Northwest Indiana Blogs

Northwest Indiana Mortgage Blog

2009-06-25T06:31:00.001-05:00

Northwest Indiana Mortgages - my blog on home mortgages in Indiana

For those looking for our website, please check it out First Financial Trust Mortgage. For home mortgage loans in Indiana we focus on FHA mortgages and first time buyers.

As always call me at 219-762-7200 or email me at Northwest Indiana Mortgage Steve

NW Indiana blog find today

2009-05-28T09:08:00.001-05:00

Green Isn't Easy

Written by twitter member Melissa Cowan right here in Valparaiso

Far too long between posts

2009-04-17T11:39:00.002-05:00

... here on Northwest Indiana Blogs.

The region has erupted into the social media world in the last year, and I found myself spending a lot more time posting on my small business consulting site and Porter County Politics.

So a rundown of great things going on in Northwest Indiana right now is in order:

#nwindiana is the new hashtag being used especially by those familiar with twitter. We went from 15-20 twitter users in March 0f 08 to roughly 600 now!
Along those same lines #nwitweetup is being used by a couple groups to announce tweetups, with Evelyn Bay Coffee, Zao Island and now Passtimes in Valparaiso taking the first three stops. The next tweetup is April 23rd at 7 p.m. at Passtimes in Valparaiso.
There are so many new blogs, I'm having a hard time knowing how to start getting caught up. If you read this post and you're not listed on the sidebar, please enter your blog in the comments. One new site I noticed today was Cartronix
The Times and the Post-Tribune are both on twitter and putting more effort into engaging online. Times on twitter. Post on twitter.
So far still no great radio station working on social media, and television as we all know is miserably unavailable. Lakeshore TV doesn't even post clips of their own shows on their site. This is an area that someone ought to jump on and combine news and multi-media with social media.

Enough for now, I'll be back more often in the coming weeks with new finds.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T07:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Resurrection Sunday - Easter - from NW Indiana Politics

Happy Resurrection Sunday - Which we call Easter

Roughly 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ raised himself from the grave, he was all the way dead don't play games with the story in your head, and he overcame that death to show that he/God is dominant over even death.

"Where o death is thy sting ..."

Although we as Christ followers believe in our own mortality and depravity in sin, and our need for a redeemer to pay the penalty of our sins, and therefore the dominant role of the cross in helping us remember the horrible death and sacrifice of Christ

The Resurrection is in many ways more important. All other sacrifices died, the lamb the goat the bird, never to be seen again.

Jesus Christ rose again ... that's a really big deal. Quite possibly the most important event in human history, in 7,000 years, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A 100% man, who was 100% God (of course we can't understand that tension) died a horrible death and then three days later raised himself from that tomb, rolled away a multiple ton rock, and walked out still bearing the holes in his hands and feet ... the marks of the price he paid on our behalf.

Sorry for this pause in political debate, but it's well worth the pause. If you are offended at this blatant statement, or feel that no one has the right to state "truth" when there are so many different opinions in today's society ... welcome to post modern predictable thought ... you too have been duped by humanities 7,000 year desire to be "my own person" and "not need a god"

Take a deep breath and dare yourself to ask "where do I stand for eternity?"

NWI Blogger makes Visit Indiana

2009-04-06T07:30:00.000-05:00

Jonathan

Jonathan Thomas is a blogger based in Northwest Indiana. He’s passionate about the Indiana Dunes and Lake Michigan and wants to share all the fun possible in the area with the rest of the world. When not blogging for Travel Indiana, he hangs his hat at his Anglophile blog - Anglotopia and Niche Blogger Today. If you want to connect with him, you can contact him on Twitter @jonathanwthomas.

From Visit Indiana Blog

#indiana University Bobby Knight Video

2009-03-31T06:11:00.000-05:00

Porter Starke to discuss mental health

2009-03-09T06:03:00.001-05:00

From The Times
Porter-Starke Services' Lunch & Learn series will feature the lecture "Indiana's Mental Health Transformation" from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 17 at the United Way of Porter County, 951 Eastport Centre Drive, Valparaiso. Carmen Arlt, Robert Franko and Todd Willis of Porter-Starke Services will be the speakers.

Arlt, recovery center director; Franko, vice president of marketing and development; and Willis, children's services director at Porter-Starke Services, will discuss how the transformation process is assessing the current community mental health delivery model and how improvements in practice can be implemented.

