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...

Read more: House Dems Say Pence Tax Proposal Will Be Heard

[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...

Read more: Charges Filed in Winfield Bank Robbery

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 a whole, is going to have to come together to work out these issues in the future".

 

Read more: Gun Summit in Gary Targets Many Issues

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...

Read more: Indiana: Main Supplier in IL./Chicago Gun Crimes

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.
###
###...

Read more: Snowfall Leads to Hazardous Conditions This Morning

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...

Read more: President Obama Visiting Chicago Today

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,...

Read more: Notre Dame Raises Tuition Nearly 4 Percent

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...

Read more: Indiana Lawmakers Criticize Sequester Cuts

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.
###...

Read more: Hammond Library Could Merge With Lake Co

Washington, D.C.— Senator Joe Donnelly spoke with Indiana media today about the passage of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the Senate.  VAWA, which Donnelly co-sponsored, passed with bipartisan support of 78 senators including Indiana’s Senior Senator, Dan Coats.
“The FBI estimates that a rape occurs in Indiana every five hours,” said Donnelly.  “That is a tragedy, and we owe the survivors of rape, sexual assault, and stalking our full support and protection.  Last year, this bill failed...

Read more: Violence Against Women Act Passes U.S. Senate