GARY | A new multiagency gang unit led by the Gary Police Department has designated the Glen Park Affiliates street gang as the city's most violent group and intensified efforts to bring fugitives in violent crimes to justice, officials said.

Arnell Davis, 20, of Hobart, and Dentrell Lewis, 19, of Gary alleged members of the GPA gang were taken into custody Wednesday during a traffic stop on the northwest side of Indianapolis, Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.  They're among several people taken into custody as part of the new Gary Violence Reduction Initiative, she said.

Davis was wanted on a felony attempted murder charge stemming from a February 2014 shooting at 25th Av and Madison St in Gary, Lake Criminal Court records indicated.  Lewis was wanted on a charge of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.  Details surrounding the crime were not available Thursday.

Gary has logged 38* homicides so far this year, including 12 by gunfire between July 19 and Aug. 11.  The number of homicides is up 58% from this time last year, when 24 had been recorded.

Gary police partnered with several local, state and federal agencies to form the multiagency gang unit, dubbed MAG, in an effort to curb violence, Westerfield said.  One of the city's partners is the Lake County Sheriff's Department, which also has been assisting Gary with extra patrols and jointly staffs the Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit.

Sheriff John Buncich said authorities are targeting a total of 10 people for arrest as part of the new initiative.  In addition to Davis and Lewis, a third man on the list was arrested last week on Gary's West Side, he said.  "That's three main players that we got out of the way in the last 10 days," he said.

Investigators received information Davis and Lewis were hiding out in an Indianapolis apartment, Gary Detective Sgt. Sam Abegg said in a statement.  The MAG unit and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detectives worked together to execute a felony traffic stop and take the pair into custody, police said.

"Let it be known that there are no jurisdictional boundaries when acts of violence are being committed in our city and we will do everything necessary in our power to bring these criminals to justice," Abegg said.

Davis had been wanted since May, when a warrant was issued after he failed to appear for a Lake Criminal Court hearing.  He was taken into custody shortly after the February 2014 shooting in which he's charged, but was released after posting bond July 14, 2014, court records show.  Davis had twice been listed as the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force's Fugitive of the Week.

Authorities will continue to intensify their efforts to identify violent groups and their members, officials said.  Officers are carefully detailing every aspect of recent crimes, Buncich said.  "We're test firing any weapons that we seize right away," he said.  The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is helping to expedite ballistics testing, he said.  "The bottom line is it's faster.  We can determine if that weapon was used in another homicide or crime because of the shell casings," Buncich said.  "Overall, it's just a better coordinated effort and more intense."

Anyone with information about gangs or their members is asked to call the Gary Police Department's anonymous tip line at (866) 274-6347.  The sheriff's anonymous tip line is (800) 750-2746.

According to a release from Lt. Dawn Westerfield of the Gary Police Department, the Gary Police Department is investigating the death of a woman found dead near 45th and Pierce St  early this morning. Gary Police were called to the scene at 6:52 a.m. in reference a "female down." No additional details were released by the Gary Police Department.

Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey says coroner investigators arrived on the scene at 8:20 a.m.  42 year old Christine Ketchum of the 4100 block of Maple St in Hobart was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:00 a.m.  No specific injuries were noted and the manner of death is pending.  The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force participated in the investigation along with the Gary Police Department according to the Coroner report.

GARY | Gary police discovered a body in an alley there early Wednesday.

Lt. Dawn Westerfield, spokeswoman for the Gary Police Department, said officers were called at 6:52 a.m. for a report of a woman down in an alley near 45th Av and Pierce St. The woman was found dead there.

Westerfield described the woman only as a white female.  Her identity is not yet known.

Airport GM resigns in Gary
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Christin Nance Lazerus
[26 Aug 2015]

Gary/Chicago International Airport manager Delbert Brown will resign his post at the end of August a little more than a year after he took the job.

Brown plans to return to his home in Detroit to spend more time with his family.  He previously served as the director of Detroit City Airport from 2002 to 2010.

AvPORTS president Ozzie Moore said Brown helped position the airport for growth.  "I thank Delbert for his work this past year through the transition of the public-private partnership, and laying the foundation for continued growth at Gary/Chicago International Airport," Moore said.  "I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Assistant airport manager Hank Mook will continue in his current post.  Mook will assist AvPORTS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Bartlett, who will lead the team on the ground while candidates to replace Brown are screened.  Airport director Dan Vicari will continue to manage the public-private partnership agreement and report progress directly to the board of the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority.

AvPORTS, which entered into a public-private partnership with the airport in January 2014, will advertise the position in a number of local, regional and industry/management forums, including the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), officials said.

Brown became airport manager in July 2014. During his tenure as airport manager, Brown presided over a 33% increase in operations at the airport, officials said.

Throughout the past year, Brown represented the airport at a number of community and city events, and he implemented a reporting structure to help assess existing assets, track anticipated needs, and provide real-time information on operations at the airport.

Local Steel Output Hits Highest Point in Months
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[25 Aug 2015]

Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region rose to 660,000T last week, the highest point it has reached since February.

Local steel output has been much lower than normal all this year because of a surfeit of imports that now account for a record-shattering 31% of the total market share.

Great Lakes steel production increased by 13,000T, or 2%, in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.  Overall U.S. steel output declined by 1.47% over the same period.

Production in the Southern District, which encompasses mini-mills across the South, slipped to 593,000T last week, down from 597,000T the week before.

Total U.S. raw steel production last week was about 1.742 million tons, down from 1.768 million tons a week earlier.  Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 72.9% last week, down from 73.9% a week earlier.  The capacity utilization rate had been a much more robust 80.2% at the same time a year earlier.

Year-to-date steel output has been 57.5 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.6%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Overall U.S. production trails 2014 by 7.8%.

GARY | A Gary man admitted to police he's been living in a Glen Park home without utilities since his girlfriend's father died and she moved out, but officers could not make him leave, officials said.

The incident about 2:30 p.m. Friday provides another glimpse of the challenges Gary officials face in dealing with thousands of abandoned properties.

Police were dispatched to the home in the 4900 block of Pennsylvania St for a report of a man possibly squatting there, according to a report.  The complainant told police she doesn't own the property but thinks the man should not be living there.  Police told the woman that unless the property owner reports the man, officers cannot charge him with trespassing.

Officers then knocked on the home's front door, and the man answered, the police report said.  The man said he's been living at the home for several years.  After his girlfriend's father died and she moved out, he stayed there, the report said.  The man had keys to the property, but could not produce documentation proving residency and admitted the power and water were shut off, police said.

Police told the man they would be contacting either Gary or Lake County officials to determine if the property is livable and possibly condemn it.  If the property is condemned, the man would be forced to leave, police said.  He was advised to try to make arrangements to live elsewhere, police said.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  There ought to be a law?  Actually, the problem is that there are too damn many laws! 

An online docket entry for July 31 in felony case filed against Dontae Blount shows that the ICU Court Monitoring program had submitted a violation report, followed on Aug. 4 by a more detailed report.  The monitoring device has been cut off again, defense attorney Thomas Mullins said.

On July 20, Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez agreed to release Dontae Blount to electronic monitoring, despite Blount having removed the device in January.  Blount is a key witness in the death penalty case filed against his half-brother, Carl Le'Ellis Blount, 27, in Westerfield's death last summer.

At that hearing, trial supervisor David Urbanski said Dontae Blount's mother, who was facing surgery, had agreed to allow Dontae to stay with her in Indianapolis.  At the time, Dontae Blount was being considered for blood donation prior to the surgery and was to assist in her care afterward.

Vasquez strongly cautioned Dontae Blount at the hearing that if he tampered with the device, he would never be given that privilege again.

It was the second time Dontae Blount had been given a break in his criminal case.  In a joint motion by the prosecution and defense, Dontae Blount's sentence for resisting law enforcement was stayed three months after Westerfield was killed.

Early on July 7, 2014, Westerfield was following up on a domestic disturbance involving Carl Blount and was on 26th Av near Van Buren Pl when he asked another officer for a description of Carl Blount, court records state.

Court records indicate that Dontae Blount was on the phone with Carl Blount when Carl Blount said he had to hang up the call because he saw a police officer with his spotlight activated, records state.  Moments after the call ended, Carl Blount told police he heard gunfire and stepped outside the residence at 2659 Jackson St, with a handgun, court records state.  He told police he saw Carl Blount running at full speed toward the Jackson St house.  Records state that Carl Blount, had a gun with him and appeared intoxicated.  Court records indicate that in an emotional outburst, Carl Blount told his half-brother that he had shot a police officer, Dontae Blount told police.

Vasquez has issued a warrant for Dontae Blount's arrest.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  If a cop killer conviction is dependent on the testimony of this yahoo, the prosecution is in serious trouble and neither the Westerfield family, the Gary Police Department, nor the residents of Gary will ever see justice in this matter!

Police Promise to Enforce Curfew in Gary
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[21 Aug 2015]

For kids going back to school, it's the ABCs.  And for parents, it's AAC attendance, address and curfew.

Gary police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield reminded parents that officers will be enforcing both city ordinances and state laws that pertain to educating students.  Penalties range from a court fine to a jail term, she said.  "Attendance is especially important because when children aren't in school regularly, they can get behind in their work and it becomes hard for them to make it up," Westerfield said.

While both school and police officials recognize that some students have health problems that keep them from their studies, those absences are excused.  It's when a student has 10 unexcused absences, they are considered truant.  Continued truancy can result in failing that grade for the year, Westerfield said.

Parents of students who have missed five days without a medical reason will receive a citation and court date.  They may choose to pay a fine or join the truancy court program, which includes tutoring for students and support groups for parents.  No date has been set for the first Project Rebuild court, Westerfield said.

Failure to cooperate after the ticket is issued could lead to a misdemeanor charge of failure to educate, Westerfield added.  "If that's what it takes, we will enforce it.  A better education makes a better community," she said.

Gary Community School Corp. spokeswoman Charmella Greer said Friday, "We've taken measures to improve communication and relationship with our students, staff and parents by hiring school resource and school safety officers.  We have an awesome group of students.  Part of the superintendent's vision is to make sure that they get 'to' and 'through' college not 'to' high school and 'through' a criminal justice system," adding, "It's a better investment to educate our children for about $10,000 per year rather than take care of prisoners for almost $40,000 per year."

The address component of enforcement is simple, Westerfield said.  Students must live at the address provided to school officials, city ordinance states.  "It's to make sure they are in the proper school system, the proper school and that the school can reach a parent or guardian in an emergency," she said.  Again, if the school does not have accurate contact information, the parent could be cited for violating the law, Westerfield noted.

The curfew law in Gary states that anyone 17 years old or younger cannot be on any street or alley, loitering, or in a car without an adult from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, Westerfield said.

If juveniles are caught in violation of the curfew, parents will be called and could be cited, she said.  "It's for the safety of the children so they can be properly rested for school," Westerfield notes.

Gary schools start classes Monday.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Curfew enforcement so kids are "properly rested for school?"  How about enforcing this law for the safety of law abiding citizens using the streets legitimately!

Gary's Redevelopment Commission awarded has awarded contracts to six companies totaling more than $1.2 million to handle the demolition of structures on 161 properties scattered across the city.

All of the properties were acquired by the city in July through the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program.  Property owners turned over the land to the city, and the Redevelopment Commission assumed the legal and financial responsibility of demolishing the existing structures to clear the plots of land for potential future development.

In recent weeks, bids were sought from area construction companies, several of whom made bids to handle certain groups of properties.

On Wednesday, the commission said that Gary Material Supply LLC will receive $320,200 to handle demolition work on 35 plots, while C. Lee Construction Services Inc. will handle demolition on 36 plots for $261,420.  ACTIN Contracting LLC will be paid $161,890 for demolition work at 18 locations, while JM Industrial Services Inc. will be paid $177,464 for work at 19 locations.  Aavatar Enterprises Inc. will handle demolition at 40 sites for $280,420, while Spirit Wrecking & Excavation Inc. will be paid $101,079.10 for demolition work at 13 sites.

Municipal officials have said the intent of such mass demolition is to create larger plots of land that could inspire future developers to come to Gary and create new structures, replacing the often decrepit structures that were left abandoned.

Commission President Kenya Jones said she was pleased to see the contracts awarded so that demolition work could begin in coming weeks.  "I'm glad to see us moving on," she said.  "I think this is a very productive move."

