On the "Come Up" with
Karen
2014 Reports on matters pertaining to Gary, Indiana and Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson's running of the "Steel City"
Economics create a battle between the haves and the have-nots, and between the takers and the taken.
"Gary, a city that
is designed to provide the best government that tax dollars can
buy."
- Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, 16 Jan 2014 [On selection
of Gary as a Strong Cities, Strong Communities
participant]
Gary, a community that seems to know its problems but can't figure out a way to solve them.
The shabbiness of the city, and the casualness with which it residents wield guns for self-protection, is shocking.
- Urban Decay in a City of Steel (CNN Photo Blogs)
"Gary is in continual decline. I've been waiting
for it to hit bottom for 50 years. I haven't heard that thud
yet." If a building can be
abandoned a school, a church, an office complex, a hotel, a grocery store,
an apartment building, a gas station it has been abandoned in
Gary. Well, here we go with the 2014 report on the running of the
City of the Century - Gary, IN - by its elected officials. This is
the third year without Rudy at the helm, as well
as the third year a female has occupied the Gary Chief Executive
office. There can be little doubt but Karen Freeeman-Wilson does
indeed still have her work cut out for her! Remember, you may
access the earlier reports from the links appearing above, or at the bottom
of, this page.
GARY An anonymous caller alerted police to the citys
latest homicide victim Monday afternoon, a 40-year-old Gary man found dead in a
car. According to police an anonymous caller reported about 3:45 p.m. that
someone had told him his friend was dead in a car in the 600 block of 39th
Av. They said Patrolman George Dickerson, who was off duty,
volunteered to check out the report of a possible victim in a car near 39th Av
and Harrison St at 3:45 p.m., and found a Chevrolet Impala parked on the south
side of the street west of Jackson St. The victim, Jeffrey Martinez, of
the 4000 block of Polk St, was dead in the back seat of a relatives car.
A quick canvass of the neighborhood produced no solid leads. Martinez apparently was shot to death. He is the
32nd (?) homicide victim in Gary this year. The Gary Community School Corp. on Sunday canceled a
press conference set to address a $2.6 million debt to its busing contractor,
instead asking the company to not send out more mailings to the community. The school district originally was going to hold the
press conference Monday to address its debt to Illinois Central Bus Co., which
recently sent letters to not only the school district but also Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson and local businesses saying the debt must be paid by Nov. 10 in
order to not risk stopping bus service to students. "... I would implore the bus company as a
multimillion-dollar corporation to refrain from unduly alarming parents and
children and to continue to work with us toward a resolution to this problem,"
Supt. Cheryl Pruitt said in a press release Sunday. "We believe that
business disputes are resolved in meeting rooms and not the court of public
opinion." The press release reiterated that the district has paid
$57.3 million to Illinois Central during the past five years, including $20.1
million in the past three years, and has paid $316,182 in the past 30 days. Bus company spokesman Jamal Washington said the amount in
arrears is accruing at the rate of $150,000 per week and $600,000 per month, and
will be nearly $4 million by Nov. 10. "At this point, a solution is less
about a single payment and more about an ongoing payment plan for our
services. We will do everything we can to continue bus service for Gary
schools," he said. Pruitt said in the release that the mayor has offered to
help the school district, although it did not specify how. GARY A 20-year-old man died Saturday night after he was
shot multiple times at his home. DeShelon Hicks suffered multiple gunshot wounds at his
home in the 2200 block of East 19th Pl in Gary, according to the Lake County
coroners office. He was pronounced dead in the emergency room of Methodist
Hospital Northlake in Gary at 11:28 p.m., according to the coroners office.
Hicks death has been ruled a homicide. Gary police could not immediately be reached for
comment. Northwest Indiana Population Shifting South,
East Most Northwest Indiana cities and towns lost residents
last year as the region's population continued to migrate south and east. Twenty-one of the 40 incorporated municipalities in
Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties shrunk last year, according to recent U. S.
Census estimates.
The region's large cities Hammond, Gary, East
Chicago and Portage all hemorrhaged population again.
But the population of Northwest Indiana's three largest counties remained
relatively stable, ticking down by less than 1/10th of 1% to 769,294. Older industrial cities have been contracting for years,
but smaller suburban towns continue to attract new residents. Northwest
Indiana is in fact home to two of the fastest-growing communities in the state,
according to the Indiana Business Research Center's Stats Indiana. Burns
Harbor grew at the third-fastest pace in Indiana over the last three years,
while Winfield ranked fourth statewide. Fifteen Northwest Indiana cities and towns grew last
year, mostly in south Lake County and Porter County, according to the U.S.
Census figures. Every community in Porter County grew or
stayed stable, except for Portage, which shrunk
slightly. Every city and town in LaPorte County lost
residents or remained flat except for Michigan City, which
grew by an estimated 0.2%. Southern towns, including Cedar Lake, Crown Point,
Merrillville and St. John, added residents last year. But populations
losses weren't confined to Lake County's northern cities, where old factories
sit idle and steel mills employ a fraction of the residents they used to.
Some of the more surprising population losses were in Munster, Dyer, and
Schererville. "Lake County has suffered the steepest population decline
in the state in the last few years," Kinghorn said. "It's the lingering
effects that downturn has had on migration in every metropolitan area in the
country. Central cities have grown in this case Chicago or Cook County
have grown faster than outlying areas because the movement out of the central
cities to the outlying areas has really slowed down." The population in Lake County's northern third is
continuing a gradual decline that has been ongoing for decades and that mirrors
what had happened in the rest of the Rust Belt, Kinghorn said. "You see
the same effects in industrial Detroit and Cleveland," he said. "They were
once industrial powerhouses, but people are leaving those areas and looking for
employment." The Gary Sanitary District Board of Commissioners voted
unanimously this week to terminate the contract with Waste Management. The
service was terminated according to Crusader sources because of poor services
being provided to the city. The termination was the result of numerous
resident complaints. Waste Management was unaware of the districts Board of
Commissioners plans to terminate their five-year contract that was signed in
2012. According to the Districts attorney the contract the city has with
the company allows the city to terminate it with a minimum of a seven day notice
and a maximum of 30 days. The decision was done under the "convenience"
clause written into the contract. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who is also the Special
Administrator for the Sanitary District, released the following statement: "Yesterday, during a special board meeting convened by
the Gary Sanitary District, the Board of Commissioners voted to terminate the
contract of Waste Management. The separation of this relationship was made
after a string of events including diminished services by Waste Management
during winter months, lack of responsiveness to residents complaints and overall
poor service." She added, "It is my duty to represent and quite frankly,
fight for the best interests of Gary residents. For months, we have called
on Waste Management to address the mounting concerns of inconsistent garbage
pickup and in some areas, absence of pickup. Their failure to act led to
the decision of this board to exercise an option contained in the Districts
contract with Waste Management to terminate the contract for convenience and
seek services from a new provider." Recently the mayor and City Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers,
D-4th, responded to complaints of residents themselves regarding missed services
they were not receiving in their alleys. Mayor Freeman-Wilson said, "We
were in the alley ourselves moving the carts to the front of the streets.
Waste Management should have been able to navigate their trucks down our
alleys. The complaints from residents were endless." The mayor said plans are underway for bids to go out to
secure a waste collection provider that can meet the needs of the city.
She said, "In the interim, we have taken steps to ensure that there will be no
interruption in service; however, there may be instances where the trash pickup
day may change. In the event of any changes, notices will be sent to all
impacted residents." Reports have been made that Waste Management is
attempting to reach out to the mayor in hopes of resolving the situation. Gary Schools Owe $2.6 Million for
Busing GARY Busing woes continue to plague Gary Community School
Corp. GCSC is $2.6 million in arrears to Illinois Central Bus
Co., according to Jamal Washington, senior contract manager for the company,
which has been providing bus service for GCSC for the past two years. The
school corporation in May signed a three-year, $14.7 million contract with the
company. Illinois Central earlier this week sent copies of a
letter it sent to GCSC to Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and other business leaders
in the community telling Pruitt that GCSC must make payments by Nov. 10 or risk
having service suspended, Washington said. Kevin Mest of Illinois Central said the school district
wrote the contract and it does include a cancellation clause. Washington
declined Friday to say whether the $2.6 million bill would necessitate canceling
the contract but did say Illinois Central was "optimistic the school would
resolve the situation." Pruitt said the Indiana Department of Educations Office
of Transportation is working with Gary to help provide efficient and cost
effective routing. "We have been transparent and forthright about our
fiscal challenges," Pruitt said. "The budget continues to take a hit due
to low tax collection and compounding deficits." Pruitt and members of the school board will address
transportation debt during a news conference at 11 a.m. Monday at the
Administrative Building, 620 E. 10th Pl. GARY | Postal Service officials are expecting to shut
down the mail processing center in Gary by the end of next summer. Postal Service spokeswoman Mary Dando says some of the
mail processing for Gary is already being done at a center in the Chicago suburb
of Bedford Park. Dando tells Lakeshore Public Radio that all of the Gary
center's work is scheduled to be moved to the Illinois site by late July 2015.
About 150 people work at the Gary processing
center.
GARY Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson promised police and
firefighters that she will hold weekly meetings to address their not receiving
pay raises in years, but they remain unconvinced that anything substantial will
come out of the sessions. The mayor addressed the city council finance committee on
Tuesday night. The committee meeting had to be held in the
council chambers to accommodate the number of police and firefighters who
attended. Police and firefighters from other communities joined Gary
officers and firefighters outside city hall earlier in the evening during an
informational picket.
Freeman-Wilson told the crowd that public safety accounts
for 65% of city spending each year, and Gary didnt get any revenue relief until
the county passed its county option income tax last year. That tax money
was not dispersed unitl this year. After the $4.2 million from the
new tax $167,000 less than the city was expecting is used to cover items
such as payroll and pension costs, little will be left over, city controller
Celita Green said. Gary has received $3.2 million from the county income
tax so far this year. Adding to the citys financial woes is that
property tax collection has fallen to about 43%, less than it was two years ago.
"If Garys not safe, business arent going to come in or
theyre not going to stay, and thats the same for residents," the mayor
said. "And if our infrastructure isnt there, our residents are
displeased. How do we provide an adequate solution?" Freeman-Wilson said she would be sitting down with
council members and representatives of the fire and police unions every week
over 90 days, starting Oct. 6, to try to achieve a solution to the pay situation
as well as a plan for future years. "There is not a level of parity that
anyone would like to see," she said, referring to the low salaries of Garys
police and fire personnel compared with other such departments in Lake
County. Council President Kyle Allen said he understands the
officers and firefighters frustrations. He also bristles at the state
not making residency requirements more stringent for police and
firefighters. "You cant have city employees demanding us for a raise
because youre going to take the money and pay taxes somewhere else," he
said. "No city can function on 40% (property tax ) collection."
Firefighter Henry Hegwood, a 12-year employee, objected
to that sentiment. "I want a raise," he said. "You talk about future
firefighters, well, Im 41 years old now. I was your future. You move
money here and you move it there, but you never find money to compensate
us. My kids like steak, too." Gary police officers have not had a raise since 2007 and
were denied negotiated raises through 2009 by former Mayor Rudy Clay when he
refused to put the raises in the budget, Sam Abegg, president of the Gary Police
Fraternal Order of Police, said. The issue was settled in arbitration, and
the pay is now being issued to officers. Abegg said outside of small changes that could be made,
such as a one-time bonus, he doesnt think police will get any sort of real money
out of the talks with the mayor. "They see that public safety consumes 65%
of the budget, so that deters them from adding to it, and instead they
manipulate the other parts of the budget and dont touch ours," he said. Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
ticked down to 687,000T, while the overall
domestic industry rose slightly last week. Overall U.S. output rose by 0.47% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Local production inched down by 2,000T, or 0.2%. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.891 million tons, down from 1.882 million
tons a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 78.6% last week, up from 78.2% a week earlier. The
capacity utilization rate had been 78.3% a year earlier. U.S. mills have produced 69.7 million tons of steel so
far this year, or about 0.7% more than at the same point in
2013. They made around 69.2 million tons of metal over the same period
last year. Domestic steel exports dipped by 3.3% to a little over 1
million net tons in July, according to the American Institute for International
Steel. U.S. mills are sending 6.6% less steel overseas so far this year,
and shipments to most of America's minor trading partners have fallen off. Exports to Canada
were flat in July, while exports to Mexico increased 7.4%. Ex-convict, 46, ID'd as Gary Homicide
Victim GARY--The man found shot to death Monday in a Brunswick
alley has been identified. Lafayette Caldwell, 46, of 6100 W. 5th Av., was released
from prison last year on two counts of attempted murder for a robbery-shooting
in September 1992. His father, also Lafayette Caldwell, owns Caldwell
Towing, which is also the familys home address. Residents in the 300 block of Calhoun St, just a short
distance from the tow yard, reported seeing a large red tow truck in the area
about 3 p.m. when they also heard gunfire, police said. Moments later, Caldwells body was seen in the alley south
of 3rd Av east of Calhoun St. He was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot
wounds at 3:49 p.m., a news release from the Lake County coroner states. Investigators worked late into the night questioning
potential witnesses. The truck they believe was seen in the area before
the shooting was located and towed to the Lake County crime laboratory for
processing, police said. Caldwell was sentenced to 45 years in prison after he,
James Lofton and Jermaine Byers were convicted in Lake Superior Court.
They were accused of shooting two men after meeting to collect more than $1,000
in gambling debts. Both victims, Nathan Riley and Jimmy Lane, were shot
multiple times. Lane fled out a window after he was wounded and Riley
managed to call police, court records state. The victims identified the
three suspects as the men who took money from Rileys pocket and shot them
several times. Caldwell filed a post-conviction relief appeal in 2010
that was denied, court records show. Anyone with information about Caldwells final hours or
the shooting can call Sgt. Dan Callahan or Detective Alexander Jones at (219)
881-1210 or by sending an e-mail to Jones at ajones@ci.gary.us Poverty Picture Grim in Gary Poverty in Gary continues to get worse. The rate of people who live in poverty increased from
38.8% in 2012 to 41% last year, according to new data released by the U.S.
Census Bureaus American Community Survey series for cities with more than 65,000
people. Most of the increase was among residents ages 18 to 64, who saw
the poverty rate increase from 34.5% to 38.7%. The number of children
younger than 18 living in poverty dropped one%age point, but a large majority
61.7% remain stuck in poverty, according to the data. Poverty also continues to afflict women more than men in
Gary, no matter their employment status. Of working people, 20.7% of women
lived in poverty last year, compared with just 14.9% of men. For those who
were unemployed, 58.6 of women lived in poverty, while 47.8% of men did. The high number of women and children living in poverty,
Bloom said, is likely partly attributable to Garys high rate of single
mothers. According to the census data, more than half of the families in
Gary 9,854 out of 19,190 last year were headed by a single mother with no male
present. Of those families, 50.6% lived in poverty, compared with just
13.6% of families headed by a married couple. Leticia Turner is one of those single mothers.
Unemployed and supporting a son with mental health issues, Turner was at Trinity
United Church of Christs clothes giveaway program Friday morning to find needed
items. "We lack resources here," she said. She struggles to find
help to get to a point where she can support herself, Turner said. Shes working to get her drivers license back after legal
problems, but until then, she cant work any job that requires Sundays, as the
Gary Public Transportation Corp. doesnt operate on that day. Then there
are the closing schools and lack of jobs in the city that make it even harder,
she said. "Everything is degrading," she said. "Im tired to where I
just want to give up." Turner did praise the church for its programs, which also
include a soup kitchen on Saturdays, a community garden, substance abuse help,
guidance in understanding the new health care law and more. "I love the
people in the city but not how its governed," she said. Man Accused of Threatening Ex's New
Boyfriend GARY Police arrested a Glen Park man who allegedly fired
shots outside his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend's house, then sent a text
saying, "I have 13 more hollows for your ass,"
the arrest report states. Zachary Hatton, 21, of 3837 Roosevelt St., was arrested
shortly after the 12:20 a.m. incident. He pleaded not guilty to
intimidation and invasion of privacy Monday in Gary City Court. He is
being held on $750 bail. Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
rebounded to 689,000T, while the overall domestic industry dripped slightly last
week. Local production rose by 24,000T, or 3.6%. Local
output had plunged by 29,000T the previous week. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, fell to 654,000T, down from 664,000T a
week earlier. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.882 million tons, down a smidgen from 1.885
million tons a week earlier. Overall U.S. output fell by 0.1% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 78.2% last
week, down from 78.4% a week
earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been 78.3% a year
earlier. U.S. mills have produced 67.8 million tons of steel so
far this year, or about 0.7% more than at the same point in
2013. They made around 67.4 million tons of metal over the same period
last year. Domestic steel mills shipped 8.4 million net tons in
July, a 2.4% increase over the
previous month and a 2.6% increase over the previous year.
Year-to-date shipments total 57.2 million net tons, a 2.9% increase over the same period in
2013. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter is seeking the
death penalty for a Gary man charged with murder in the July 6 shooting of Gary
police Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield. An entry in the online docket shows Carter filed an
amended information Tuesday for a death sentence request "for the murder of
Jeffrey Westerfield." The alleged shooter, Carl Blount, 26, will be told of the
death sentence filing at an omnibus hearing set for Wednesday morning.
Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas will preside at the hearing, during
which it is anticipated that extra police and courthouse security officers will
be present. Blount has pleaded not guilty. Gary Police, Firefighters Rally for Higher
Wages GARY | More than 60 city police officers and firefighters
picketed Tuesday outside Gary City Hall to seek pay raises and better
equipment. Many stood in plain clothes holding signs saying "lowest
paid in the county" and "where's the county tax money?" before Tuesday night's
City Council meeting. Gary police officers are among the lowest-paid in the
region, officials have said. Police haven't
received a raise since 2007, said Sam Abegg, president of
Gary Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 61. The department's starting salary
is $35,646, he said. For a patrolman, annual salary increases to $39,304
after two years on the job, he said. Gary officers would need a 25% raise
just to get close to what other local police make, he said. Abegg referred to Tuesday night's rally as an
"informational meeting." "This is in response to the notion that they're
going to pass the budget without any raises to police or fire," he said.
"It's an opportunity to step in and voice our concerns." Abegg said
there's no way the city will sustain economic development without public
safety. Gary police Cpl. Doug Drummond has been with the
department for nine years and has a family of six. "We're basically living
in poverty level," he said. "I choose to work here. I don't want to
leave. It would be good faith to show public safety is a main
concern. We need better." Gary firefighter and vice president of Gary Firefighters Association Local 359 Michael Collins said
they haven't had a contract in seven years and a raise in nine
years. "Station conditions are deplorable," he
said. "Every day we're operating with less and less equipment. We're
really at the point where we're being asked to do more with less. And
we're almost at the point where we're going to be asked to do something with
nothing." Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson released a statement prior to
the council meeting saying she understands police and fire personnel are
frustrated about the disparity between their pay and counterparts throughout
Northwest Indiana. Freeman-Wilson said contributing factors have been the
impact of property tax caps and the reduced collection rate over the past seven
years. She said she's working with leadership in the police and fire
departments and members of the council to come up with both short-term and
long-term solutions. One is a change in the clothing allowance for police and
fire personnel for 2014 and 2015 by adding an additional $1,500 per year.
Additionally, a group would be immediately convened consisting of individuals
from the Fraternal Order of Police, the Gary Firefighter's Union, the City
Council and the mayor's office to identify changes to the salary structure that
can be made within the confines of the existing budget as well as future changes
to the compensation of police and fire personnel. The work of this group
would be complete by the end of 2014 and would lead to changes effective in 2015
and beyond. U.S. Steel Scraps Coke Alternative at Gary
Works GARY | The largest steel mill in Northwest Indiana has
abandoned a longtime plan to make a cheaper, more-reliably priced alternative to
a raw material needed for steelmaking. U.S. Steel won't pursue any further
development of carbon alloy facilities at Gary Works, where
it had invested an estimated $210 million over the last three years hoping to
produce an alternative to traditional coke used in blast furnaces. The
newly constructed C Module, which would have made a carbon alloy material to be
used in place of coke, will be permanently idled. Plans to build a second
module at the steel mill have been scrapped altogether. U.S. Steel would
have needed to invest more than $800 million in Gary and Minnesota to complete
the projects, the company estimated. After a change in leadership last year, the
Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has pursued a number of strategies including laying
off non-union managers and supervisors in Northwest Indiana to improve its
financial performance after failing to turn a profit for five years. U.S. Steel also announced Tuesday its Canadian
subsidiary, U.S. Steel Canada, would file for bankruptcy to restructure after
losing $2.4 billion over the last half decade. It's also dropping plans to
expand an iron ore pellet mining operations in Keewatin, Minn. Since 2011, the steelmaker has been trying to use
propriety technology from Texas-based Carbonyx Inc. at Gary Works to produce up
to 500,000 tons of a coal-based coke substitute per year, which would have
fulfilled about 20% of mill's coke needs. Delays and operating
malfunctions beleaguered the project. A U.S. Steel executive said this
spring the company was still tinkering with Module C before attempting to get it
online, because it was satisfied with what it was paying for traditional coke,
which the steelmaker originally wanted to reduce its reliance on because it's
subject to the ups and downs of the market. The company also has been
trying to burn more natural gas, which is abundant and cheap. "The decisions to stop further efforts relative to these
investments represent another step in our transformation to earn the right to
grow," said U.S. Steel president and chief executive officer Mario Longhi.
U.S. Steel is forsaking a plan to increase production at Keewatin from 3.6
million tons of iron ore a year, to 9.6 million tons. The company plans to
write down between $550 and $600 million in its third quarter earnings,
including for $210 million in investment in Gary Works. "In making these decisions, U.S. Steel considered its
future raw materials needs for iron ore and coke, and found its current
production capability sufficient," the company said in a statement. "The
previously announced examination of alternative iron and steelmaking
technologies such as gas-based, direct-reduced iron and electric arc furnace
steelmaking are not affected by these decisions. The company is seeking
permits for the possible construction of an EAF at our Fairfield Works in
Alabama." The steelmaker has a cash balance of $1.4 billion, and
expects its third quarter results to be much higher than analysts' earnings per
share forecasts. GARY | A 38-year-old Gary man and a 32-year-old Gary
woman were found shot to death in a vehicle in an alley early Sunday morning,
according to the Lake County Coroner's office and Gary police. Alex McKenney, of the 500 block of Ralston St, and Tanika
Ewing, of the 1300 block of Burr St, died of gunshot wounds and their deaths
were ruled homicides, the coroners office said.
Police responded at 3:24 a.m. to a call of a suspicious
vehicle in an alley in the 700 block between Jefferson and Madison Sts, police
said. They found a vehicle with Ewing in the driver's seat and McKenney in the
passenger seat. Both were unresponsive with no signs of life, police
said. Ewing was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m.; McKenney at 4:41 a.m., the
coroners office said.
Gary police and the Lake County CSI team were
investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call Sgt. Dan Callahan,
the lead investigator on the case, at (219) 881-7545. The homicides were the third and fourth in the past week
and the 28th and 29th (?) of the year in the city. GARY A 32-year-old Gary woman was found shot to death in
a vehicle early Sunday morning, according to a release from the Lake County
Coroner's office. Tanika Ewing, of the 1300 block of Burr Street, died of
gunshot wounds and her death was ruled a homicide, the release said. The coroner's office was called at 4 a.m. to the 700
block of Jefferson Street in Gary, where Ewing has been shot to death in a
vehicle, the release said. She was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m. Gary police and the Lake County CSI team were
investigating, the release said. Drop in Casino Revenue Leaves Lake County Commissioners
Short CROWN POINT An unexpected
(?) casino revenue shortfall of about $1.1 million
this year has Lake County commissioners again pushing some needed facility
maintenance work further down the road. Dante Rondelli, county financial consultant, said the
county learned Sep 5 that the casino revenue disbursement for 2014 would be
about $1.1 million less than anticipated. The commissioners capital
improvement fund ended up taking the full hit. The fund had about $1.5
million. Larry Blanchard, consultant to the commissioners, said
officials had planned to perform a variety of needed maintenance projects with
that money in an effort to chip away at a long list of overdue work but were
waiting until the casino revenues came in to begin. "You never know," Blanchard said of the
disbursement. Until this year it had been fairly consistent. The
lower amount was a surprise. Each year officials generally wait for the
casino tax reconciliation check to come in before tapping capital improvement
funds. Since officials do not get the disbursement amount until September
it is difficult to spend the money before it is received. Overall, the casino disbursement in Lake County is
roughly $17.5 million this year. Twenty-five percent of that is
distributed to cities and towns without casinos. Another $600K to $700K
goes to roads and $1 million goes to supplement insurances.
