NWI Connect

Northwest Indiana Soc Media Round Robbin

2010-11-24T11:42:00.003-06:00

I made up that title, not even sure what I'll write about today. Golden Technologies, northwest Indiana's technology experts, challenged us to speedblog last year. So on this last day before Thanksgiving 2010 a little speedblogging leap frog.

Where are you spending your Thanksgiving? The Dalton family is headed to Indianapolis, actually Greenwood to be specific. Tomorrow morning many of us will head to Broad Ripple for the Drumstick Dash 4.5 mile run in the cold!!! It's been interesting to note the number of Thanksgiving Day runs being held each year, an ever-increasing number.

What's your family tradition?

See Northwest Indiana Conservatives Coalition site for next post in series today ...

Northwest Indiana Mortgages - FHA VA and Conventional loans: Real Estate Pros in NW Indiana

2010-03-17T18:21:00.000-05:00

Northwest Indiana Mortgages - FHA VA and Conventional loans: Real Estate Pros in NW Indiana

Cline Ave is gonna be demolished, even Wikipedia knows about it

2010-02-16T19:01:00.003-06:00

I just found it interesting that Wikipedia reports about Cline Ave being demolished. Among other things, it talks about the ramp collapse in 1982 and the sniper shootings in 2006, both connected to Cline Avenue. Any good advice for NWI residents on alternate routes, now that you've had a chance to find detours for a month or so?

Chicagoland Earthquake Wakes Portage Resident

2010-02-10T09:13:00.004-06:00

I woke up this morning to discover that there had been an earthquake at 4 A.M. northwest of Chicago, near Elgin, IL. The quake registered 4.3, a decent shock for Chicagoland. The New York Times reports that an Elgin resident was the first to point out the earthquake - on Twitter.

Ms. Evans, who is the owner of Sevans Strategy, a public relations strategy firm that guides companies on how to use Twitter and other social media, said she then reached for her iPhone and posted a message on Twitter. “Seriously weird,” she wrote. “Something that felt like a minor quake just woke us up. Can anyone else in the CHI area/burbs confirm?”

After that Twitter went ablaze. Heres one to social media for reporting this first!

People have reported feeling the earthquake as far as Madison, Wisconsin and Bourbonnais, IL. But this morning, a local pastor told me that he felt the quake. Pastor Fred Hoover of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Portage, Indiana relayed to me that he thought a large snow plow had driven by his house at 4 A.M., but he believes it was the earthquake.

If folks in Wisconsin felt it, it's also likely that it could be felt in Portage. I was sleeping soundly.

Peace in Bethlehem and NW Indiana

2009-12-24T07:35:00.002-06:00

Christmas and Northwest Indiana (cross posted from Northwest Indiana Politics)

I couldn't resist, even though I know you will all be spending time with family and unwrapping presents ... so no one will have time to read this political site ... right!

Christmas is a bit political isn't it? (See Christmas Story on Blueletter) If you believe, as I do, that Jesus is actually God incarnate, born of the virgin Mary, in a stable in Bethlehem roughly 2,000 years ago. If you believe that this birth and his eventual crucifixion and resurrection make up the perfect trifecta of prophetic implication, such that humans can have contact with the only Holy deity. Then Christmas is a lot political, and makes people around you cringe. Words we don't use much in post modern society aren't they? Words that can make a conversation go mighty quiet, and people walk away uncomfortable that anyone would be so rude to talk about religion or faith. It's so much easier to pretend about Santa Claus or gaze at a lit tree, but to push faith in Jesus that's going too far.

It's not that faith is uncomfortable, it's that a faith of specifics and a faith in a specific truth like Christ is uncomfortable. In this culture we celebrate the fact that everyone has their own beliefs ... yet the downside is that we've lost the ability to truly debate which of those beliefs are right and which are just plain hogwash. It's even become rude to suggest that one has a belief that is true, since this assigns "false" to another belief. Let's be frank, truth exists and all other beliefs are false, even if that hurts someone feelings.