Such mass demolition is going to continue in Gary, as the redevelopment commission also opened bids Wednesday for demolition of more structures around the city, and also for post-demolition landscaping work.  Seven bids were received for the demolition, with two bids being received for the landscaping.  The commission voted 3-0 to refer those bids to their staff for further review, with contracts possibly to be awarded at one of the commission's meetings in September.

Gary Looking to Beautify Demo Sites
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Ed Bierschenk
[19 Aug 2015]

GARY | Beautification efforts are expected to take place later this year at about 200 sites that have been slated for demolition around the city.

Gary's Redevelopment Department has budgeted an average of about $7,000 per property to make sure the properties are properly landscaped and maintained.  Money the city received through the state's Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program will be used to pay for the work, which can include grass and other landscaping as needed along with maintenance for three years.

Redevelopment Director Joseph Van Dyk said the green space is needed for both stormwater retention as well as beautification and noted that many of the properties probably still will be vacant after three years.

Bids were opened at Wednesday's Redevelopment Commission meeting from Gary Material Supply, LLC., and Caretakers Landscaping and Lawn, LLC.  Each company submitted bids on more than a dozen groups of different properties.  Van Dyk will review the bids and come back with a recommendation.  He indicated a lot of the money being requested was for fill for sites.

$6.6 million in blight elimination funds the city has received from the state will pay for the demolition work.  Initially, it was thought the city would be able to demolish 379 properties with the money, but bids have been coming in lower than anticipated and Van Dyk thinks the city may actually be able to tear down between 600 and 700 structures with the money.

The city also received bids to raze a former school building in the 600 block of Massachusetts St, just south of the post office.  The bids will be reviewed by Van Dyk, who will return to the commission with a recommendation on an award at a coming meeting.  Bids ranged from $38,599 to $94,960 for the work.

U.S. Steel's factories in Gary and in downstate Illinois may get busier as the company moves to close an Alabama facility.

Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said yesterday it would shut its Fairfield Works plant outside Birmingham, Ala., in mid-November.  The closure will "improve the overall efficiency and cost structure of our flat-rolled segment," CEO Mario Longhi said in a statement.

At least in theory, Alabama's pain is good news for the company's sprawling Gary Works factory about 30 miles from downtown Chicago and its facility in Granite City, just east of St. Louis.  Around 5,100 people work at the Gary facility; the number of U.S. Steel employees in Granite City couldn't immediately be determined.

Both plants may be able to pick up work as the company reshuffles production, said Charles Bradford, a New York-based steel analyst.  "Potentially, it could mean more business" in Gary and Granite City, he said.

Courtney Boone, a spokeswoman for the steelmaker, declined to discuss where the firm will make up the production it will lose from the Alabama facility.  U.S. Steel also has flat-roll operations in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Canada, according to its annual report.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson recently outlined a plan to get the city's police and fire personnel raises.  The Common Council on Tuesday begin delivering when it approved $2,500 average raises for them.

The pay raises would be the first part of a pledge that Freeman-Wilson made earlier this month to bolster pay by $10,000 during the next three years.  The ordinance provides that all officers and firefighters, except the Chiefs, are to receive the $2,500.00 increase effective immediately.

Providing increased salaries are meant to help Gary maintain qualified police officers and firefighters many of whom have been leaving the city to work for higher-paying law enforcement agencies in surrounding communities.  Gary's police are the lowest paid in the county.

Yet the mayor called it a "tragic irony" that all those officers leaving created the cost savings that will make it possible for Gary city government to afford the pay raises for this year. "It is the reason we are able to afford the raises," Freeman-Wilson said, adding later, "There are certain cost-savings we gained from having those officers leave."

Council President Kyle Allen said the police department currently is budgeted for 205 officers, compared to 235 officers last year, while Councilman Ronier Scott, D-6th, said he was pleased this year's pay raises were provided without cutting other agencies or programs.  "This doesn't change our bottom line," he said.

City Controller Celita Green, in a brief presentation concerning the pay raises, said the $2,500 increase is an average with some police officers and firefighters getting slightly more than that amount and others getting a little less.  She said the actual size of a person's raise will be determined by their rank within the departments, with city officials required to provide equal salaries to police and fire officials of comparable positions.

The annual pay for the lowest-ranking firefighters and patrol officers will be increased from $39,304 to $41,804.  Firefighters also trained as emergency medical technicians and more experienced police officers will increase from $41,250 to $43,740.  Higher-ranking officers within the police and fire departments will receive a comparable raise, although the police and fire chiefs will not receive increases in their current salaries of $104,738 apiece.

The increases were provided for in an ordinance that Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, introduced Tuesday.  That ordinance was advanced through the legislative procedure all in one day, with no public review or discussion of the measure until after the council members took a 7-0 vote of approval.  Council members Mildred Shannon, D-1st, and Roy Pratt, D-at large, were not present for the vote.

The issue of pay raises for police officers and firefighters is not new, nor is it complete.  The mayor said officials have been talking about this issue since last October, with various issues constantly popping up to thwart the matter including costs of insurance increasing by nearly 40%.  But with the reduction in staff, the issue moved forward although staff reductions will not be relied upon to provide for the pay raises promised by the mayor for 2016 and 2017.

Next year's budget that Common Council officials will begin compiling beginning next month will include a $5,000 raise, with 2017's budget providing the remaining $2,500 boost in pay.  Freeman-Wilson said city officials have yet to figure out where the money will come from in order to cover the additional payroll cost, although it is likely that other city agencies and programs will have to receive cuts from their current funding in order to find the needed money.  "Those are new budgets, we'll be able to prepare them to include the extra money," the mayor said.  "There is no one who takes the idea of our public safety officials more seriously than I."

Local Steel Output Surges as Nation Production Reaches Six-month High
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[18 Aug 2015]

Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region soared to 647,000T last week, as national steel output hit a six-month high.

Great Lakes steel production shot up by 20,000T, or 3.1%, in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.  Overall U.S. steel output rose by 0.6% over the same period.

Production in the Southern District, which encompasses mini-mills across the South, fell to 597,000T last week,down from 615,000 tons the week before.

Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.768 million tons, up from 1.756 million tons a week earlier.  Trade publication American Metals Market said it's the highest level national output has reached in the last six months.

Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 73.9% last week, up from 73.4% a year earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been a much more robust 80.2% at the same time a year earlier.  Year-to-date steel output has been 55.7 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.6%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.  Overall U.S. production trails 2014 by 7.8%.

Election Board Continues Probe of Gary Mayor Campaign Finances
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Lu Ann Franklin
[18 Aug 2015]

CROWN POINT | A strenuous debate Tuesday about how to deal with complaints brought against the handling of finances by Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilsons campaign committee again occupied the Lake County Board of Elections.

Following last Mays primary, four complaints were filed by Democratic mayoral challengers Jim Nowacki and Robert L. "Mr. Buggs" Sr., as well as Hammond resident Ken Davidson.  Freeman-Wilson outpolled a field of challengers in that election.

The complaints Nowacki and Buggs filed included allegedly improper contributions by Gary Community School Corp., unitemized receipts and contributions and illegible and/or missing reports.  The complaints also included discrepancies in the amount of campaign contributions, the names of campaign donors and how some of the funds were distributed.

Nowackis complaint also focused on subpoenaing members of Freeman-Wilsons campaign committee as witnesses in a hearing.  Davidson questioned a $10,000 contribution made by cashiers check on March 5, 2013, allegedly from Roosevelt Haywood III, although the name on the receipt for the check was misspelled.

At its July 21 meeting, the board voted 3-2 to quash a major portion of one of those complaints.  Instead, the commissioners ordered the election board staff and lawyers for both political parties to conduct a field investigation.

At Tuesdays election board meeting, the staff and attorneys indicated information from that initial field investigation meeting had not yet been shared with the board.  Commissioners voted unanimously to continue the field investigation and obtain information from Freeman-Wilsons campaign committee that might include BMO Harris Bank documents.

Police say they had a quiet weekend in Gary.  With only one shooting, two stabbings and a robbery reported, Gary police experienced a relatively quiet weekend for violent crimes.

Two men a 35-year-old from Cedar Lake and an 18-year-old from Crown Point, both reported they were stabbed during an altercation about 11:45 p.m. Saturday in an alley in the 2000 block of Pennsylvania St, police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

The Crown Point victim was in the alley when police arrived.  Medics took him to the hospital for treatment.  About two hours later, the second victim arrived at the hospital and investigators believe he was part of the same incident, Westerfield said.

Detective Lorenzo Davis is investigating the stabbings.  Westerfield said police suspect a 26-year-old Gary man is responsible for both attacks.  Anyone who has information about the suspect can call Davis at 219-881-4738.

At about 10 p.m. Sunday, a 36-year-old Gary man reported he had been shot while driving on 5th Av near McDonald's at Grant St, police said.  The victim drove south on Grant St to the Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus for treatment.

Sgt. Dan Callahan is investigating the shooting.  Anyone with information can call him at 219-881-1210.

Family Dollar at 4330 Broadway in Glen Park was robbed late Saturday morning, a police report states.  A black man wearing a black T-shirt and jeans robbed the store and ran from the area, the report states.

The Gazette has exclusively obtained documents showing that the City of Gary worked with Jewell Harris, Sr. to transfer property owned by a defunct corporation to satisfy his $1,530,285.32 liability to the city under a federal criminal prosecution.  The problem with the transfer is that the property had already been sold at tax sale to Portone, Inc. when the City of Gary accepted the deed.

According to records maintained by the Lake County Auditor, Jewell Harris, Sr. also owed $233,710.90 in property taxes as of June, 2014.  The balance remaining due after the tax sale, approximately $227,000.00, is to be collected on behalf of the Citizens of Lake County.  Lake County Commissioners Roosevelt Allen, Gerry Scheub and Mike Repay have hired Jewell Harris, Jr. for that task.

Documents filed in Lake Superior Court show that Jewell Harris, Sr. wrote to Joe Van Dyk, Gary's Director of Redevelopment, just one week after the 19 Mar 2014 tax sale and offered to give the property in exchange for elimination or reduction of the restitution amount owed.  The Response from Van Dyk has not yet been received, but it is clear that Van Dyk readily accepted the offer.  On 16 Jul 2014 a quitclaim deed was prepared and presented to the City of Gary Department of Redevelopment purportedly transferring the property.

The City of Gary clearly knew about the tax sale prior to accepting the quitclaim deed from Harris.  On 2 Jul 2014 City Attorney Gregory Thomas filed an "Emergency Petition to Set Aside Tax Sale."  In the petition, Thomas alleges that the city received a deed from Enterprise Properties, LLC in 2013.  Most notably, the city alleges that they relied on the assurances of Roosevelt Allen and John Dull that the property would not be sold at tax sale.

In an affidavit from Jewell Harris, Jr., attorney for Jewell Harris, Sr., the Gary Sanitary District and Lake County Commissioners, alleges that the property was ONLY put on the tax sale because of a complaint from Portone, Inc, the ultimate purchaser at the tax sale.< >

Harris, Jr. states, under oath, that Roosevelt Allen, Jr. and John Dull repeatedly removed the property from the tax sale.  After filing the Emergency Petition to Set Aside Tax Sale on 2 Jul 2014 the city accepted what purported to be a deed from Enterprise Properties, Inc. a/k/a Jewell Harris, Sr. on 16 Jul 2014 and filed it the same day.< >

In the meantime, Jewell Harris, Jr. and Tramel Raggs worked to try to cancel the tax sale.  This is clearly evidenced by an undated e-mail from John Dull which was included in the Court documents.  Dull states "I met with Tramel [Raggs] and we reviewed our sale statute."  Dull goes on to explain that notice to the City of Gary was not required under Indiana law.  He concludes, "For the foregoing reasons, the sale of the property at the March, 2014 sale is valid and you should issue the certificate."

So the Gary Schools, Lake County and the City of Gary will probably never collect the $227,000 in delinquent taxes owed by Jewell Harris, Sr., and the City of Gary has accepted a worthless deed in exchange for restitution in a criminal case.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Let's see if I have this right:  The county hires son to sue father?  I am certain Jr. will go after Sr. with a vengance!  At the same time, Jr. is the attorney for both Sr. and the county?  No conflict of interest there!  How can this guy represent both the city who was duped by the acts of Sr. and the guy comitting the duplicity, his dad? 

Two adults are in custody but not before they did major damage to Wirt/Emerson High School in Gary.  The school is just the latest to be hit by "scrappers"- those who break into buildings and steal anything which can be sold to a scrap yard.