The Regional Development Authority low-income property
tax credit was about $5.5 million, $1 million more than in previous years.
Some of the distribution is also dedicated to bond issues. After
commitments on the money are filled, the council gets about $4 million that is
distributed in various qualifying departments including the commissioners
budget. That is about $1 million less than last year. About $400K is left in the fund that can be used for some
of the work. "Things are just waiting in line according to priority.
Were hoping to get them done," Blanchard said. Commissioners are in the
process of obtaining pricing for some of the work. If the funds had
already been spent, officials would have had to look to other departments to
find the $1.1 million to bring this years budget back into balance.
Projects on the list for this year ranged from roof
repair and replacement at the Lake County Juvenile Center and parking lot
resealing and striping. Some funds were also earmarked for one of the new
E-911 communications towers needed for the consolidated dispatch.
Officials now will have to look elsewhere for the funds. GARY A man was found shot to death Friday morning at the
end of a sparsely populated dead end street on the city's west side, police
said. A resident who lives in the 200 block of Waite St called
police about 9 a.m. after seeing the man's body near the side of the road,
police said. Orlando Charleston, 37, of the 700 block of Clinton St in
Gary, was dead[ from gunshot wounds, the Lake County Coroners Office said.
His death was ruled a homicide. Detective Cpl. Michael Barnes is investigating the
homicide, the 27th (?) violent death this year. Anyone with
information can call him at (219) 881-7434. GARY | A 19-year-old Gary man was shot and killed at his
home Wednesday night. Craig Anderson of the 2400 block of Prospect Street was
pronounced dead at 10 p.m. at that address, a Lake County Coroner's office
report said. The cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds
suffered in a homicide. Cpl. Gabrielle King, spokeswoman for the Gary Police
Department, said officers were called at 8:40 a.m. to a report of shots fired.
When officers arrived, they were met by a man who said one of his
relatives was inside and had been shot. Officers entered the home and
found Anderson inside. Police said he died at the scene. No additional information was released. Police
asked anyone with information about the crime to contact Detective Lorenzo Davis
at (219) 881-4738. Year-over-year revenues at Indianas five casinos fell at a lower rate than in previous
months this year, giving casino operators some encouragement as they head into
the final stretch of 2014. "Im more encouraged than I was 30 days ago," Dan Nita,
senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe Hammond, said Tuesday. According to monthly revenue numbers released Tuesday by
the Indiana Gaming Commission, the five casinos took in a total of $85.6 million
in August, compared to $90 million in August 2013, which Nita said was about a
4.5% drop. Year-over-year revenues dropped 10% in July and are down 8.8% so far this year compared to
this time last year. Horseshoe Hammond took in $38.5 million in August
compared to $41.5 million last August. Ameristar in East Chicago showed
the only gain, raking in $19.1 million compared
to $18.3 million last August. Blue Chip Casino in Michigan held even
at about $14.2 million. Majestic Star I took in $7.9 million, compared to
$8.7 million, while Majestic Star II raked in $5.9 million compared to $7.2
million. Great Lakes Steel Production Plummets by
29,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
plunged to 665,000T, though the overall
domestic industry slumped slightly last week. While local production plummeted by 29,000T, or 4.2%,
production in the Southern District, typically the country's second biggest
steel-producing region, rose to 664,000T, up from 659,000T a
week earlier.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.88 million tons, down from
1.91 million tons a week earlier. Overall U.S. output fell by 1.5% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.Nationally,
domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 78.4% last week, down from 79.5% a week earlier.
The capacity utilization rate had been 78.3% a year earlier. U.S. mills
have produced 65.9 million tons of steel so far this year, or about 0.7% more than at the same point in 2013. Domestic steel mills shipped 8.4 million net tons in
July, a 2.4% increase over the
previous month and a 2.6% increase over the previous year.
Year-to-date shipments total 57.2 million net tons, a 2.9% increase over the same period in
2013. GARY Gary/Chicago International Airport officials and
airport tenants are exploring the possibility of establishing a customs
clearance area to increase the chances of international flights. Interim airport director B.R. Lane said there will be a
cost to either renovating an existing building or constructing a new one, but it
would an integral move to ensure the airports future success. "Without it,
there can be no international travel at this airport," he said. "It has to
be done and as quickly as possible." Lane said the airport and its tenants are working to
identify a partner for the project. Lane said there arent any cost
estimates for the project at this point. Airport stakeholders, including the city of Gary, will
submit recommendations to be prepared as a part of an application to Gov. Mike
Pence. If he gives the plan his recommendation, it will then head to the
federal Customs and Border Commissioner for approval. Gary School Budget at $79
Million GARY Preliminary enrollment numbers reflect a loss of 400 to 500 students over last
year, Gary Community School Corp. Superintendent Cheryl
Pruitt said Monday during a board workshop on the 2015 budget. The official state enrollment count day is Friday.
The state bases its tuition support on enrollment that day. The district plans to advertise a $79M budget, expected
to be published in local newspapers on Saturday. The general fund, which
covers payroll and most of the districts costs will be advertised at $60M,
officials said.
The school district is battling a $7M transportation
account deficit, which began in 2008 and has grown each year since. Pruitt
blamed the 42% property tax collection rate for the shortfall.
Meanwhile, the districts enrollment as of Sept. 5, was
7,259 students, Pruitt said. On Monday, Pruitt said enrollment numbers
were up at many schools, following the closing of four schools in June. Beveridge Elementary enrollment more than doubled, going
from 322 to 727. Many students from the closed Brunswick Elementary
transferred to Beveridge. The West Side Leadership Academy increased from
729 to 1,037 students, following the closing of the Lew Wallace STEM
Academy. The Dunbar-Pulaski Academic and Career Academy showed a gain from
378 to 668 students, Pruitt said. The Glen Park Academy enrollment
increased from 479 to 723. Willie Stewart Jr. was named Democratic Party chairman in
Gary after a run-off election Saturday that ended in defeat for Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson and two others competing for the leadership post. None of the four candidates walked away with a winning
majority after a first round of voting among a caucus of Democratic precinct
committeemen. The first round of voting came after Freeman-Wilsons supporters successfully moved to open the
floor for nominations to place her on the ballot. The
mayor had missed a filing deadline earlier in the
week. Freeman-Wilson missed the filing deadline by one hour Wednesday
morning. She said she thought the deadline was noon, as it is for
political office filings. The deadline was 10 a.m. Two-thirds of the
109 delegates who attended had to vote in favor of opening nominations. After the first round of voting, Willie Moore III and
David Fossett were removed from the ballot after receiving less than 10 votes
each. In the run-off vote, Stewart beat
Freeman-Wilson 47-44 to fill the position being vacated by
Lake County Councilwoman Elsie Franklin. A little more than half of Garys
approximately 200 precinct committeemen and vice committeemen attended the
caucus. Stewart said he is looking forward to working with
precinct committeemen and vice committeemen to move the city organization
forward. "I want to make the Gary Precinct Organization strong again, as
it was before," he said. County Clerk Mike A. Brown, himself a veteran of Gary
politics, said afterward he doesn't think the vote will cast a shadow
over Freeman-Wilson's chances for re-election next
spring. "I think she has done a good job as mayor and the voters
will re-elect her," Brown said. John Buncich, Lake County Democratic Central Committee
chairman, called on the committeemen to remain united despite the clear divide
among the citys party members as to who would lead the committee for the next
four years. "When we walk out of this room today we need to make sure we
walk out of here united," Buncich said. GARY One of three long-time city Democratic precinct
officials is expected to be elected Saturday to lead the organization for the
next four years. The candidates are Willie Stewart, a former Lake County
deputy police chief, Willie Moore, a former president of United Steelworkers of
America Local 1014, and David Fossett, a member of the citys Economic
Development Commission. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson planned to run, but
missed the 10 a.m. Wednesday filing deadline.
Freeman-Wilson said Thursday she thought the deadline was noon as it is for
elected office filings. "I was very disappointed. Its just one of those things,"
she said. Tonnage up 25% at Port of Indiana-Burns
Harbor PORTAGE | Shipments are up 25% at the Port of
Indiana-Burns Harbor through the end of August. Major surges in steel and grain account for the increase.
The port has handled more than twice as much of both those commodities so far
this year. Overall iron and steel shipments were up 77%, while steel slabs were up 317% over 2013. "We've seen significant increases in steel shipments from Europe for the
automotive and appliance industries," Port Director Rick Heimann said.
"This has included coils, rods, plate, slabs and other semi-finished products
for steel processors and distributors in the Midwest from ports throughout the
world, including Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and Brazil." Grain exports also are up as local farmers prepare for a large
harvest, Heimann said.. Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
rose to 694,000T, though the overall
domestic industry slumped slightly last week. Local production rose by 3,000T, or 0.4%.
Production in the Southern District, typically the country's second biggest
steel-producing region, fell to 659,000T, down from 676, 000T a
week earlier. Overall U.S. output dropped by 0.9% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.91 million tons,
down from 1.93 million tons a week
earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate
of 79.5% last week, down from 80.3% a week
earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been 77.6% a year earlier. U.S. mills have produced 64.1 million tons of steel so
far this year, or about 0.7% more than at the same point in 2013. Steel imports rose 6% in July, capturing 29% of the
market share, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. The
United States imported 3.8 million net tons in July, a 6.1% increase over June. Finished
steel imports captured 26% of the market share in August, and have cornered 27%
of the market share so far this year. Imports of reinforcing bars rose 240% in August, while wire rod
imports shot up 36%. GARY | Businesses in the city operating between the hours
of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. will be required to have three high-resolution
surveillance cameras recording public access areas following passage Tuesday of
an ordinance by the City Council. All businesses will be required to comply with the
ordinance, including daycare facilities if they operate between the designated
hours. Businesses have a three-month grace period until the ordinance
is enforced. Failure to comply after that could result in fines up to
$2,500 and revocation of its business license.
Gary Police Cmdr. Kerry Rice said Police Department
reports show that in 2013 more than 60% of reported crimes and 80% of shootings
at gas stations and convenience stores in Gary occurred between the late evening
to early morning hours. Rice recalled a period last year when three
shootings happened in one week at gas stations along 15th Av. "None of
those businesses had any security cameras outside of the business," Rice
said. Rice said there was a fatal shooting in the Miller neighborhood at a
gas station that did have outdoor security cameras that recorded the crime
resulting in an arrest. According to the ordinance the cameras must produce
reproducible digital color images from a digital video recorder that is approved
by the Police Department. Businesses must also post a conspicuous sign
stating that the property is under camera surveillance. Each camera must
display a date and time stamp on each image and produce retrievable images
suitable for permanent police records. The camera system must also be able
to store and retrieve 30 days of recorded material. GARY, Ind. It might be telling of the complexity of this
city's problems that the recent start of the demolition of Gary's tallest and
arguably most decrepit building is being heralded by local leaders as one of the
most significant signs of progress this community has seen in years. But in this tough-luck city, tearing down the old
Sheraton Hotel, an eyesore that had become a powerful symbol of this once great
steel town's fall, is nothing short of a monumental achievement. "It really symbolizes
the best of times and worst of times for this city," says
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who made demolishing the 14-floor structure a
central part of her 2011 campaign to head this city. "When Gary was doing
well, this was a central point. It was also a place that struggled as the
city struggled." Gary has been down so long the bottom might
look like up. It wasn't always that way. This
is a city that grew up around U.S. Steel and gave the world Michael Jackson.
It's a place that proudly touted itself as the "City of the
Century." And it was the first big U.S. city to elect a black mayor,
Richard Hatcher, in the late 1960s. Since then, there have been a lot of dark days in Gary,
and recent weeks have been among the hardest. 'HEINOUS' VIOLENCE IN MURDER
CITY Freeman-Wilson last month named a new police chief, days
after the old chief stepped down as the city reckoned with what the mayor called
"some of the most heinous murders seen in decades," a striking assessment for a
city pinned with the ugly moniker of Murder Capital of the U.S. in the 1990s. Her heightened concern about the city's violence was
punctuated by last month's killing of veteran Gary police officer Jeffrey
Westerfield an incident that was followed by the gruesome stabbing murder of an
80-year-old woman and her 88-year-old husband and the slaying of a 41-year-old
mechanic found dead in an auto repair shop. Violent crime, while still a major irritant for this
city, is actually down. Gary has recorded 26 homicides thus far this year,
putting it on pace for fewer murders than last year's 54. "The city of Gary isn't bad, and things can be
different," says Crystal Fields, 43, a city resident who has spent most of her
life here. "This used to be a place when I was growing up that if you were
doing something wrong and your neighbor saw it they'd whup your (butt) and then
call your mom and dad who would whup you again once you got home. That's
what we got to get back to." A DWINDLING POPULATION The city's malaise parallels what other one-time
industrial powerhouses such as Cleveland, Detroit and Newark have faced in
recent decades as residents flee the cities and job opportunities dry up. Gary has seen U.S. Steel the city's biggest employer
shrink from a 25,000-person workforce in the 1960s to fewer than 5,000 workers
today. The city's population stood at about 79,000 in 2012, down from
178,000 in 1960. The dwindling population is starkly reflected in the
10,000 vacant homes spread over this sprawling city that's geographically the
size of San Francisco but has less than 10% of the population. Earlier
this summer, the city's school board voted to close six of the city's 17
schools, an unavoidable byproduct of the migration. Despite the long list of issues facing Gary,
Freeman-Wilson and others in her cabinet insist the city's fortunes can and will
change. "We are the majority," Freeman-Wilson told residents at a recent
community gathering in the city. "There are more good people in the city
of Garythan not. We're going to take back our city." The push by Freeman-Wilson to revitalize this city has
been fitful. But she and her staff point to some successes. One of her primary goals has been to improve this city's
appearance and image. Soon after coming to office, she forged a
relationship with the University of Chicago, with some help from former Chicago
mayor and current Uof C distinguished fellow Richard Daley. As a result of
that friendship with Daley, University of Chicago students are cataloguing
Gary's blight no small task in a city of thousands of vacant homes and empty
lots overrun with shoulder-high weeds and trash. Freeman-Wilson also has won over residents by making a
weekly ritual of cleaning up trash and mowing lawns at abandoned lots around
town. A Harvard-educated attorney, Freeman-Wilson made two
unsuccessful runs for the city's highest office before finally winning in
2011. She has served as a municipal judge and as the Hoosier state's
attorney general. But she insists she doesn't have any greater political
ambition than leading her hometown. "This is the job I plan to retire
from," she says. She met recently with residents to discuss initial plans
for redevelopment and demolition of abandoned properties in several
neighborhoods that will, in part, be funded through a White House program to
assist distressed cities. Her most notable accomplishment to date may be following
through on her campaign promise on demolishing the old Sheraton an issue that
had become a focal point of every mayoral campaign in this city over the last
four decades. It opened as a Holiday Inn in 1968, early in Hatcher's
term and as white flight from the city began. The hotel, which neighbors
City Hall, struggled financially from the outset and closed in 1972. It
reopened in 1978 as a Sheraton franchise but didn't have better luck turning a
profit. Operations were scaled back over the years. Despite
subsidies from the city to help keep the doors open, the hotel closed for good
in 1984. The restaurant and lounge in the hotel complex closed the
following year. CAN GARY REBOUND? Freeman-Wilson and her aides acknowledge that Gary can't
return to the glory days as an industrial giant. But they are convinced
the city can rebound by leveraging some of its existing assets, including the
Gary/Chicago International Airport and the city's location on Lake Michigan. "The first 100 years of this city was about the rise and
fall of the steel mill," says Richard Leverett, the mayor's chief of
staff. "We're pulling people in and saying let's re-imagine these
neighborhoods. Let's look at our park assets, let's look at our lakefront
assets. This city was built for 200,000 and now has far less. What
does that mean for how our city should look in the future?" Freeman-Wilson and her aides also have tried to sell the
city as a place where entrepreneurs can get a start at rock-bottom prices. One business owner drawn by the affordability of Gary is
Drew Fox, a craft beer maker who opened 18th Street Brewery here late last
year. Fox, who has 14 employees, now is installing a canning operation,
and his tap room's chef soon will open a bakery that will operate out of the
brewery's space. Fox, 42, says Gary has a long way to go in shedding its
stigma. But he's convinced the city can be a great incubator for young
entrepreneurs who have good ideas but not necessarily a lot of cash. At
the same time, the city badly needs more people to take the plunge if it's going
to rebound. "This city will survive even if it's on one knee right
now," Fox says. "But it's going to take people like myself and others to
help this city rise. You're going to take your licks, but you have to be
able to sustain and look forward to those better days. It's going to take
some strong will and strong-minded people to forge ahead." GARY The Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts
will put the focus on his hometown starting Thursday, but the street he grew up
on is a hive of activity as it gets a facelift. Gov. Mike Pence visited the 2300 and 2400 blocks of
Jackson Street on Wednesday afternoon to highlight the "Jackson Street of
Dreams" project, and he met with Jackson matriarch Katherine Jackson during his
visit. Volunteers from the Fuller Center for Housing, NIPSCO,
Centier Bank, the city of Gary, the Indiana Department of Correction and
elsewhere rebuilt one house and rehabbed two others. "This is a great
project to restore what is in my mind one of the most famous streets in
America," Pence said. "We talked about (Katherine Jacksons) memories of
living here for about 20 years, and she said it was a nice neighborhood." More than $100,000 in private funding and material
donations has helped make the project possible, including about $53,000 from the
state correction department. Several inmates from Westville Correctional
Facility worked on the houses, and many donated the stipends they
received. Pence and Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson were struck by their
generosity. On Wednesday, the mayor was mowing grass and pulling
weeds to help with the project. The Fuller Center will present keys to the first new
homeowner on Thursday afternoon. Two other homeowners also have been
chosen. Each has been putting in work on their new houses. "Its not
a giveaway," Fuller Center president David Snell said. "The families help
rehab the properties, and they receive long-term, low-interest loans, which in a
lot of cases is less than renting. Its an enlightened way to give." He said the three houses are just the start of a larger
project envisioned for the area and Gary at large. "The goal is to get
these two blocks shaped up, and they will become a beacon of hope to similar
efforts in other parts of the city," Snell said. Gary School Food Service Workers Spared Layoffs ... For
Now GARY A divided school board rejected an administrative
recommendation to lay off 15 food service workers, who apparently will remain on the districts cash-strapped payroll without
job assignments. Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt recommended laying off the
workers Tuesday in the wake of the closing of four schools in
June. Classes began in the district Aug. 20. Dissenting board
members argued the layoffs came too late and its still unclear whether the
workers are needed in the cafeterias of the remaining schools. Human Resources Director Willie Cook said the layoffs would save the district about
$175,000. He said the layoffs were necessary because
of declining enrollment, school closings and a budget deficit. If the
layoffs were approved, the district would have 55 remaining food service workers
in 12 schools, he said. Board member LaBrenda King-Smith called the layoff
notices a sign of "blatant disrespect." She said they should have voted on
the layoffs months ago. "Theres no guarantee these individuals will be
able to receive unemployment compensation that they paid into," King-Smith
said. "My heart goes out to these workers." Shea Marshall, who represents Service Employees
International Union Local 73, said there may not be a need for the
layoffs. "I understand there are other jobs to be filled in the district
... I ask you please not to pass this RIF (reduction in force) until we
are able to assess more." Dissenting board members Marion Williams and Nellie Moore
said every student in the district is eligible for a free lunch. "There
are potentially more students participating in the program, so you need more
people to service them," Williams said. School officials and other board members worried about
paying idle workers. Board member Doretha Rouse said the workers on layoff
could be recalled, if needed. "We eliminated teachers and
paraprofessionals. We cant get caught in our biases, our
preferences. Were trying to keep this school system going, keep it
afloat. Nobody wants to eliminate anyone," she said. Great Lakes Steel Production Rises by
12,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
rose to 691,000T as the domestic
industry saw a boost in production last week. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, rose to 676,000 tons, up from 675,000T
a week earlier. Overall U.S. output rose by 0.6% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Local production rose by 12,000 tons, or
nearly 1.8%. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.93 million tons, up from 1.92 million tons
a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 80.3% last week, up from 79.8% a week earlier. The
capacity utilization rate had been 77.6% a year earlier. U.S. mills have
produced 62.2 million tons of steel so far this year, or about 0.6% more than at the same point in 2013. Globally, world steel production was 137 million tons in
July, an increase of 1.7% over last year, according to the World Steel
Association. Overall, global capacity utilization stood at 75.4% last
month, a 2.9% decrease from June and a 1.2 drop from July 2013. GARY Relocating railroad tracks around the Gary/Chicago
International Airports proposed runway extension footprint could start as early as late October,
officials said Monday. Gary airport officials appear confident they may finally
be close to solving the railroad riddle that has bedeviled their $174.1 million
runway expansion project for years. Although previous airport boards claimed to have arrived at the same
junction, the airport authority Monday presented evidence
Canadian National Railway's tracks could be out of the way as early as November
and the runway expansion allowed to proceed. "Obviously this is great news to hear," said airport
authority member Denise Dillard. "When we came on this board we were like
deer in the headlights on all these railroad issues." Canadian National trains run on an embankment that is
just 130 feet from the end of the airport's main runway, which is being expanded
to 8,900 feet. In June 2013, a new track route was completed for the
railroad that loops around the end of the 8,900-foot runway's footprint.
But those new tracks, paid for with $28.7 million in airport money, have sat
unused ever since. Canadian National would not move its trains until
federal approvals and other agreements could be struck to permanently remove an
unused crossing with the Fort Wayne rail line. Lawyer Allison Bergman told
the airport authority Monday that the federal Surface Transportation Board has
now approved two key railroad requests which will ultimately result in the
abandonment of a portion of the Fort Wayne line. Attorney Allison Bergman told the Gary/Chicago
International Airport Authority board that as long as things are resolved to
Canadian Nationals satisfaction at an Oct. 17 meeting, CN is prepared to start
work on a connector segment to the CSX Gary branch line within days. "We
have a lot of work still to do, but the matters we have to resolve are few,"
said Bergman, a transportation attorney with Hardwick Law Firm. CSX is abandoning its Fort Wayne branch line and and
relocating to the Gary branch line to avoid crossing Canadian National
tracks. The railroad track relocation is necessary to proceed with the
extension of the airports runway extension, which is expected to cost more than
$166 million. Its currently blocked by CSX tracks which sit atop a
berm. Bergman said the federal Surface Transportation Board
approved a regulatory document Aug. 15, which resolves common carrier rights
issues on the Fort Wayne branch line. The board agreed to place previously
approved funds to construct the connector to the Gary branch line in escrow to
resolve title issues on the land. "Your obligation is complete when the
funds are put in there," Bergman said. "Any cost overruns will come back
to [the board] for approval, or if the project is under budget, you get a
refund." Interim airport director B.R. Lane called the prospect of
starting the project soon "significant." Board attorney Lee Lane said both
the airport and the railroads are motivated to resolve the issues. "They
want this done as much as we do," Lane said. Great Lakes Plant Services Invests $450,000 in New
Location GARY | Planned redevelopment around the Gary/Chicago
International Airport sparked a lot of interested in the 8,000-square-foot
building industrial cleaning company Great Lakes Plant Services had been leasing
on Airport Road. The landlord offered to sell the property to the
10-year-old company but wanted $1.7 million, so Great Lakes Plant Services
started shopping around. The company, which sends big single-axle vacuum trucks
with 40,000-psi water blasters to clean up hazardous materials and wash out oil
tanks, is taking over the former Columbia Pipe building at 1030 E 10th Pl in
Gary. Great Lakes Plant Services now has 32,800 square feet of space in a
building that was constructed in 1957 but has sat empty since Columbia moved to
Hammond in 2009.
