GARY, Ind. — U. S. Steel Yard will play host to college baseball on Tuesday night at 5:35 p.m., when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish face the Kent State Golden Flashes. Fans will be admitted to the game free of charge.
Kent State played at the Steel Yard in 2012 in the first-ever NCAA Regional at the ballpark and advanced to the Super Regional before eventually reaching the College World Series. The Flashes also played the longest game ever at U. S. Steel Yard, a 7-6 victory over Kentucky in 21 innings last June 1 in the opening game of the Regional. The Irish last played at U. S. Steel Yard on April 28, 2010 against Valparaiso. 
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Read more: Free College Baseball Tomorrow at US Steel Yard

Indianapolis - Governor Mike Pence today announced the appointment of Elizabeth C. Hurley to the St. Joseph Superior Court. The appointment of Hurley will fill an upcoming vacancy on the St. Joseph Superior Court that will occur on March 31, 2013 when Judge Roland W. Chamblee, Jr. retires.
"I'm pleased to appoint Elizabeth Hurley to the St. Joseph Superior Court where she has already proven to be a valuable part of the court system," said Governor Mike Pence. "She has the character, life experiences and professional skills that make her a good fit for the position. Undoubtedly, Judge Hurley will continue to be a strong leader when she assumes her new role as Superior Court Judge."
Hurley is well known for her courageous fights in the courtroom against child predators. She recently assumed her current position as St. Joseph Circuit Court Magistrate Judge on January 2, 2012, after she was appointed by Circuit Court Judge Michael Gotsch. Hurley's career also includes nine years in the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office in child support, family violence special victims unit, and major crimes divisions. She spent five years in private practice handling family law, appeals and general civil litigation. Hurley serves on the Violence Fatality Review Team and Bench and Bar Committee and Civility Subcommittee of St. Joseph County Bar Association.
Hurley graduated cum laude with a B.A. from Villanova University with an English major and minors in French and Political Science. She earned her J.D. from University of Notre Dame Law School.
The St. Joseph County Superior Court Judicial Nominating Commission submitted Hurley's name along with four others to Governor Pence for his consideration and appointment. 

Read more: Gov Appoints Hurley to Fill Upcoming St. Joseph Co Vacancy

Union Fire officials say State Road 130 is now open, from County Road 475 West/Sedley Road to County Road 625 West, after a crash. One individual was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, after losing control of their vehicle and hitting a utility pole, shearing it in half, and knocking down wires. The accident happened around 10, just east of the Union Fire Station, near Wheeler.
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Read more: SR 130 Near Wheeler Opened

One person was taken to the hospital after a passenger vehicle traveling eastbound on State Road 130 lost control and struck a utility pole just outside of Wheeler today, shearing the pole in half. Wires are also down.  Union Fire Department Assistant Chief Tim Beach tells the Region News Team that extrication was not necessary, and the individual was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.  The accident happened around 10 am just east of the Union Fire Station in Union Township on State Road 130.
Union Fire officials say State Road 130 is shut down from County Road 475 West/Sedley Road to County Road 625 West, and may be closed a couple of hours to clear the crash scene and replace the pole.
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Read more: One Hurt in Wheeler Crash

Union Fire officials in Union Township say State Road 130 is being shut down as crews respond to a single-vehicle crash in Wheeler.  Officials say a passenger vehicle struck a utility pole.  State Road 130 is closed between County Road 475 West/Sedley Road to County Road 625 West.
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Read more: Accident Shuts Down SR 130

The early-Spring blast of Winter kept Indiana State Police from the Lowell Post busy overnight on requests for service and assisting motorists. Troopers responded to 26 property damage crashes, 7 personal injury crashes, 30 slide offs and 10 assist motorists calls in their district, which includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Pulaski and Starke Counties.   Motorists are reminded to travel cautiously, allow more stopping distance and reduce your speed on icy, snowy, slushy roads.
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Read more: Lowell Troopers Respond to 33 Crashes

Some undeveloped property in Merrillville has been re-rezoned as farmland,what it was originally. There were plans to put a large residential development on 62 acres of land on the town's east side near 101^st and Colorado, but that didn't materialize, so the Merrillville Plan Commission has changed the zoning back to agricultural.
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Read more: Merrillville Land is Farmland Again