According to a social media post by Dr. Cheryl Pruitt, Superintendent of Schools:  "When will it stop.  Major lost [sic]and damage."

Adrian Richie, Principal of Wirt/Emerson:  Came to the school early this Saturday morning to work on student schedules and this is the mess I found. . . .  Looks like they were after anything that had some copper or brass they could take.  That is how they busted up instruments and the copper water pipes throughout the rooms!  Crazy.  The post says that the entire lower art wing was flooded.

A 24 year old and a 36 year old were in custody.

School officials sat silently as Lew Wallace High School was trashed and looted in April of this year.  Scrappers ripped copper pipes from the ceiling and walls of the historic school.  Nearly every abandoned Gary School has been looted for all the metal inside.  This is the first report the Gazette has gotten of a functioning school being looted for metal.  There have been reports of functioning businesses being looted for scrap metal in Gary.  At one time, scrappers were stealing live copper wiring from the poles.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  This is the first I have heard of Lew Wallace being vandalized; though I am not at all surprised.  Long ago I predicted the site would never sell and ultimately deteriorate into yet another Gary rathole.

Desperate measures, during desperate times, by desperate people!

Does Freeman-Wilson Have Eye on Greener Pastures?
Compiled From a Gary Free-Press Report by Silas G. Sconiers
[14 Aug 2015]

Since last year, I have been hearing that Mayor Freeman-WIlson is planning on resigning before the end of 2015.  I chalked it up to just another rumor and wishful thinking on the part of the gossipers.  However, after more recently hearing the same thing from an individual that is part of her inner circle, there may actually be something to it?

Apparently, one of her sorority sisters, recently getting a big position on the East Coast, has opened up some appetizing opportunities for her.  And face it, this whole Gary gig has not worked out very well for her (and certainly not for anyone else besides her largest campaign contributors and closest pals).  And it is a good career move if she can get outta Dodge before everything collapses completely.  She will be able to blame the citys collapse on her absence.

And what gives a lot of weight to what I had previously dismissed as rumor, is that there are already several individuals jockeying for position to get the support of the precinct caucus.  So far, Mike Brown and Ron Brewer have their hats in the ring.

Not even halfway through August, and nine Gary homicides.

The sudden concentration of violent deaths eight young men and a teenage girl sets every investigator into motion, whether they are assigned a case or not, Investigations Cmdr. Del Stout said last week.  "Everybody pitches in," he said, whether it's helping to canvas an area, run background checks or search for suspects.

Of the August cases, charges are filed in two the shooting deaths of two 18-year-olds, James Powell (#38) and Ray Washington (#39), and Ray Lewis (#41), of Merrillville.  Shelton Curtis, 22, is in custody charged with murder.  Police say a dispute rose over the sale of marijuana. Meanwhile, Justin Summers, 19, of Gary, has been charged in Lewis' death, police said.

The other cases from this month and a majority of this year's 38* homicides remain unsolved.  Police say there are a number of factors that play into getting charges filed.  Often, detectives know who did it, but can't find witnesses who will "put it on paper" making the information official.

Even some victims are reluctant to cooperate.  "I've had victims go to their death beds refusing to tell us who shot them," Lt. Thomas Pawlak said. "Either the victims are involved in criminal activity or they feel like they will take care of it themselves," he said.

Even though the clearance rate is low, the department has taken steps to solve more cases.  Every Monday Gary detectives, including those assigned to various area task forces, such as ATF, U.S. Marshal Service and the Lake County Gang Task Force, meet to review the latest cases. "We brainstorm," Pawlak said.  "We go over every case, who we're looking at.  Someone might bring up a name and find out someone else is looking at them for another case.  This keeps everyone in the loop."

Every unsolved homicide case remains open, Pawlak said.  "We pursue it until the leads dry up, then all we can do is wait for something to break," he said.  For example, Sgt. Dan Callahan and Detective Lorenzo Davis obtained new information on a 2007 homicide after new evidence surfaced, Pawlak said.

Lake County Sheriff John Buncich assigned two investigators to work cases in Gary last year.  In June, he added a third and provided the joint unit with office space in Crown Point.  Gary has five detectives on the joint homicide team.  The detectives operate out of both the Public Safety Facility in Gary and the Lake County police department in Crown Point.  The Gary-Lake County homicide unit allows those detectives to focus on the deaths, while Pawlak's Violent Crimes Unit handles the rest.

Homicides are up compared to last year, but overall violent crime is down for the first six months of 2015, statistics show.  From January through June of 2013, Gary reported 1,849 violent crimes, which includes homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.  In the same time period in 2014, there were 1,328 cases and during that period this year, 1,060, police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

On Monday, after two homicides within hours of each other, the Gary Violent Crimes Unit office bustled with activity as both units focused on the unrelated shooting deaths of Lewis, 24, and Darnell Jones (#40), 30.  "It's a team effort," Pawlak said.  He admitted that the flood of violent deaths this month has placed all investigators under additional pressure.

An FBI study published in the February, 2008, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin stated that, nationally, police departments that average at least 25 homicides per year reported that each investigator carried five cases.  "Statistically, departments with detectives who handled fewer than five per year as a primary investigator had a 5.4% higher clearance rate than those with detectives who had higher case loads," the report states.

The joint homicide unit won't enjoy the luxury of just five cases per detective this year.  Gary Detective Alex Jones already has eight homicide cases, including two this month and one in July.  "It does frustrate me because I can't give any of them my full attention," he said.  "But we all do help each other."

The patrol division, too, feels the crush of calls, often with less than the minimum number of 12 officers per shift required in the bargaining agreement with the city, as the Post-Tribune has reported.

Last Sunday, on the night Lewis was shot to death, the afternoon patrol shift fielded 82 calls.  Of those, 22 were disturbances, the department's daily log shows.  Policy demands that two officers respond to disturbances.  While some are petty squabbles, any of those 22 could have erupted into yet another violent death, police note.

For more seasoned detectives, the summer of 2015 reminds them of 1995, the year Gary set a record 132 homicides.  Then, it was the influx of crack cocaine and work of convicted serial killer Eugene V. Britt that set the statistics spiraling.  A breakdown of this year's homicides shows 58% are gang and/or drug related, while the remaining 42% are "otherdomestic, robbery, etc.," Pawlak said.

Pawlak was a traffic cop 20 years ago, working midnights.  Then and now, a shortage of manpower as officers left for better-paying jobs, left those who remain with rickety squad cars and limited equipment and sinking morale.  It requires patrol officers and investigators alike to make the best use of what is available each other.  "We all work together," he said.

Gary Resident Charged in Monday's Shooting Death of Merrillville Man
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joyce Russell
[14 Aug 2015]

GARY | A Gary resident has been arrested in the Monday night shooting death of a Merrillville man.

Justin Summers, 19, has been charged with homicide, aggravated battery, battery and criminal recklessness in the death of Ray A. Lewis (#41), 24, of the 9000 block of Lane St in Merrillville, and the aggravated battery of Christian Muniz, 19, of Merrillville.

Lewis was pronounced dead at 10:17 p.m., Monday night at the Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus in Gary following the shooting in the 4600 block of Harrison St.

Detective Alexander Jones filed charges against Summers on Friday and he is in custody, Gary Police Lt. Dawn Westerfield said Friday night.

Gary Police first became aware of the shooting of Muniz when he was brought to the hospital for his injuries. Upon speaking with Muniz, officers went to the area of 4600 Harrison St where Ray Lewis was found deceased, Westerfield said in a news release.

A woman's voice calling "officer down" sent every Gary officer on the midnight shift Wednesday hearts pounding and minds racing to the scene.

What they found was an unmarked squad car with a broken right window, police spokeswoman Lt. Dawn Westerfield said.

Minutes later, police arrested Lynda Lacy, 19, of Gary, who is charged with criminal mischief, criminal trespass, resisting law enforcement and unlawful use of a communication medium, Westerfield said.

Lacy appeared in Gary City Court on the misdemeanor charges Wednesday afternoon.  Judge Deidre Monroe said Lacy would be ordered to undergo drug testing and psychiatric evaluation while in custody.

The call came at 1:50 a.m. on the Gary police channel usually reserved for officers seeking information about car registrations and warrant checks.  When a dispatcher asked for more detail, the voice repeated the call for help, Westerfield said.

Units in the area responded to the Gary Police Department and did a roll call of every working officer to ensure their well being, Westerfield said.  Police then searched the area and found a window broken out of a police vehicle parked at the station.  The radio in the unit was turned on and tuned to the station used in the transmissions.  The damaged squad was parked at the south side of the Public Safety Facility, one of two lots reserved for policed cars.  The radio was on when officers arrived, Westerfield said.

Police began searching the area and learned from Patrolman John Faulkner that he saw a woman wearing a gray sweatshirt and blue jeans walking through the lot a few minutes earlier, the police report states.

Patrolman Justin Hedrick saw a woman matching that description on Polk St, just south of the station.  As he drove up to her, she started to run west through an alley, then climbing over a cyclone fence, police said.  Hedrick ordered her to stop, but she continued to run west between houses until she fell in the 600 block of Fillmore St.  The fall resulted in her being able to be taken into custody.

GARY | Two men wanted in connection with a drug deal gone bad double homicide in Gary last week are in police custody, officials said early Wednesday.

Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield, spokeswoman for the Gary Police Department, said Shelton Curtis and Kevin Blackmon, both 22 of Gary, were in police custody Tuesday afternoon.

Curtis was charged Monday with two counts of murder in the Aug. 6 shooting deaths of Raymond Washington-Whitehead, 17 of Merrillville, and James Powell, 18 of Gary, in the 1100 block of Lane St in Gary.  Blackmon was charged Monday with assisting a criminal.

Both were also charged with attempted dealing in marijuana, hash oil, hashish or salvia.

Lake County Sheriff Doubling Patrols on Gary's Mean Streets
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carrie Napoleon
[12 Aug 2015]

The Lake County Sheriff's Department plans to double the number of officers patrolling Gary streets to battle a spike in homicides this summer.

"It is an escalating problem," Sheriff John Buncich told the Lake County Council, which approved $200,000 in overtime Tuesday to pay for the patrols.

Since July 1, there have been at least 16 homicides in the city, including two overnight Monday.  Buncich said the department's forensic team, along with officers on the combined homicide unit, has been working day and night and there is no end in sight to the violence.

Buncich blamed much of the problem on gangs and drugs.  Gangs are fighting over customers who come to the city from neighboring communities to buy drugs, the sheriff said.  In some cases, young drug buyers and innocent bystanders are killed in the gunbattles.

"Several of these homicides are occurring in broad daylight," Buncich said.  "I've never seen so many guns on the street."  One person arrested recently had a 50-round clip, he said.

The rise in homicides comes as more and more Gary police officers leave the force.  The city has lost 28 officers since the beginning of the year, many to better-paying departments, officials said.  Police in Gary are the lowest paid in Lake County.

"This is an emergency situation in the city," Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt Allen Jr. said, adding that the overtime would be a short-term measure while Gary officials reorganize the police force and find new revenue to raise the pay of its officers.

Councilmen Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, and Eldon Strong, R-Crown Point, said they support helping the city during the "surge" in violent crime but warned that other options needed to be pursued.  "If this is going to be an ongoing issue, there has to be some tough discussions with the city.  We are all in this together, too," Dernulc said.

Great Lakes Steel Production Falls by 19,000T
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[11 Aug 2015]

Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region slumped to 627,000T last week.

Great Lakes steel production slid by 19,000T, or 2.9%, in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.

Local steel output has been much lower than normal all this year because of a surfeit of imports that now account for a record-shattering 31% of the total market share.  Overall U.S. production trails 2014 by 7.7%.

Production in the Southern District, which encompasses mini-mills across the South, rebounded to 615,000T last week, up from 596,000T the week before.

Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.756 million tons, down 0.2% from 1.76 million tons a week earlier.  Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 73.4% last week, down from 73.6% a year earlier.  The capacity utilization rate had been a much more robust 80.2% at the same time a year earlier.

Year-to-date steel output has been 54 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.5%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Two men have died and another was wounded in Gary shootings since Monday night, police said.

About 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, police found a man on the ground near the 2000 block of Carolina St who had died of multiple gunshot wounds, said Lt. Dawn Westerfield, a Gary Police Department spokeswoman.  Police did not immediately have information about his age or the circumstances of the shooting.