"The owners were from Chicago and Las Vegas, and they
never looked at it," said Great Lakes President Jim McGlothen. "It has
overgrown weeds outside that become trees. We started with weedwackers and ended
up using chainsaws." Great Lakes Plant Services has invested $450,000 in
extensive renovations, including replacing copper wiring that metal scrappers
stole. The business is now paying less per month on a mortgage than it had
on rent after financing the relocation with the U.S. Small Business
Administration 504 loan program through 1st Source Bank and the Indiana
Statewide Certified Development Corp. The government-backed loans allow
small business owners to get long-term fixed-rate financing similar to what big
companies can get from commercial lenders. "The project met a need for Great Lakes to expand and own
its own space," Erik Back of 1st Source Bank said. "The Indiana Statewide
CDC is great to work with, and the loan helps solidify highly skilled jobs in
the region." The company employs about __ workers to keep industrial
buildings clean and compliant with environmental regulations. They clean
up both hazardous and non-hazardous waste, such as potassium cyanide or the
gasoline stored in Northwest Indiana tank farms. Business has been steady,
and improving of late as more people return to work and factories pick up
production, McGlothen said. But the plan is to eventually grow into all the new
space. "We used the finds from the SBA 504 loan to purchase our
new facility and to upgrade it for our use," he said. "We have always leased
before, but an opportunity arose that allowed us to purchase the facility at a
very low price and it is quite large." GARY | The sickest, most injured patients in Northwest
Indiana no longer will be transported out of state or the area for immediate
care. Officials said Indiana's EMS Commission this week
approved a recommendation by State Health Commissioner Dr. William VanNess to
grant an "in process" designation allowing Methodist Hospital Northlake campus
in Gary to serve as a Level III trauma center. The designation means the
hospital can offer heightened care while it completes the process for full Level
III designation. No other Northwest Indiana hospital holds a trauma
designation. A Level III designation is the lowest tier of care for
trauma centers. "Generally, they have greater staffing requirements and
greater equipment requirements than a typical hospital ED (emergency
department)," said Art Logsdon, assistant commissioner for the state health and
human services commission. The Level III designation, for example,
requires a surgeon to be available bedside within 30 minutes of a patient's
arrival, he said. "It really is very big news for the region," Logsdon
said. "The fact that Northlake is now a Level III trauma center means
that, under Indiana law, they are now fully capable of accepting trauma
patients." The Gary hospital has long received the most seriously injured
patients in the area, he said. Ten Indiana hospitals are in the process of becoming
trauma centers. They have two years after being labeled "in process" to
become fully fledged and verified by the American Council of Surgeons, the
organization authorized to make that determination, Logsdon said. Annie May, director of the National Roosevelt Alumni
Association (NRAA), Inc. and its members put in a lot of work to see their alma
mater become recognized as a national landmark. It has paid off. The celebration to recognize
Theodore Roosevelt High School as a national landmark is set for Sunday, August
17 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Genesis Convention Center. May, a graduate of Roosevelts class of 1964, along with
other alumni of other classes wanted to do something for the school. They
initially submitted the criteria and other paperwork for the school to be
designated by the Indiana Landmark Association. While they did not have
the funding needed to hire a consultant, they were able to find a donor willing
to pay for an architect to see if the school was viable to become a landmark. In October of 2012 they were notified by the state that
Roosevelt had attained that status. Their next stop was Washington, D.C.
to have their school become a national landmark. May said on December 19,
2012 the Gary School Board received a letter from the federal government
declaring Roosevelt a national landmark. The alumni association wants the current students to know
they are holding this celebration to encourage them to have pride in
Roosevelt. May said the federal government will be donating a bronze
plaque in honor of the designation. About 150 alumni members will be
purchasing a plaque to be placed on the property as well honoring its landmark
honor. Dr. Bernard C. Watson, a Roosevelt class of 1946 member
and member of the alumni association, said he thinks it is terrific that
Roosevelt is being honored considering the number of influential alumni.
He said, "It should be a historical institution considering the contribution its
graduates have made to the city and this country." Among the many number of graduates that came from
Roosevelt, Dr. Watson recognized that two presidents of the National Medical
Association are Roosevelt graduates, three Tuskegee Airmen graduated from
Roosevelt, the regional head of the Peace Corps is a graduate and legendary
trumpeter Arthur Hoyle, who played with greats such as Lena Horne, Tony Bennett
and Frank Sinatra, just to name a few. He said, "And dont forget that the
Mayor of Gary is a graduate also." Dr. Watson said, "I love that school. I couldnt
wait to go there. It prepared me for everything I did." Among the speakers at the celebration will be Tiffany
Tolbert, director of the Northwest Indiana Preservation, Pauline Tatum, and a
representative of the Indiana Landmark Association. Tickets to the event
are $25. For more information call (219) 938-6611. A former Gary police officer who admitted he illegally
sold pot and a gun now claims he is innocent and a victim of entrapment. David Finley Jr., serving a 30-month prison sentence,
says in a motion filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond that
he now realizes that "He has been
entrapped by men, who like him, are sworn officers of the
law." The motion does not provide any details of how
he was entrapped, but does add that Finley no longer thinks he committed a
crime. The filing is one of several motions that Finley
filed. Another motion asks to have his sentenced reduced because he is his
familys main provider. He says that his wife and their children have had
lost their house and now live with another family where the children witness
domestic violence. Police began investigating Finley, who had worked for the
Gary Police Department since 2009, two years ago when an informant told them
Finley had sold cocaine. He was later arrested and charged with buying a
gun for a felon and selling marijuana and cocaine. He resigned from the
department soon after. The cocaine charges were eventually dropped after
law enforcement discovered it was fake cocaine, and he later pleaded guilty to
lying when buying a gun and selling marijuana. Finley received a longer sentence than he
could have for pleading guilty after federal attorneys discovered that he had
faked at least two letters of support sent to U.S. District Judge Joseph Van
Bokkelen. The judge took away his credit for cooperating
and increased his sentence for obstructing justice, leading to the 30-month
sentence. Finley, who is being held at the Federal Medical Center
in Lexington, Kentucky, is scheduled to be released in November 2015. Detroit Firm Buys Former Gary
Dealership GARY A Detroit company that sells tarps for flatbed
trucks is buying the former Tyson Ford dealership on Grant S, south of
I80-94. The Redevelopment Commission approved the sale to Verduyn Tarps on Wednesday for
$113,000. Verduyn was the highest of two bidders for the 7.5-acre
property at 3333 Grant St., acquired by the commission last year from Ford for
$10. The commission initially attempted to lease the property, but decided
to sell it because of little interest from potential renters, said Joseph Van
Dyk, director of the Redevelopment Department. Van Dyk said Verduyn liked the location thats near truck
stops and the interstate. He said the company had been scouting for a site
across the Chicagoland area. Lloyd Verduyn, who owns the company, said besides tarps,
it also sells tarping systems and related equipment needed for flatbed
trucking. "Gary has the steel mills up along the lake so that attracts a
lot of flatbeds," Verduyn said. Verduyn said he hopes to close soon on the property
because it needs extensive renovations. He plans to hire about five to six
local workers initially, but could hire about 15 within a year. Van Dyk said the money from the sale would go into the
citys general fund. No date has been set yet for the closing. The Gazette has received
information that the body found at 6700 W 15th Av was dumped there -
literally. According to sources, a dump truck drove along W 15th Av
between midnight and 3 a.m. on August 21, 2014. The road is the usual trek
for dump trucks travelling to the J-Pit landfill. The truck is believed to have travelled eastbound on 15th
until it passed all of the businesses in the area. The truck came to a
stop in an area that was wooded on both sides of the road. Just to the
south is the J-Pit landfill. At that time and place, the dump truck simply
emptied its payload in the middle of W. 15th Av. Among the contents of the
truck, a body that was so badly decomposed that Coroner Investigators could not
immediately determine the race or age of the victim. Investigators were called to the scene at 4:55 a.m. on
August 21, 2014. Upon arrival, the body of a male wearing size 30 x 30
Levi jeans, a silver colored "Live to Ride" belt buckle and tan colored Dexter
brand work boots was discovered. The cause of death was not discernable
and the manner of death is pending investigation. Subsequently it has been determined by the coroner that
the cause of death is blunt force trauma. GARY | Officials are investigating the death of man who
died this morning in the 6700 block of West 15th Av. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at 6:04 a.m.,
according to a news release from the Lake County coroner's office.
Officials have not determined a cause or manner of death. The Gary Police Department said they weren't releasing
information about the death because the cause of death is pending. The man was wearing Levi jeans, tan work boots and a
silver belt buckle with the words, "Live to Ride," according to the release. The Lake County Sheriff's Department Crime Scene
Investigations unit was also investigating the death. Other News Gary Int'l. Gets New Manager Former Detroit City Airport director Delbert Brown has
been selected as airport manager for Gary/Chicago International Airport pending
approval by the airport authority next week. Brown was hired by AvPorts Aug. 11 and is already at work
at the Gary airport on an interim basis, according to Emily Tapia-Lopez, a
spokeswoman for the airport. "Delbert has extensive experience in the aviation
industry and has a proven track record in urban planning, business
administration and marketing, grant funding, and airport management,"
Tapia-Lopez wrote in an e-mail response to an inquiry by The Times. Brown replaces Duncan Henderson, who was hired by AvPorts
as interim Gary airport manager in March. Brown did not respond to a
request for an interview on Wednesday. Brown was director of Detroit City Airport from 2002 to
2010. That airport is now known as Coleman A. Young Municipal
Airport. Previous to that, he also worked in management roles at Detroit
Metro Airport and as airport administrator for the City of Detroit. Near the end of Brown's service at Detroit City Airport
he was involved in Mayor Dave Bing's effort to privatize the facility. The
Gary airport in January inked a 40-year public-private partnership deal with
AvPorts and parent company Aviation Facilities Company Inc. Brown resigned from his job at Detroit City
Airport in September 2010, after an audit showed financial discrepancies and
questionable contracts at the airport, according to a
report from CBS 62 WWJ-TV in Detroit. Mayor Bing appointed Terrence King,
a group executive at the Bing Group, to run the airport, according to Crain's
Detroit Business. At Gary/Chicago International Airport, Brown will be
responsible for the management of staff and daily operations, according to
Tapia-Lopez. Former mayoral assistant B.R. Lane remains the
interim director of the Gary airport at a salary of $120,000.
When hired as interim director in September 2013, she
was responsible for airport operations. In January, that job became
AvPorts responsibility and Lane now serves as go-between for the company and the
airport authority. She also oversees the airport expansion project. The airport authority recently approved the hiring of an
administrative assistant for Lane at a salary of $52,500. GARY--A Gary man was shot and killed Tuesday night in his
car, becoming the second homicide victim in two days. Antonio Jackson, 22, of the 400 block of Lincoln St, was
shot about 7:45 p.m. while stopped at the intersection of 49th Av and Georgia
St. Jackson suffered multiple gunshot wounds. His car rolled about a
block north and crashed into a tree on the east side of Georgia just north of
East 48th Pl. Police found the man after responding about 7:30 p.m. to
a call of shots fired, Gary police Detective Daryl Gordon said. Police
cordoned off an entire block as they gathered evidence from the scene.
Jackson was alone in the car. He was pronounced dead at 7:45 p.m., a news
release from the Lake County coroner states. Police did not have any suspects late Tuesday.
Jackson was killed about 1 1/2 miles from the scene where Gerald Mathews, 37,
was shot dead late Monday night. Great Lakes Steel Production Ticks Up by
4,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
inched up by 4,000T as the industry saw a
spike in production last week, or nearly 0.6%. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, rose to 675,000T, up from 660,000T a
week earlier. Overall U.S. output rose by 1.2% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.92 million tons, up from 1.89 million tons
a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 79.8% last week, up from 78.8% a week earlier. The
capacity utilization rate had been 77.6% a year earlier. U.S. mills have
produced 60.2 million tons of steel so far this year, or about 0.5% more than at the same point in 2013. Steel shipments fell 1.3% in June as compared to May
but up 6.2% as compared to June 2013. Mills shipped 8.2 million tons in
June. Hot-dipped galvanized sheets and strip were up 0.1% in June over May.
Hot-rolled sheet was down 2% and cold-rolled
sheet was down 4%. GARY | A 37-year-old man released from Lake County
Community Corrections last month after serving time for dealing cocaine was shot
and killed in Gary late Monday night. Gerald Mathews -- who listed his address as Lake County
Community Corrections in the 2900 block of W. 93rd Av in Crown Point -- was
pronounced dead at The Methodist Hospitals' Northlake campus in Gary at 11:42
p.m., Lake County Coroner's office representatives said. The cause of
death was listed as a gunshot wound suffered in a homicide in the 1400 block of
E. 36th Av in Gary. Kellie Bittorf, executive director of Lake County
Community Corrections, said Mathews was released from the custody of the
work-release program there on July 9. Bittorf said Mathews apparently did
not change his address after he left the program's custody. Gary Police Cpl. Gabrielle King said officers responded
at 10:52 p.m. to a report of a man down in the 1400 block of W. 36th Av.
When officers arrived, they found Mathews lying in a yard there with a gunshot
wound. Mathews was transported to the emergency room at The Methodist
Hospitals' Northlake campus, where he was later pronounced dead. Mathews, also known as Christopher Stokes, entered a
guilty plea in May 2009 in a Lake County court after being stopped by Lake
County Drug Task Force officers leaving the scene of a drug raid. Officers
found him to be in possession of 20 small bags of cocaine. Mathews listed
a Gary address at the time of his arrest. Other News Six months into the Gary/Chicago International Airports
public-private partnership both government interests and operator AvPORTS remain
positive about the arrangement and the airports future prospects.
However, one roadblock stubbornly remains railroad tracks atop a berm that
need to be relocated before resuming the runway expansion project that is
expected to cost in excess of $166 million. Last week, airport representatives told the Regional
Development Authority that negotiations with CSX and Canadian National railroads
are ongoing, but the runway work wont be complete until 2015. If the
project is to be completed by the August 2015 deadline required by the Federal
Aviation Administration, CSX trains would have to be relocated to the Gary
branch line by this fall, so the old tracks and berm can be removed. Officials from the Gary Airport Authority, AvPORTS and
other regional partners are confident that the project will be completed soon,
so they can focus on planning Garys future as a possible reliever airport for
corporate aviation and other opportunities. GARY | After announcing a new police chief and new
approach to crime last month, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson on Friday addressed
police and fire department equipment needs. The announcement came on the eve of a public safety march
in Gary sponsored in part by WJOB AM 1230's "Afternoon Fix" radio show.
The march steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday from the old police station lot at 13th
Av and Broadway and leads to City Hall. The march intends to bring
awareness to the "outdated, broken down and even lack of fire and police
equipment" in Gary. The march follows a Times article in June addressing
Fire Department equipment shortages.
The mayor did not want to comment on the march, but said
one of the things the city is trying to do better and more of is keeping the
public informed when announcements and policy decisions are made. A news release issued by the mayor Friday said the Police
Department has ordered four Dodge Chargers to be delivered within the next few
weeks. The city also will enter into a buy-lease program this fall that
will allow the department to receive at least 25 more patrol vehicles.
Fourteen additional police officers will join the force later this after going
through final screening, according to the release. The mayor also said the Fire Department is working on a
request to submit to the City Council that will include remounting two
ambulances this year and purchasing three new fire engines next year.
Freeman-Wilson said currently there are six fire engines in
service and five out for repairs. Two firetrucks are in service and three
are being repaired. The mayor said since 2012 the city has invested nearly
$2.8 million in public safety equipment "even in the face of pressing needs for
snow plows and other general services equipment and the challenges of addressing
outstanding debts to outside entities." Fire Department purchases from
2012 to present include $2.3 million in fire apparatus including fire engines
and vehicles (leased/purchased), $8,341 for radios, $8,114 for a jet ski and
$8,800 for two watercraft. Police Department purchases since 2012 include
thermal cameras ($11,304), in-car video system ($76,512), camera equipment
($10,996), bulletproof vests ($33,264) and four new police cars ($130,000). GARY An Indiana Department of Instruction staffer is now
embedded full-time in the Gary Community School Corp. as a result of the
districts "high risk" designation. Daniel Bundridge, a former regional outreach coordinator
for the IDOEs Outreach Division of School Improvement, introduced himself to the
school board Tuesday. Bundridge said hes now state director of school
improvement for the state. He said hes been assigned to Gary as the DOEs
chief liaison to oversee federally funded programs and increase
accountability. Earlier this year, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Glenda Ritz designated Gary as a "high risk" district because of
nagging financial issues and poor academic scores. As a result, the state
is now managing all of the districts federal funding and is leading a teacher
training program aimed at improving classroom performance. Pruitt and Ritz held a press conference in March and
Pruitt insisted the designation did not amount to a state takeover. Ritz
said shes focused on helping the district to turn itself around. Of Gary's 16 public schools, 13 were graded D or F by the
state. The district posted the lowest ISTEP Plus scores in the state in
results released last week. It just closed five schools in an effort to
escape a $27.3 budget deficit. Some vendors and utility bills have gone
unpaid, but school officials said Tuesday the closings and job cuts will keep
the district afloat. A release Wednesday from Ritzs office said Bundridges
full-time status "will improve collaboration between the Department and Gary,
while also focusing on the turnaround principles of effective leadership, school
climate and culture, and effective instruction." Two years ago, the state placed another full-time staff
member in the district to assist it in reaching federal compliance levels in
special education. Gary to Double Number of Razed
Houses GARY Using $6.6 million in federal grant money, the city
may be able to demolish twice the number of abandoned houses than an earlier
estimate, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said Wednesday at a Strong Cities, Strong
Communities open house at the Genesis Center. In May, city officials figured they could knock down 379
houses with the Hardest Hit Fund grant from the U.S. Treasury Department.
After the Redevelopment Commission received the first round of bids for 76
city-owned homes last week, Freeman-Wilson said the bids were low enough to
stretch the grant money. Now, nearly 800 houses could be demolished over
the next 18 months, city officials said. Gary has an
estimated 10,000 vacant houses suitable for demolition. The city is focusing its North Side Redevelopment project
in the Aetna, Miller, Glen Ryan, Emerson and Horace Mann neighborhoods.
Once the homes are torn down, Gary could make the land available for private
purchase or to provide green space for community gardens. Like struggling Detroit, Freeman-Wilson said
shes considering downsizing the size of Gary, now about 52
square miles, so city services can be better managed. "There are some
areas with no homes so the sewers and lights are not being used," she
said. "It would be easy to close those areas off. We have 80,000 to
90,000 citizens and dont need 50 square miles." GARY The school districts financial challenges dominated
Tuesdays school board meeting as Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt detailed the
sobering revenue decline to the board. Since 2009, the district has lost roughly $100 million a
drop that Pruitt attributed to a new state funding formula, property tax caps
that limit how much can be raised and a low property tax collection rate, now at
just 42%. The result is a $27.3 million budget deficit. The decreased revenue has forced the school district to
trim staff. In 2011-12, Pruitt said there were some 1,800 employees and
more than 9,000 students in 17 schools. Today, there are about 1,000
employees in 12 schools and an enrollment of about 8,000. Pruitt said the reductions put Gary in line with other
school districts similar in size. The districts payroll has dropped from
$3.9 million per pay period in 2009 to $1.9 million now. In June, the school board voted to close five
schools. Last month, it laid off 39 teachers and 55 paraprofessionals who
assist teachers in the classroom. "I think the board should be commended for those hard
decisions," Pruitt said, adding that the district also has taken steps to lower
its health insurance costs, restricted out-of-state travel and adopted a
balanced-budget resolution. "We are now at a level in which we can stay afloat and we
can pay the bills," said Joseph Zimmerman, president of the Gary Teachers
Union. "We still have to work down the deficit. We took some painful
cuts watching our paraprofessionals not go back to school is not good." Pratt to Open Gary Warehouse GARY | Pratt Industries may hire up to 30 workers by 2016
to man a new warehouse in Gary. The Australia-based international recycled packaging
company is investing $2 million to $2.5 million in a new Gary distribution
center to support the new $260 million paper mill it's building in
Valparaiso. Construction is underway on a 250,000-square-foot Valpo plant
billed as the world's most technologically advanced and environmentally-friendly
recycled paper facility next to Pratt's existing cardboard box factory on Ind.
49. Pratt, U.S. headquarters is in Georgia. It is looking to lease space in an existing building
on Bridge St in Gary for a warehouse operation, city spokeswoman Chelsea
Whittington said. The company wants to lease space in a
384,000-square-foot building just off of the Indiana Tollroad on the west side
of downtown. The location is right of the EJ&E Railroad tracks, three
miles from I-65 and about six miles from I-80/94. Various paper products will be stored at the Gary
distribution hub before being shipped to the recycling plant south of U.S. 30,
where Pratt plans to hire 137 workers over the next few years. Pratt plans
to create eight to 10 full-time jobs at first and hire as many as 25 or 30
employees in Gary within 18 months, said Deardra Campbell, director of the Gary
Department of Commerce. "Gary welcomes Pratt as the latest example of a company
choosing to establish a presence here, where our proximity to resources like
multiple modes of transportation make us ideal for industry," Campbell said. Pratt is currently going through the site plan process
and still requires city approval, Whittington said. Coroner IDs Woman Found Dead in
Gary GARY | The Lake County coroner's office on Tuesday
identified a woman found dead Saturday in Gary. Piera M. Griffith, 34, of Gary, was identified through
fingerprints, according to a coroner's news release. Investigators initially thought Griffith had died from a
gunshot wound to the head. The autopsy showed she died from blunt
force trauma to the head, authorities said. Griffith, who was mixed race and not black as originally
reported by the coroner's office. She was found dead in an alley
behind the 3800 block of Massachusetts St in Gary's Glen Park neighborhood,
authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:25 a.m. Great Lakes Steel Production Falls by
18,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
dropped back to 675,000T, exactly what
it was two weeks earlier. Local production fell by 18,000T or 2.5%. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, rose to 660,000T, up from 640,000T a
week earlier. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.86
million tons, down from 1.9 million
tons a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 78.8% last week, down from 79% a week earlier. The
capacity utilization rate had been 77.6% a year earlier. U.S. mills have
produced 58.3 million tons of steel so far this year, or about 0.4% more than at the same point in 2013. Overall U.S. output slipped by 0.2% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Steel shipments fell 1.3% in June as
compared to May but up 6.2% as compared to
June 2013. Mills shipped 8.2 million tons in June. Hot-dipped
galvanized sheets and strip were up 0.1% in June over May.
Hot-rolled sheet was down 2% and cold-rolled
sheet was down 4%. In ISTEP Plus scores released last week, just 15.6% of Dunbar-Pulaski students passed both the math
and English sections. Since the school year ended in June,
the principal and 50% of the teaching staff have been relocated. Because the school has been on academic probation for
five straight years, the state was required by law to hold Mondays public
hearing. 33 speakers including parents, residents, school district
employees and a couple of students urged state officials to let the school
district revise the plan for the school. Jacqueline Lee said Supdt. Pruitt
and the school board can improve Dunbar-Pulaski, and "we dont need anyone to come in and take over our community.
We can fix what we broke." A decision on the schools future isnt expected until
after statewide school grades are released in October, said Glenda Ritz,
Indianas superintendent of public instruction. Need for Changing the Way Business Conducted in
Gary GARY | Bringing companies with high-paying jobs to Gary
will take the restoration of the citys image as a good place to do business
where the payment of fees or favors to officials isnt necessary. With his well-known brand of satire and cutting wit,
economist and Times columnist Morton J. Marcus brought that message to the Gary
Chamber of Commerce during Mondays membership luncheon at Majestic Star
Casino. A retired professor from the Indiana University Kelley School of
Business and director of the Indiana Business Research Center, Marcus writes Eye on the Pie, a weekly column in more than 30 Midwest
newspapers, including The Times. "Crime is not the No. 1 issue (in Gary)" he told the
guests, some of whom reacted with some discomfort to his pointed jabs.
Drive-by shootings also happen with frequency in Indianapolis, Marcus
said. However, businesses continue to flock to that metropolitan area. "The Gary area is perceived as a place where it is
expensive to do business. There is a tax for going into business and
staying in business," he said. "You could call it corruption. In
economics, its called price discrimination," Marcus said. He gave the
example of his father who was a salesman in New York City, where giving gifts
and discounts to customers was "a necessary custom." The price
discrimination still practiced in Gary has nothing to do with discrimination on
the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other factors, Marcus said,
adding that it is a long-established custom. "Gary has a strong
reputation (for what) we in America call corruption.