Lunch & Learn events are monthly educational seminars featuring informative and practical mental health and wellness topics. Seminar sites rotate between Valparaiso, Portage and Knox and are open to the general public as well as clinicians and educators. Mental Health America of Porter County offers 1.5 continuing education credits for $5.

NW Indiana Tweetup Feb 26th

2009-02-03T20:18:00.002-06:00

kathy sipple from Valparaiso has announced all over the place that there will be a tweetup on Feb 26th at Evelyn Bay Coffee in Valparaiso.

From Chris Hedges:
Make history as Northwest Indiana’s Twitter users gather to network and plot to take over the world in 140 characters or less in Valparaiso later this month at Evelyn Bay Coffee on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
Twitter user @kathysipple is the organizer of #nwitweetup, so make sure to follow her for updates

I know I'll be there.

Conservative Cafe in Crown Point

2009-01-22T15:13:00.001-06:00

Perhaps you've visited this restaurant in historic Crown Point, Indiana ... but they are looking to raise funding to go national with franchises

clipped from www.inc.com

Elevator Pitch: Conservative Café Wants to Take Coffee Back from Liberals

LOCATION: Crown Point, Indiana

The Pitch: "Coffeehouses have always leaned to the left. We give conservatives a place to feel comfortable and rally around their values. We have got TVs tuned to Fox News. Our four blends are Liberal, Moderate, Conservative, and Radical Right. Conservative is our top seller, but Liberal, a decaf blend, is popular, too. We serve food and sell T-shirts with slogans like 'Peace Through Superior Firepower.' We are looking to raise capital to begin franchising and bring on an experienced partner. We have received more than 50 requests from prospective franchisees. We would like to start with four stores in 2009, then open 10 more in 2010."

FUNDING SOUGHT: $1 million

US Airways Hudson River Plane Crash Video

2009-01-17T16:18:00.000-06:00

I posted earlier this week, There's a plane in the Hudson

Here's the video found showing the plane landing in the water and then the passengers getting out on the wings, plane comes in at 2 mins

Northwest Indiana news and views 1-16

2009-01-16T08:09:00.000-06:00

Cross Posted from Porter County Politics today

Worth reading - NW Indiana Today

Like many of our readers, I try to skim through the Times and the Post each morning online, and then my google reader feeds for NW Indiana ... recently I've added a few more bloggers and the #NWIndiana twitter stream just to keep my eyes open for interesting news.

Here's what I found today, I'll keep comments to a minimum so you can read quickly:

School Closings due to extreme cold weather - one editorial suggesting the schools are waiting too long to let people know, we all knew it would be 2 below this morning and Valpo Schools waited till 5 a.m. to decide. Kudos to Portage and Chesterton for calling it early.

Rep. Soliday says McDermott plan won't fly, Little Cal River Commission needs total overhaul
National Geographic BioBlitz in National Lakeshore Dunes this spring
Portage extracts $60,000 in fines from company for soapy discharges
I-49 and Vale Park interchange to get assisted living facility in Valpo
Valparaiso Redevelopment has less money to improve pathways
Where are regional joint purchasing programs? Evansville leads the way, not NW Indiana

WOW ... Porter County Auditor pounds John Scott and Lefever for poor work environment and lack of full disclosure on software

Hammond Soldier's body arrives in Gary
Jerry Davich recounts story that reminds us to check on our neighbors
Homes of snowbirds burgalized

Local Blogger Kevin Tracy says scientists think there may be life on Mars
Jerry Davich waiting for enviro-wackos to complain that birds were mistreated in airplane crash yesterday
Local socialist and apparently racist CJ happy about new grocery
Christopher Hedges warns of possible problems ahead for Mexican government
Dave Woodson reprints popular email from boss
How much does the Westchester Library cost taxpayers?
Brad from NW Indiana Pundit takes a contrarian position on county government reform, asking why give so much power to so few?
Mad Mortgage Machine predicts 4.5% rates soon, time to buy and refi NOW
Buzz takes a hard shot at Roosevelt Allen Jr, Lake County Commissioner
Do we really need to tax mobile homes every year?
Obama isn't looking like CHANGE so far
Mark Keisling sees a trick afoot in Lake County with new tax proposal

Sorry if the whole list is too busy to read, leave links to great news and posts related to NW Indiana in the comments section too. We welcome the extra input.