On Monday night, a shooting incident near the 4600 block of Harrison St left one man dead and another wounded.

About 9 p.m., Gary police were notified of a gunshot victim at Methodist Hospitals Northlake Campus, according to a news release from Gary police.

A witness who was at the house at the time of the shooting provided a statement, Detective George Dickerson said.

While looking for evidence in the area where the man said he was shot, police found the body of another man.  Gary police believe he was fatally shot, according to Westerfield.

Both men are in their early 20s, Westerfield said.

The surviving man will be airlifted to a Chicago hospital for treatment.  Westerfield declined to specify which hospital.

Air Traffic Grows at Gary Int'l in 1st 7 Months of 2015
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff Report
[11 Aug 2015]

GARY, Ind. (AP) Gary/Chicago International Airport has seen an increase in air traffic through the first seven months of this year.

Airport Manager Delbert Brown told the airport authority board at a Monday meeting that traffic is up 33% as compared to the same point a year ago.  The (Munster) Times reports the airport is on track to exceed the number of landings and takeoffs that took place all last year.

Brown says people are taking notice of the airport following positive publicity, including the opening of a $174 million runway expansion earlier this summer.  Supporters said the expansion could provide an economic boost for the region.

AvPorts signed a deal to operate the airport for up to 30 years in January 2014.

Gary Man Charged in Double Homicide
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[10 Aug 2015]

An argument over the price of marijuana led to two teens being fatally shot Thursday morning, police said.

James Powell, 18, of Gary, and Raymond Washington, 18, of Merrillville, were found dead at a suspected drug house shortly before noon on 6 Aug.

Shelton Curtis, 25, who lives a block from the scene of the shooting deaths in the 1100 block of Lane St, is charged with two counts of murder and misdemeanor attempted sale of marijuana, court records show.

Kevin Blackmon, 22, who lives in the Marshalltown subdivision on Gary's east side, is charged with assisting a criminal and misdemeanor attempted sale of marijuana, court records state.  He was at the house at the time of the shooting and allegedly removed evidence from the scene after both teens were shot, the probable cause affidavit states.

Neither suspect is in custody.  When apprehended, Curtis will be held without bail.  Blackmon would need to post $25,000 to be released.

No one has been living at the house since Thursday, police said.  About 2 a.m. Monday, someone tossed a Molotov cocktail into the house, causing considerable fire damage to the interior, police said.  Police had already seized drugs and drug paraphernalia from the house, the affidavit states.

A witness who was at the house at the time of the shooting provided a statement, Detective George Dickerson said.

The witness told Lake County Sgt. Edward Jenkins that shortly before the shooting, he saw Curtis, known as "T-man," and Blackmon bagging up marijuana in the bedroom that Curtis had been renting, the affidavit states.  Powell and Washington, known as "Ghost," arrived, and Curtis and Washington argued, with Curtis saying he wanted more money and Washington wanting more marijuana for the cash he had, the affidavit states.

Curtis and Washington struggled, and both pulled out handguns, documents said.  Curtis shot first, sending Washington to the floor near the entrance of the home, the affidavit states.  A semi-automatic handgun was found on the floor near the victim.

Both teens were pronounced dead at the scene.

When the witness looked out, he saw Powell on the ground and heard Blackmon tell Curtis "grab their guns and let's go," the affidavit states.

During a canvassing of the neighborhood, police recovered about 1 ounce of suspected marijuana under a bush in a path between the scene of the crime and the home where Curtis was living, the affidavit states.

Anyone with information about the location of either suspect can call investigators at 219-755-3281 or 219-881-1210. Anyone who comes in contact with Curtis or Blackmon should call 911.

At its regular monthly meeting, the Gary Police Civil Service Commission acknowledged, without comment, resignation notices from Sgt. Pete Sormaz, Cpl. Jeffery Hornyak, Cpl. Daniel Quasney and Patrolman Diego Alvarez.  Two more, Patrolmen James Sheets and April Brown, have submitted letters of resignation that were not included in the board's action.

All six have gone to other law enforcement agencies that pay more than Gary, which has the lowest annual salary in the county.  Gary's elected officials its mayor and nine city council members are among the highest paid in the state.

Since December, 2013, the department has lost at least 31 officers, mostly through resignations or retirements.  During that time, the city hired less than 20 replacements.  The budget allows for 235 officers, but police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Decanter said the number stands at 204, which includes at least six on extended sick leave.

In the meantime, homicides are up more than 70% compared to last year.

Police Bulk Up Presence in Gary after Eight homicides in Eight Days
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[7 Aug 2015]

The Lake County Sheriff's Department, the Gary Police Department, the Portage Police Department, the Regional Stop Team and Indiana State Police swarmed across the city in a sweep that netted 18 arrests Thursday night, including a suspect in a shooting.

Police sought out people with active warrants for their arrest in an effort to put a stop to the violence.  The beefed-up police presence resulted in the arrest of Anrell K. Lakey, 21, of Gary, on charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery, battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in serious bodily injury, three counts of attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon and three counts of criminal recklessness.

Lakey was a suspect in a shooting Thursday night in Glen Park where a man was shot in the abdomen, just hours before two more men were shot to death on the city's west side.  Police pulled him over in a white Toyota Camry by the 1200 block of E 21st Av at about 9 p.m., and found spent shell casings in the vehicle, according to a news release.

Gary has had 36* homicides so far this year.  Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson called on residents during a news conference Tuesday to double-down on efforts to reduce violence, such as talking to police, testifying as witnesses and volunteering to clean up neighborhoods.

Police arrested Lakey and 17 more men over the course of Thursday night, nabbing them mostly on warrants, including for possession of cocaine.  Five were taken to the Gary Police Department, while one was transported to Porter County on a warrant and 12 more were taken to the Lake County Jail.  Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said the arrests were just one part of a larger effort to crack down on crime in Gary, especially violent crime.

Homicide victims in Gary over the past week include Daja Brookshire, 15, Alec McCloud, 44, Valerie Gonzalez, 27, Utonise Harper, 22, Terrence L. Sallee II, 24, David Pippins, 21, James Powell, 18, and Raymond Washington-Whitehead, 18.

Gary Man Wounded Despite Extra Patrols
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[7 Aug 2015]

Four police agencies Lake County, Portage, Indiana State and the Regional Stop Team sent units to aid Gary police Thursday evening in a show of force, mostly in Glen Park but throughout the city.

Their presence was evident. Along U.S. 20, between I-65 and IN 51, four teams of officers were engaged in simultaneous traffic stops about 8 p.m.

Minutes before squad cars saturated the Glen Park neighborhood, a man was critically wounded standing outside his home.

The shooting seemed to bolster Mayor Karen-Freeman Wilson's comment during a news conference this week about the alarming rise in homicides:  "If we had 500 officers in the police department, it would not prevent the occurrences we have been seeing.  We are not able to have an officer on every street corner at all times," she said.

Devon Hudson, 26, was shot three times as he and friends stood outside his home in the 4300 block of Monroe St. Witnesses told police they had just returned from the water park and Hudson asked Lackey to moved his car, which was blocking their path, court records state.  Lackey drove off, but then returned and appeared angry.

"Devon then went to the trunk of his car and grabbed two sets of boxing gloves and tossed one set of the gloves in the grass and told Arnell Lackey, 'we can settle this like men,' " the probable cause affidavit states.  Lackey began shooting, striking Hudson, then aiming at others in the group as well.  No one else was injured, police said.

Hudson is in critical condition at the intensive care unit of the Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus, police said.

A crowd gathered quickly outside the pale blue house on Lane Street where two teens were shot to death shortly before noon Thursday.

Both had been wounded several times.  One victim was lying outside a residence on the 1100 block of Lane St in the Tarrytown subdivision and the second was just inside the door of the house, police said.

Their deaths are the sixth and seventh homicides since Sunday and the second double homicide in the past week, bringing the total for the year to 36*, almost double for the number of homicides this time in 2014.

The Lake County coroner identified the victims as James Powell, 18, who lived about a mile away in the 2400 block of Whitcomb St, and Raymond Washington-Whitehead, 18, of Merrillville.  They were both pronounced dead about 1 p.m., a news release from the coroner states.

Investigators immediately began canvassing the neighborhood, speaking to residents about what they heard or saw as shots were fired.  Relatives and friends also arrived at the scene, and police had to break up a small disturbance outside the crime scene tape, police said.

Police said it appears the house had been the scene of prior drug activity, but investigators declined to speculate on any motive for the double slaying.

A third man was shot in the abdomen about 6 p.m. in the 4300 block of Monroe St, Gary police Sgt. Thomas Decanter said.  The man was in surgery Thursday night at a local hospital, and a suspect was taken into custody, he said.

Two More Broadway Buildings Coming Down
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Greg Tejada
[6 Aug 2015]

The Gary Redevelopment Commission approved a contract for just over $110,000 for a demolition company to tear down a pair of structures in the 600 block of Broadway in the heart of downtown.

JM Industrial Services, Inc., was awarded the contract for $110,800.  The commission on Wednesday voted 3-0 to approve the deal to tear down the structures at 652-654 Broadway and at 656-658 Broadway

Redevelopment director Joseph Van Dyk said demolition of other structures in the area leave those two structures exposed to the elements, and that both structures need to be torn down before they collapse under their own weight.  "They're collapsing from the back," Van Dyk said.  "They can't last much longer on their own."

This particular demolition is part of a larger effort to clear significant tracts of land on the downtown Gary business district along Broadway, in hopes of finding developers who would build new projects to help revitalize the Northwest Indiana city.

Local Officials Don't Get Pass From Gary Schools Superintendent
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Ed Bierschenk
[6 Aug 2015]

GARY | Schools Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt is pressing some local officials to live up to their volunteer commitments or step aside as she tries to marshal forces to get Gary's schools ready for the coming school year.

The school year starts Aug. 24, but at a meeting Thursday updates were only provided on progress being made in cleanup efforts for five of the 12 schools.

"Better than none," said Daniel Bundridge, director of district improvement for the Indiana Department of Education.

Pruitt, however, said that people leading the committees need to live up to their commitments.  Many of those who initially volunteered to serve on the committee are elected representatives in local and state government.  Pruitt said the school district needs not just people who voice their support, but those who "really want to step up to the plate and get it done."

Committee members will have another chance to live up to their commitments at a meeting next Thursday.

State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said he and four others on his committee responsible for the Beveridge Elementary School and the Frankie Woods McCullough Academy for Girls committed to raise $3,000 each.  He said at Thursday's meeting that he has raised $1,500.  He said most of the money would be directed to Beveridge which is an older school that has more maintenance needs.

Gary Community School Corp. spokeswoman Charmella Greer said the district is attempting to raise about $50,000 to meet the needs at each of the local schools, which can include paint, light bulbs, and other items.  In addition, the district is seeking volunteers to help paint, change light bulbs, replace ceiling tiles and stair treads, cut and edge grass and make other improvements at the schools.

Those interested in helping can visit the school corporation's website at garycsc.k12.in.us/curbappeal to donate through GoFundMe.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Is GoFundMe to be the new face of public education financing in Gary?

GARY | Its been 10 months since police found the decaying body of Teaira Batey in a vacant building in Gary.

The time period is nearly how long Batey, of Gary, had been missing before she was found inside the 1800 block of E 19th Av.  Though the property had been boarded up following the discovery of the body, the property is now unsecured and open for anyone to wander in and explore.

In fact, the three other properties where a total of six women, including Batey, were found dead last fall are all unsecured and open.  Police were led to the properties last October after Darren Vann, 44, of Gary, allegedly confessed to killing the women -- in addition to a seventh woman in Hammond.

Some residents in the Gary neighborhoods where the six women were found think it's time to tear down the structures.

Justin James,lives next door to the house where Bateys body was found.  James hasn't seen people coming in and out of the house, but he has peeked in and found covers indicating someone must be sleeping in the house.  "They need to tear it down," James said.  "Thats what they need to do."

LaLosa Burns, Gary spokeswoman, said the four structures remain on the demolition list -- though they are not set for immediate demolition because of the ongoing criminal investigations.  Burns said the houses were boarded up, but said police access the property.

It's unclear how long the houses had been vacant when the women were found.  All four properties are delinquent more than $51,000 in taxes, according to county records.  The four properties are up for sale at the next county tax sale in September.