You can go to jail for giving gifts to foreign companies," he said. Public
officials have been taking money to help friends in these endeavors for many
years, Marcus said. "You cant continue to do business this way in order to
attract business," he said. Business owners ask themselves "what does it cost me to
do business in Gary?'" Marcus said. "If it costs you less to do business
in Crown Point, if it costs you less to do business in Griffith (thats where
companies will go)." The Gary Chamber of Commerce can be a driving force in
this effort, Marcus said. "One of the things the Chamber of Commerce can
do is to ask members not to engage in these practices and let people know that,"
he said. Chambers of commerce tend to be one of the organizations that can
make a difference in economics and business attraction, he added. Marcus also provided his insights into the economic
picture in the U.S., Indiana and Northwest Indiana. The national economy "is moving along slowly, more slowly
than any of us would want," he said. "Each of the last six months have
seen an increase of 200,000 jobs." Indiana "is not doing as well as the
national economy," Marcus noted. One reason is "jobs that pay well refuse
to come to Indiana" and those Hoosiers who are highly paid tend to leave the
state, he said. In addition, workers who are coming to Indiana tend to
have less education, he said. "Northwest Indiana grows slowly, slower than the state,"
Marcus said, adding that the only place that is keeping the state numbers up is
the Indianapolis metropolitan area. "And thats because they have superior
transportation resources" including highways and an airport, he said. Northwest Indianas proximity to Chicago does create
opportunities for young workers, Marcus said. "There are tremendous
housing opportunities (here) and good education systems. What we have is
an image problem." GARY A woman was found dead Saturday morning just east of
Broadway in Glen Park, apparently the victim of violence. The woman has not been identified, a news release from
the Lake County coroner states. She died from a gunshot wound to the head,
the release also states. Lt. Thomas Pawlak was the first to arrive at 3889
Massachusetts St. about 7:45 a.m., in response to a call of a woman down.
He found the woman lying in a pool of blood. Investigators also noticed a
trail of blood from a nearby wooded area. The woman is the 23rd homicide of the year and the second
in the two weeks since Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson announced a comprehensive
program to combat crime in the city. Stakes High for Gary's Dunbar-Pulaski
School GARY When they removed the failing Dunbar-Pulaski Middle
School from a school closing list in June, Gary Community School Corp. officials
hoped they could repackage it and turn the school around. They couldn't afford to lose any more students and
funding to charter schools. The district has renamed Dunbar-Pulaski the Gary Middle
School and its touting an outside "meet and greet" picnic from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday. Some of the schools new-found enthusiasm might be
tempered by Monday's state hearing, led by state school chief Glenda Ritz.
It's expected to culminate with some type of state intervention at the
struggling school where 84% of the students failed last springs ISTEP Plus
exam. If the state decides to take over the school, all state funding
would go to the private takeover operator. One Gary school Roosevelt
already has been taken over by the state for poor academic progress. Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said earlier that the school
might escape state sanctions if it shows that its enrollment base has
changed. Pruitt will offer a solution to the school's academic woes at
Monday's 6:30 p.m. hearing at the school, 920 E. 19th Ave. Dunbar-Pulaski's recently released ISTEP results
underscore a pattern of decline that dates back to 2007. In that year, 75%
of the students didnt pass ISTEP. The district, under a former
superintendent, closed the school in 2009 as ISTEP scores plummeted again, when
82% failed. Fending off competition from charters, the district reopened
the school in 2012, this time christening it the Dunbar-Pulaski Academic and
Career Academy. The name change didn't translate to academics. In
2013, 86% failed the ISTEP exam. Pruitt initially wanted to close Dunbar-Pulaski, but
changed her mind at a May 31 school board meeting. The school board,
instead, opted to close the Lew Wallace STEM Academy, the lone high school in
Glen Park. The federal government had poured about $6 million in
school improvement grant money in Lew Wallace over the past three years.
Its test scores were on an upward trajectory, but not enough to escape state
intervention as it was in the final year of academic probation, along with
Dunbar-Pulaski. The last-minute change meant there was no public input
taken on the Lew Wallace closing. Mired in a $27.3 budget hole and looking at half-empty
schools, the school board opted to close five schools in June, an unpopular move
among parents who criticized the lack of notice they received. About 2,000
students were displaced by the closings and routed to new district schools,
mostly away from their neighborhoods. The state has asked for minutes from
school board meetings in which school closings were discussed. The closings also left the district more vulnerable to
losing students to charters and private schools, like the Ambassador Christian
Academy in Gary, which leads the state in voucher students. Pruitt has set a strategic plan effort in motion, asking
Indiana University Northwest professor Rochelle Brock to lead it. The
group is supposed to offer up a five-year plan at a board meeting this
month. "What we have now are broad goals," said Brock who heads IUNs Urban
Teacher Education Program. Others say they feel out of the loop on the district's
problems at Dunbar-Pulaski and the states possible intervention. "I think
I speak for all the legislators in Gary, that the state hasn't included us in
the process, nor has the school superintendent," said state Rep. Vernon Smith, a
Gary Democrat and educator. "There was word
that some parents wanted Lew Wallace to stay open. The bottom line is
we're ill-informed," said Smith, a member of the House Education
Committee. "I think they have good intentions, but some decisions have had
repercussions. If they don't do a better job of planning, we'll find
ourselves in this situation over and over again." Sewer Users May Face Heavy Burden Under Consent
Decree GARY | As regulators seek an agreement to impose new
controls on water pouring out of Gary's combined sewer system, a lingering
concern is: who will pay for what could be hundreds of millions of dollars
on the system over the next 20 years? Under a South Bend consent decree two years ago, that
city agreed to make an estimated $509.5 million in improvements over 20 years to
reduce sewage overflows into the St. Joseph River. While it's not known if
the Gary Sanitary District will face that high of a cost, Kim Ferraro, with the
Hoosier Environmental Council, believes the cost will be "really expensive." Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said a new consent decree
leading to a long-term control plan should be in place within about six
months. She was recently reappointed special administrator for the city's
sanitary district for a six month period at a salary of $27,000 -- in addition
to her $81,175 salary as mayor. Gary's mayors started being appointed as
special administrators for the sanitary district -- and taking a second salary
for the job -- about 20 years ago under an earlier consent decree. "We understand the costs inherent in a long-term control
plan, and while we do not have final numbers from our consultants, we are
looking for solutions that have the least financial impact on ratepayers, like
the installation of green infrastructure," Freeman-Wilson said. Both Freeman-Wilson and Ferraro said grants for large
sewer projects are not as readily available as they once were. Gary
already has had to use some of its scarce financial resources to chip away at a
$16 million debt Freeman-Wilson said was incurred by borrowing done under the
administrations of former mayors Rudy Clay and Scott King. She said the
city has reduced that debt to about $7 million and noted the city is no longer
allowed to borrow money from its sanitary district. Gary, Hammond and South Bend are among about 108
communities in Indiana that have the combined systems in which both sewer and
stormwater are collected in a combined system. The problems with the
combined systems are that they can lead to overflows of raw sewage into the
waterways. Gary and Hammond are the only two that do not have long-term
control plans in place, yet. The Gary's sewer system also serves Hobart,
Lake Station and a part of Merrillville. Ferraro suggested some of the industries that send large
amounts of discharge to the Gary system should step forward with some funding to
help reduce the impact on residential rate payers. Ferraro said Gary's
ability to pay for needed improvements may be one of the reasons it is taking
some time to write up an agreement. July offered little relief for Northwest Indiana's five
casinos, most of which saw year-over-year
declines in revenues and admissions. Horseshoe Hammond, the top revenue-generator in the
region and the state, had the most drastic drop, from $42.3 million in revenues
in June 2013 to $34.6 million last month. Horseshoes general manager and senior vice president, Dan
Nita, Friday called the July revenues report "pretty disappointing," but on the
bright side, added that last July was one of the casinos best months in recent
years. "We had the highest coin-in in three years then," Nita said.
He said he was pretty optimistic in the beginning of the month, having had a
successful Fourth of July weekend. "Unfortunately, the last two weeks in
July were very challenged. It was pretty disappointing. We didnt get
the turnout we expected," Nita said. Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight, said
Horseshoe had a pretty hefty decline in
admissions last month as well. "Horseshoes admission
were down about 20% over last year in July and were down about 15% the
previous month, too." Feigenbaum, also noted that July 2013 was a
particularly good month for the Hammond casino. Meanwhile, Ameristar in East Chicago continued to gain market share in the region
compared to last year, including a $400,000 hike in table games. Matt
Schuffert, vice president and general manager, said the casino continues to
focus on providing an outstanding table game product, having recently added 13
tables to the casino floor along with a new 12-table poker room. The five casinos took in a total of $80.7 million in
revenues last month, compared to $89.6 million in revenues the previous June,
according to the monthly revenues report released Friday by the Indiana Gaming
Commission. Ameristar showed a slight gain, with $17.9 million in revenues
last month compared to $17.8 million the previous July. Blue Chip raked in
$14.2 million compared to last Julys $13.6 million. Majestic Star Casinos
dropped from $15.8 million to $14
million. The revenues reflect free play promotion money taken by some
casinos during those months. Feigenbaum said, statewide, the casino revenues last
month were the lowest amount for a July
since 2002. MICHIGAN CITY Offenders from both the Indiana State
Prison Medium/Minimum Security Unit and the Westville Correctional Facility have
been working together to renovate abandoned homes in Gary, Indiana. The project is sponsored by the Fuller Center for Housing
of Gary, Indiana, Inc. The program achieves several objectives. I t
provides affordable housing to the citizens of Gary, helps raise values within
the neighborhood, provides work opportunities for offenders and avoids the costs
of demolition. This level of cooperation between the city and the state
has raised the interest of the Cook County (IL) Sheriff to do the same in
Chicago. The offender work crews completely gutted the inside of
the two homes, removing window frames, plumbing, wiring, support walls and
cleaned out the crawl spaces. Pastor Chet Johnson, the project organizer, sent a letter
to Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner Bruce Lemmon expressing his
sincere appreciation for the work performed by these two crews. Pastor
Johnson stated, "The effort the offenders are putting into their work is
something to appreciate, they are working hard, they understand what we are
trying to accomplish, and they have shown the utmost respect". Commissioner Lemmon stated, "I am very proud of the
outstanding efforts everyone has put into making the Gary project a
success. It is community service like this that makes Indiana DOC the best
in the business". The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority settled
a lawsuit accusing previous members of favoring a real estate baron's new
business over a longtime airport tenant. Under the settlement, the Airport Authority is paying $90,000 to the Gary Jet Center
and providing promises it will level the playing field with regulations for all
aircraft-servicing companies at the airport. "It's important that we put
this behind ourselves and now can move forward with all the new things happening
at the airport," authority Chairman James Cooper said. Gary Jet Center owner Wil Davis expressed the same
sentiments about the future, but reviewed what he thought was the root of the
problem during the meeting's public comment period. "I hope this never
happens again," Davis said. "I firmly believe the previous board showed a
lack of leadership. And the former airport director showed a lack of
leadership. And I believe the consultants involved displayed a high degree
of arrogance and stupidity." The settlement comes one week before a federal court
hearing on the Gary Jet Center's motion for a preliminary injunction. The
previous airport board was turned out under state mandate in September 2013. The lawsuit contended B. Coleman Aviation was not held to
the same strict airport standards as the Gary Jet Center. Among unusual
privileges granted to the newcomer was a waiver of certain fees including fuel
flowage fees, according to the lawsuit. It also alleged the truck-to-truck
refueling used by B. Coleman Aviation violated regulations and was unsafe. Under the settlement approved Thursday, the airport and
B. Coleman have to develop aviation fuel tanks for B. Coleman's use within 15
months. On Thursday, B. Coleman General Manager Benjamin Toles
said his company had only intervened in the lawsuit to protect its name.
B. Coleman continues to offer a full range of aircraft services at the airport.
Its 25,000-square-foot hangar remains under construction. GARY, Indiana The federal government has awarded Gary,
Indiana $250,000 for projects to improve Lake Michigan's water quality by
filtering the runoff from city life. Gary officials will use its $250,000 grant from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to install systems such as water-filtering
bioswales to reduce the amount of sediments and pollutants that flow into the
lake. That effort will also be funded by more than $83,000 in city money
and $168,000 from the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
shot up to 693,000T last week. Local
production surged by 18,000 tons, or
about 2.7%. ArcelorMittal projects local production should increase
by 1,000T a day once the No. 7 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steel mill is
ramped back up after a $70 million reline project. The furnace, the
nation's largest, had been offline for about two months. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, free-falled to 640,000T, down from
681,000T a week earlier. Overall U.S. output slipped by 0.9% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.9 million tons,
down from 1.92 million tons a week
earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate
of 79% last week, down from 79.8% a week
earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been 77.4% a year
earlier. U.S. mills have produced 56.4 million tons of steel so far this
year, or about 0.4% more than at the same
point in 2013. Steel imports fell by 11.1% in June, dropping to 3.6
million tons in a possible reflection of economic uncertainty after the U.S.
Gross Domestic Product fell by 3% in the first quarter. Most of the
imports came from the European Union, which shipped 639,000 net tons to the
United States. Imports from South Korea, which faces potential duties as
part of pending trade case over oil country tubular goods, dropped by about 22% to 534,000 net
tons. Despite the overall month-to-month decline, imports from
most trading partners were much higher than in June 2013, according to
the American Institute of International Steel. Year-to-date imports are
up 34% over last year.
Semi-finished product imports have skyrocketed by 64.4% during the first
six months of the year. GARY City Councilman Ronier Scott, who is expected to be
released Monday from a federal prison in Terre Haute, could be back on the city
payroll by Tuesday. Scott, D-6th, went to prison
May 6 following his guilty plea in February to two counts of income tax
evasion. He received a sentence of three months in prison and 400 hours of
community service. Scott, 42, admitted that he did not file tax returns on
income earned through his council position and a family business for each year
between 2000 and 2003 and in 2008 and 2009. On May 12, his fellow Democratic council members voted to
withhold his pay while Scott was in prison. A check of city payroll
records confirmed that Scott has not been paid since he reported to the
medium-security prison. Scott could be released in time to attend the 6 p.m.
council meeting Tuesday. Council president Kyle Allen wanted to boot Scott off the
council, but there was no support for doing so other council members.
Scott refused to resign from the council seat that paid him $27,571 last year,
saying he was the sole breadwinner for his family. The Mayor on Murders "Over the past 60 days, the city of Gary has been forced
to reckon with some of the most heinous murders seen in decades. An
officer gunned down in cold blooda mother stabbed to death by her own sona
mother who was brutalized in Crown Point by her daughters boyfriend and then
dumped in Garya woman who died in her sleep after being beaten by an unknown
individual and young fathers and sons who were killed in alleys and a local
McDonalds parking lot. "With the exception of Officer Jeffrey Westerfield and
the Haywoods, the news of most of these deaths was hidden in local
newspapers. While there was a Sunday evening show on a local radio
station, there was no public outcry or reactionjust a seeming resignation that
these occurrences were simply business as usual. "I often wonder why the public seems so
tolerant of such despicable acts. I dont think that people are
uncaring. I actually think people care a lot. But I believe that
there is a certain level of protection that accompanies our ability to ignore
the murder of someone we do not know or would likely never meet. It makes
us feel safe that murder only occurs if you are in a dangerous profession or if
you live in a dangerous part of town. Besides if we
acknowledged our sense of outrage and loss, then we would have to do something
about it and the problem seems so intractable that most of us do not know what
to do. "This irrational thinking is a myth. The reality is that every act of murderevery act of
violenceevery criminal act threatens every individual whether you accept it or
not. It threatens our sense of safety, community and
our belief that we can rebuild this city from the economic devastation that we
have suffered. And whether you knew Officer Westerfield, Mr. and Mrs.
Haywood, DeCarol Deloney-Cain, Jamir Wiley, Monshanay Townsend or any other
victim of violence, their murders have a direct impact on our image of our
community, the ability to attract business and investment, and our sense of hope
and promise for our children. EDITORIAL: Declining Steel Numbers a Stark Reminder of Need for New
Economic Path The numbers show a staggering decline, especially for
longtime region residents who remember when steel was king in Northwest
Indiana. The steel business always will be an important part of
our region's historical fabric -- and remains a major source of employment for
our workers. The luster of this past industrial monarch has faded
significantly, though, in the past 14 years. It's a reminder of the
importance of seizing on other economic opportunities to lead our region
forward. Times business reporter Joseph Pete's Sunday article laid
out the cold-steel truth, as illustrated in an annual report by
ArcelorMittal. Northwest Indiana's primary metals manufacturing -- chiefly
the local steel industry -- has hemorrhaged 8,700 jobs since 2000. That
represents a 33% plunge in the jobs that once defined our region. That's
the bad news. The good news is Northwest Indiana clawed itself out of
the Great Recession that defined the earlier part of the decade, and we have an
opportunity to chart a new economic course for the future. Seizing on
growth opportunities in the healthcare industry remains important. We have been waiting for years to see a teaching hospital
and much needed region trauma center come to fruition, potentially partnering
with Indiana University Northwest in Gary. In many ways, our needs cry out
for state government to see Northwest Indiana as more than just a hotbed of
government waste requiring reform. State economic leaders also need to see
our region for its great untapped economic potential. Northwest Indiana's economic future hinges on growing
industry and job opportunities inside our own borders. MERRILLVILLE--The town is taking Gary Sanitary District
to court over a reported sewer overflow onto a street in the 5600 block of Grant
St. Joe Fish, compliance officer for Merrillville Stormwater
Utility, said he wrote an illicit discharge citation to the GSD and fined the
utility $2,500 on May 12, after obvserving a sewer overflow onto the street
following a heavy rain. He said this is the first time hes fined the GSD, which
provides sewer service in the Meadowdale and Meadowland Estates subdivisions on
the north side of the city. "The fine was not necessarily set to get
money, but to get the GSD to take action and correct the problem," Fish
said. He said it appears GSDs sanitary lines arent being properly
maintained, allowing storm water to get into the sanitary sewers, causing an
overflow during heavy rains. Fish said Merrillville Conservancy District and
Independence Hill Conservancy District, which also serve the town, have
continuing maintenance programs in which their pipes are sealed, preventing any
overflows. "GSD says they do, too, but they need to prove it," Fish
said. A representative for GSD did not return phone calls
requesting comment. Fish said the town has already met with the GSD, which is
in the process of proving it made some repairs and done necessary tests on their
lines. He said the Gary utility company also will provide Merrillville
with a timeline of what it will do to correct the problem and when. Because the utility needs more time to accomplish these
actions, the original Aug. 11 court date in Merrillville Town Court will be
moved back. Fish said no new date has been set as yet. Fish said when the GSD appears in court, it will show the
judge the timeline and its actions taken. "The judge (Judge Gina Jones)
will decide if theyll be fined or not," Fish said. If fined, the $2,500
would go to the Stormwater Utility, Fish said. CROWN POINT A Gary man charged with murder in the
shooting of Gary police Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield had a brief appearance in
court Wednesday to formally enter a not guilty plea. Carl LeEllis Blount, who turned 26 on Tuesday, waived the
reading of the charge through his attorney, Robert Varga, as he stood shackled
before Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas with extra security officers
present. Blounts omnibus hearing is Sept. 17. Deputy prosecutors David Urbanski and Monica Rogina are
prosecuting the case. Daughter Charged in Crown Point Mom's
Death GARY A "fragile" relationship between Decarol
DeLoney-Cain and her 17-year-old daughter Alyssa Barrett deteriorated even more
when the teen became pregnant earlier this summer, police learned after finding
the womans decomposed body in the trunk of her car July 7.
Barrett, who has been arrested and charged with murder
and robbery resulting in bodily injury in her mother's death, had "frequently
talked of robbing and/or killing her mother," and spoke about stabbing her
mother and hiding her body while she was in foster care, court records filed
Wednesday state. Barrett's boyfriend, Demarius McGriggs, 18, of
Merrillville, was charged earlier this month. McGriggs admitted to Gary
police that he killed DeLoney-Cain after an argument because she wanted her
daughter to abort his baby, the probable cause affidavit states.
DeLoney-Cain suffered multiple stab wounds and a head injury and was found
wrapped in plastic garbage bags with a pillow case over her head in the trunk of
her car. McGriggs told investigators he put the pillow case over her head
so he wouldnt have to look at her, court records state. Clerks at a Merrillville pawn shop and a jewelry store at
Southlake Mall told detectives Barrett and McGriggs were customers in their
stores during the time DeLoney-Cain, 54, of Crown Point, was missing. The
clerks described the pair as "normal customers" who "appeared happy and were
smiling at each other," the affidavit states. Barrett claimed she withdraw $500 from her mother's bank
accounts under duress and, after disposing of her mother's body in Gary, went to
the Southlake Mall where she and Wren bought an engagement ring at Kay
Jeweler's, ate and went to a movie. Barrett said she went along out of
fear. Police said they spoke with Kay Jewelers employees who
knew Barrett and Wren and they said the couple didn't act nervous or
distressed. The affidavit states they appeared to be acting "like their
normal 'lovey-dovey' selves," hugging and kissing each other. In a series of separate interviews, both Barrett and
McGriggs provided conflicting details about their roles in the slaying until
detectives presented them with facts gleaned from others interviewed and
evidence. Two other friends of the couple have been implicated in the
robbing DeLoney-Cain and disposing of her body, the affidavit states. On Wednesday, Barrett arrived at the Public Safety
Facility to speak to detectives about a laptop computer she and McGriggs had
pawned. During the interview, McClelland arrested Barrett. Both
Barrett and McGriggs are being held without bail. GARY Two ways to land more business at the Gary/Chicago
International Airport could be to get more private charter business and bring in
the federal government, airport officials said Monday. Getting Homeland Security to approve a Customs and
Immigration office at the airport, said airport director B.R. Lane and
Ozzie Moore, president and CEO of AvPorts, the private company managing the
airport, could be a boon for the facility. Business people who fly
internationally now have to go to OHare International Airport or Midway Airport
to clear customs, or have federal agents check and approve their
belongings. Being able to go through customs in Gary would make the Gary
airport more attractive to them. CEOs and corporate types going to Chicago "would love to
be able to come (to Gary)," Moore said. Getting the federal office in Gary
could help make that happen, Lane said. "In order for this to truly be an
international airport, you have to be able to clear customs here," Lane said. The process of getting a customs and immigration office
in Gary will take time, Moore said. The Gary airport will need about a
year "to be able to get our arms around" having a customs office here, followed
by another six months of making it happen in "a very phased in approach," Moore
said. He also said drawing more of the charter customers would
send a strong signal to the aviation community. "Its an important signal
were not just about corporate aviation," Moore said. "Were about passenger
carriers, as well. It sends the signal were open for business with
charters." That would draw some of the overflow traffic to Chicago,
officials have said, a potentially sizable revenue source for the airport. The Gary site is a great landing site for corporate jets
because of its proximity to Chicago without pilots having to juggle for room at
Midway and OHare airports, officials have said. Airport Board OKs Up to $35M in Bonds for Longer
Runway GARY The Gary/Chicago International Airports leadership
Monday approved a bond issue of up to $35 million to complete financing for the
airports planned runway extension. With most other funding in place, the bond sale will help
the airport authority cover the roughly $174 million cost for the project.