Recap First NW Indiana Blogger Meetup

2009-01-09T11:48:00.007-06:00

First let me say thanks to those that attended, I think we had 15 total and next time we'll easily see 20 plus if the weather if a bit better. To those that attended, please feel free to comment liberally on ideas and thoughts on where we can collaborate.

Our evening's hosts Golden Technologies - terrific team of IT and software consultants from Valparaiso were magnanimous in extending hospitality ... thanks again!

In attendance:

Aaron Simac from NWI Reviews and On Home Comfort
Dave Woodson from Mad Mortgage Machine and Dave Woodson.com
Brad Enslen from NWI Pundit
Kevin Tracy from KTracy.com
Chris Sloan from Ink Spot Printer
Chris Buckley a contributor to Porter County Politics
Chris Hedges from Christopher Hedges
Dan O'Day from NWI Connect and Prayeramedic and Tyranny Watch and 390days
and yours truly with way too many blogs to list here but my first one was Daltonsbriefs
we were missing at least 8 others that couldn't make it last night, so the next meeting really should be great!

A great time to fellowship and get to know each other, if you missed this one, please try to make the next one, which we'll probably try to get set in March. Some things we decided to work on in the future in no particular order:

For those that use google reader, it's awful fun to connect using the gmail chat feature and then whenever we "share" a post all our chat friends can see those shares. My gmail is stevesynergy (at) gmail (dot) com ... feel free to request chatting so we can all get connected inside of reader. Obviously if you use a reader, subscribe to all the other NW Indiana blogs
Many of us have attempted to compile lists of Northwest Indiana bloggers, I'll update my list here and we all agreed to attempt to stay updated and add new bloggers to our lists for blogrolls links. More important though than blog rolls, which don't score super high with google ... is actual text links in blog posts. When possible link to fellow region bloggers.
I have the list of email addresses and am pondering a google group, I know it's old school bulletin board, but would allow us to communicate ideas for collaboration. Let me know if you like this idea.
There was a lot of talk about twitter and other social media platforms. If you decide to use twitter and are posting about NW Indiana, highly recommend using the #nwindiana hashtag and then Twitter Search ... a good place to check daily for region posts and conversations.

If I've missed stuff, leave in comments and I'll raise up as updates to this post.

Related Posts:
A Shoutout to Golden Technologies
First NWI Blogger Meetup Was A Success
Northwest Indiana Bloggers Meet
NW Indiana Bloggers
Northwest Indiana Blogger Meeting a Success

If you've posted a recap and links back to Golden, let me know and I'll add to the related posts list here.

NWI Indiana Blogger Meetup

2009-01-04T19:53:00.002-06:00

This Thursday at 6 pm. at Golden Technologies 2402 Beech St. Valpo
No sales pitches, just a chance to meet everyone

Please come ... and also help us promote it. (use #nwindiana hashtag if using twitter)

Conservatives move on Digg

2008-12-29T11:54:00.001-06:00

Although dominated by liberals, conservatives today announced a major development in taking on Digg

clipped from www.techpresident.com

Digging Conservatism: Some of the digs against Digg, the community-ranking site, is that it's biased against women and weighted in favor of liberals. On the latter, enter #diggcons, an effort under the banner of the conservative #dontgo movement that aims to aggregate the weight of the right-leaning to promote their preferred content on not only Digg, but StumbleUpon as well. Twitter messages marked with the diggcons hashtag will sound the alarm on stories that could use a thumbs up. Will even the amassed voting power of online conservatives be enough to lift conservative content out of the ever-churning cauldron of Digg content? We'll see. But along with Top Conservatives on Twitter, it's another smart attempt to conquer social media from the right -- efforts largely unmatched on the left.

Real Estate Recovery predicted for 2009

2008-12-21T21:00:00.001-06:00

Watch for a massive and rapid recovery in housing and real estate in 2009 according to blogger (me) Steve Dalton and a list of Carnival writers

clipped from synergyhomes.blogspot.com

RE.covery Carnival of Real Estate

clipped from exitrealestate540.com

I LOVE A PARADE - Especially a PARADE of REAL ESTATE POSTS about a RECOVERY!