Please enjoy your families, pray for peace in Jerusalem, remember Jesus' birth in the lowly manger, give gifts of joy, worship with hearts of grace and mercy ... Merry Christmas Northwest Indiana.

Working as teams to take care of others who can’t take care of themselves

2009-12-08T14:31:00.000-06:00

Working as teams to take care of others who can’t take care of themselves: "

A letter from the publisher, Bill Masterson, Jr.

I just left a summit meeting of Lake County hospitals CEOs where Ian McFadden of Methodist Hospitals, Donald Fesko of Community Hospital and Gene Diamond of Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., had a real world discussion about not only what’s happening on the front lines right now, but also about their genuine concerns regarding what the future of our system in Northwest Indiana looks like to them. These professionals may be competitors but it certainly didn’t seem that way from the conversation. There are plenty of patients and future clients out there needing quality care; the challenges and opportunities are getting it right 24/7. And right means many things to different people. Being able to keep dozens of trained specialists available in areas where the needs are great, being able to get the full benefit of technological advancements and having the educational system’s support to help fill the pipeline with qualified caregivers now and in the future.

The big takeaway from our meeting is the same as the theme of this issue: there are no small issues in health care. Our discussion began with a shortage of H1N1 vaccine (the boat has sailed) and concerns about a shortage of Tamiflu for treatment of an ongoing epidemic. We moved quickly into the proactivity and collegial planning surrounding standardization of codes and records to keep patients safe. This includes, of course, patient involvement in asking questions and an active approach to helping care for themselves. But the most intense area of discussion was the population shift and the potential shortage of physicians, nurses and other highly skilled and professional health care providers. Yes, it’s true, as Gene Diamond says, that the level and quality of treatment, facilities and technology is excellent and unprecedented at this time, but the future from some logical points of view is still frightening. I was somewhat reassured about our position in Northwest Indiana in relation to our health care institutions. Here in the Region we have grown in innovative ways, especially in the last 10 years, and we have been quite effective with creative approaches to complex questions. It is people like these CEOs and their very dedicated staffs which keep us moving forward, because despite difficulties and challenges, they care about us and each other.

We will be meeting with the CEOs in Porter and LaPorte County in first quarter 2010.

Until then,

Bill Masterson Jr.

Publisher, BusINess

WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK

E-mail me at bill.masterson@nwitimes.com or write to me at: BusINess Magazine, The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN 46321

Dumezich for US House Indiana 1st?

2009-06-04T15:12:00.001-05:00

From @daltonsbriefs of Porter County Politics

NW Indiana - Dumezich for House?

I’ll start the conversation here, and then round robin to some of our other great conservative sites in the state. Of course you're welcome to engage the same topic on twitter as well (@daltonsbriefs)

I believe that Dan Dumezich should re-think his options and run instead against Pete Visclosky for the first district seat.

Dan can raise money, both inside and outside the district
Dan has a strong and well known name in the district and has recently put old turf wars with current Lake County GOP chair behind them
Pete is as weak as he’s going to be, with PMA lobbying money scandal and having to remove himself from position of earmark power
The voters in the first district are getting pretty sick of calls for increased taxes to bail out Gary and the northern Lake County communities.
If Dan wins, we pick up a seat no one thought would ever go R. If he loses by 4-5 points, he is the logical successor to Senator Lugar who will I’m sure soon retire.

I’ll let you the readers tell me I’m all wet, that’s fine, since that’s the primary goal of this site and other similar ones. But, before you cry ‘impossible’ think carefully about the possibilities.

Merely an opinion - Dumezich should run against Visclosky (from Hoosier Access)

Happy and Thoughtful Easter

2009-04-12T07:37:00.000-05:00

Happy Resurrection Sunday - Easter

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?"

Centier Bank's Curt Gill honored

2009-03-09T06:07:00.000-05:00

From the Times

Curt Gill embraces opportunities to further projects, programs and education in Porter County.