Melanie Shaker, senior vice-president of Sycamore Advisory, the airports
Chicago-based financial consultant, said the city plans to only use $25.6
million from the bond sale. Together with $24 million the airport has in
cash available and $15.2 million in grants from the Regional Development
Authority and the Federal Highway Administration, the bond money will cover
whats needed for the project, Shaker said. The original bill for the runway extension was to be
about $166 million, but a range of setbacks and developments have added to the
price tag to lengthen the runway from 7,000 feet to 8,900 feet to accommodate
larger airplanes. Chief among those setbacks have been extra expenses
linked to environmental issues "which could not be accounted for until work was
underway on-site," according to a statement from airport spokeswoman Emily
Tapia-Lopez. Trying to work with three railroads Canadian National,
CSX and Norfolk Southern to relocate their tracks bordering the airport has
added cost and challenges to the project. "This is a very complex
project," airport director B.R. Lane said. She described it as "more than
a runway expansion," and used RDA director Bill Hannas words to call it a "major
transportation realignment." Lane and other airport leaders have had
weekly meetings with railroad representatives to iron out differences over the
track relocations, but she said she hopes to have a "substantial progress" about
that relationship to report at the next authority board meeting. Man Found Shot to Death at Gary Auto Repair
Shop GARY The news conference announcing leadership changes
and a "comprehensive" plan to reduce crime in the city ended late Monday morning
just as a Gary man was shot to death in his auto repair garage three miles from
City Hall. Antonio Tolbert, 41, of the 3600 block of W. 15th Avenue,
was apparently shot to death while working in the garage at 1124 Chase St. some
time after 10:30 a.m., police said. A customer who had called to inquire about getting his
cars air conditioning charged arrived after 11 a.m. and found the employee on
the floor near the front entrance of the business. The customer told
police he drove to the garage door entrance at the back of the one-story brick
building and honked his horn for the proprieter. When he received no
response, he walked around to the front entrance and found the man lying on the
floor. Detective Willie Ervin, who was working as a patrol
officer Monday, was the first to arrive on the scene. He summoned homicide
detectives, supervisors and medics. A Prompt ambulance medic called the
Lake County coroner. Newly appointed Chief Larry McKinley stopped briefly,
having just left City Hall where Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said Chief Wade
Ingram had resigned and the city was taking a new direction in combatting
crime. Detectives Cpl. Michael Barnes and Richard McClelland are
investigating the homicide, the 22nd* violent death in the city
this year (*if one includes the Crown Point homicide of
airline stewardess Decarol Deloney-Cain). Anyone with
information can call Barnes at 881-7434 . Gary Mayor Outlines Anti-crime
Program GARY Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who campaigned for
office with the vow to "eradicate crime" in the city, now calls it a "seemingly
intractable issue." But she has a plan, a team and a new police chief to combat the crime
problem. In a standing-room-only news conference Monday at city hall, the
mayor introduced Police Chief Larry McKinley, who replaces Wade Ingram, and
announced some new initiatives designed to improve the police departments morale
and make the city safer. Gary Police Chief Wade Ingram turned in his
resignation Wednesday. Freeman-Wilson appointed
Deputy Chief Larry McKinley as his replacement. "Chief McKinley is a
15-year veteran of the police department who has the temperament, vision,
intellect and integrity to lead," she said. McKinley chose retired Gary
police Capt. Tom Papadakis as new deputy chief. "Together they will lead
the Gary Police Department during what we understand to be a difficult time,"
Freeman-Wilson said. McKinley said one of the issues he will address is
department morale. "Coming from the rank-and-file, I understand the
frustrations these officers go through on a daily basis," he said. "Gary
police officers are among the lowest paid in the region and face the biggest
challenge of any community in fighting crimes." McKinley announced
officers will be rewarded with a salary bonus and the support of 14 new
officers, who are in the final stages of hiring. He said the department is
also in the process of buying new vehicles with upgraded technology. The mayor said the nature of some crimes in the past two
months are "some of the most heinous murders seen in decades" and wondered why
the public isnt outraged. "If we acknowledged our sense of outrage and
loss, then we would do something about it," she said. While homicides are down more than 30% from the same time
last year (22 compared with 32), Freeman-Wilson named several recent victims
killed in the city and said, "their murders have a direct impact on our image of
our community, the ability to attract business and investment and our sense of
hope and promise." Most of those she named were an atypical murder
victim: including 19-year-veteran Patrolman Jeff Westerfield gunned down
in his squad car, a United Airlines flight attendant allegedly killed by her
daughters boyfriend and a Brunswick area father stabbed to death at his home,
allegedly by his son, whos also charged with killing his mother in
Merrillville. Most of those she didnt mention are young black men
involved in criminal activity that led directly or indirectly to their
demise. As a way to humanize the impact of these deaths, the mayor plans to launch a website that will focus on each
homicide victim and tell the story of their life. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 61 president Sam Abegg
was in the audience during the hour-plus news conference. Afterward, he
said boosting morale will take more than the salary bonus that McKinley
mentioned during his brief speech. "Compensation is the No. 1 reason
morale is low," Abegg said. As for the proposed community outreach plans
announced by the mayor, Abegg said the rank-and-file were not consulted.
"We have direct knowledge as it relates to the deficiencies within the
department and sustainable objectives as it relates to crime reduction," he
said. Parts of the new program are modeled after New Orleans
Mayor Mitch Landrieus "NOLA for Life" campaign and will be tagged "Gary for
Life," Freeman-Wilson said. Landrieu offered advice to Gary leaders during
conference calls in recent weeks. His plan joins churches and non-profit
agencies in reaching out to the community and providing alternative activities
and intervention. Mary Cossey, the citys constituent services director,
said she will coordinate on the four points of the initiative enforcement,
rehabilitation, intervention and prevention. Freeman-Wilson said the city will install a
"community prevention line" for residents to report issues
that may not be immediate criminal matters but are problems that need attention.
"The most important aspect of this initiative is what occurs outside of
city hall," she said. The mayor said reporting crime, watching out for
neighbors and volunteering with some of the "many groups that are working to
motivate the next generation" are things residents need to do to improve living
conditions in Gary. Freeman-Wilson said the public should know her
administration "doesn't have a magic wand or quick fix," and some of the changes
and continued coordination will only be seen over the long term. Prosecutor to Weigh Death Penalty in Police
Murder CROWN POINT | The Lake County prosecutor's office will
spend the coming weeks determining whether a Gary man should face the death
penalty over allegations he ambushed Gary patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield earlier
this month. The process will be shrouded in official secrecy.
Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan granted a request Friday by Public Defender Robert
Varga to impose what is commonly known as a gag order. The order, formally
known as a protective order, forbids the prosecutor, police, coroner and other
law enforcement officials in the case as well as the public defender's office
from publicly discussing the case's evidence and thereby avoid pretrial
publicity that could prejudice a future jury. Sheriff John Buncich announced Thursday, before the
order's imposition, Prosecutor Bernard Carter will review the case to determine
if it qualifies for a capital murder charge. Murdering an on-duty law
enforcement officer is one of more than 20 aggravating factors in the capital
murder law. Carter has said in the past he routinely submits all
potential death penalty cases to a group of his veteran deputies and then to the
eight-member Capital Litigation Committee of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorney's
Council. While the final decision rests with Carter, he said he needs the
others' help to balance the interests of justice and cost to taxpayers. Court documents indicate the strength of the state's case
against Blount rests on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of the
defendant's half brother, Dontae Blount, and other witnesses who spoke with the
defendant before and after the crime. However, the sheriff said Thursday
Blount hasn't confessed, and police still haven't found the .40-caliber Walther
handgun. The Indiana Department of Correction said there are
currently 13 men and one woman under Indiana death sentences. [Ed: Unfortunately, one of those persons is NOT Rufus Averhart, who murdered Gary Police Lt. George
Yaros on 11 Aug 1981, and is soon due to be realeased from the state
penitentiary.] Lake County's last death penalty murder case resulted in
Kevin Isom, 48, receiving three death sentences in March 2013 for killing his
wife and two stepchildren in their home in Gary's Miller area six years
earlier. That case was marked by years of delays, took months to assemble
a jury and five weeks for lawyers to present evidence and arguments. It
cost three quarters of a million dollars, according to county officials. GARY A year ago, the city was processing new police
officers, and Police Chief Wade Ingram was urging officials to hire more. With 10 approved for the police academy, Ingram told the
Police Civil Service Commission then that he was still short 12 officers. Fourteen candidates are on a new certified hiring list
but they will not be attending the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy
when classes begin Aug. 4. The local hiring process is not complete and
the city will not allow a waiver procedure. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said putting more officers on
the street is a priority. The rank-and-file dont believe the mayor.
And the on-duty shooting death July 6 of veteran Patrolman Jeffery Westerfield,
killed while alone on a dark stretch of road before dawn, only heightens
officers concerns. "When it comes to public safety, the mayor talks about
priorities, but actions speak louder than words," Fraternal Order of Police
Lodge 61 president Sam Abegg said. The board of works has accepted three resignations this
month, more officers are preparing to leave and even more are job-hunting.
Low pay, low morale, lack of equipment and manpower shortages make the Gary
Police Department a difficult place to work, Abegg said. "90% of our
problems are the citys failure to allocate funds to public safety," he said. And now, the city has failed again, Abegg said, by not
allowing training of new recruits while waiting for the state to finalize their
pension status. The 14 new hires have not been sworn in, and wont be in
time to get them to the academy, because they have not been approved by the
Indiana Public Retirement System. After a discussion with Ingram, Abegg said the recruits
could sign a waiver, agreeing to begin training without the retirement and
disability benefits in effect. Its a practice used previously in
Gary. Other police departments plan to send recruits to the academy next
month without the final state approval. Candidates who complete the civil service commissions
hiring process including physical and written tests, a background check and
voice stress analysis must then undergo medical and psychological examinations
locally. Those results must then be approved in Indianapolis. Local
examinations are beginning and could take weeks, and the retirement examiners
typically need about 30 days, Dunlap said. City officials hope to have the process done for the
18-week academy class that begins in November. But it will up to a year
after their graduation before the recruits are prepared for the job. "Even
if they did hire them today, it wouldnt be until next summer when they were
ready for the street," Abegg said. Those 10 new officers Ingram spoke about a year ago
graduated in April and are in the field-training stage, not able to work without
direct supervision. The police department is down more than the 12 officers
Ingram said he needed a year ago. The roster lists 219 names, but more
than 20 are on leave either military, injured on duty, extended sick or unpaid
administrative. A full complement of the force is 235. "When I hired on (more than 10 years ago), there were
about 290 officers, and that was where it needed to be. The population has
decreased, but the reality is the people who are leaving are not the criminal
element, they are the good people," Abegg said. "In my opinion, we need to
have 60 people on the road and ready to ride tomorrow," Abegg said. Judge Approves Gag Order in Fatal Cop Shooting
Case CROWN POINT Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas on
Friday imposed a gag order in the case of accused cop killer Carl Blount,
preventing lawyers in the case, law enforcement officials, court personnel and
the coroner from releasing any information to the public, aside from what is
discussed in open court. Its common for a judge to impose a gag order in a
high-profile murder case. Public Defender Robert Varga requested the order
on behalf of Blount, 25, whos charged in the July 6 shooting death of Gary
officer Jeffrey Westerfield. At his arraignment Friday, a not guilty plea was entered
for Blount. None of Blounts family members nor his girlfriend attended the
arraignment before Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan. Blount had one question for Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan
can the charges against him be enhanced? "A count may be added that could
lead to the death penalty or life without parole, but it hasnt been yet,"
Sullivan told him. "I will tell you that it is a possibility because you
are charged with killing a police officer." Looking tired, Blount, who is being held without bail,
answered Sullivans questions clearly until she asked him if he understood that
he is charged with murder. His face fell, and he said almost inaudibly,
"Yes, maam." Blount also told Sullivan that he lives in Portage,
although charging documents filed Thursday indicated hes living in Gary. If convicted, Blount faces from 45 to 65 years in
prison. New rules enacted July 1 mean that Blount will get one day credit
for every three days served but must serve 75% of his sentence if convicted,
Sullivan said. Blounts next court hearing was set for July 30. Steel Jobs Plummeted by a Third Since
2000 Northwest Indiana's steel industry, which once drew
immigrants from the world over and put bread on many tables for generations, has
lost a third of its jobs since 2000. Employment in primary metals manufacturing in Northwest
Indiana, steel and, to a lesser extent, aluminum has declined by 8,700 jobs
since 2000. The 33% plunge is the result of the domestic industry's
struggles and an increasing amount of automation at the mills that ring Lake
Michigan's southern shore. "While this sounds terrible, nationally over the same
time period, the United States lost 36% of its jobs in primary metal
manufacturing. So, here in Northwest Indiana the decline is slightly less
worse than nationally," said Micah Pollak, assistant professor of economics at
Indiana University Northwest. Local employment in the sector has actually rebounded
over the the last few years. The number of metal manufacturing jobs in the
Gary metropolitan area has risen by 3.5% to 17,900 last year from 17,300 in
2010. But that's a far cry from the 26,700 Northwest Indiana residents who
earned their living as steelworkers back in 2000. Nationally, employment at U.S. steel mills stood at about
135,000 in 2000. After LTV Corp. and a dozen other integrated flat-rolled
producers filed bankruptcy and went under within the next few years, the number
of workers who forged steel fell to about 91,000, according to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The bloodletting is even worse in the primary metals
manufacturing sector as a whole. As many as 625,000 workers across the
county made, smelted or refined metals such as iron and copper 14 years
ago. That workforce has been gutted to about 400,000 today. The steel industry consolidated, but also became more
efficient as the result of automation and improved operated practices. A
single steelworker accounted for 831 tons of raw steel production a year in
2000, according to ArcelorMittal USA's recently published 2013 Fact Book.
Today, each worker is responsible for 1,054 tons of raw steel production, or
about 27% more than at the turn of the 21st century. Steelmakers have been doing more with only about
two-thirds of the workers they had a decade and a half ago. U.S. mills
produced 95 million tons of steel last year, or about 10% less due to weakened
demand and increased imports than they made between 2000 and 2007. Employees are expensive. ArcelorMittal USA
estimates its average worker earned $72.53 per hour, from wages, benefits and
social insurance programs. That's more than twice as much as the $34.18
per hour the average manufacturing worker made last year. The steelmaker
spent $162,134 on each worker's salary, benefits and pension last year, a 12%
increase over the cost in 2008. Labor is far and away the biggest cost
ArcelorMittal USA has, followed by power, gas and utilities. "The biggest areas for improvement remain labor costs and
retiree obligations," the company noted in the annual report.
"ArcelorMittal USA's labor costs account for 39% of the total conversion cost of
steel, or the cost to transform raw materials into finished steel products,
minus the cost of raw materials." The company, which made 16.2 million tons of steel last
year, employs around 18,000 workers nationally, including around 12,000 in
Northwest Indiana. Its overall employee costs added up to $1.98 billion in
2013. Lake County Sheriff John Buncich and Prosecutor Bernard
Carter on Thursday announced that Carl LeEllis Blount Jr. had been charged with
murder in the Fourth of July weekend shooting death of the 19-year Gary police
officer. Blount, 26, of Gary, faces one charge of murder, although police are still looking for the
gun. Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfields fiancee minced no
words when it came to the fate of his alleged killer: She wants him to get
the death penalty. "Jeff is no longer here. We cant see him or talk
to him or touch him," Denise Sheaks-Cather told the Post-Tribune. "Why
should his (Blounts) family be able to visit him and talk to him? Why are
they any different?" Westerfield was found dead in his squad car early on the
morning of July 6, his 47th birthday. According to a probable cause
affidavit and the sheriff, Blount waited until Westerfield's attention was
"diverted" before he shot the officer at "very close range" with a Walther
.40-caliber handgun, stolen almost a year ago from a truck in
Indianapolis. "(Its) just senseless, senseless murder of a police
officer," Buncich said during a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce
the charge. Blount was taken into custody the day Westerfield was
killed but not charged until Thursday. Police were able to hold him on
warrants out of Porter County, Buncich said. In the Portage warrants he
listed a Portage address. In charging documents in Lake County, he lists
2659 Jackson St., Gary, as his address. Blount and his girlfriend, Jennifer Guzman, had been at
Voodoo Club in Gary the night of Saturday, July 5. On their way home, a
friend of Guzmans began accusing Blount of having an affair with another woman,
court records say. While in the car, Blount lifted his shirt and showed
them he had a gun. The couple began arguing and when they got out of the
car, they started struggling over the gun, according to the probable cause
affidavit. At some point, Guzman told police, she got control of the gun
and "it just went off." Blount picked up the gun and fled on foot, the
affidavit says. Westerfield was one of the officers who arrived to the
shooting, and he subsequently went looking for Blount. At 4:26 a.m.,
Westerfield made his last communication with dispatch and asked for a
description of Blount. According to the narrative laid out in Wednesday's court
filing, police were able to use a cellphone picture from Blounts phone to
identify the gun and its serial number. They traced the gun back to
Indianapolis and found that an Indianapolis man bought it in January 2013 and
reported it stolen on Sept. 25. Blount's brother, Dontae Blount, told authorities during
an interview Tuesday that he was on the phone with Carl Blount just before the
shooting, according to the affidavit. He told police that Carl Blount told
him he was ending the call because there was a Gary police officer with a
spotlight on and that he would be home soon. Moments later, Dontae Blount told police, he heard a
rapid succession of gunshots. He grabbed his own gun, went outside and saw
Carl Blount running at full speed toward the house. Dontae told
authorities that Carl had "an emotional outburst" and told him he had shot a
police officer when his attention was diverted. Buncich said Dontaes statements proved crucial to the
case. "His half-brother was the one to give us enough to charge," he
said. Dontae is also being held on other warrants. He is
not charged in connection to Westerfields homicide, although Buncich said police
are still investigating the case. Amid tight security, Blount, 25, appeared in court
Thursday morning before Lake Superior Court Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan on a
petition to revoke probation for criminal recklessness. He was sentenced
May 13, 2013, to 24 months half of the sentence was suspended and ordered served
on probation. He is represented by Robert Varga of the Lake County public
defenders office. Blount is set to appear Friday morning before Lake
Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas for an initial appearance. He also has
a hearing before Cappas on Sept. 24 on the probation revocation case, which
stems from him being charged in Porter County while on probation in Lake
County. Porter County issued a warrant for three domestic
violence-related felony charges: felony strangulation, felony criminal
confinement and domestic battery committed in the presence of a child all Class
D felonies. He is also being charged with a Class A misdemeanor
interference with the reporting of a crime in an April 12 incident. The
Class D felonies each carry sentences of six months to three years, and the
misdemeanor sentence can be up to a year. Bond was set at $5,000, but
Porter County did not retrieve Blount from Lake County. The Porter County Prosecutors office filed additional
charges against Blount on July 17. He faces three counts of Class C felony
forgery for allegedly cashing five faked checks from companies in December,
getting about a third of the money from them or $2,200 to $2,400. Sheaks-Cather, Westerfield's fiancee, vowed to follow
Blount's case. "I will be at every court hearing," she said.
Sheaks-Cather, who is close friends with other police wives, said she worries
about Gary officers because their work conditions have not changed since
Westerfield was killed. "I dont want to see another family go through
this. The city says things are better, but theyre not," she said. Allie Westerfield, the slain officers 20-year-old
daughter, said Thursday that knowing her dad died trying to protect the
residents of Gary made her "extremely proud to be his daughter." She
thanked all the local law enforcement for working to find her fathers
killer. "We are standing as strong as we can," she said of her family in
the wake of his death. "We miss our dad." Allie Westerfield
said the family plans on attending Garys Night Against Violence in early August,
which will be held in Westerfields memory this year. Allie
Westerfield said she didnt have an opinion on what sentence Blount should serve
if convicted. Blount, who has not confessed to the crime, faces 45 to
65 years in prison on the charge. Buncich said Thursday that the Lake
County Prosecutors Office is still determining whether to seek the death
penalty. Blount has a 2013 conviction for criminal recklessness, a
Class D felony. He was sentenced May 13, 2013, to 24 months 12 months
in Lake County Jail and 12 months suspended and served on probation. He
had 334 days in custody at his sentencing hearing. He was held on a Porter
County warrant from a domestic incident in April where he was accused of
criminal confinement, strangulation and other charges in Chesterton.
Earlier this month, he was charged with forgery, also in Porter County. Carl Blount has previous convictions for assaulting other
Northwest Indiana law enforcement officers; kicking a Hobart police officer
during a traffic stop Dec. 29, 2011, near 37th and Louisiana. He was
wanted two years ago for assaulting a Chesterton woman as well as a Portage
police officer and threatening other officers with physical violence during a
domestic disturbance in Porter County. The Lake County Sheriffs Department is still offering a
reward of $10,000 for anyone who can provide more information to help bring a
conviction. The ATF has thrown in another $10,000, Buncich said.
People with information can call (800) 750-2746. The Major Crimes Task Force and Indiana State Police also
assisted. Agents from several federal departments, including the ATF, FBI,
DEA and U.S. Marshals Service also offered their help. Buncich praised the
work of all the departments, saying almost every law enforcement agency in Lake
County helped out in some way "The work that went into this was unbelievable,"
he said. Gary Mayor Statement "I am pleased that the suspect has
been charged, and I hope this brings a certain amount of relief to the family
and the men and women of the Gary Police Department," said Gary Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson in a press release. "However, we are still mourning the
loss of one of our own and expect that Blount and anyone else involved be
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Gary Police Acquiring New Crime Fighting
Tool GARY Police will have a new crimefighting tool that has
raised controversy elsewhere. The Board of Public Works and Safety on Wednesday awarded
a $23,490 contract to Vigilant Solutions for an automatic license plate reader
system. The cameras, mounted in police cars or on traffic signs, can read
thousands of license plates and send the data to computers. Police use the information to alert officers to vehicles
possibly involved in criminal activity. But some groups, such as the
American Civil Liberties Union, claim the systems can be used to create large
databases of information on innocent drivers. Gary, EdisonLearning Tout New Shared Vision at
Roosevelt GARY Water finally is flowing again at Roosevelt College
and Career Academy, and officials attributed the breakthrough to a new "shared
vision" between the school district and EdisonLearning Inc. EdisonLearning spokesman Michael Serpe said water was
turned back on at Roosevelt on Wednesday after a month of arguing over whose
responsibility it was to pay the bill. The thaw happened when Gary
Community School Corp. Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt and new EdisonLearning owner
Thom Jackson started having one-on-one conversations. Indiana American Water Co. turned off the water June
23. At that time, Gary attorney Tracy Coleman, who represents the Gary
Community School Corp., said the water bill totaled $141,000. Coleman also
had said the utility bills for Roosevelt had not been paid since July 1, 2012,
when private management company EdisonLearning began operating the high
school. Coleman said Thursday the water is on, and the water
bills are now being sent to EdisonLearning. Coleman would not say what
amount, if any, had been paid toward the bill. A NIPSCO gas and electric bill remains to be paid.
Earlier this month, Coleman estimated the NIPSCO bill at $860,000. "There are still issues that have to be resolved
regarding back payments," she said. "Right now, everything is in
EdisonLearning's name. To my knowledge, the state did not pay anything
toward the bill. There are still some outstanding issues to resolve." EdisonLearing spokesman Michael Serpe also would not say
what amount of money, if any, was paid on the water bill. He said Jackson
was in Gary two days last week meeting with Gary schools Superintendent Cheryl
Pruitt and will return to the city this weekend. The two previously
bickered in court and in the media over the operation of Roosevelt College and
Career Academy, taken over by the state in 2011. On Thursday, both sides issued a joint press release
announcing the new partnership. "Over the past two weeks, we have talked
by phone and met in person, representing our respective organizations and agree
that we are not just concerned about the nearly 8,000 students we are charged
with educating, we want all students to achieve," the statement said. It
added the two entities now have a "shared vision of academic excellence,
compassion, focus and commitment." Serpe said Jackson, a native of Hamilton, Ohio, is
president and CEO of EdisonLearning, the for-profit education management company
he purchased in January. Previously, he served as general counsel and chief
operating officer. "As a result of Thoms ownership, we believe were the
only minority-owned education service company," Serpe said. [Ed. - And just what does this statement/fact have to do
with the "price of beans in China," one wonders?] EdisonLearning has battled the school district over
routine maintenance issues ever since it began running the school in 2012.