The house were Batey was found is now owned by Gary Redevelopment Commission, according to county records.

The abandoned home at 2200 Massachusetts St., where the body of Tracy L. Martin, 41, of Gary, was discovered was last owned by For Women Only nonprofit.  The back of the house remains wide open to Broadway.  Inside, paint is chipping off the walls, a couch and chair sit in a disheveled room and a tree branch is growing into the house from a partially boarded-up window.

About 3 miles away, Barbara Gibson lives down the street from the house at 4330 Massachusetts St, where Kristine Williams, 36, of Gary, was found dead.  A padlock secures the front door, and bars on windows prevent anyone from going inside.  However, the backyard fence is knocked down and a backdoor is open.  For Gibson, knocking down the house is the start of what she thinks the city should do in the neighborhood.

In the 400 block of E 43rd Av, where 3 bodies were found the house is boarded up in the front and is nearly covered with overgrown grass. In the rear, a door is wide open, and a second structure on the property is also unsecured.

Charmaine Blanchard, who lives around the corner, thinks the city should tear down all the abandoned structures in the neighborhood.  "It's too dangerous like this," Blanchard said.  "There's no security whatsoever like this."  A lifelong Gary resident, Blanchard is often "scared as hell" just to walk to her car when she has to go to work, she said.  She counts on a neighbor across the street to keep an eye out on her home.  "I just wish (the abandoned houses) would be gone," Blanchard said.  "That's the only way this community is going to get better."

Gary Loses 2 More Police Officers, Many More to Follow
Compiled From a nwiGazette Report by Ken Davidson
[5 Aug 2015]

At a meeting of the Board of Public Works today, the City of Gary officially accepted the resignations of two more police officers.  9 year veteran James Sheets and 4 year veteran April Brown both resigned from the force to take a position with a neighboring department.

In private, ranking officers say they would not be surprised to see many more resignations in coming months.  Gary officers openly discuss the starting pay and equipment which other departments provide.  FOP President Sam Abegg, when asked about equipment, stated:

Without law and order nothing else exists.  Until we start being treated as such this city will never see itself turn around; theyll be chasing their tail.  Its gonna be a hell of a time when you call for the police and it takes them an hour to walk there; and even then, at the rate were losing officers, there may be no one to respondSam Abegg, FOP President, Gary, Indiana

For her part, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson has stated the City does not have enough money to provide pay raises and equipment for the police department.

Despite that, the Mayor recently replaced her own 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe Police Vehicle, one of the nicest the department owns, with a 2015 Dodge Durango Police Vehicle.  The 2011 vehicle was given to the police department only after the Mayor was done with it.  Last year the City received a grant for bulletproof vests for police officers, but those vests were never provided.  The City receives federal COPS Technology grants, but radio and other equipment is in dire need of repair.  And finally, when speaking of priorities, the administration rushed through a $3M grant to political insider Vance Kenney in 2014, just weeks before telling Police and Fire personnel the City could not afford to give them a raise.

Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said Tuesday she plans to provide salary increases for Gary's police officers and firefighters in 2016.

City officials in recent months have hinted they were considering pay raises for public safety officials when they put together the municipal budget for next year.  It would be the first pay hike for police and fire officials in nearly a decade.

But the mayor, who previously has refused to commit herself on the issue, used a press conference to announce a $70,000 donation from NIPSCO to say that part of the solution to reducing the level of violent crime in Gary is providing higher salaries so that the Gary police and fire departments can attract better quality and more experienced officers.

Freeman-Wilson would not offer any specifics about the pay raise, other than to say that she would make an announcement later this week.

She did say that money to provide higher salaries would come about because of cuts to be made in other city government agencies and programs, although she would not say Tuesday what programs would be cut or how much the cuts would amount to.

Ronald Brewer, the Common Council's vice president, said that "everything is up for grabs" in terms of areas in the city budget that could be cut.  "Nothing will be spared," he said.

Freeman-Wilson would make a proposal, but ultimately the Common Council would have to review her measure and would have the authority to alter it if they saw fit.

Police Chief Larry McKinley said he thinks the idea is worthwhile.  "It would give us an enhanced police presence," McKinley said.

Freeman-Wilson said that higher salaries alone aren't the key to reducing Gary's homicide rate, which thus far in 2015 totals 34* dead, with six of those slayings occurring during the past week.  "If we had 500 officers in the police department, it would not prevent the occurrences we have been seeing," the mayor said.  "We are not able to have an officer on every street corner at all times.

Shooting Deaths Bring Week's Total to 6 in Gary
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[4 Aug 2015]

Within a few minutes Monday night, Gary police received calls of three shooting victims at two separate locations.

Before the night was over, two of those victims died, bringing the number of shooting deaths in the city to six in six days for a total of 34* homicides this year.  That's a 57% increase over the same time last year.  Detectives have filed charges or questioned a person of interest in nine of those cases, according to police and online records.

At this time last year, the city had logged 20 homicides and made arrests in five of those cases.

Gary Officials Call on Community to Curb Uptick in Violent Crime
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[4 Aug 2015]

GARY | Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said Tuesday that a surge in violent crime in Gary is no reason for discouragement but instead a call to double-down on a number of efforts.

The city has seen six homicides in six days, and the violence has to stop, officials said.

Law enforcement plays a vital role in reducing crime, but there is a role for everyone inside the city and beyond, Freeman-Wilson said.

"Its not just the corporate community. Its not just small businesses or large businesses.  Its not just our work as it relates to the faith community, because they are actively involved," Freeman-Wilson said.  "It's all of us working together.  Its law enforcement.  It's the community being willing to say what they see and to serve as witnesses and to help police as they work.

"It cant be a march here or a march there.  It cant be one or two people willing to come forward in one or two neighborhoods," she said.  "We have to do this all together."

GARY | A 44-year-old Gary man and a 27-year-old Chicago woman were shot and killed in separate incidents in Gary Monday night.

Alec McCloud of the 2100 block of Delaware Pl was pronounced dead at 9:16 p.m. at The Methodist Hospitals' Northlake campus in Gary, Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey said.  The cause of death was listed as gunshot wounds suffered in a homicide at W. 5th Av and Roosevelt St.

Gary police Sgt. Thomas Decanter Jr. said officers were called at 7:53 p.m. to the 500 block of Roosevelt St for a call about a gunshot victim.  When officers arrived, the found McCloud sitting in a vehicle with gunshot wounds.  McCloud was transported to Methodist Hospital where he later died.

Decanter said one subject was in custody and charges were expected to be presented to the Lake County Prosecutor's office Tuesday afternoon.

Valerie Gonzalez, 27, of the 100 block of W 107th St in Chicago, was pronounced dead at 8:38 p.m. Monday at The Methodist Hospitals' Northlake Campus in Gary, Frey said.  The cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound suffered in a homicide at W 25th Pl and Clark Rd.  Decanter said Gonzalez was shot in the chest.

Decanter said officers were called at 8 p.m. to W 25th Pl and Clark Rd for a report of a gunshot victim.  When officers arrived, they found Gonzalez and a man with gunshot wounds.  The man was shot in the right side of his head above his eye. The man was listed in serious but stable condition at Methodist Hospital Tuesday morning, Decanter said.

Second Victim in Gary Public Housing Complex Drive-by Shooting Dies
#35* and Counting
Compiled From a nwiTimes Staff Report
[4 Aug 2015]

GARY | A man who was shot in the head and throat in the drive-by shooting at Gary's Delaney Community public housing complex that left another man dead has also died, officials said.

David Pippins, 21, of the 2300 block of Washington St, was pronounced dead at 1:42 p.m. Monday at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said.

An official cause and manner of death are pending the results of an autopsy.

Gary police said Pippins was shot in the head and throat in a drive-by shooting just after 10 p.m. Thursday in the 2100 block of Polk St in the Delaney Community public housing complex.  Terrence L. Sallee, 24, of the 2100 block of Carver St, was also killed in the shooting.

Witnesses told police a red Ford Escort with tinted windows drove past and shot at the victims.  Both of the victims were affiliated with a local gang, police said.

Great Lakes Steel Production Slides by 2,000T
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[3 Aug 2015]

Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region dipped to 646,000T last week.

Great Lakes steel production slid by 2,000T, or 0.3%, in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.  Overall U.S. steel output grew by 1.1% over the same period.

Production in the Southern District, which encompasses mini-mills across the South, ticked up to 598,000T last week, up from 596,000T the week before.

Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.76 million tons, down from 1.74 million tons a week earlier.  Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 73.6% last week, up from 72.8% a year earlier.

The capacity utilization rate had been a much more robust 79.6% at the same time a year earlier.  Year-to-date steel output has been 52.2 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.5%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

GARY | A 15-year-old Gary girl was shot in the back and killed in a drive-by shooting there late Sunday night, police said.

Daja Brookshire of the 800 block of N County Line Rd was pronounced dead at 11:37 p.m. Sunday in the emergency room of The Methodist Hospitals' Northlake campus in Gary, Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey said.  The cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound suffered in a homicide in the 700 block of Adams St.

Lt. Thomas Pawlak said Brookshire's boyfriend drove her and a female friend to the friend's grandmother's home near W 6th Av and Adams St late Sunday night.  As the trio got out of the boy's car, someone fired shots from a passing vehicle, striking Brookshire in the back, Pawlak said.  Investigators at the scene determined at least 10 shots were fired.

The boyfriend and the friend dropped to the ground when the shots rang out.  They were not injured, Pawlak said.  The pair noticed Brookshire was bleeding and drove her to Methodist where she later died.

The boyfriend and friend told police noticed a vehicle following them for some time but did not see the make or model of the vehicle or the people inside.  "We have no clues," Pawlak said.

Pawlak said police never had any contact with Brookshire, her boyfriend or her friend in the past.  "They were good kids," Pawlak said.  "There was no reason for them to be targeted.  They've been friends since the sixth grade."

This would be the second time Investigators were called to the Truama hospital on Sunday.  The first fatal shooting occurred in the 700 block of Broadway at approximately 3:00 a.m., just two blocks west.

The office of Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey has confirmed an early morning homicide right on Broadway in Gary.

Police and emergency personnel were processing the scene at approximately 3:00 a.m. this morning.  It is not known if it is related, but the shooting occurred as the nearby Link Bar closed.  A witness reported hearing seven shots and a large crowd of people.

Coroner Investigators were called to Methodist Hospital Northlake, 600 Grant St.  22 year old Untonise Harper of the 2300 block of Georgia St, Gary, IN was pronounced dead at 3:35 a.m on August 2, 2015 according to the report.  A gunshot would was reported and the case is being investigated as a homicide.

GARY | Police are asking for the public's help in finding two men and a vehicle wanted in connection with a Thursday drive-by shooting in Gary's Delaney Community public housing complex that left one man dead and another hospitalized.

Terrence L. Sallee II, 24, of the 2100 block of Carver St was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m., Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey said.  The cause of death was listed as gunshot wounds suffered in a homicide in the 2100 block of Polk St. Sallee was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gary police Lt. Thomas Pawlak said the second victim was shot in the head and throat.  Officials at the scene Thursday initially said the second man was shot and later died at a hospital.  Gary police and Lake County Coroner's office investigators on Friday said the second victim, a 21-year-old Gary man, was alive at a local hospital.

Pawlak said the drive-by shooting occurred just after 10 p.m. in the 2100 block of Polk St.  Police on Friday were searching for a red Ford Escort with tinted windows.  Pawlak said two men were inside the vehicle when it drove past and shot at the victims.  Both victims were affiliated with a local gang, he said.

Police asked anyone with information about the shootings to call the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit at (219) 755-3852.

2 Killed in Shooting in Gary's Delaney Community Housing Complex
#32* and Counting
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[31 Jul 2015]

GARY | Two men were fatally shot late Thursday in Gary's Delaney Community public housing complex, officials said.

One man died at the scene in the 2100 block of Polk St and the other was taken to a hospital with life-threatening wounds, Detective George Dickerson said.  The second man died at the hospital, officials said.

A man's body was sprawled on a sidewalk on the east side of the street, across from a basketball court.  Crime scene investigators arrived on scene and began using small flashlights to search a parking area in front of the basketball court and the street near where the man was lying.

Groups of people gathered in several areas just beyond the boundaries of the crime scene tape.

A woman in a group to the north of the crime scene was embraced and consoled by several people as she sobbed.  "That's my baby. That's my baby," she shouted.  People care only about themselves, she said.  "I'll go with you there.  I'll go with you there.  I'll go with you there," she said. "That's my baby.  That's my baby."

