[Photo provided]
The Cash 5 jackpot hit in Michigan City last week has been claimed by a northwest Indiana father-of-three. Daymond Quick of Chesterton, an electrician in a steel mill, and his wife Mary Beth, who's a nurse, say they know exactly what they'll do with the nearly 149-thousand dollar financial boost. Their 18-year-old daughter got accepted at Columbia College for journalism, but after learning what it would cost, they say they had to tell her she couldn't go – until the lottery win. In addition to their Columbia-bound senior, the Quicks also have a 16-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, and the whole family planned to do a little celebratory shopping over the weekend. Quick purchased his winning Cash 5 ticket at a Speedway on Franklin in Michigan City.
###...

Read more: Local Jackpot Win Claimed

A lot of emergency vehicles at Hobart High School today as part of a two-day exercise to illustrate the impact distracted driving and driving under the influence has on friends, families and the community. English teacher and theater director Cathy Nelson says the drill not only features mock crash scenes, along with a fly-in by the Lake County Sheriffs Helicopter, but also grim reminders all day. "Every 15 minutes, the students over the PA will hear the beginning strains of the song 'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC, the grim reaper will walk in, place a black rose on the desk of a student, that student will get up, and get on a gurney pushed in by our EMT students and be covered with a sheet, and then a police officer will step up and read that student's obituary," Nelson said. That student will then return to their classes later in 'death' makeup, dressed in black, and not communicating the rest of the day.  Participating students include those in theater, EMT and law enforcement classes. Hobart Police Public Information Officer Lt. Jack Grennes says it's a very involved exercise with a very serious message, "to get kids to realize the dangers of drinking and driving and also texting".   Tuesday will feature a memorial service and a visit from Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter.
###...

Read more: 'Every 15 Minutes' at Hobart HS

Indiana Conservation Officers are investigating an ATV accident in White County that resulted in the amputation of all five toes from a toddler's foot. Authorities say Friday night the one-year-old was a passenger on an all-terrain vehicle being driven in their backyard by his eight-year-old brother. Officers say the toddler wasn't wearing shoes and his sock became entangled in the vehicle's chain, pulling his foot into the gear. The case remains under investigation.
###...

Read more: Toddler Hurt in ATV Accident

The La Porte County Coroner says a 20-year-old Hamlet woman was killed when her vehicle went off the end of the road of County Road 800 South where it connects with Range Road near Kingsford Heights in dense fog overnight. Emergency responders got a 911 call from a passerby shortly after 1 am, and Coroner John Sullivan says the victim, 20-year-old Amanda Lovins, had to be extricated her from the late model Ford Explorer and was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt force trauma.  Sullivan says Lovins was southbound on Range Road and failed to stop at the t-intersection with 800 South in very dense "pea-soup type fog, one or two car length visibility at the time, and also unfortunately alcohol played a factor in this accident also," Sullivan said, stating her blood alcohol level was allegedly over three-and-half-times the legal limit at .283.    US 6 is closed for railroad bridge repair in the Kingsford Heights region, so Range Road and 800 South is a short cut through the area.  We're told there were also a number of accident calls, minor accidents and slideoffs overnight across the area, also including Starke, Pulaski, Porter Counties, in the dense fog.
###...

Read more: Hamlet Woman Killed in Crash

Valparaiso Police are investigating a reported incident of a 14 yr old female subject being grabbed by a male subject just before 9-o'clock Saturday night in the area of Eisenhower Avenue and Worthington Drive. Police say the girl was walking alone on the sidewalk, when a male subject leaning against a tree grabbed her shirt and said "come here". Police say the female victim pushed the subject away and ran from the area. The male subject was described as white, in his early 20's wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a "DC" emblem on the front of the sweatshirt.
###

...

Read more: Valpo PD Investigate Grabbing Incident

The Big Ten Conference has announced its football realignments, which places Purdue and Indiana in different divisions. The cross-division games will include one protected matchup on an annual basis between Indiana and Purdue. All schools in the East Division are in the eastern time zone and all schools in the West Division are in the central time zone with the exception of Purdue. The alignments are set to begin in 2014.
The changes were unanimously recommended by conference directors of athletics and supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors. The new division alignments will feature Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers in the East Division and Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in the West Division.  Each school will play the other six schools in its division plus two teams from the other division in 2014 and 2015, which will serve as transitional years in which the schools will still be playing eight-game schedules. Beginning in 2016, each school will play three teams from the other division as part of its nine-game schedule.
###...

Read more: Purdue and IU FB Game Will Still Happen

A vote on a one-and-a-half percent local income tax didn't happen Friday after the Lake County Council said they failed to provide the proper advance notice. The vote was originally expected for May, then was moved up when a bill popped up downstate that would have directed the county how to spend the tax revenues, then late last week legislators decided not to go that route. The county council is still scheduled to meet May 14 for their regular meeting. Meanwhile, a bill lifting the Lake County property tax levy freeze heads to the Governor's desk. The county's been living with the freeze since 2007 for failing to pass a local income tax. Lake is the only Indiana county without one.
###...

Read more: Lake Tax Vote Delayed

A wrongful death lawsuit brought by Michael Jackson's mother goes to trial today in a Los Angeles courtroom. Authorities say the pop star and Gary native died nearly four years ago of a fatal combination of sedatives and the anesthetic propofol. .Catherine Jackson is seeking billions of dollars from concert promoter AEG Live.  ABC News legal analyst Royal Oakes says in the opening, "lawyers for the Jackson family will claim A-E-G hired Dr. Murray, promised to pay them a massive sum of 150-thousand dollars a month and in return pressured him to make sure Michael was concert-ready even if it meant risking the singer's life."
###...

Read more: Jackson Wrongful Death Suit to Trial

One of nearly a-hundred bills Indiana Governor Pence has already signed calls for state lawmakers to study the possibility of changing the structure of county government, placing all executive powers in a single county executive rather than having a board of commissioners... and also placing all legislative and fiscal powers with the county council, as is already the case in Lake and St. Joseph Counties.
###...

Read more: County Government Study in Bill

Another hearing is this Friday in Lake County court for an Alsip, Illinois, man accused of killing Griffith businesswoman Mary Austgen. Police have charged 57-year-old Ralph Martinez with murder, robbery and criminal confinement in the kidnapping and shooting death of the 76-year-old St. John resident, who was found in a Gary casino parking garage in March. A preliminary not guilty plea was entered last Friday. Police have said a motive has not yet been determined, and they continue to investigate.
###...

Read more: Hearing for Murder Suspect