Pipes burst last year closing school. Similar problems again arose this
past winter, bringing a visit from State Superintendent of Instruction Glenda
Ritz. EdisonLearning was named by the State Board of Education
to run Roosevelt after the state removed it from district control after years of
poor academic performance. EdisonLearning receives state tuition support
and other grant monies that typically would have gone to the school district. Serpe said enrollment is picking up for the new school
year that begins next month. "The reality is the majority of people in the
community would like their children to go to the neighborhood school. That
was another motivating factor between Thom Jackson and Dr. Pruitt to get
together." said Serpe. JOINT STATEMENT Over the past two weeks, we have talked by phone and met
in person, representing our respective organizations and agree that we are not
just concerned about the nearly 8,000 students we are charged with educating, we
want all students to achieve. Thats why we are excited about our new
partnership and the shared vision of academic excellence, compassion, focus and
commitment that has brought the Gary Community School Corporation and
EdisonLearning to the table. By changing the conversation, we have helped minimize our
differing viewpoints, and have provided greater clarity to the respective roles
and responsibilities each of our organizations need to carry out specifically
for Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, and for the entire Gary
school district. EdisonLearning is in Gary to improve the academic
outcomes of the students at Theodore Roosevelt. The Gary Community School
Corporation provides the facility that allows this effort to successfully
operate. However, we stress that these roles are not separate they are
very much linked together. Therefore, we have together resolved the issue relating
to the water at Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, and the water
service to the school has been restored. We will continue to work
collaboratively to address other issues. A partnership is seen as the way to become truly
outstanding. We believe that the solution to the challenges facing
education in Gary today will be found in honest collaboration that can unlock
the capacity, innovation and wisdom required to drive schools and students to
achieve their utmost potential. Regardless of the various news reports and apart from the
debates around the school turnaround efforts taken by the State of Indiana this
is first and foremost about the young people of the Gary community, and their
educational journey. We therefore encourage the news media, and the
community as a whole, to focus more on the positive academic outcomes of the
students in the Gary schools and those at Theodore Roosevelt. For us, its about coming together and working together to
offer the best educational opportunities available to our children. As
such, the conversation changes because were in this together. We believe
that if one school fails, weve all failed our children. [Ed. - Is it unfair in inquire what Gary public school has
not failed the children?] Calls of Tiger On the loose in
Gary GARY | Gary police searched the city's Glen Park
neighborhood late Thursday night and early Friday after receiving vague reports
of a tiger on the loose there. Cpl. Gabrielle King said police received a call sometime
before midnight reporting a tiger on the loose near W. 38th Avenue and
Broadway. All Glen Park patrol units were told to be on the lookout for a
tiger. More calls started coming in reporting sightings, King said, all with
vague locations. "I'm pretty sure it was bogus," King said. "Everyone has
a scanner, so once that first call came over, the 'I saw it here' and 'I saw it
there' stuff started coming in." Officers did not locate a tiger anywhere
in the city, she said. Gary to Pave 55 Streets in Wake of 'Rough'
Winter [Ed: The headline says it
all.] GARY Struggling with a budget deficit and declining
enrollment, the school district has laid off 39 teachers and 55
paraprofessionals, who assist teachers in the classroom. The school board approved the reduction in force
recommendation Tuesday. "It's not a good day," said Joseph Zimmerman, president
of the Gary Teachers Union who sat in the audience during the meeting. "I'm
hopeful it's the right thing to do." Zimmerman said the majority of
the paraprofessionals assisted special education teachers in the
classroom. If enrollment rebounds, some of the teachers could be called
back. Before closing five schools in June, district officials
said they were facing a $27.3 million budget deficit, largely due to an
enrollment decline and new state funding formula. "It's never an easy decision to cut jobs.
Unfortunately, it's necessary," said board member LaBrenda King-Smith. "If
there's anything this community needs, it's jobs." The closings left the
5th District King-Smith represents without a school. Board member Marion R. Williams blamed the influx of
charter schools and the states voucher system for decimating the districts
enrollment base. In 2005, Gary had 30 schools and 16,800 students.
The advent of charter schools has siphoned off students from the school
district. Today, there are nearly 4,000 students enrolled in six charters
in the city, while the districts enrollment dropped to 7,647 students during the
last school year. "There's a tremendous amount of competition," said
Williams, a retired educator. "We've lost about $32 to $40 million to
charters and vouchers, so were laying off teachers. Theres a direct
correlation causing a drain on our side." With the school closings, the district risks losing more
students whose parents may not want to send them to schools farther from
home. The school closings also left several principals in limbo. The
school board approved new jobs for several of them Tuesday. BURNS HARBOR, Ind. (AP) Steel shipments are feeding a 40%
increase in shipping at Indiana's main port on Lake Michigan so far this
year. Steel cargoes passing through the Port of Indiana-Burns
Harbor have more than doubled (up 130% through June) this shipping season to
feed the automotive industry. General cargo shipments on the Great Lakes,
including steel slabs, coils and aluminum, rose 44% through the end of June to
872,000 metric tons, largely because an improving American economy has buoyed
demand in the automotive industry. The Times of Munster
reports iron ore and coal are usually two of the largest commodities
shipped, but they've been down this year while steel shipments have soared 111%
higher than during the first half of 2013. Much of the steel goes to auto assembly plants or is
processed at service centers so suppliers can use it to make fenders or other
auto parts. Gary School to Be Renamed for Michael
Jackson GARY A city school will soon be renamed in honor of
Michael Jackson, Garys most famous native son. It hasn't been determined which school will bear the
Jackson name, said Gary Community School Corp. Superintendent Cheryl
Pruitt. The school board set the plan in motion Tuesday when it approved a
memorandum of understanding with Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine
Jackson. The front-runner to be named after Jackson is Roosevelt, the
aging high school that looms behind the humble, white ranch Jackson family home
at 2300 Jackson St. Pruitt said the district is working with the Jackson
family to select the school building. "A close relationship with the
Jackson family to improve the quality of programs for the Gary Community School
Corp. can mean tremendous gains for the school district and the city as a
whole," Pruitt said. Michael Jackson, the eighth child of Katherine and Joe
Jackson, moved away from Gary as a youngster as the Jackson 5 gained fame in the
1960s. While he never attended Roosevelt, he performed on its auditorium
stage in a local talent show with his older Jackson 5 brothers. Jackson received a warm welcome upon his 2003 return to
Gary and he received an honorary diploma from Roosevelt, one of the stops during
his visit. Jackson also received a hat and leather letterman's jacket with
the inscription "To the King of Pop, a true Panther." He encouraged
students to stay in school and study hard during his visit. Pruitt said the renaming came about in a conversation
with Katherine Jackson, whos been a supporter of the school district. She
donated $10,000 during the Gary Promise scholarship event, hosted by Magic
Johnson, earlier this year, Pruitt said. "She's always wanted something
left here. She's really dedicated to the Gary Community Schools," Pruitt
said of Katherine Jackson. The memorandum of understanding was signed by Katherine
Jackson on June 6. It states it does not establish any contractual
relationship between the parties. It also says "the Gary Community School
Corporation seeks to honor Michael Jackson and to inspire children to excel in
the arts and education." Theres no mention of financial assistance
specifically in the memorandum. While Roosevelt might seem a likely candidate to be
renamed for Michael Jackson, it isn't operated by the school district. In
2011, the state took the school over because of poor test scores. It could
return to the district by 2016. Survey Ranks Gary Among Unhappiest Cities in
US INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) A new study from professors at
Harvard and the Vancouver School says Gary, Indiana ranks among the unhappiest
cities in the country. The study used data from a CDC survey called the
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, among other sources, and adjusted
for age, sex, race, income and other factors. New York City, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Erie,
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Gary, Indiana are among the
unhappiest cities in the country. The report concludes that many of the
unhappy cities have always been so according to limited data.
Gary, IN is the 9th most unhappy city in the
U.S. South Bend, IN is the 3rd. According to the
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), only 35.9% of Gary
metro area residents report themselves as being very satisfied with
their lives. NYC ranks #1 in terms of being the most
unhappy locale in the country.
The happiest cities in the United States all come from
Louisiana. The five happiest cities, based off demographics and income,
are Lafayette, Houma, Shreveport-Bossier City, Baton Rouge and Alexandria.
GARY Darryle Joshua had been visiting friends at Delaney
Community Housing Development on Saturday night when he was shot and killed,
police said. Joshua, 26, who lived in the Glen Park area, was near
21st Av and Pierce St when he was shot multiple times, according to
police. Joshua was pronounced dead at the scene at 1 a.m. Sunday,
according to the Lake County coroners office. Witnesses in the area told police they heard gunfire, but
they were unable to provide more information. No one heard arguing or any
other signs that violence was about to break out, police said. Grieving friends and onlookers gathered at the scene
between two boarded up buildings Sunday morning. Yellow crime tape laid on
the ground outside a wrought iron fence. Delaney resident Angel Jones said
she grew up with Joshua in Delaney. "He was a real good friend... I
actually saw his body on the ground." Other friends arrived and looked stunned at the
sidewalk. "This is BS," said one unidentified man. "We need to run
and never come back." The homicide is either No. 20 or No. 21 in Gary this
year, depending on a ruling on where DeCarol Deloney-Cain, 54, was killed.
Her body was found in Gary July 7. The Crown Point woman was a flight
attendant for United Airlines. Police have arrested her daughters
boyfriend, a Merrillville teen, and charged him in her death. Great Lakes Steel Production Rises by
6,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
rose to 683,000T last week, and
continued to exceed last year's pace. Local production grew by 6,000T, or about 0.8%. Production in the Southern District, typically the
country's second biggest steel-producing region, fell to 649,000T, down from 660,000T a
week earlier. Overall U.S. output dipped by 0.5% in the week that ended
Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.893 million tons,
down from 1.901 million tons a week
earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 78.7% last week, down from 79.1% a week earlier.
The capacity utilization rate had been 77.3% a year earlier. U.S. mills have
produced 52.6 million tons of steel so far this year, or about 0.2% more than at the same point in 2013. Shipments rose 2% in May over April, and are up
4.4% over 2013. U.S. steel mills shipped a total of 8.3 million net tons
in May, as compared to 8.2 million net tons the previous month, according to the
American Iron and Steel Institute. Steel exports however fell to 1.04 million net tons in May,
a 10.9% year-over-year decrease,
largely because demand weakened in the Dominican Republic and the European
Union, according to the American Institute for International Steel. Exports had increased by 3.8% in April and 15% in March.
But for the year, exports are down 7.3% to about 5 million net tons. Canada,
historically the largest importer of steel made in the United States, has posted
the biggest year-to-date drop in U.S. imports. GARY, Indiana New leadership, a growing attitude of
regionalism and significant assets including major transportation infrastructure
offer hope for economic growth in Gary, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
concluded in a recent study. The bank profiled Gary and nine other Midwestern cities
that also suffered major manufacturing job losses in recent decades as part of
its Industrial Cities Initiative. It wanted to learn why some cities
outperform others and whether their successful strategies can work in
underperforming communities, The Munster Times
reported Sunday. Conditions have grown so bad in Gary that
leaders have come to define success as halting decline, the
study's authors said. But the city has crucial assets, including commuter
rail to downtown Chicago, its location on Lake Michigan and an international
airport that could handle more commercial freight. Assets also include Indiana University Northwest and a
nearby Ivy Tech Community College campus that are at the core of Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson's plan to develop a University Park neighborhood. Freeman-Wilson herself represents hope for a turnaround,
the study said. "By all accounts, Mayor Freeman-Wilson has the challenge
of halting and beginning to reverse 40 years of decline and disappointment in
the short time before the next election cycle begins," the study said.
"Some resources have the potential to help: strong regional partners ready
with investment, a new spirit of accountability at city hall with a team ready
to execute, resources and programs ready to train a young workforce, and a large
industrial presence that continues to make significant investments in the
area." The city that has lost more than 54% of its population
since 1970 also may have bottomed out. The study's authors say "there is almost no way not to make it
better." Demo of Gary Sheraton Slated to Begin on Eve of Economic
Development Symposium GARY, Indiana | City officials Thursday announced
demolition is scheduled to begin July 26, on the eve of a discussion on
development of a 12-story Gary hotel that has become an eyesore. The demolition is part of the "Strong Cities, Strong
Communities" initiative. As part of project, officials from the Department
of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and other
groups will lead a two-day symposium on economic development and related issues
July 22-23 at the Genesis Convention Center. The former Sheraton Hotel has sat vacant for nearly 30
years. The building opened as a Holiday Inn in 1971 and closed after four
years. It reopened in 1979 as the Sheraton Hotel and closed again in
1985. The first visible step will be the July 26 removal of the
land bridge over Massachusetts St connecting the Sheraton to the Hudson Campbell
Building east of City Hall. The parking garage will be demolished shortly
thereafter, followed by the land bridge over Broadway in August. The demolition is expected to cost $1.8 million.
That sum is to be paid by the Redevelopment Commission to Homrich Inc.
Freeman-Wilson blasted Homrich at her State of the City address in January, but
she said problems have been ironed out. She said a Homrich subcontractor,
charged with removing asbestos, failed to hire local residents. "We told
them that was unacceptable," she said. Brenda Scott-Henry, Gary's director of green urbanism and
environmental affairs, said after the demolition the space be turned into a
green infrastructure that will manage stormwater and have added social
benefits. Gary Airport Expansion Delayed
Again Gary/Chicago International Airport's expansion
project will again miss a deadline for completion, with
construction of the runway extension now projected to stretch into next year. Airport consultant Dan Vicari told the Northwest Indiana
RDA on Thursday if railroad agreements are finalized as expected, Canadian
National Railway could begin constructing links to its new tracks near Cline
Avenue by October. That would mean its trains could stop using their
current route into Kirk Yard within months. Those tracks sit on an
embankment at the end of the airport's main runway and have been the main
obstacle blocking its expansion. Once Canadian National starts using its new
tracks the embankment can be taken down and construction of the extension's
final piece can begin. "This is what we have absolutely been working toward for
years," Airport Director B.R. Lane told the RDA board. "... We see this as
monumental progress." In July 2013, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson
announced the airport project would not be completed by the city's deadline of December of that
year. She said pollution on the site was worse than
expected and it would take some time to determine the best means of cleaning it
up. She said the project would be completed by September 2014. Sheriff: Very,Vvery, Very, Very Close to Charges in
Gary Cop Murder GARY The investigation into last weeks shooting death of
Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield continues as Lake County detectives amass
evidence against the suspect who is in custody on unrelated felony charges. Police arrested three people hours after Westerfield's
body was discovered, and one is still being held in Lake County Jail pending
charges. "We are very, very, very, very close," Lake County
Sheriff John Buncich said Tuesday. He said police have received "some
information coming through" as a result of the reward he offered last
week. "We just want to present the most solid case," Buncich said. Westerfield, 47, was found shot to death about 5:50 a.m.
July 6 as he sat behind the wheel of his squad car at 26th Av and Van Buren
Pl. His emergency lights were activated and he was holding his microphone
when the assailant shot him from outside the car. A reward offered by Buncich would give $10,000 to anyone
who provides information that leads to the conviction of Westerfield's
killer. Mayor Tries to Address Violence in
Gary GARY | Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said the city of Gary
has faced a lot of challenges in the last 10 days in terms of violent deaths,
and her office is working on a solution to the problem. During the Tuesday night's City Council meeting,
Freeman-Wilson again expressed her condolences to the family of Gary Patrolman
Jeffrey Westerfield, who was shot and killed while on duty July 6. Her
condolences went to the entire Gary police force as well. She said her office is being thoughtful about the process
in terms of a multifaceted solution. "We are working and, in short order,
we are going to reveal some solutions to what we believe is the underlying
problem," she said. "And I will tell you that I don't think it's simply a
law enforcement solution. I think it's an all-hands-on-deck solution." Freeman-Wilson said part of that solution will require
them to come before the City Council and said council members are sensitive to
some of the challenges being faced. "I just want to assure the public that
we are paying very close attention and we are as concerned as you are, and we
will make that concern evident through our policy decisions." Councilman Ronald Brewer, D-at
large, said the council appreciates the job Gary police officers do for the
city and announced in honor of Westerfield, he will do a ride-along with a Gary
police officer during the midnight shift next week "to see what they
encounter." "I think it would give me a different outlook on different
things they need out there," he said. Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, said she was at the funeral service and that it
was amazing to see the show of support the city of Gary gave for
Westerfield. "The city of Gary should be proud to have shown that kind of
support for one of their own," she said. Police Turn Out in Force for Slain Gary
Officer GARY Marked and unmarked squad cars jammed Broadway and
4th and 5th Aves Monday morning as police officers arrived to pay their respects
at the 11 a.m. funeral of fallen Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield. For Indianapolis Metropolitan police Patrolman David
Bryant and Lt. Patrick White, it marked their third funeral in a week.
They lost one of their own, Patrolman Perry Renn, who was gunned down July 5 as
he responded to a call. "Its been pretty rough, Ive been doing this for 20
years and I dont remember anything as bad as this," said Bryant. Police from across Northwest Indiana and neighboring
states came to honor Westerfield, who was shot to death in his squad car July 6
when he responded to a call at 26th Av and Van Buren Pl. Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson and members of her staff arrived about 10 a.m. Lt. Gov. Sue
Ellspermann filled in for Gov. Mike Pence and arrived at the Genesis Center with
a motorcycle escort. A motorcade carrying Westerfield's family passed by the
former police station at 1301 Broadway about 10:40 a.m. en route to the Genesis
Center. Gary Cpl. Stephen Otten said its been a tough week for
the department. "We lost a brother... another one," he said. Police dogs and their handlers from Northwest Indiana
waited quietly under a tree on Broadway. Valparaiso Ptlmn. E.J. Hall stood
with his partner of four years, Femmy. "There are about nine dogs here,"
he said. "Well take them in when it starts," he said as Femmy stood
obediently at his side. Gary Police Still Building Case in Westerfield
Murder GARY | While hundreds of police officers from across
the Midwest attended the funeral of slain Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield, a
few stayed behind to continue work on the criminal case against his killer. Investigators hope to present evidence to Lake County
prosecutors later this week, sources said. A "person of interest" was
arrested hours after Westerfield's body was discovered and is being held on an
unrelated criminal matter, police said. Westerfield, a 19-year veteran of the Gary Police
Department who routinely worked the midnight shift, had been assigned the
"Metro" beat the night he died. On that nights schedule, behind
Westerfields name, was the notation, "no calls." One officer per shift provides security at the city-owned
Adam Benjamin Metro Center at 4th Av and Adams St, but when the train/bus
station activity is slow, that officer often assists on calls in the downtown
and Midtown districts. On July 6, eight patrol officers worked the entire city
while Westerfield stood guard at the Metro station. Two traffic officers
assisted, but weekend nights, especially during summer months, can be
busy. So at 3:57 a.m., Westerfield and Patrolman Steven Peek were
dispatched to a disturbance at a home in the 2300 block of McKinley St.
They were told a gunshot victim might be in a car parked on the street, a police
report states. Westerfield was searching for the shooting victim and
others with him when he activated his lights on 26th Av at Van Buren Pl.
He had the driver side window of his marked squad rolled down and his
microphone in his hand when the assailant walked up and shot him in the head at
close range.
Patrolman Daniel Perryman responded to reports of a
gunshot victim about 5:50 a.m. When he and Sgt. William Wood arrived, they
found Westerfield. Lake County detectives are leading the investigation into
Westerfields death, with help from Gary police. While police remain certain the man in custody is the
suspect, they want to present as much evidence as possible to prosecutors.
Investigators hope the reward will help develop a strong case, police said. Great Lakes Steel Production Leaps Up by
23,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
surged to 677,000T last week, and
exceeded last year's pace for the first
time in 2014. Overall U.S. output grew by nearly 2.7% in the week that
ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute
estimate. Local production jumped by 23,000T, or about
3.5%. Production in the Southern District, typically the country's
second biggest steel-producing region, shot up to 660,000T, as compared to 640,000T
a week earlier. Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.853 million tons, down from 1.863 million
tons a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 79.1% last week, up from 77% a week earlier. The
capacity utilization rate was unchanged from a year ago. U.S. mills have produced 50.7 million tons of steel so
far this year, or about 0.1% more than at the same point in 2013. Shipments rose 2% in May over April, and are
up 4.4% over 2013. U.S. steel
mills shipped a total of 8.3 million net tons in May, as compared to 8.2 million
net tons the previous month, according to the American Iron and Steel
Institute. Steel exports however fell to 1.04 million net tons in May, a
10.9% year-over-year decrease, largely because
demand weakened in the Dominican Republic and the European Union, according to
the American Institute for International Steel. For the year, exports are
down 7.3% to about 5 million net
tons. Canada, historically the largest importer of steel made in the
United States, has posted the biggest year-to-date drop in U.S. imports. Son of 80-year-old Stabbing Victim Charged with
Murder The son of an 80-year-old woman who was stabbed to death
at a Merrillville hospital on Friday has been charged in Lake Superior Court
with murder. Rodney Louis Dickinson, 60, of Glen Park, was arrested
shortly after 5 a.m. Friday, about three hours after his mother, Margrine
Haywood, was stabbed to death in her third-floor hospital room at Methodist
Hospitals Southlake Campus. Gary police went to check on the welfare of Margrine's
husband, James Haywood, at the family home in the 1500 block of Hovey St in Gary
and saw his feet through a large living room window. Officers forced their
way inside and found Haywood on his back near a bedroom doorway, covered in
blood on his torso and arms from what appeared to be numerous stab and slash
wounds, according to court records. Gary police SWAT members responded to Dickinson's last
known address, 3881 Maryland St., and saw Dickinson leave the house and get into
a white 2004 Dodge, records said. His car was immediately stopped by
police and he was taken to the police station for questioning. After waiving his rights and agreeing to give a
statement, Dickinson teared up and said, "James never loved his mother,"
according to court records. Dickinson said he was the caretaker for both
his mother and stepfather, had a key to their residence and had been there on
Thursday. James Haywood and Dickinson had planned to go to the
hospital to visit Margrine Haywood, but only Dickinson went. When
detectives pressed him on the death of James Haywood, Dickinson became angry and
said, "James loved my mom. We went to dinner together all the time."
The contradictory statements were not explained in court records. Dickinson has not yet been charged in the death of James
Haywood. Police removed Dickinson's clothing and shoes as evidence
in the case. Officers noticed a large red mark on his lower arm and a
dried reddish substance on the outside of his left shoe. Police also found
a kitchen knife with a red substance in the kitchen sink, which was similar to
the kitchen knife found at the hospital. Before Margrine Haywood died, a nursing assistant saw a
man in the hospital room who was acting "weird," court records state.
Margrine Haywood told police the man was her son. A few minutes later, the
CNA heard screams from the woman's room and saw Dickinson run from the woman's
room. Before she died, she told a nurse that her son "Rodney" had stabbed
her, court records.Gary is
confident that its worst days are over and the best are yet to come.
"You have to look at Gary with the correct idea-that Gary is an easel on
which is to be painted one of the great success stories of the 20th
Century."
Go To: JACKO JABBER
(Reports on matters relating to the demise of Michael Jackson)
Will the Sheraton
finally come down in 2014?
Will Gary land the Boeing
plant? Sadly, we now know that the answer to this question is a
resounding NO!
WIll Gary
Int'l. become a viable airport?
Will Gary set another
receord for murders?
Man Found Slain in Car
#33 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[30 Sep
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Teresa Auch Schultz
[29 Sep 2014]
#32 and Counting
Compiled From a Sun-Times Media Report
[28 Sep
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[27 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Gary Crusader
Report
[27 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michelle L. Quinn
[26 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes AP
Report
[25 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Michelle L. Quinn
[24 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Joseph S. Pete
[23 Sep 2014]
#31 and Counting
Compiled from a Post-Trib Staff
Report
[23 Sep 2014]
Compiled from a Post-Trib
Report by Teresa Auch Schultz
[23 Sep 2014]
Compiled from a
Post-Trib "Law & Order" Staff Report
[22 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Joseph S. Pete
[17 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Ruth Ann Krause
[17 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Rob Earnshaw
[16 Sep 2017}
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[16 Sep 2017}
#30 and
Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[15 Sep
2014]
#29 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff
Report
[14 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carrie Napoleon
[14 Sep 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Gee, perhaps if the
powers that be were reading the "On the Come Up" report they would have seen
this coming?
#28 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff
Report
[13 Sep 2014]
#27 and Counting
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff
Report
[11 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Karen Caffarini
[10 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[9 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
[9 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[9 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carrie Napoleon
and
a nwiTimes Report by Bill Dolan
[7 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson
[5 Sep 2014]
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: What does missing this deadline say about the
Mayor having the ability to get her act together?
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[5 Sep 2014]
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: Sadly, these increased steel shipments are of
foreign steel being imported, not domestic steel being exported. That
equates to Region jobs lost.
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[3 Sep 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Rob Earnshaw
[2 Sep 2014]
Compiled Fom a USA Today Report
by Aamer Madhani
[29 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
[28 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[28 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Now, there is a
creative solution to the deficit problem. Pay employees you do not need to
do nothing! Evidently economics is not a course of study in the Gary
schools?
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff Report
[26 Aug
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[26 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
and a nwiTimes Report by Keith Benman
[26 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[25 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Silly me! Here I
thought the idea was to bet business/industry to move into the airport
development area, not out of it?
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Vanessa Renderman
[22 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Gary Crusader
Report by Louise Scott
[18 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Teresa Auch Schultz
[21 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: And pray tell, just
what has brought about this sudden realization?
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[21 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: What this sale does
accomplish is to get the premises occupied and the property back on to the tax
rolls. That is a good thing.