The process to apply for a license to carry a firearm in Indiana is transitioning from paper to electronic , streamlining the application process for citizens as well as processing completed by local agencies and the Indiana State Police-- and Indiana State Police say an enhanced version will be made available starting today (Mon Mar 25). State Police are experiencing a high volume of phone calls and are asking applicants to NOT request a status check regarding firearm permit applications unless it's significantly past the expected timeframe.
Also starting today [Monday March 25], the LaPorte County Sheriffs Office reports they will no longer be accepting paper handgun permits, and will no longer provide fingerprinting for applicants, due to recent changes implemented by the Indiana State Police. You can hear more from our interview with LaPorte County Sheriffs Police Major John Boyd here at our website at On Demand.
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Read more: Firearm Applications Transition to Electronic

A Northwest Indiana resident wants to preserve some small-town, big-screen Hoosier basketball history. Ron Niess is on the board of the Milan 54 – Hoosiers Museum, which is going into an old bank building in downtown Milan, about 240 miles south of the Region. Milan is a small town that a lot of people know thanks to their 1954 high school boys basketball upset of Muncie Central for the state championship during the days of the single-class tourney, and the season and game are chronicled in film history in the movie Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman as the team's coach. Niess says the museum has the unique opportunity to purchase the “Hoosiers Collection”... the largest collection of Hoosiers movie props and uniforms known in existence... and they need to raise 40-thousand dollars by March 31^st:
The museum is scheduled to open June 6^th, and they hope to have the producer and writer of “Hoosiers” there for the festivities. You can hear our interview with Ron Niess here at our website at On Demand. For more info on donating toward the purchase of the movie uniforms and props, visit www.milan54.org or call 812-530-6789 .
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Read more: Milan Museum Hoping for "Hoosiers" Uniforms

Sgt. Blayne Peterson, a health care specialist from 7203rd Medical Support Unit, Hobart, Ind., takes a written exam part of the Army Reserve Medical Command’s prestigious “Best Warrior Competition” at the C.W. Bill Young Armed Forces Reserve Center in Pinellas Park, Fla., March 23, 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marnie Jacobowitz/Released)
A Region native is among soldiers selected to compete in the Army Reserve Medical Command's prestigious “Best Warrior Competition” in Florida this week. 21-year-old Sgt. Blayne Peterson, a health care specialist from 7203^rd Medical Support Unit in Hobart is a 2010 graduate of Winamac Community High School, and currently works as a physician substitute with Saturn Bio-Medical, working toward becoming a nurse practitioner at IUPUI.
More info:
Story by Lt. Col. Michele Sutak
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Sgt. Blayne Peterson, a health care specialist from 7203rd Medical Support Unit, Hobart, Ind., is competing in the Army Reserve Medical Command’s prestigious “Best Warrior Competition” here and Camp Blanding, Fla., March 22-30, 2013. He is one of only 10 soldiers of the 9,500-strong AR-MEDCOM Warriors to be selected to compete for this honor.
Peterson, 21, a Winamac, Ind., native, is representing Central Medical Area Readiness Support Group from Fort Sheridan, Ill., besting more than a thousand soldiers from that command to advance to the next level.
“I wanted to be the best at what I do,” said Peterson, who deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation New Dawn in 2011. “This competition allows me to go against other great competitors and see how I stack up against the rest of the force.”
As a 2010 graduate of Winamac Community High School, he currently works as a physician substitute with Saturn Bio-Medical, and is working toward becoming a nurse practitioner at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Ind.
“Being a civilian one day and serve my country the next day is very rewarding,” said Peterson, whose following in the footsteps of his grandfathers, great uncles, uncles and two brothers, serving in the military. “I will always be a soldier first, and I get to share that with my civilian friends and family as well.”
The Best Warrior Competition was developed by retired Sergeant Major of the Army Jack Tilley in 2002 as a test of a soldier’s physical endurance, military knowledge, current events, and mental perseverance. The competition is an opportunity for Warrior’s to highlight their military skills in a competitive environment and measures how well they perform under stress.
The grueling five day event competition taxes each soldier mentally and physically. It includes a timed written exam, physical fitness test, and a number of mentally and physically challenging exercises including a 10 kilometer road march, M-4 rifle qualification, urban warfare orienteering, an Army Combatives Tournament –and a Mystery Event.
Peterson began the competition at unit level, rising to command level and continuing on to higher command intended to select the noncommissioned officer and junior enlisted Soldier of the Year for AR-MEDCOM. The winner advances to train and prepare through U. S. Army Reserve Command, and upon winning will go on to represent the Army Reserve Command to the Army wide ‘Best Warrior’ Competition to be held later in the year.
The Army Reserve Medical Command has been represented at the top Army event in 2009 by Staff Sgt. Aaron Butler, a medical logistics NCO from Three Forks, Mont., at the Department of the Army level competition.
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Read more: Region Soldier in Best Warrior Competition