The circumstances surrounding the shooting about 10 p.m. remained under investigation.  Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Lake County Metro Homicide Unit at (219) 755-3852.

Gary Man Cuts off Fingers in Sword Attack on Girlfriend
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Lauri Harvey Keagle
[31 Jul 2015]

GARY | A Gary man was in police custody at an Indianapolis hospital Friday morning after allegedly cutting off his fingers while stabbing his girlfriend with a sword at their apartment early Friday.

Gary police Lt. Thomas Pawlak said officers were called around 1 a.m. to the 4800 block of Pennsylvania St for a report of a stabbing.

Pawlak said Dale Lane, 43, allegedly stabbed his 35-year-old girlfriend in the stomach with a sword, cutting some of his fingers off in the process.  Lane was in custody at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis Friday morning.

The woman was transported to The Methodist Hospitals' Northlake Campus in Gary for treatment.

2 Men Questioned in Suspicious Gary Fires Released
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[30 Jul 2015]

GARY | Police released two men Thursday pending further investigation after questioning them in connection with several suspicious fires earlier this week in Gary, an official said.

Authorities have not been able to contact the owners of the burned buildings, and the Lake County prosecutor's office declined to take the case at this time without a known victim, police Lt. Thomas Pawlak said.  "The problem is the buildings have been vacant for decades, and the owners are long gone," he said.

The men, who are both in their 20s and from Gary, are now persons of interest in three fires, Pawlak said.

Great Lakes Steel Production Soars by 25,000T
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[30 Jul 2015]

Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region rose to 648,000T last week.

Great Lakes steel production shot up up by 25,000T, or 4%, in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate.  Local steel output has been much lower than normal all this year because of a surfeit of imports that now account for a record-shattering 32% of the total market share.

Production in the Southern District, which encompasses mini-mills across the South, slipped to 596,000T last week, down from 611,000T the week before.

Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.74 million tons, down from 1.753 million tons a week earlier.  Overall U.S. steel output slid by 0.7%.  Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 72.8% last week, up from 73.3% a year earlier.  The capacity utilization rate had been a much more robust 79.6% at the same time a year earlier.

Year-to-date steel output has been 50.4 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.5%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.  Overall U.S. production trails 2014 by 7.7%.

GARY | A second man was being questioned Wednesday in connection with a suspicious fire in Gary's Midtown section a day earlier, but police said finding the owners of several abandoned buildings that have burned in the past few days is proving difficult.

Without anyone to say their properties were damaged in the fires, police may not be able to seek charges against the two men they have in custody, Lt. Thomas Pawlak said.  Pawlak said police plan to meet with the Lake County prosecutor's office to see if they can present the case without victims.

"That's the problem we have with the scrappers," he said.  "We couldn't get them for theft because no one owns the buildings.  It gets frustrating because we catch these scrappers and then we have to kick them loose because we can't find any victims."

A 22-year-old Gary man who was taken into custody Tuesday near the scene of a suspicious blaze in the 2000 block of Delaware St has cooperated with police to some extent, Pawlak said.  The second person of interest was taken into custody Tuesday night, Pawlak said.

GARY | Gary firefighters were at the scene of another Midtown fire early Wednesday morning, the day after an arson suspect was taken into custody in connection with suspicious fires in the neighborhood, officials said.

Chief of Operations Mark Jones said no one was injured in the blaze at an abandoned home at the intersection of 7th Av and Virginia St.  Jones said firefighters were called to the scene at 3:22 a.m. and left just after 6 a.m.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he said.

The latest blaze came the day after an arson suspect was arrested in connection with two suspicious fires in the city's Midtown neighborhood.  Police said they neighbors directed them to a man in a car with gas cans and rags watching Gary firefighters battling a blaze at a vacant building in the 2000 block of Delaware St early Tuesday.

Officials said the 22-year-old Gary man had a police scanner in the vehicle tuned to the Gary fire channel and initially claimed to be a Gary firefighter and a member of the Lake Ridge Volunteer Fire Department.  Police said the man is not and has never been a member of either department.

Firefighters were called to that fire while working on a blaze at a VFW post at 17th Av and Maryland St, officials said.  The two blazes are among five Gary firefighters battled early Tuesday.  On Monday, fire destroyed a vacant apartment building in the 800 block of Jackson St.

Gary Schools Pick Finance Expert to Help with Deficit, Debt
Compiled From an AP Report
[29 Jul 2015]

GARY, Ind. (AP) The Gary school district is bringing in a Michigan-based financial expert to help it deal with a $23.7 million deficit and total debt of roughly $92 million.

The (Munster) Times reports the Gary Community School Corp. chose Jack Martin on Tuesday night out of three specialists recommended by the Distressed Unit Appeals Board.  The district had 21 days to make their choice of the three under state legislation.

Martin's firm in Bingham Farms, Michigan, has worked with Detroit Public Schools, the city of Detroit and others in restructuring finances.

Gary schools have seen mounting financial troubles that have been attributed to declining enrollment and decreased state funding, among other reasons.

Man Arrested at Suspicious Gary Fire
Compiled From Post-Trib Staff Report
[28 Jul 2015]

Witnesses who saw a man with a gas can Tuesday leaving the scene of a pre-dawn fire in Gary's Midtown section alerted police when he returned to watch the blaze, police said.

When Patrolmen Terry Peck and Andrew Germonprez spoke to the man, he first claimed he was a Gary firefighter, which a battalion chief on scene quickly nixed, Lt. Thomas Pawlak said.  The man's gray Chevrolet Malibu sported a firefighter decal, red and white emergency lights and contained a gas can, Pawlak said.  The 22-year-old Gary man changed his story and said he was a volunteer with Lake Ridge Fire Department, but police learned that was also not true.  Finally, he said he was a "firechaser," Pawlak said.

Police arrested him and he is being held on pending charges of arson and impersonating a public official, police said.  Both police and fire investigators are examining his connection to at least two suspicious fires Tuesday at 17th Av and Maryland St, and 19th Av and Maryland St.  Both were vacant buildings.  The site on 17th Av once housed a popular VFW.

Gary arson investigator Sgt. Mark Salazar said the two fires on Maryland St appear to be related, and blazes at 20th Av and Delaware St and 25th Av and Massachusetts St are still being reviewed.

Police hope to locate the owners of the torched buildings before the case is presented to the Lake County prosecutor.

The first three fires may be connected, Gary Fire Chief of Operations Mark Jones said, "because of their proximity."  He said the Indiana State Fire Marshal is expected to be contacted for assistance, Jones added.

The others were in the 800 block of Jackson St and near 3rd Av and McKinley St, Jones said.

Merrillville Fire Department provided mutual aid in battling the blazes, Jones said.

The Documentary, "Gary, Indiana:  A Tale of Two Cities"
Has been completed and is now available for viewing on the Vanderbilt University YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_a7m6v0c-I&feature=youtu.be
56 mins. 30 sec. in length

Creator:  Dr. Sandra L. Barnes, Professor
Vanderbilt University
Peabody College

GARY | Firefighters responded to a fire at an abandoned apartment building in Gary Tuesday morning, about 24 hours after another abandoned apartment building and home burned.

Gary Fire Department Chief of Operations Mark Jones said fire crews responded to the blaze at 17th Av and Maryland St sometime before 5 a.m. and found the building fully engulfed.  Gary called for mutual aid from the Merrillville Fire Department, which responded with an aerial truck.

Jones said crews struck the fire by 6:30 a.m. but remained on scene.  No one was injured in the blaze.

A man was taken into custody for questioning in connection with Tuesday morning's fire, Jones said.

The fire came about 24 hours after a blaze at another abandoned apartment building that spread to an adjacent abandoned home.  Those fires took place in the 800 block of Jackson St.

The fire hit as firefighters were responding to calls for fires at other locations, he said.   "There's been a rash of them the last couple of days," Jones said, adding that they all remain under investigation.  Jones said there is "definitely a possibility" the fires are related.

Sold School Buildings Also an Eyesore
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Carmen McCollum and Marc Chase
[28 Jul 2015]

GARY | Three of the five abandoned Gary school buildings sold in the last few years are as much of an eyesore as the 21 boarded-up and abandoned school buildings still owned by Gary Community School Corp.

The five buildings sold are the former Beckman Middle School, 1430 W 23rd Av; Kuny Elementary, 5050 Vermont St; Banneker Elementary School, 1912 W 23rd Av; Pittman Square, 4948 Delaware St and Tolleston Middle School, 2700 W. 19th Av.

Beckman Middle School was sold to Lew Management owned by Larry Webb.  Beckman has had nearly every window in the building broken out, gang graffiti decorates the brick and overgrown shrubbery make it difficult to walk around.  A look through windows shows graffiti where teachers used to write the day's lessons.

Webb said he operated a charter bus, school bus and limousine company.  In 2011, he said he would move his operation to the former Beckman school by September that year.  Webb said he intended to convert some of the classrooms into small apartments where his drivers could live.

That goal was not realized.  Webb could not be reached for comment.

In 2011, Kuny was sold to Life Ministries International for $50,000.  According to the Lake County assessor's office, the owner of the building is Life Church International Inc. at 671 E 45th Av.  There is a for sale sign on the property.

The Kuny school property has a faded temporary nylon banner that says "Life Center" hanging over the old sign with the school's name.  Several window openings and doors are boarded over with plywood.  On a recent visit, mildew permeated the entryway though shut doors.  Mops and mop buckets could be seen around the floor near the entryway.  Padlocks secure the doors of the old school and a small bus is parked behind the building.  No one connected to the property could be reached for comment.

The old Pittman Square school was given to Gary to be converted into a fire station.  Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said the demolition was completed by the school corporation some time ago.  The City Council approved a HUD Section loan so a fire station could be built at the Pittman Square site and the Hudson Campbell Fitness Center would be renovated.

The former Tolleston Middle School was sold to The Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana for $100.  It is the only one of the five sold properties that has been renovated, restored and is in use.

The school district sold the Banneker building to the National Civil Rights Museum and Hall of Fame, whose president and CEO is former Gary Mayor Richard Hatcher.  It was sold for $50,000 in 2011.  Though there are broken windows and some gang graffiti on the building, the grass is cut and the grounds are generally maintained.

A year after Banneker was purchased, Hatcher said vandals broke into the building, stripping it of wire, knocking out walls and causing other damage.  "We hired a security firm to watch the building 24/7," he said Monday.  "Our security caught the people who, I guess, came back to finish the job."  Four were arrested and convicted in 2013 for the crime.

Hatcher said architects and engineers said it would take more than $1 million to renovate the building to use as the National Civil Rights Museum and Hall of Fame.  He said it didn't make sense to put that kind of money in such an old building, and the best use might be to tear it down and rebuild.

Hatcher, who has been working to get a National Civil Rights Museum and Hall of Fame in Gary for many years, said his group has raised about $500,000 -- the amount it would take to demolish Banneker.  Hatcher said there are other entities that have been willing to donate money to the Hall of Fame, and he's hoping to generate support and cash for the building.

Freeman-Wilson said she hopes to forge a partnership with the museum's organizers to develop a plan for the situation.

Those buildings, along with the 21 boarded-up and rotting school buildings across the city, are among nearly 7,000 abandoned buildings in the city.  Freeman-Wilson said abandoned buildings have been the "Achilles heel" of her administration.  "They are the most obvious evidence of the disorderly exit from the city that occurred from 1970 to 2010,"  She said abandoned schools must be viewed in the same context as homes, churches and businesses.

"Most people left the city due to the decline of the steel industry and related challenges.  There was no sale of homes or transfer of property.  Many people walked away from real estate, inheritances and small businesses," she said.

"We look forward to working with Dr. (Cheryl) Pruitt, board President (Antuwan) Clemons and the entire Board of Trustees to work toward the financial stability of the schools and municipal government," she said.  "We think that the (Distressed Unit Appeals Board) involvement presents a unique opportunity for cutting-edge collaboration that will be a model for other cities.  There are opportunities with every challenge."
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Talk of irony; the former mayor who was going to make Gary great is now the owner of an abandoned eyesore?