#26 and Counting
Northwest Indiana Gazette
Posted by Ken
Davidson
[21 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff
Report
[21 Aug 2014]
[21 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Keith Benman
[20 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: With all due repect,
what the H is this? The new guy comes from notoriously corrupt Dee Troit City where he resigned under a cloud of
suspicion! Meanwhile the mayor's hack stays on the job collecting her
6-figure salary as a second airport manager and the negotiations with the
rr linger on.
#25 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff
Report
and a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[20 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[19 Aug 2014]
#24 and Counting
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff
Report
[19 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
[18 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Is it me or is
confindence and optimisim the only thing the airport authority can offer with
regard to the CSX/Canadian Nat negotiations? How long have they been
ongoing? How much longer shall they continue? In the words of
NASCAR, "get er done!" Delay = mucho dollars in increased costs and
ultimately loss of funding.
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Rob Earnshaw
[15 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Does the Fire
Department really need a jet ski and 2
watercraft?
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson
[14 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: And, how did the first state employee work
out? How many state public instruction personnel does it take to run the
Gary schools?
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[14 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson
[13 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Joseph S. Pete
[13 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Times Staff Report
[12 Aug
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[13 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson
[11 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Lu Ann Franklin
[11 Aug 2014]
#23 and
Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[10 Aug
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[10 Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: It is the proverberial
shell game at play here. Give the school a new name and hopefully folks
won't notice it is the same staff failing to educate the same
students.
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Ed Bierschenk
[9
Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Karen Caffarini
[8 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Michigan City News-Dispatch Staff Report
[8
Aug 2014]
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: There is more than a bit of irony in the fact that
those partly responsible for Gary "going to hell in a handbasket" are being
praised for now taking on the role saviours of the "Steel
City."
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Keith Benman
[7 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Columbus Republic AP Report
[6 Aug
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report
by Joseph S. Pete
[5 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson
[1 Aug 2014]
Compiled From a Gary Crusader
Report
[31 Jul 2014]
The Times Editorial Board
[29 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Karen Caffarini
[31 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Ruth Ann Krause
[31 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
and a nwiTimes Report by Bill Dolan
[31 Jul 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: The daughter deserves
to be hung!
Compiled
From a Post-Trib Report by Michael Gonzalez
[29 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michael Gonzalez
[29 Jul 2014]
#21 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff
Report
[29 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
and a nwiTimes Report by Rob Earnshaw
[29 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Bill Dolan
[28
Jul 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Is it a question of
the evidence or the cost? If cost, shame on Lake
County!
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[27 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[26 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[26 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Teresa Auch Schultz, Ruth Ann Krause and P-T Staff
and a nwiTimes Report by Bill Dolan
[25 Jul 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Someone knows full
well where the murder weapon is hidden and needs to step up.
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Mike Gonzalez
[25 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
and a nwiTimes Report by Carmen McCollum
[25 Jul 2014]
ISSUED BY Dr.
Cheryl Pruitt Pruitt superintendent, Gary Community School Corp. and THOM
JACKSON, president & CEO, EdisonLearning
[24 Jul
2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: Kumbaya! There
must be something in the water that is now flowing again at Roosevelt?
We'll see how long these "good vibrations" last?
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Lauri Harvey Keagle
[25 Jul 2014]
A nwiTimes Staff Report
[24 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[24 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a
nwiTimes Report
[23 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[22 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a WishTV8
Report by Kate Taylor
[22 Jul 2014]
#20 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib
Report by Carole Carlson and Staff
[22 Jul 2014]
2:02AM
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[22 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a
Greenfield Daily Reporter AP Report
[20 Jul 2014]
Compiled
From a Columbus Republic AP Report
[18 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Keith Benman
[17
Jul 2014]
Compiled From a
Post-Trib Staff Report
[16
Jul 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Rob Earnshaw
[16
Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[15 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[15 Jul
2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[15 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Ruth Ann Krause
[14 Jul 2014]
Northwest Indiana Economy Outpaces State,
Nation
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[14 Jul 2014]
Northwest Indiana's economy continued to roll, outpacing both the state and nation in
May.
The Northwest Indiana Index, a finger on the pulse of the
local economy, rose to 138.2 in May from
137.6. The 0.6 point bump was the biggest single-month increase since February 2012.
Job gains and a boost in steel production accounted for
much of the increase. Northwest Indiana added 2,100 additional jobs,
principally in the leisure and food service industries. After suffering
from stalled growth during the harsh winter, the region has added 9,400 jobs
over the last three months.
Statewide, the Indiana Business Research Center's Leading
Index for Indiana rose 0.2% to 101.1 after the home building, automotive,
transportation and broad-based manufacturing sectors all reported gains.
Northwest Indiana's economy grew by 0.44% in May, compared to 0.32%
growth statewide and 0.25% growth nationally.
"This strong growth continues the trend of expansion
following the significant weather-related decline in the early months of 2014,"
wrote Indiana University Northwest assistant professor of economics Micah
Pollak, who compiled the index with finance professor Bala Arshanapalli.
The IUN professors are forecasting moderate growth of 1% to 2% over the next six
months, which is unchanged from what they predicted at the beginning of the
year.
Every component of the index improved in May, but the most dramatic
was that local steel production rose by 3.5%,
the largest monthly jump since May 2013. Steel output
surged in anticipation of recent U.S. International Trade
Commission ruling against steel dumping, and a European Union investigation into
dumping.
Nationally, manufacturing workers clocked an average of
42.1 hours a week, the most since the data was first tracked in 1950. The
ISM Manufacturing Index also rose 0.5 points, a 0.9% increase over April.
The picture is not entirely rosy though. The majority of new jobs added in May were in lower wage industries. Northwest Indiana still needs to add 11,000 jobs to return to the pre-recession level of 287,700. The Housing Market Index dropped 1 point in May, reflecting a continuation of the softening in that sector.
U.S. 20 Renamed for Gary's Rudy
Clay
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[11 Jul 2014]
GARY While tragedy dominated the week in this
violence-weary city, state and local officials came together in joy on the steps
of City Hall on Friday to remember Gary's biggest booster, former mayor Rudy
Clay.
Officials unveiled a large sign designating a portion of
U.S. 20 (5th Av) from I-65 West to Cline Av, as the Mayor Rudolph "Rudy" Clay
Memorial Highway.
The gathering took on a somber tone as Mayor Karen
Freeman-Wilson called for a moment of silence to honor slain Gary police officer
Jeffrey Westerfield, Crown Point resident Decarol Deloney-Cain and unnamed
victims of violence this week, including the shocking deaths of an elderly Gary
couple stabbed to death earlier Friday. Westerfield was shot in his squad
car Sunday.
"The General Assembly paused in their bickering to come
together for this renaming, not because Rudy Clay died, but because he lived and
touched so many lives," said Freeman-Wilson.
Clay, who served as mayor from 2006 to 2011, died last
year from cancer at age 77.
State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, read the state resolution that praised Clay for
more than 40 years of public service as an Army veteran, state senator, county
elected official and Clays favorite job mayor of Gary.
City Council President Kyle Allen said Clay took over the
city at the lowest point in its history during a dire financial crisis stemming
from a $36 million budget deficit Clay inherited. "He kept the
faith. ... He persevered and we continued to move forward. He
stayed the course."
Former NFL football player and actor Fred "The Hammer"
Williamson recalled attending kindergarten with Clay and their childhood days in
the 2600 block of Polk St. Williamson drew laughter as he offered his own
version of the phone call he would make to Clay, telling him about the renaming
of the state highway.
Lake County Clerk Mike Brown said President Barack Obama
wouldn't have seen Indiana turn blue in 2008 if it werent for Clays tireless
support. "He was a political father who loved everyone. ...
And a maximum promoter. Whatever you needed. ... A comb, a
brush, he had it with his name on it," Brown said.
Clay's son, Rudy Clay Jr., thanked the crowd saying, "I really wish he was here to see this."
Daughter's Boyfriend Charged in Crown Point Woman's
Killing
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[11 Jul
2014]
A Merrillville teenager has been charged with killing a
Crown Point woman, the mother of his girlfriend, whose body was found Monday in
the trunk of her car in Gary.
Damarius R. Wren, 18, of the 3300 block of West 80th Av,
was charged Friday in the death of Decarol Deloney-Cain, 54, a flight attendant
whose family had last heard from her on July 3.
Police said Deloney-Cain's teen daughter originally
denied knowledge of what happened to her mother but later admitted that Wren
attacked her July 3, beating and stabbing her to death. The girl told
police that when her mother came home the morning of July 3, Wren was hiding in
the basement, attacked her, put a pillowcase over her head and began slamming
her head on the basement stairs. He then got a knife from the kitchen and
started stabbing Deloney-Cain with it, police reported.
Gary police discovered her body in her Toyota near 21st
Av and Mississippi St. Luggage was piled atop Deloney-Cain's body, which
was wrapped in black plastic and her hands and feet were bound with red duct
tape, police reported.
They said Deloney-Cain had been dead at least a couple
days before her body was found and was identified though her breast implants.
Deloney-Cain's daughter initially told police that she had helped her mother pack July 3 for a United Airlines flight, but co-workers later said Delaney-Cain wasn't scheduled to work until July 6 on a flight to China. Officers didn't notice any signs of a struggle in the home when they spoke with the girl. She told police she expected her mother to be gone a few days on an international flight.
On July 8, a friend of the victim called police after
seeing a wrench-type object in the girl's basement bedroom and noticing a
suspicious carpet stain in the basement. Police said they obtained a
search warrant the next day and found a shop-vac containing a watery substance
with a foul odor that tested positive for the presence of blood.
Detectives also saw a bloodstain near a light switch by the basement stairs,
male clothing on the basement bedroom floor, a GPS device and red duct tape in a
garbage can in the garage and in a pantry in the basement, according to
police. They said the GPS device identified the location where
Deloney-Cain's body was found.
Police said Wren, who also uses the name Demarius
McGriggs, gave different accounts of what happened, including that he had found
Deloney-Cain's body wrapped in plastic garbage bags in the trunk of her car in
the garage. He later said he had found the woman's body on the basement
floor and kept her daughter from going to the basement while a friend of his
helped him tie her arms and legs and wrap her body in the bags.
Under questioning by police, Deloney-Cain's daughter
admitted that Wren killed her mother and that he and two friends had planned to
rob Deloney-Cain a few days before her death, according to police.
They said the girl told detectives that she ran to her
bedroom after her mother was attacked, and Wren called two friends who arrived a
short time later. She told police she saw Wren and another man carry her
mothers body up the stairs in the plastic bags.
She got into one of the men's cars while Wren drove her
mother's car from the home and later saw Wren drive her mother's car onto a dirt
road, police reported.
The teen drew cash from her mother's account using her
ATM card because she feared what Wren and his two friends would do to her,
police said.
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: One must ask, and wonder, why the daughter has
not been charged; at the very least as a complicitor? Her conduct before,
during and after has been anything but innocent. Additionally, her
credibility is far less than zero.
New Leads Offered in Westerfield
Slaying
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[11 Jul
2014]
An offer of a $10,000 reward for information leading to a
conviction in the shooting death of Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield last
weekend has turned up several leads, Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said
Friday.
Police are investigating the leads, he said, although
they still have a person of interest in custody.
The reward was offered Wednesday afternoon.
Westerfield, who was sitting in his squad car in the area
of 26h Av and Van Buren Pl, was found shot in the head Sunday just before 6 a.m.
by a passer-by who noticed he was not responsive.
His death sparked a manhunt as law enforcement from
across the region descended on the area Sunday. Police eventually took
into custody three men, including the person of interest, from a house in the
2600 block of Jackson St later that afternoon.
The person of interest had been shot in the leg at some point, Buncich said at the time, and was taken to Methodist Hospitals Southlake. No charges have been filed as of Friday afternoon, though. Buncich said the case is still under investigation.
Woman Stabbed to Death at Methodist Hospital, Husband Found Dead at Her Home
#18 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carrie Napoleon
and a nwiTimes Report by Lauri Harvey Keagle and Vanessa Renderman
[11 Jul 2014]
Neighbors of an elderly couple who were found stabbed to death in Gary and Merrillville early Friday remembered James and Marjorie Haywood as "like family."
"All of us are in a state of shock," said Harold West,
one of the victims neighbors in the 1500 block of Hovey Street who was watching
the scene unfold.
Police responded about 12:25 a.m. at Methodist Hospital
Southlake Campus, at 8701 Broadway in Merrillville, authorities said.
Margrine Haywood, 80, who was a patient at the hospital, was stabbed to death,
Merrillville Police Department Chief of Detectives Robert Wiley told
reporters. The hospital was locked down for nearly six hours while police
investigated.
During the investigation, police responded to the woman' s home in the 1500 block of Hovey St in Gary and found James Haywood, 88, dead, said Gary Chief of Police Wade Ingram. Ingram described the man's death as homicide.
The Lake County Coroner's office said both died of multiple stab wounds. Margrine Haywood was pronounced dead at 1:50 a.m.; James Haywood was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m.
News crews lined the quiet, well-kept dead-end street off of 15th Av. Neighbors gathered on the steps of West' s home directly across the street from the Haywood's, fielding questions from reporters and phone calls from family and friends concerned for their safety.
West said his daughter called him at 3 a.m. to see if he was OK. The group began to gather and watched when the Lake County Coroner removed James Haywood from the home in a body bag on a stretcher. "It's a great neighborhood. We're like family here," West said. "We're all in awe, just shocked and in awe. You have got to be kidding me.
West said the Haywoods had two sons, Walter and Rodney,
that would come by the home. He did not know if there were other
children. One of the sons would often look after the elderly couple, who
lived alone.
Margrine Haywood, who they say has been in poor health
for a while, was taken to the hospital July 4. James Griffin, another
neighbor, said he had known James Haywood for years. He said Haywood was a
long-time employee of the Gary Housing Authority before retiring.
Neighbor Clifford Avery said the news of James Haywood's death was shocking. The group said they had heard early on there were two victims and knew Haywood was home alone, so they were initially unsure who else was killed. When they learned Margrine Haywood was stabbed to death in the hospital they were devastated. "It just breaks my heart to know somebody would kill the momma like that. They should rot in hell," Clifford said.
The group said the neighborhood of mostly retirees has
been crime-free until now. They say they do not fear for their safety at
home, because the act was not random.
They said they are concerned about safety at the hospital
and are shocked something like this could happen. "Maybe they need to look
at their procedures," West said
A suspect who police say was "familiar" with the victims was arrested in the 3800 block of Carolina St in Gary. The relationship between the suspect and the victims is unknown at this time. Charges were pending Friday morning. Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch said the incident was domestic in nature. It is being investigated as a homicide, he said. "There was no threat to the public," Petruch said.
Gary Police Chief Wade Ingram said during a news conference at the hospital Friday morning, broadcast live on NBC 5, that the person of interest is believed to be responsible for both deaths. Investigators said the person of interest is a relative.
Looking for Work, Thousands Attend Gary Job
Fair
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michael Gonzalez
and a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[11 Jul 2014]
GARY Sheila Stuckey and Maigeane Tucker counted
themselves lucky to have waited in line for only an hour and a half.
While the mother-daughter duo from Gary spoke with recruiters from different companies upstairs, thousands of job seekers crowded the front door of the Genesis Convention Center and wrapped around the building nearly to the Adam Benjamin Metro Center parking lot across 4th Avenue. "I didn't think the line would be around the block," said Tucker, adding she was looking for a full-time job with the city's building department. "Everybody needs a job." "I'm glad I got in myself," Stuckey said. "I just think there are no jobs in the area."
"I did expect the line would be this long," Portage
resident Bill Lake said. "It's proof that people are looking for work, not
handouts. You just keep trying, keep going. You never give up."
Fed by advertising and social media, the 2014 Northwest
Indiana Diversity Fair, sponsored by Choice DNA Testing of Merrillville and
LocalCareerFairs.com, drew thousands of people, some in suits, others in work
clothes, and nearly all of them with resumes and hopes for a new opportunity.
Unemployed and underemployed residents milled in line for
hours in the sweltering heat. One man collapsed on the sidewalk and gashed
the back of his head open. The turnout surprised organizers, but it also
shows the diversity of the workforce, said Lawrence Reese, a manager with the
website. Organizers even threw bottles of water to thirsty job seekers
waiting outside.
Gary resident Cory Roy was frustrated after waiting in
line for three hours to get into the fair, only to be told to apply
online. At least a thousand people were lined up ahead of him when he
arrived an hour early at noon.
If they got through the front door, tightly guarded by
local police, job seekers could speak to recruiters from U.S. Steel, the U.S.
Postal Service and banks, or they could talk to employees of local colleges and
universities.
Some hopefuls, including Chris Coleman of Merrillville and Chris Askew of Portage, deterred by the waiting line, opted to go online to apply for jobs. Both men have full-time jobs but wanted more. "I figured at least if I can talk face-to-face with them, instead of going online, which I've been doing, I could get better results," Coleman said.
Hundreds to Attend Slain Patrolman's
Funeral
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
[11 Jul 2014]
GARY Several hundred law enforcement officers from across
the U.S. are expected to honor slain Gary Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield at his
Monday funeral by laying white carnations with a red dot on his casket a gesture
that signifies a good life and career but one cut short by bloodshed. Joe
Hamer, chairman of the critical incident/memorial committee, said the
presentation of the carnations is an Indiana tradition at funerals of law
enforcement officers.
Members of the critical incident/memorial team from the Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police on Thursday laid out the schedule and logistics for Westerfields wake and funeral. Both events will take place at the Genesis Center in Gary, followed by a burial at Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Schererville.
The visitation/wake will take place from 2 to 8 p.m.
Sunday, while the funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday. An officer will
guard Westerfield's casket during the visitation and service. Since he was
removed from the crime scene Sunday, an officer has stood vigil over him.
The officers standing vigil and serving in the honor guard come from all over
the state, Hamer said, and many have served in the same roles at prior funerals
of law enforcement officers.
Organizers are expecting between 600 and 1,000 law enforcement personnel and hundreds of others at the Monday funeral service, so heavy traffic is likely in the vicinity of 4th Av and Broadway. As a result, several traffic restrictions will be in effect before, during and after Monday's funeral service. Organizers advised drivers to avoid the area unless they will be attending the funeral. Broadway between 4th and 5th Avenues will be closed for a stretch, as will 5th Av between Broadway and Madison St. The Broadway exit on the Indiana Toll Road will be closed between 12:30 and 2 p.m. as the large funeral procession is expected to wind its way through Gary, Merrillville and Schererville during that time.
Westerfield's funeral procession route will head west on 4th Av, then south on Buchanan St, before heading east on 5th Av, and then south on Broadway for a long stretch. Eventually, it will head west on U.S. 30 and south on Cline Av before it arrives at Chapel Lawn.
The procession will make two significant stops along Broadway in Gary. At 1301 Broadway, the procession will pause before a shrouded police cruiser and an honor guard. The old police station was where Westerfield was sworn in as a police officer 19 years ago. Gary Police will issue a 1042 officially calling Westerfield out of service over the scanner. At 44th Av, two fire truck ladders will have a Garrison flag unfurled for Westerfields funeral coach to go underneath.
During the procession, Broadway will be closed to all southbound traffic. Northbound traffic will be limited to the right-hand lane with no left turns allowed.
Westerfield, an Army veteran, will be buried with several military touches, including a 21-gun salute, a bugle playing taps, a flag-folding ceremony and presentation of the flag to his family.
Residents Where Officer Slain Report Crime On the
Rise
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michael Gonzalez
[11 Jul 2014]
GARY Despite a heavy police and press presence this week,
the West Side neighborhood where a veteran Gary police officer was shot to death
Sunday morning always has been a quiet one, longtime residents said Thursday.
But some said forces beyond their control appear to be at
work new residents who are changing the area and not for the better.
Officer Jeffrey Westerfield, 47, was found dead about 6 a.m. Sunday in his squad car in the 2600 block of Van Buren Pl. It's a street that resembles much of Gary occupied single-family homes mingled with a few abandoned ones, with many of the residents having deep roots in the neighborhood.
Their descriptions of the neighborhood varied, but some
residents interviewed Thursday agreed theyre working through some challenges.
"We get gunfire here all the time," said Willie Harris,
whos lived in his home since 1944. "If youre not doing anything with the
young people, what would you expect from young people? They're going to
get in trouble." Harris said he's frustrated with public officials, from
the mayor to precinct committeemen to county prosecutors and judges in not doing
more to provide jobs and deter crime. "I got to run to the car, and I run
back," Harris said as he sat on his front steps. "Nobody's standing for
Gary. They need to put the city to work." He attributed rising danger in the area to new residents,
some of whom have moved from Chicago after the massive public housing complexes
there were torn down.
As an unmarked police car rolled down a nearby alley, Brenda Perry, a resident of the neighborhood for 15 years, said she feels safe and even walks to her job at a nearby store. "It's basically a quiet neighborhood," she said as she visited neighbors. There was a house nearby where young people caused problems, but a police raid this week cleared it out, Perry said.
Having lived for 70 years on the block, Irma Davis said she has seen it go through major change, pointing to an influx of former Chicago residents, but it is still a quiet place. "It's a lot of new neighbors here, and a lot of people come from Chicago, when they tore down those (public housing) buildings," Davis said, holding her screen door open slightly. "I used to know everybody on the block. No. I don't feel safe. I used to not lock my door, but now you have to."
Man Shot to Death in Gary
#19 and Counting
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff Report
[11 Jul
2014]
GARY | A 22-year-old man was shot and killed in Gary
early Friday.
J'Amir Wiley of the 2200 block of Pennsylvania St in Gary was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. in the 2100 block of Carolina St, a Lake County Coroner's office report said. The cause of death was listed as multiple gunshot wounds suffered in a homicide.
Gary police were not available for comment early
Friday.
The shooting death is bot one in a string of homicides in the city this week.
Breast Implant Serial Numbers Led to ID of Slain C.P. Flight
Attendant
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Lauri Harvey Keagle
[10 Jul 2014]
CROWN POINT | A serial number on the breast implants of a
United Airlines flight attendant from Crown Point found murdered in the trunk of
her car in Gary led to her positive identification by officials. Photo and
dental records also were used to help obtain an identification, Frey said.
Pathologist Dr. Young Kim conducted the autopsy Tuesday
on DeCarol Deloney-Cain, 54. Deliopoulos said he knew breast implants have
serial numbers in part because of his wife Karla's own experience with breast
cancer.
"I did some research and found the manufacturer in the Netherlands," Deliopoulos said. Representatives there told him the implants were sold through a distributor in California. The California company traced the implants and said they were sold to a Munster physician. Deliopoulos contacted the physician who confirmed the implants were used in surgery on Deloney-Cain.
Implants of any kind can be helpful in the identification
process, he said. "It's all part of the identification process,"
Deliopoulos said. "If someone has had a hip replacement or has a rod in
their back, they have an identification number and we can try to work the case
through that."
Deliopoulos said he has been in constant communication with Gary detectives and Lake County crime scene investigators working the case, who executed a search warrant and retrieved evidence at the victim's home on Wednesday. The deputy coroner said he is driven to provide closure for families in John and Jane Doe cases. "The feeling when I got word and got the paperwork that linked it back to her was incredible," Deliopoulos said. "I'd been talking to the brother of the deceased, and he said, 'Thank God for all you did.'"
Person of Interest in Officer's Murder Remains in
Custody
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Elvia Malagon
[10 Jul 2014]
CROWN POINT | The person of interest in the fatal
shooting of Gary police Officer Jeffrey Westerfield remains in the Lake County
Jail, officials said.
Patti Van Til, spokeswoman for the Lake County Sheriff's
Department, said the person of interest remains in the Lake County Jail pending
a warrant from Porter County. The man, who has not been identified by
officials, has not been charged in Westerfield's homicide.
Van Til said said it would be up to Porter County
officials as to when the man would be transferred to the Porter County Jail.
Porter County Sheriff David Lain said the department has 10 business days to pick up suspects being held in other jurisdictions. He could not say when the man would be transferred to the Porter County Jail because of security concerns.
Memorial Ride Honors Slain Gary Officer
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michelle L. Quinn
[10 Jul 2014]
GARY | The processions roar could be felt for blocks
as the motorcycles filed in, one after another, to the Gary Police Department
parking lot.