THE 2009 REAL ESTATE RECOVERY ... RE.COVERY

Real Estate Recovery in 2009 from The Real Estate Bloggers has the Governor of California predicting that 2009 will see the real estate recovery. I for one agree. This post wasn't submitted but I took some liberty and included it to start things off.

#TCOT targets Pigs wanting gov't cash

2008-12-17T09:10:00.001-06:00

GM, Chrysler and UAW still want cash handouts even though Ford says it can make it thru 2009

clipped from michellemalkin.com

Operation Three Little Piggies

Top Conservatives on Twitter have launched a new action project targeting the “three little piggies” — UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli. I know I’ve got a lot of fabulous Photoshoppers out there. This one sounds fun. So go and check out Operation Three Little Piggies here.

And if you haven’t opened a Twitter account (or haven’t figured it out yet), make sure to join TCOT.

Lessons from Campaign 2008

2008-12-16T07:35:00.001-06:00

McCain campaign staffer Ben Porritt on what happened and what worked, and of course what didn't work in the campaign

clipped from chrisfaulkner.wordpress.com

Lessons from the 2008 trenches, Part 1

As promised I am bringing you part 1 of our series on Lessons from the 2008 trenches. Our first contributor is Ben Porritt. Ben served as the national spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign and a co-founder of Outside Eyes strategy group in Southern California.

CF What campaign on the GOP side had the most effective use of New Media?

Chris Faulkner

Talk to Ford about auto bailout on twitter

2008-12-12T11:40:00.001-06:00

Lots of talk about the auto bailout, and whether the Congress or President will give them cash. This guy has engaged on Ford Exec himself and is hosting a public exchange on twitter this morning

clipped from kirkpete.blogspot.com

Lobbying in Plain Sight: The Auto Bailout on Twitter

Update: Operation Ford Motor now has its own hash tag, #OFM, if you want to follow the action today.

I don't know what if anything will come of this, but it's fascinating -- beginning at about 10:30 a.m. today, Scott Monty, the head of social media for Ford (yes, there is such a function now), began a Twitter conversation with Michael P. Leahy, head of a new Twitter-powered conservative group called Top Conservatives on Twitter (#TCOT).

Even if you don't have a Twitter account, I believe you should be able to follow this search link, which currently shows the "Tweet" below as the first result:

Top 200 Conservatives in US on twitter

2008-12-04T20:01:00.001-06:00

You asked and now the list is fully automated

clipped from www.topconservativesontwitter.org

Welcome to the new TCOT !

Welcome to the new, fully-automated Top Conservatives on Twitter !
The site is still very much a work in progress, so stay tuned as we evolve further...

Read More

Add Comment (6)

Hits: 42

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 December 2008 22:31

Top Conservatives on Twitter
last update: 12-04 08:15 pm

Calling all RNC Members to Twitter

2008-12-02T22:12:00.001-06:00

Only 7 so far, and a list of over 200 conservatives on twitter, well worth the read

clipped from topconservativesontwitter.blogspot.com

Top Conservatives on Twitter

First SEVEN RNC Members are on Twitter. Only 161 more to go ! Our mission, is to get all 168 RNC members on Twitter by January 28, 2009, the day they will be voting for the new RNC Chair! (as of 7:15 pm CST Dec 2)

(1) @jamesdickey 4,438 Delegate to RNC from Dallas, Texas (Denton County)

(2) @johnculberson 4,016 Tech savvy Republican member of Congress. Definitely not a Brain Dead Luddite.

(3) @brooksbayne 3,159

(4) @lesliecarbone 2,858 Blogger and occasional Weekly Standard contributor

(5) @PatrickRuffini 2,053 The conservative tech geek behind Rebuild the Party.

(6) @daltonsbriefs 1,730 Local Indiana editor for Red County Blogs.

(7) @michaelpleahy 1,665 Author of Rebuilding the Republican Party Despite the Brain Dead Luddites Who Run It. Tennessee editor for Red County Blogs.

International Center in Valparaiso

2008-11-30T08:09:00.002-06:00

International center coming to Valpo

We know this family, and are proud of their efforts ... Go Davisons!

VALPARAISO | Duane Davison and a small group of volunteers worked off their Thanksgiving meals Friday by ripping out the flooring in a 128-year-old house just east of Morgan Boulevard along the north side of Lincolnway. (sorry for bad photo, NWI Times has the worst photos and tries to sell them online ... another case of totally misunderstanding online media)

Davison purchased the house at 309 E. Lincolnway a year and a half ago to fulfill his dream of opening an international center that will bring together Valparaiso University, the local community and international residents of the area.