Insurance Company Sues Gary Airport Over Pollution Defense
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Teresa Auch Schultz
[27 Jul 2015]

Gary/Chicago International Airport's insurance provider wants off the hook for paying for the airport's defense against a case with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Old Republic Insurance filed a lawsuit against the airport authority on Friday in U.S. District Court in Hammond asking that the court find Old Republic does not owe any money to the airport over the issue and that the airport pay back money Old Republic has already spent.  The lawsuit does not say how much the insurance company believes it is owed.

The issue centers around a notice that IDEM sent to the airport in September after two soil samples from the airport's property showed the presence of arsenic, benzopyrene and PCBs.  IDEM also reported an oily sheen on Boeing Ditch, which runs along the northwest end of the airport's runway.  The notice from IDEM required the airport to investigate and remediate the sources of the pollution.

Old Republic says in the lawsuit that it at first agreed to defend the airport against IDEM in the case, but now says that its contract with the airport specifically states that it is not responsible for any pollution or contamination unless it was caused by a crash or explosion.  The lawsuit argues that the source of the contamination found in the IDEM samples is decades old and had been there long before Old Republic signed with the airport in May 2000.

A representative with the airport could not be reached for comment Monday evening.  Dan Glavin, who is representing Old Republic, would not comment on the lawsuit.

USW:  Concessions at Heart of U.S. Steel Contract Offer
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Karen Caffarini
[27 Jul 2015]

The United Steelworkers union said the concessions U.S. Steel has asked for would erode decades of contractual improvements and benefits.

United Steelworkers said it has received an outline of an initial new contract proposal from U.S. Steel that includes dozens of demands for concessions.  The union said the concessions would erode decades of contractual improvements and benefits won for members and their families.  "While we have yet to receive a formal, detailed proposal from the company, it's clear from this initial outline that U.S. Steel is attempting to use the current industry downturn to gut our contract and weaken our union," the USW stated on its website.

According to USW, U.S. Steel is proposing major changes to health care that would increase costs for active and retired members.  The union said the company also wants to reduce vacation pay and reduce the union's role in health and safety issues, among other issues.

The union said active workers at U.S. Steel would have $2,600 minimum annual deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums up to $13,100 per year for families.  The company also is seeking to eliminate the current retiree medical plan and force Medicare-eligible retirees to shop for their own supplemental coverage through a private exchange, according to USW.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Steel said Monday the company doesn't generally comment on ongoing negotiations.

U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal, both with mills in Northwest Indiana that employ thousands of area residents, are negotiating separate contracts with the USW.  Both contracts expire Sept. 1.

Negotiations are taking place as the U.S. steel industry continues to be hurt by illegal steel dumping by foreign countries, which has resulted in mass layoffs at mills across the country and in Northwest Indiana.  U.S. Steel, which has mills in Gary, Portage and East Chicago, reported more than 750 layoffs this spring.

The USW said last week that ArcelorMittal, which has more than 7,000 employees in mills in East Chicago and Burns Harbor, has proposed a three-year contract with no wage increases and reductions in incentive payments, vacation pay and sickness and accident benefits, among other concessions.

ArcelorMittal said last week that the initial proposals were made in an effort to close the labor cost gap with the company's competitors without reducing wage rates, which the company said are among the highest in the industry.  According to a 2014 ArcelorMittal fact sheet, the average annual wage for its union-represented employees is $97,946.

A 21-year-old Gary man who was shot multiple times and shoved out of his own car Tuesday afternoon, died Thursday at a Chicago hospital.

Derrick McGuire, was on 17th Av near Wallace St on Gary's west side when police and medics found him about 4 p.m.  He was flown to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he died Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Cook County (Ill.) Medical Examiner's Office said Friday.

Homicides in Gary are up 35% compared to the same time last year.  McGuire becomes the 27th* violent death in 2015; the city recorded 20 by this date a year ago.

McGuire was behind the wheel of his tan Chevrolet when he was shot.  His passenger pushed him out onto the street, walked around the car to the driver's seat and left the scene, witnesses told police, the police report states.

Police issued an alert to other law enforcement agencies with a description of the stolen car, Detective Cpl. James Nielsen said.

McGuire's home address on the police report was in Hammond, but police learned he spent more time in Gary, where his mother and grandmother reside.

Nielsen and Lake County Sgt. Edward Jenkins are investigating the homicide.  Anyone with information can call them at (219) 755-3852.

New Cars Sit While Gary Cops Drive on Bald Tires, Overdue Maintenance
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[24 Jul 2015]

The once good-natured grumbling about equipment problems vacillates between open hostility and frustrated resignation among some Gary police officers.

Jokes -- without smiles circulate the department.  "Foot patrols are coming back in style!" and "The city's just waiting for enough officers to quit so everyone has a car."

Ford quit making the popular Crown Victoria in 2011, but a majority of the city's squad cars are much older than that.  Three new Dodge Chargers bought last year are on the street, but 20 new Ford Explorers aren't.

Chief Larry McKinley announced the purchase of 20 new cars in the spring, but none of the black Explorers are in use.  Eight sit in a lot north of the Public Safety Facility but don't have markings, lights or sirens.

City spokesperson LaLosa Burns said of the 20 new cars, 12 are being prepared for service.  "We expect the 12 cars presently with the vendor will be on the road in early September," Burns wrote in an email, responding to questions posed by the Post-Tribune.  She didn't say what plans the city has for the others, but said, "currently the police fleet is sufficient for the number of officers."br>

In the meantime, a homicide detective, who asked that his name not be used, dropped his car off at vehicle maintenance before he left for vacation.  The car is still there, three weeks later and all it needs is an oil change and a tire repair, the detective said.

"There are no basic repairs," Burns wrote.  "When cars are brought in to vehicle maintenance, it is then for preventive maintenance.  The entire car is checked.  This takes time.  Vehicles are checked and certified safe before leaving the shop."

Bald tires, no air conditioning, no emergency lights are common complaints, officers say.  When officers drive a prisoner from one destination to another, they are required to state their beginning and ending mileage.  But that's not possible when the odometer is broken, officers say.  Windows don't roll up or down.  Doors don't open.  Seats are worn through.  Rust. Lots of rust.

"A lot of these cars are running 24 hours a day and the shortage is such that officers are doubling up in cars," Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 61 President Samuel Abegg said Thursday.

While a two-man car is preferable, Abegg said, it's less effective when that is the only car in that district for the shift.  Despite a collective bargaining agreement provision that sets, for example, a minimum of 12 officers on the street for that turn, the steady flow of resignations has left the patrol division numbers too depleted to accomplish that, he said.  This week, for example, the city's four districts had only two cars for each area during the day shift, and the midnight shift is short regularly, according to daily schedules.

Abegg, assigned to a gang investigative unit, has a take-home car he describes as "one of our better vehicles."  Fearing the loss of the car for an extended period while waiting for an oil change, Abegg had it done himself, he said.  "I've been an advocate of handling minor repairs, such as wiper blades and oil changes, ourselves.  But if vehicle maintenance (workers) get word, they freak out," he said.

"I have consistently sent Cmdr. (Sarita) Titus emails about cars down for weeks at a time.  Money is a problem.  I understand that.  But there is no doubt that you have to have the right equipment to do the job.  The car issue is a problem," Abegg said.

Businesses and homeowners in Gary whose burglar alarms are repeatedly triggered falsely will face the prospect of fines.

The Common Council voted 9-0 Tuesday in favor of an ordinance that gives the Police Department the option of issuing citations in cases where an alarm is triggered and police wind up determining there was no legitimate problem.

The ordinance was crafted by the Police Department, with Cmdr. Kerry Rice saying the issue of false alarms is a major problem for the department.  "It takes a lot of manpower and gas to respond to alarms, and it's a waste if they turn out to be false," Rice said, adding that the alternative for police would be to file a criminal charge of filing a false report.  "This is a city ordinance," he said of the new law.  "Filing a false report just seems a little harsh."

Citations could result in $50 fines for a first offense, and fines of up to $500 for each additional offense, although Rice said police plan to issue written warnings for alarms in residential areas and do not plan to issue actual citations until at least a third incident of a false alarm.

Beyond that point, city court judges in Gary will have the authority to issue an order disconnecting a business' alarm if it seems there is no other way of preventing it from being triggered under false conditions.

Council members approved the measure with no discussion, although at-large Councilman Ronald Brewer said previously he sympathizes with police not wanting to have their time wasted on minor incidents when there is enough criminal activity in Gary to keep them busy.

Rice reiterated his claim that Gary police responded to 4,076 alarms between March 1 and July 14, of which about 4,000 turned out to be for incidents that didn't warrant them.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Folks, that computes out to a 98.1% false alarm rate!

Gary OKs Funding Plan for Library Rehab
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Gregory Tejeda
[22 Jul 2015]

The Common Council gave its support Tuesday night to letting the Gary Library Board use $1.854 million in reserve funds to pay for a rehab of the main library building and repairs to four existing branch libraries in the city.

The decision was far from unanimous.  Opposition was outspoken, with several council members saying they believe the only way the city can afford to reopen the main library at 220 W 5th Av is by closing the four branch libraries.

"The (library) board needs to accept the reality that they are going to have to pick which branches to close," said council President Kyle Allen.  "That's the financial reality we (in Gary) face."

Allen, council Vice President Ronald Brewer and Councilwoman Carolyn Rogers, D-4th, voted against the request

The library board has spent $2.1 million in recent years on the building.

More than $1 million would go toward finishing the main library rehab, while the remaining $800,000 would go for painting, new carpeting and furniture at the four branch library buildings.

Brewer reiterated his claim that Gary's population has shrunk in recent decades to a level where five library buildings are no longer necessary, and he said he'd prefer to back the neighborhood branches over the idea of a downtown library building.  "Why do we want to put money into a facility that we don't know if we'd be able to keep open," Brewer said.  "We could wind up closing the main library again in a year or two.  We need to spend our money wisely."

But six council members expressed their support for reopening the main library building.  Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, said she thinks it was a mistake that the main library was closed in 2012, and that she thinks it is an important asset for Gary.  "It was a disservice to close the main library," she said.  "If we have to close some of the branches (libraries), then so be it."

Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she thinks reopening the library located next to the Genesis Convention Center is a key part of plans to revitalize the city's downtown business district.  She also cited the money already spent on main library rehab work, saying, "It would be a total waste of money if we didn't give our approval to this."

Child Killer Caught Bus to Indy after Finding No Room in Gary
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[21 Jul 2015]

A convicted child molester and murderer released from prison last week arrived in Indianapolis by bus Monday after finding a Gary homeless shelter closed a day earlier, Lake County Sheriff John Buncich said.

Gary officials said Tuesday that Richard Dobeski, 67, was never a resident at the Brothers Keeper shelter and would have been discouraged from becoming a city resident.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson also expressed frustration that other law enforcement agencies may have given Dobeski a ride to the Lake/Porter County line and knew of his plan to go to Brothers Keeper but did not give Gary police any warning about his whereabouts.  "We are not going to stand for Gary being a dumping ground for any offenders," she said.  [Comment -GDY]:  So say you, Mayor.  Others not only do not agree, they are actively using Gary as a "dumping ground" for undesirables.

Freeman-Wilson declined to single out any one law enforcement agency.  Police Chief Larry McKinley said Gary police work respectfully with neighboring agencies and ask they do the same.

Gary Man Shot Several Times on City's West Side
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Sarah Reese
[21 Jul 2015]

GARY | A Gary man was shot multiple times Tuesday on the city's west side, police said.

Officers were dispatched about 4:30 p.m. to the 3600 block of W 17th Av for a report of a gunshot victim, Lt. Thomas Pawlak said.

The 21-year-old victim was found near the middle of the intersection of W 17th Av and Wallace St, he said.  The man suffered about six gunshot wounds.

Board OKs Look at Gary Mayor's Campaign Finances but Rejects Subpoenas
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carrie Napoleon
[21 Jul 2015]

Lake County Board of Elections launches investigation into campaign finance reports of Gary mayor

A field investigation into the campaign finance reports of Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson was authorized Tuesday by the Lake County Board of Elections in an effort to resolve the remaining complaints filed in March.

The decision to conduct the field investigation came on the heels of the board's approval to quash subpoenas for bank records from BMO Harris Bank and individual appearances by the mayor, Lake County Clerk Mike Brown, Roosevelt Haywood III, Erika Nicole Rumph, Regina Cossey and Mary Cossey requested by James Nowacki, one of three men to file the complaints earlier this year.