More than 300 motorcycles and at least 50 cars, including
many from law enforcement agencies, took part Wednesday in the Indiana Patriot
Guards procession to honor Gary Officer Jeff Westerfield, who was found Sunday
morning shot to death in his police car on 26th Av near Van Buren Pl in Gary.
Wednesday's ride started in Portage and wound its way
around the Gary police station, where hundreds of Gary officers and mourners had
waited for the procession to arrive.
Many different groups from Northwest Indiana took part in
the ride, which was no doubt something Westerfield would've wanted. He
served in the Patriot Guard, said its organizer, Dale "Doc" Ready, of Lowell.
Ready was thrilled to see so many other law enforcement
agencies involved in the event. But mostly, he was touched by the love
shared among the Gary officers themselves. "Despite all the tragedy this
city has seen, so many of them are out here," Ready said. "And we know
that there's really not much we can do for the family right now, but we hope
this is a good start for them to see how much everyone loved him."
Gary Police Chief Wade Ingram Sr. said he was amazed by
the strong show of support for the Westerfield family and the police
community. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. "It's a
great tribute, really great. It shows unity and solidarity among law
enforcement. Very, very impressive."
Ready said the Indiana Patriot Guard will be on hand for Westerfield's wake Sunday and will take part in the drive to the cemetery Monday.
Gary's People Are City's Greatest Asset
Compiled From a Post-Trib Op-Ed by Rebecca L. Wyatt
[10 Jul 2014]
The city of Gary's most outstanding asset is its people, but it has other important attributes.
Gary has the best beaches, sitting on the south shore of
Lake Michigan with Chicagos magnificent skyline as a background. The city
has the Gary-Chicago Airport and proximity to Chicago. Major highways and
rail lines make Gary a transportation and freight hub, and U.S. Steel continues
to produce a significant portion of the worlds steel.
Gary has been called the City of
the Century. Unfortunately, that refers to much of the 20th century.
After decades of decline, Gary today has roughly 20,000
abandoned buildings, crumbling infrastructure, a shrinking population, troubled
schools, high unemployment and a persistent crime problem. Consequently,
attracting business and industry and regaining the well-paying jobs that were
lost many years ago is an arduous and challenging task.
All of this means that living in Gary is not easy.
However, despite these impediments, people are living in Gary, working and
raising families in Gary. Perseverance, tenacity and courage describe the
residents of Gary, as they meet and overcome obstacles on a daily basis.
For example, a Memorial Day parade marched on rutted
streets, passing Gary's abandoned and boarded buildings on Broadway with a
marching band, a drum corps and families with children lining the streets to
watch. We see the students at West Side High School win the state
championship in track when they did not even have a track on which they could
practice.
The Wirt-Emerson VPA Academy dance majors performed their
final recital in the spring on the gymnasium floor because the stage lighting
was falling down in the school auditorium. The dance troupe mesmerized an
audience seated on folding chairs and bleachers for more than two hours
demonstrating every form of dance, smoothly transitioning from ballet to modern
dance to tap. And several of the numbers were the students own
choreography.
The following week, the Wirt-Emerson jazz band performed
its spring concert in a sweltering, second-floor choir room because the
auditorium could not be used. Yet, some very talented, passionate teachers
encouraged the band members, who overcame the heat and cramped quarters to
perform magnificently playing old favorites, new compositions and improvised
solos.
These are just a few examples of how Gary's dedicated
teachers and students are succeeding against the odds.
Our students are our future, and they meet their daily
challenge of inadequate resources with the help of loving and committed
families, teachers and community leaders who are meeting and overcoming similar
obstacles in their lives as well.
Despite Gary's myriad problems and steady decline, its
people remain strong, resilient and determined to persevere and thrive.
They are Gary's most enduring and outstanding asset in the city's continuing
effort to overcome its hardships and improve its residents quality of life.
Rebecca L. Wyatt is a resident of the Miller section of Gary and has a law practice based in the city.
Sheriff Puts up $10K Reward
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[10 Jul 2014]
GARY Sheriff John Buncich, whose office is running the
investigation into the shooting death Sunday of a Gary police officer, on
Wednesday offered a $10,000 reward in the case.
A news release from Buncich offered the reward for "any
information leading to the conviction of suspect(s)" in the shooting death of
Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield.
During an appearance Tuesday with Gov. Mike Pence in
Gary, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she was "fairly confident" that a man
being held since Sunday night in the Lake County Jail was the person responsible
for Westerfields death.
Gary Police Chief Wade Ingram Sr. said he wasnt made aware of the reward until Buncich made the announcement Wednesday afternoon. "County has been handling the case, so other than bullet points, we arent being made aware of how theyre handling it. And I dont want to speculate," Ingram said.
Body Found in Gary ID'd as Crown Point
Woman
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[10 Jul 2014]
GARY The dead woman found in the trunk of an abandoned
car on Monday has been identified as Decarol Deloney-Cain, 54, a flight
attendant and mother of three children from Crown Point.
The Lake County Coroners Office released her name Wednesday, saying she had been stabbed multiple times and suffered blunt force trauma to the head.
On Monday, police received a call about a car on a gravel
road in the 2000 block of East 22nd Avenue. They found the decomposed body
of a woman, wrapped in some type of material, when they opened the trunk.
Todd Deloney said no one had heard from his sister since
July 3, but family members werent immediately concerned because she flew
international flights for United Airlines in Chicago, where she's been a flight
attendant for 27 years. He said Deloney-Cain, a 1978 East Chicago
Roosevelt graduate, lived in Crown Point since 2005. He said she's the
mother of two adult sons and a teenage daughter.
"She was a very vivacious woman," Deloney said.
"She had a quest for traveling. She was very devoted to her children and
her immediate family. When you met the girl you were never a stranger."
According to public documents, Deloney-Cain was in the midst of a divorce set to be finalized Aug. 14.
Roosevelt Utility Bills Estimated at $1
Million
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Carmen McCollum
[9 Jul 2014]
GARY | The utility bills at Gary Roosevelt, where school
has not been in session since late June, amount to about $1 million.
The water was turned off
at the Roosevelt College and Career Academy June 23 for nonpayment of the water
bill, and students were sent home. The water remains off and the bill has
not been paid.
Gary Attorney Tracy Coleman, who represents the Gary
Community School Corp., said Wednesday the Indiana American Water bill is about $141,000. The Northern Indiana
Public Service Co. bill is estimated at $860,000.
Coleman said NIPSCO, which covers the gas and electricity in the building,
remains on.
Coleman said the utility bills for Roosevelt have not been paid since July 1, 2012, when private management company EdisonLearning began operating the high school. EdisonLearning was hired by the Indiana Department of Education to provide academic services at Gary Roosevelt after several years of academic failure under the Gary Community School Corp.
The acrimonious relationship between EdisonLearning and
the Gary Community School Corp. continues. The two have bickered over
boiler problems, student records and other issues. The school was closed
several days during the winter due to a lack of heat.
EdisonLearning filed suit in Marion County Court over the
issues and an agreement was set up between the two. Gary district
officials have acknowledged they are responsible for boiler repairs, but said
EdisonLearning maintenance people should be responsible for correctly operating
the equipment on a day-to-day basis. However, the utility bills remain in
dispute.
Cheryl Pruitt, superintendent of Gary Community School Corp., said she has reached out to Thom Jackson, the new chief executive officer of EdisonLearning. She will meet with him next week. "We are looking at having a partnership, a collaborative relationship to take care of the issues so that we can all be successful," she said. "Our goal is to work together. We are both committed to making certain that these children get what they need. All children. We have some things that are outstanding, situations that have been long-standing. We're going to spend some time next week working together to come to some kind of agreement on how we can solve these issues."
Jackson and Pruitt have "scheduled a meeting next
Thursday to discuss how to reset the relationship between the two entities and
design a partnership that is in the best interests of the students and the
community," said Michael Serpe, EdisonLearning spokesman. "In that vein,
they have been in daily and direct discussions for the last two days, trying to
get the water turned on and to address other issues. Both are very
hopeful."
35 students were sent home June 23 when the water supply to the school was cut. They resumed classes a week later at the Gary Area Career Center.
Police, Vols Search for Evidence in Gary Officers Killing
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Ruth Ann Krause
[9 Jul 2014]
GARY -- Clutching chainsaws, weed eaters, machetes and
rakes, 130 law enforcement officers and volunteers turned out Wednesday to
search for evidence in the shooting death of a Gary police officer found in his
squad car Sunday morning.
Local, state and federal officers cleared brush, felled
trees and used metal detectors in their search for evidence in the death of Gary
police Patrolman Jeffrey Westerfield, who was found by a passerby mortally
wounded before 6 a.m. on 26th Av near Van Buren Pl.
Westerfield, a 19-year veteran and father of four
daughters, died on his 47th birthday. Lake County police have a person of
interest in custody on an unrelated case for a probation revocation.
Crime scene investigators were called to a home in the
2600 block of Van Buren Pl and removed potential evidence, police said.
"We are leaving no stone unturned, literally," Lake County police Cmdr. Guy
Mikulich told the group, which assembled at about 10 a.m. in the parking lot at
nearby Roosevelt High School before traveling about one block to begin cutting
through weed-choked yards in the neighborhood. Front loaders, dump trucks
and other heavy equipment were pressed into service as officers from agencies
throughout Lake and Porter counties cleared the area so a more thorough search
could be conducted. About 20 officers from various departments searched
the same area on Monday.
On Tuesday, police helicopters checked rooftops and
officers searched storm drains for possible evidence. Officers also
demolished a rickety, abandoned garage in the 2600 block of Van Buren St.
James Joyner, a resident of the block since 1945, watched
the progress from his well-tended yard. Officers carefully moved branches
of Joyners hibiscus bushes and tiger lilies as part of the methodical
search. The officers cut branches and tall weeds and piled rubbish in the
alley behind his home. "Im glad to see what theyre doing, but I wish it
was for a different reason," said Joyner, 79.
Members of the Illiana Search and Rescue sent out teams of volunteers to aid the officers. Director Mark R. Price, a former bailiff in Lake County criminal court, said his teams are rarely involved in law enforcement searches but are willing to help in any way possible. Many of the volunteers took a day off of work to assist.
Mayor Fairly Confident Man in Custody is Cop Killer
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michelle L. Quinn
and a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[9 Jul 2014]
GARY Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said police are "fairly
confident" the man they have in custody is the one who shot and killed officer
Jeffrey Westerfield early Sunday morning.
With Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and first lady Karen Pence
by her side, Freeman-Wilson said during a Tuesday afternoon news conference that
the man, who would have been released today from a 48-hour hold, is continuing
to be held on a previous warrant for failure to appear on a probation
violation. He was taken into custody several hours after the
shooting. He has not been charged. "What we really want is to have
everything buttoned down before" charges are filed, she said.
Two other men taken into custody Sunday, meanwhile, were released Monday, Freeman-Wilson said. However, officials arent ruling out the possibility that others were involved in the shooting of the 19-year veteran police officer.
Gary officials said at Tuesday's news conference that
Westerfield, who turned 47 on Sunday, was following up an earlier Sunday morning
domestic call that resulted in gunshots being fired. A shot was fired by
the person of interest during that earlier domestic disturbance call, she
said. Freeman-Wilson declined to say who, if anyone, was the target of
that gunshot. The man in custody, she said, was involved in that incident
but no one was hurt.
Ingram said after the news conference that several
officers responded at 4:03 a.m. Sunday to the domestic disturbance call.
Ingram said investigators are operating on a theory that Westerfield
returned to the area alone to search for a suspect. He said he couldn't
confirm details about Westerfield's communication with dispatchers in the time
between calls.
Chief Wade Ingram Sr. said his officers are
"grief-stricken" and concerned about their safety going forward. The
department will be swearing in 15 new officers next month, and Ingram is looking
into pairing the officers together on night and overnight shifts. The
department has also taken several officers off special detail and increased
street patrols for the foreseeable future. "With the new officers, we will
have hired 25 officers since November to keep up with the rate of attrition,"
Ingram said.
Freeman-Wilson added that Pence authorized the Indiana State Police to offer technical assistance to the Gary Police Department and they were involved in the investigation Sunday. The U.S. Department of Justice also will deliver its recommendations for stabilizing the city to the department later this month.
Authorities Expect to ID Body
Soon
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michael Gonzalez
[9 Jul 2014]
CROWN POINT Authorities on Tuesday said they hope to soon
identify the body of a woman that was discovered Monday by Gary police in the
trunk of a car in a swampy area off the 2000 block of East 22nd Avenue.
Lake County Chief Deputy Coroner George Deliopoulos said
his office should have an identification of the woman by Wednesday. He
said the office has determined the cause of death to be from blunt force trauma
to the head.
"We're going through photos on possible workplace identifications that were in the car," Deliopoulos said. "We're also processing to get her fingerprinted, and we're trying to get dental records." A family with a loved one missing from Crown Point has come forward to talk to authorities, he said.
The decomposed body was found in a red, two-door 2008
Toyota Solara that had a key still in the ignition, said Gary Detective Richard
McClelland, the lead investigator on the case. Her body was wrapped in
some type of material.
"I'm very interested in anyone who may know ... the last
whereabouts of the vehicle before it got found in that swamp," he said.
Anyone with information on the case or the recovered car should call McClelland at (219) 881-1214.
Casino Revenues Show June
Doldrums
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Karen Caffarini
[9 Jul 2014]
This year's trend of monthly year-over-year improvements
in casino revenues hit a snag in June, with the entire Chicago market showing a
9.5% decline over June 2013.
"The market in general looked more like what we were
seeing in March and April," Chris Albrecht, assistant general manager of
Horseshoe Hammond, said Tuesday. "The softness continues, not just on our side
of the border, but in the region in general," Albrecht said.
Albrecht said revenues from Northwest Indianas five casinos dropped a little more than 8% in June, going from about $83.7 million to $79.1 million. The Horseshoes decline was about 10%.
Albrecht said the recent good weather could have played a
role, as more people might have decided to do outdoor activities after being
cooperd up inside for months during the winter. Ameristar Casino in East Chicago saw the only
year-over-year increase in revenues in
June, going from $16.2 million to $17.6 million. Revenues at Blue Chip
Casino in Michigan City dipped from $13.5 million to $13.2
million, Horseshoe Hammonds revenues dropped from $38.4 million to $35.1
million and Majestic Stars two casinos dropped from $15.6 million to $13.2
million. Before June, Northwest Indianas five casinos were showing
softer total declines each month since
January, when a combination of a soft economy and cold, snowy winter resulted in
a 17% drop in revenues over the previous
January. In May, combined revenues from the five casinos declined 3.6%. The overall
revenues were boosted by Ameristar and Blue Chip, both of which showed modest
increases over the previous May. Albrecht said a busy three-day Fourth of July weekend
should help boost Julys numbers for the Northwest Indiana market. More Than 700 Jobs Need to Be
Filled GARY | More than 700 jobs are available, and many need to be filled now. Job seekers will get their chance to land those positions
Thursday at the 2014 NW Indiana City Wide Diversity Hiring and Luncheon.
The job fair will take place between 1 and 4 p.m. in the Lakeside Room on the
second floor of the Genesis Convention Center, 1 Genesis Center Plaza.
Sponsors include U.S. Steel, NiSource, United States
Postal Service, Horseshoe Casino, Luke Oil, and Ivy Tech Community
College. Businesses that are hiring and will be in attendance include
Standard Bank and Trust Co., Peoples Bank, Speedway, Sears, Staff Source, and
the Albanese candy factory. The job fair is free, as is parking on the street or in
the garage just west of the convention center. Attendees are encouraged to
dress professionally and bring resumes. To register or upload a resume in
advance, visit www.localcareerfairs.com/indiana.html. Rudy Clay Road Naming Ceremony Set for
Friday Gary officials will unveil a street sign honoring the
late Mayor Rudy Clay at 10 a.m. Friday on the front steps of City Hall, 401
Broadway. The Indiana General Assembly designated Gary's Fifth
Avenue, also known as U.S. Highway 20, as the Mayor Rudolph "Rudy" Clay Memorial
Highway following the 77-year-old's death from cancer on June 4, 2013. Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and state Rep. Charlie
Brown, D-Gary, will lead Friday's naming ceremony
featuring reminiscences of the mutton-chopped former mayor, state senator,
county commissioner and Lake County Democratic chairman. "His perseverance and dedication to the people of Gary
and his love for the state of Indiana are iconic and deserve recognition," said
state Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary. Steelworkers Union Fighting Against
Imports Steel imports are
up 33% so far this year, while even more than 20% of U.S.
steelmaking capacity has been sitting idle. The United Steelworkers union says enough is enough. Union president
Leo Gerard, along with U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi, recently testified before
Congress that trade enforcement was needed to save as many as 500,000 U.S. jobs
nationwide, either in the steel industry or supported by it. The United Steelworkers filed a trade case asking for
tariffs against unfairly traded Chinese passenger and light truck tires.
Union members from across the country, including in Northwest Indiana, have been
emailing members of Congress to demand an end to dumping and currency
manipulation that allows China to export goods at artificially low prices.
The United Steelworkers union filed the most recent trade case after imported tires from China doubled to
50.8 million last year, after duties expired. The imports rose by another 24.6% this year.
A key ruling is expected this week on a flood of cheap
imports of steel pipe that's used by the oil and natural gas industries. "Our fight for jobs in the sector is far from over," said
USW International Vice President Tom Conway. "China is expanding its
industry and has targeted the U.S. market as the place to dump product and
subsidize sales. As China expands production and increases employment in
this sector, it is our workers who pay the price with job losses." Gerard recently lobbied Congress to enforce trade rules
and stop foreign competitors from dumping illegally subsidized products in the
United States, with the aim of undermining domestic mills. He told the
Senate Finance Committee that union members are the most productive steelworkers
in the world, making steel at less than one man-hour per ton. U.S. Steel mills release one third less carbon per ton of
output than their Chinese counterparts. Billions of dollars in investment
have resulted in cleaner factories and increased productivity. Mills have
become so efficient and technologically advanced that steelworkers are more
likely to be monitoring computer control panels than working on the shop
floor. But manufacturing, including steel, has been downsized and
outsourced as the result of predatory trade practices, Gerard said. About 60,000 factories have been shuttered, and 5 million
workers have been laid off since 2000. "The USW has been as successful as it can be in its
efforts to counter unfair trade, but it's a losing game," he said.
"Indeed, the only way we win is by losing. Lost profits, lost jobs, closed
factories, hollowed out communities that is the price the trade laws demand to
show sufficient injury to provide relief. In the year or more it takes to
bring a trade case and obtain relief, foreign companies can continue to flood
the market. By the time that relief may be provided, the industry is often
a shadow of its former self. Too many workers have lost their jobs and
their families and the communities in which they live have paid a heavy, and
often irrevocable, price."
The U.S. government must take more initiative to enforce
trade agreements, he said. Manufacturing is crucially important to the
economy because factory jobs pay on average 22% more than service sector jobs,
and the sector accounts for 70% of research and development. Every dollar of U.S. manufacturing output generates an
additional $1.37 of economic activity, more than any other
sector, according to the National Association of
Manufacturers. Better trade trade agreements would allow U.S.
manufacturers to export to more overseas markets and not flood the domestic
market with imports, Gerard said. Unfortunately, the results of todays
trade policies are measured by unacceptably high trade deficits, shuttered
factories and shattered dreams," he said. "Some may point out that exports
are rising, and thats a good thing. But, they fail to mention that imports
are rising as well and the difference means lost jobs, lost production, lower
growth and rising income inequality." Great Lakes Steel Production Up by
2,000T Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region
inched up to 654,000T last week. Local
production rose by 2,000Tons, or
about 0.3%. At the same time, overall U.S. steel production dipped slightly. U.S. output fell
by 0.5% in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel
Institute estimate. Production in the Southern District, the country's
second biggest steel-producing region, dropped to 640,000T, down from 651,000T
a week earlier.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was about
1.853 million tons, down from 1.863 million
tons a week earlier. Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity
utilization rate of 77% last week, down from 77.5% a week earlier.
The capacity utilization rate was unchanged from a year ago. U.S.
mills have produced 48.8 million tons of steel so far this year, which is
exactly what they had made at the same point in 2013.
U.S. steel imports decreased by 16% in May, according to a
preliminary estimate from the American Iron and Steel Institute. Total
steel imports are however up 33% so far this year, and finished
imports are up 26%. Imports
have captured 27% of the finished market share and 28% of the overall market
share through the end of June.
State Pledging $425,000 in Tax Incentive to IL Company
Moving to Gary GARY | The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is
pledging $425,000 in conditional tax credits to an Illinois company moving to
Gary. The IEDC on Tuesday announced the conditional tax credits
for Superior Truss and Panel Inc. of Markham, Ill. The performance-based
tax credits are conditional on the company hiring Indiana workers. The company, which manufactures and installs commercial
building roof trusses and wall panels, plans to invest $2.6 million to
construct, equip and relocate operations to two, 24,000-square-foot buildings at
7592 E. Melton Road in Gary. The move is expected to create
up to 52 new jobs by 2016. In early June, The Gary City Council approved a tax
abatement for the company to move to the Miller area. Superior Truss and Panel will receive a 100% personal
property tax abatement for 10 years and 70% real estate tax abatement for 10
years, which equates to a savings for 10 years of
$133,000. The abatement will help the company defray
the cost of moving from Markham to Gary, which Superior estimates at about
$200,000.
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[9 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Dan Carden
[8
Jul 2014]
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]: As has been commented
on previously, Gary now has two streets bearing the moniker of
Clay!
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[8 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[8 Jul 2014]
Compiled From a
nwiTimes Staff Report
[8 Jul
2014]
________________
[COMMENT
-GDY]: This appears to be a good deal for Gary and a great deal for Superior Truss.
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[7 Jul 2014]
GARY | A policy requiring Gary police to ride alone while
patrolling the city's streets is under review following the slaying Sunday of a
city officer, Police Chief Wade Ingram said Monday.
The review comes after Officer Jeffrey Westerfield, 47,
of Gary, was gunned down in his squad car early Sunday in the 2600 block of Van
Buren Street.
Ingram said Gary officers ride alone primarily because
the department has more than 50 square miles to patrol. He could not
immediately provide information about how many patrol cars were on the city's
streets the night Westerfield was killed.
Ingram said he would like to implement a policy that
would allow officers to ride in pairs. "We did it in Chicago, we rode in
pairs," said Ingram, who served on the Chicago department from 1985 to
2009. "It's an officer safety factor when you have two officers present
instead of one. It would have made a difference with Jeff, if he had a
partner." Chicago police generally ride in pairs on evening and overnight
shifts, a department spokeswoman said.
East Chicago officers ride alone, but the area they cover is a small fraction of what Gary police patrol, East Chicago Police Chief Mark Becker said. It's difficult to compare the two departments because of differences in demographics and land mass, he said.
Coroner Confirms "Jane Doe" Found in Gary
# 17 and Counting
Compiled From a NorthWest Indiana Gazette Report by Ken Davidson
[7 Jul 2014]
The office of Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey has
confirmed that a body was found in Gary, Indiana today. The manner of
death is listed as unknown for the female body. There is no identification
and the victim is described as a black female. If you or someone you know
is missing a family member, you should contact the office of the Coroner.
While the case is not currently being ruled a homicide, the fact that the body was found a) in the trunk of an abandoned car, b) on a gravel road behind New Nazareth Baptist Church, 1626 E. 21st Av (in an area where homicide victims have been dumped in the past), would lead to the conclusion that this is a homicide.
They Got Him! Police Make Arrest in Officer Slaying
Compiled From a NorthWest Indiana Gazette Report by Ken Davidson
[7 Jul 2014]
Sources close to the investigation have informed the
Gazette that police have made an arrest in conjunction with the early morning
slaying of Gary Police Officer Jeff Westerfield. Few details have been
released but police were searching for Carl Blount of Gary. Blount was
reportedly shot in the altercation which brought police to the scene at
approximately 5:50 am today.
UPDATE: Sources are now confirming that the man arrested is Carl Blount and that he is in the custody of the Indiana State Police. He was taken to a local hospital where he is under guard.
Blount had threatened officers in the past. In 2012, Portage Police arrested Carl Blount for battery on his then girlfriend. While being transported to the police station, Portage Police reported that Blount kicked an officer and threatened them with physical harm. Blount was also charged with strangulation on April 24, 2014 in Porter County Superior Court. Details on that case were not readily available at this time.
All suspects are presumed innocent unless convicted in a court of law. An arrest is not an indication of guilt.
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