Where others now see unfinished floors, piles of construction debris and exposed beams, Davison sees a variety of ethnic groups hosting cooking, language and dance classes. He also envisions being able to stop in on any given evening to find discussions on current events or a group of sports fans watching an international soccer game.

"Sports are another thing that brings people together internationally," Davison said.

The Valparaiso International Center is not slated to open its doors until early spring, but those who are curious can take a peek Friday through Sunday when the facility hosts a fair-trade craft fair. The fair runs 4-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Davison said the idea of the center stems from the eight and half years he spent travelling through 80 countries before settling down in Valparaiso with his wife, Frieda, and four children. He said he wants his children to have a more broad cultural experience than they otherwise may have in the area.

Unlike other cultural centers in the region that focus on one ethnic group, Davison said the VIC will be open to all. He hopes to have a different cultural group take over the center each month and offer their own unique experience.

He is excited about the downtown location, which is accessible by pedestrians and those relying on the local V-Line bus service.

"We want people to open up and have a dialogue with each other," Davison said.

Mortgage blog in NW Indiana

2008-11-30T06:59:00.002-06:00

Yes, I'm also in the mortgage business. But, the expressed intent of this site is to feature other great bloggers in NW Indiana.

Northwest Indiana Mortgages

For those looking for our website, please check it out First Financial Trust Mortgage. For home mortgage loans in Indiana we focus on FHA mortgages and first time buyers.

As always call me at 219-762-7200 or email me at Northwest Indiana Mortgage Steve

Indy tweetup - huge success today

2008-11-29T17:03:00.001-06:00

Was able to meet some twitter friends, who are excited about ways that God is using online social media to connect missions, churches, and those of us interested in both

One project that I've considered is finding as many online social missions personalities as I can

clipped from ubbloggin.blogspot.com

A number of 'tweeps' showed up today for a 'tweetup' -- don't ask. LOL. We heard 'names' like...
Y0mbo
DaltonsBriefs
DrThomasHo
LauraHo
JimAckert
IndyChristian
...and a girl named Tabby who has a dog named Bruce.
...and a guy named Bruce who has a cat named Tabby. Go figure.

We discussed how Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking sites can help missions and global awareness in general.... eg. the recent Mumbai story... being reported minute by minute among tweeters onsite at the hotels under seige.

[Visit the UBcafe's photostream.]

clipped from ubbloggin.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving - We have overcome

2008-11-27T05:38:00.003-06:00

No pun intended, Happy Thanksgiving. In this time of economic worry, I felt it important this morning to remember that we have overcome many obstacles along the way in our nation's history and we will overcome these as well. Now, before we take ourselves too serious, we've also been blessed by God and it's high time we take those blessings serious. No soapbox today though.

Thanks for our families, for our churches, for our communities. Thanks for the ability to speak freely and gather in whatever groups we choose. Thanks for our government leaders, although we may have voted different, their responsibilities are great and warrant our support. Thanks for Northwest Indiana, the Southshore of beaches and mills of jobs.

As we gather with friends and family today, remember those who are not as fortunate as you ... there are homeless in NW Indiana, there are hungry, there are families still suffering from the floods a few months ago, there are families unemployed or worried about being unemployed soon. Pause a moment, how can you help.

Have a vision for NW Indiana? Share it

2008-11-26T16:42:00.001-06:00

Forum on The Future of Northwest Indiana

The Future of Northwest Indiana Forum is the first-ever region-wide public meeting to help plan and create a vision for the future of Lake, Porter and La Porte Counties.

The event will take place on Saturday, December 6 from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Registration and continental breakfast begin at 8:00 am.

The forum will use mediated small-group conversations and keypad polling technology to garner instant ideas and feedback from participants. Input on local priorities including transportation, environmental and economic growth, land use, and how to ensure social equity within the region will be the central focus of this first-ever meeting to develop a vision for the region’s future.

The forum kicks off a long-term effort to develop the region’s first three-county, comprehensive, regional plan to address the changing face of the area by the year 2040.

This conversation is about you, your family, and your local community.

JOIN US! REGISTER NOW!