Attorney Jewell Harris Jr. successfully argued the subpoenas sought by complainant Nowacki were too broad.  Nowacki argued that despite the information provided by Harris and the mayor's campaign, too many issues remained that only individuals close to the campaign could answer.

While some board members dubbed the wide-reaching subpoenas as a fishing expedition, Nowacki said that with the number of irregularities found in the mayor's campaign finance reports and the amount of money in question, "it's not fishing without a purpose."
Election Board member Michael Mellon agreed.  Mellon said the bank records were necessary to conduct an investigation into the unitemized expenditures and contributions found in campaign finance reports.  "I think it's our duty to do a proper investigation," Mellon said.

Last month an agreement was struck to narrow the scope of campaign finance complaints filed by Nowacki and Robert Buggs Sr., who both unsuccessfully challenged Freeman-Wilson in the May Democratic primary, and Ken Davidson, all alleging improper contributions from Gary Community School Corp., failure to itemize receipts and contributions, and illegible or missing reporting, among other items, after amended campaign finance reports were filed.

The complainants met with Harris, Election Board director Michelle Fajman, deputy director Patrick Gabrione and the board's attorney's for more than three hours and were able to resolve all complaints except for the lack of itemization for contributions and expenses.

Election board officials Tuesday again received amended campaign finance reports for the Committee to Elect Karen Freeman-Wilson, also known as Karen For Gary.

Brothers Reported Missing 2 weeks Before Bodies Found
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Michelle Quinn
[21 Jul 2015]

The discovery Friday of two Gary brothers shot to death and left in a heavily wooded remote spot in Hobart was one step in a series of violent incidents that police say began in early May.

Arreon Lackey, 18, and his brother Antonio Lackey, 16, had been living in a Merrillville motel where their mother, Tia Moore, relocated them after their Glen Ryan home was struck by a hail of gunfire, police said.

Investigators with the Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Task Force believe the brothers were "taken" from the motel about June 16. Their mother reported them missing July 6, and Merrillville police were actively searching for the teens when fishermen found their bodies Friday off Indiana 51 near Ainsworth Rd in Hobart.  [Comment -GDY]:  Was there not a dual kidnapping reported at the time?  Why did Mom what 3 weeks to report them missing?

Their stepfather, Julian Moore, 40, told Gary police that about 9 p.m. May 8, there were six people, including a grandchild and the teen brothers, at home on Ryan Ct when he heard multiple gunshots.  No one was injured, and police recovered about 15 spent shell casings from the middle of the street.

"No motives could be given by occupants as to cause of residence being shot up.  No suspect information could be given as well," the police report states.  Bullets pierced the home's exterior, and police found them in two first-floor bedrooms and a bathroom.  Upstairs "bedrooms sustained multiple bullets through wall and window," the report states.

Officers remained at the scene while family members packed up and left for the night, the report states.

On May 27, a 19-year-old resident of Lakeshore Dunes Apartments was shot while walking along railroad tracks near 3rd Av and Lake St, just blocks from the Glen Ryan subdivision.  Police said the elder Lackey, known as "Ajaye," was a suspect in that shooting.  No charges were filed, however.

At some point, the boys' mother rented them a motel room to move them away from problems in their neighborhood, police said, but problems followed them there.

Their stepfather told the Post-Tribune on Tuesday afternoon he did not want to comment about the death of the boys.  "But thank you," he said.

Neighbors said the boys' parents moved from the house in the 4400 block of Ryan Ct in Gary's Aetna section a few months ago.  They said the teens were nothing if not gentlemen.

Denise Jones and her son Antonio Jones remember the boys playing basketball in her yard.  She said she knew the younger Lackey boy better.  "(Antonio) Lackey wasn't in any kind of trouble, as far as I ever knew.  He was a typical kid but always polite to me," Denise Jones said.  "I couldn't believe they could've done something that made someone hurt them.  "This is a quiet neighborhood.  I heard of some kid stealing bikes on another street, but that's really it."

A man who asked that his name not be used remembered the Lackey brothers on the street.  "My wife was diagnosed with cancer, and she was going back and forth for treatments.  The boys always asked (about) my wife and to tell her they said 'Hi,' especially the young one," the man said.  "I can't speak to what other people say about them, but to my mind, they were never any trouble."

Starita Stevens, principal of Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, confirmed Tuesday that both victims attended the charter school in Gary, but neither graduated.  Stevens said Antonio withdrew in 2013.  She said she couldn't say when Arreon withdrew.  She said he wasn't expelled from school but did have behavioral issues.

In Hobart, a resident wondered about the property where the brothers were found.  Sally Pavel said she never saw anybody going in or out of the area in the back of the property.  She said there was a chain across the road, yet there were different cars parked there at different times.  "I've heard gunshots from back there on more than one occasion," Pavel said.

The Lake County coroner's office has identified skeletal remains of two slain males found Friday in a wooded area in Hobart as two Gary teens.

The two were identified as Arreon T. Lackey, 18, and Antonio D. Lackey, 16, both of the 4400 block of Ryan Ct in Gary.  The bodies were found Friday afternoon by fishermen in the 7000 block of Grand Blvd in Hobart.

Earlier Monday, Coroner Merrilee Frey said a woman had told the coroner's office she believed the two bodies could be her missing sons.  "It had been several weeks since they were reported missing," she said.

"We've been working on this all day today," Frey said.  The identification came after Frey and a forensic odontologist returned Monday evening to where the bodies were found to collect more evidence to help identify the bodies through dental records.

The coroner's office has said the men died of gunshot wounds and has ruled their deaths homicides.

Bob Byrd, spokesman for the Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Task Force, which is helping to investigate the case along with the Hobart and Merrillville police departments, said it appeared the bodies had been there for a while.

Police Investigating Gary Teen's Shooting Death
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[20 Jul 2015]

Nuns living in St. Mark Catholic Church on Ridge Rd in Gary told police they heard gunshots about 11 p.m. Saturday.

On Sunday morning, a housekeeper opened a window and saw the body of Melvin Travis, 18, lying in the alley that runs behind the church, police said.

Investigators suspect Travis had been robbed but didn't say what may have been taken from him before he was shot, police said.  Lake County crime scene detectives recovered one shell casing next to the teen's body.  He had been shot once in the side of the head, police said.

Gary police crime scene detectives on Monday went to a relative's home in the 3700 block of Harrison St after family members said they might have evidence to help in the case.  Travis had been living at his grandparents' home in the 3500 block of Lincoln St, police said.

A family member told police Travis left home about 10 p.m. Saturday.

Anyone with information about the homicide can call detectives Cpl. Edward Gonzalez or George Dickerson at 219-755-3852.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Given that a shell casing was found at the scene, it would appear that an earlier report of the teen having been shot at his home was in error.

GARY | Leaders of the broken Gary Community School Corp. believed selling closed school buildings would be a way to raise money to pay its bills and better educate students.

That process has been stalled by an IRS tax lien on the closed school buildings.

There are 21 closed school buildings, including the old school service center.  The district moved out of the service center into the former Lincoln Achievement Center, also in need of numerous repairs.

School officials began selling buildings in 2010 when they were being squeezed by charter schools, declining enrollment, reduced tax collections and decreases in state funding.

The former Tolleston Middle School was sold to The Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana for $100.  Banneker Elementary School was sold to the National Civil Rights Museum for $50,000.  Beckman Middle School was sold to Lew Management for $100,000.

The district was negotiating with former KIPP Lead charter school for a sales price of $300,000 on Norton Elementary School.  That deal fell through when the law was changed requiring school districts to lease or sell a closed school building for $1 per year to a charter school.  Then KIPP closed.

Gary attorney Kenya Jones, with Robert L. Lewis and Associates, which handles the school district's real estate, said a deal fell through to sell the former Chase Elementary School.  "Chase was one where we had accepted an offer, and when the tax lien came up we had to call a halt to it," she said.  "We have not closed that deal.  It's still pending.  I can't discuss the details.  I can't identify the potential buyer.  Due to the IRS issues, we can't do anything with the buildings right now.  We have to provide clear title, and we can't do that," Jones said.

The Gary Community School Corp. owes more than $7.1 million in taxes and interest to the IRS. That includes delinquent taxes of $5.1 million and penalties and interest of $2 million.  It has made at least one installment payment of $10,000 to the IRS.  The school district also owes $4.15 million to NIPSCO, $730,000 to AT&T and $440,000 to the Gary Sanitary District.  It has been barely treading water, trying to keep up with the payroll.  All told, the district is $23.7 million in debt.

Gary Schools Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said the district has experienced many issues, including a decline in tax collections.  Pruitt has taken steps to cope, including the closings and reducing the number of teachers and administrators to shore up the budget.  However, the district's deficit continues to climb along with the overall debts.

In 2011, Jones said the school district did a formal bid notice with plans to sell the shuttered Aetna, Kuny, Melton, Spaulding, Chase and Carver elementary schools, along with Edison Middle School.  The only school that sold was Kuny.  She said it was sold to Life Ministries International for $50,000 in 2012.  However, that building sits vacant and is considered an eyesore in the community.

- Concerned Neighbors

Julian Bey, Mildred Thomas and George Clark live in the Ambridge neighborhood.  Bey said residents used to work together to keep the grounds around the school maintained, even planting flowers.  "We had been doing everything we could to keep the drug dealers from coming in here and setting up shop," he said, walking around the building.

Thomas said she's frustrated.  "When the school was open, the grass was perfect.  Now, we have to beg them to cut it.  There is graffiti on the building.  People come along and throw trash out and bottles.  We used to do a lot to keep it up but as you get older, you just aren't able to do as much.  It's an eyesore," she said.

Bey said drug dealers know to keep away.  "We will let it be known we don't tolerate that in this neighborhood.  We're very serious about that, and we will call the police about almost anything we see that is out of the ordinary."

- State Steps In

The budget legislation approved by the Indiana General Assembly calls for the Distressed Unit Appeals Board to assist the school district, much as it assisted the city of Gary a few years ago.  State Sens. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, were instrumental in providing that lifeline to the district.

The Gary School Board is considering three financial specialists.  DUAB gave the district 21 days from July 14 to select a financial adviser.

Pruitt said she hopes DUAB can also assist them with the IRS lien and getting back on track to sell school buildings.  "I've also talked to the mayor and (U.S. Rep. Pete) Visclosky about how we can access demolition dollars.  I understand the neighborhood's concerns about the closed school buildings and the need to do something with them.  I believe that we'll be able to move forward with these new partnerships."

18 Year-old Gary Teen Shot to Death at His Home
#28 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Teresa Auch Schultz
[19 Jul 2015]

Melvin Travis, 18, was shot at his home in the 3500 block of Lincoln St, but the coroner's office was called to the 600 block of Ridge Rd, about a mile from where Travis was shot.

According to a release from the coroner's office, they were called to the scene at 6:38 a.m. and pronounced him dead an hour later.

Gary Sgt. Thomas Decanter said Sunday afternoon that Gary police were called to the scene at 6:20 a.m. and found Travis' body in the alley south of Ridge Road with one bullet wound.

His death has been ruled a homicide.  Decanter said police are still investigating the case and do not have any suspects in custody.
________________
[COMMENT -GDY]:  Something is not being reported here?  The police had to talk with someone who knew/saw something.  How else could it have been determined the young man was at home when he was shot?  How did his body get from his residence to the alley on Ridge Rd?

21 Abandoned Gary Schools Add to Urban Decay
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Marc Chase and Carmen McCollum
[19 Jul 2015]

Man Dies After Protecting Sister
#27 and Counting
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[17 Jul 2015]

Man Attacked after Fatal Crash Still in Critical Condition
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[16 Jul 2015]

New Gary Police Vehicles Not Yet Ready for Duty
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Ken Davidson
[16 Jul 2015]

Man Fatally Struck by Car at Gary BBQ
Compiled From a WLS-ABC7 Report by Sarah Schulte and Michelle Gallardo
[15 Jul 2015]

Indiana Harbor West to Close?  ArcelorMittal Says No
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[15 Jul 2015]

Three Wounded During Daytime Shootout
Compiled From a Post-Trib Staff Report
[13 Jul 2015]

Gary Schools' Bail-out Includes Financial Overseer
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[10 Jul 2015]

Stanrail Plant to Close in Gary After Three Decades
Compiled From a nwiTimes Report by Joseph S. Pete
[9 July 2015]

Five More of Gary's Men in Blue Leave for Greener Pastures
Compiled From a Post-Trib Report by Carole Carlson
[9 Jul 2015]