.  Brown says there are several components to the plan.

It's Thursday, July 9, 2020… I'm Tom Maloney with Lakeshore Public Radio, this is your midday news update. Stay tuned for the latest on school reopenings during the coronavirus pandemic, an arrest in Bloomington following protests over the Fourth of July weekend, then the latest pick three and pick four midday lotto picks, as well as your weather forecast through the weekend.

If you’ve had trouble lately getting an appointment for a COVID-19 test – or if your appointment was abruptly cancelled – it’s likely the heat is to blame.

A federal judge permanently struck down a 2018 Indiana anti-abortion law that required doctors to report a long list of so-called abortion complications.

Today:   On this Reporter's Roundtable, we talk with "Times" education reporter Carley Lanich and her counterpart at the "Post-Tribune," reporter Hannah Reed, about their stories in print and online this week.  We also bring back our conversation with Edgewater Health chief executive Dr. Donita Johnson-Hughes about her recent "op-ed" piece in the "Post-Tribune" entitled "The Pandemic, The Police and Politics."  It is her thoughts on racial disparity, relations between minorities and police, and the political conditions of the day.

Today:   We bring back two conversations with I.U. Northwest professors on the books they wrote or had a big hand in writing,  We begin with history professor emeritus James Lane who,  along with co-author Ronald Cohen, put together the latest edition of “Gary – A Pictorial History.”  Professor Lane says the latest book includes events in the Steel City into the 21st Century.  Then, a revisited conversation with Indiana University Northwest sociology professor Jack Bloom about "Class, Race and the Civil Rights Movement," a book he wrote and was published more than 30 years ago and is still relevant today -- so much so, that he added some new material for the second edition -- now in print.   NFIB Indiana director Barbara Quandt also joins us with an update on efforts by Indiana small businesses to recover more quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indiana Governor’s Workforce Cabinet says it’s expanding the state’s Next Level Jobs program with $37 million from the CARES Act. It’s a major part of the state’s strategy to help Hoosiers recover from pandemic-related job losses.

There’s been a big push to reduce lead in drinking water around the country. But few of those efforts have been focused on private wells — where about a quarter of all Hoosiers get their water. 

It's Tuesday, July 7, 2020, with a look at your Lakeshore Public Radio Midday News Update, I'm Tom Maloney.

Today:   Ellen Szarleta, the director of the Indiana University Northwest Center for Urban and Regional Excellence is with us to talk about the summer non-credit class offerings this year, done differently  because of the coronavirus pandemic.  They include courses about career training, Social Security and COVID-19, emergency preparedness for seniors -- and a summer reading program for all agea.  We have another conversation from the Welcome Project at Valparaiso University, with a Gary resident's recollections of her school days. And we bring back our conversaton with I.U. Northwest economist Micah Pollak about his coronavirus Twitter feed.

Career and technical education programs across Indiana were allowed to begin hands-on classes Monday so students could finish course requirements. It’s the first time students will take classes in a school since the pandemic began.

INDIANA - The Indiana Hands-Free Law is now in effect, which means that drivers are now prohibited from holding a mobile device, except in emergencies, while their vehicles are moving.

Drivers who are caught breaking the law will be subject to a fine.  Lieutenant Steve Kellogg, Spokesperson for the Hammond Police Department explains what the law means.

"Basically drivers are not allowed to have any telecommunication device in their hands while driving, unless it's in conjunction with a hands-free device," Kellogg says.

It’s Monday, July 6, 2020… Stay tuned for the latest on the coronavirus death rate dropping in Northwest Indiana, the future of Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill on the Republican ballot this fall, and we’ll get the latest pick three and pick four midday lotto picks, as well as a scorcher of a forecast…

Today:  Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. talks about how the city is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, its impact on city services and events like those at the Sportsplex, on businesses and how the reduced casino revenue eill affect the city's 2020 budget.  He also has some good news about the latest firefighter-paramedics hired into the department, which include the first female hired since 1969.  Big Shoulders Fund CEO Josh Hale is with us with an update on the initiative to support the schools in the Catholic Diocese of Gary and the impact of COVID-19 on the schools, as they prepare to reopen for the fall semester.