A Valparaiso resident since 1976 and vice president of Centier Bank, Valparaiso branch since it opened in 1988, he believes in the community and to giving back.

Gill served as director of the American Cancer Society for 30 years. He just retired in August. He has been a member of Valparaiso Rotary Club for 21 years and is a past president and is currently involved with the Porter County Tobacco and Education Prevention Coalition. He serves on the Valparaiso Economic Development Corporation, was a member of a delegation to China last October, and has been on the Valparaiso Town Gown Committee for at least 15 years.

A 12-year member of the Porter County Career and Technical Education Advisory Council, Gill recently received its Outstanding Service Award. His support of career and technical education students and programs were cited as some of the reasons for the award. School principal and director Jon Groth presented the honor.

The purpose of the advisory council is to provide assistance to the county Career and Technical Education administration in system design and program evaluation, to bring community input into the planning process to better serve the interests of students, parents, future employers of graduates and the community.

"I work in the community, want to be involved and I plan to continue," he said. "And Centier Bank is very supportive of volunteer opportunities and me in these pursuits."

Plane in Hudson Video

2009-01-17T16:18:00.001-06:00

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 Bloggers

2009-01-16T08:17:00.002-06:00

Just posted a pretty comprehensive list of links on stories and news for today, feel free to add more in the comments section ... thinking one of us should host a comprehensive list every day.

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. See NW Indiana bloggers if you want to add some great new sites.

Head to link above for the entire post, and feel free to leave comments here too with links to NW Indiana related posts today.

Dave's Den

2009-01-10T09:55:00.002-06:00

Dave's Den is a site focusing on all things Gary, IN. Here there is a ton of info on the "Steel City;" its past, present and future. Of particular interest may be the "Rudy Report," which helps one keep abreast of the current happenings/shenanigans of the Clay administration.

Here is the link to the Gary page of the web site: Dave's Den. Dave would also point out both that there are corresponding blogs for not only the Gary page on the site, but all the other pages; embedded on each page.

Dave's interest in the subject of Gary stems from having been born, reared and educated there. He heartily encourages all with an interest to come on by, take a look, enjoy and participate!

NWI Blogger Meetup

2008-12-29T12:15:00.000-06:00

Attention Northwest Indiana bloggers!!!

Steve Dalton is setting up a blogger meetup on January 8, 2009 in Valparaiso at 6 p.m. No further details available at this time, stay posted!

Race for RNC chair just got dicey

2008-12-24T07:03:00.001-06:00

Cross Posted from Porter County Politics

This story is "breaking" in nature - for updates go to TCOT Report

The election of the new National Chair for the GOP has turned just a little frustrating and controversial over the last week. Perhaps for the same reasons that elections for similar chairs in states and counties nationwide will be just as difficult. Republicans lost, and lost big time, and conservatives nationwide are asking some hard questions. "Who chooses these people to lead our party?" "Who chooses the choosers, and why do RNC members think they're above being thrown out after losing so substantially?

In Indiana we have an RNC member, Jim Bopp, who leads a study committee mentioned in the article below. Should he even have a say in choosing future party leadership after the embarrassing loss of Indiana to Obama just 45 days ago? I'm just asking, and wondering what the process is that chooses and chooses again the same or similar people?

The co-founder of #TCOT the three-week old Twitter movement of roughly 1,700 conservatives online called two days ago for Mike Duncan to step down and agree to not run again for RNC chairman. Some agreed wholeheartedly, others beat up the author for daring to suggest that any of us have anything to do with this decision, it's all about the 168 voting RNC members they said. What?

Articles of interest:
Special Meeting Request by RNC member
Response on Next Right - only matters what 168 voters thing

Ever had one of those days?

2008-12-04T14:35:00.001-06:00

Like this guy? He lost it. . . .

Apparently the other guy must have been throwing stuff at him repeatedly:

Sarah Palin Turkey Pardoning Video

2008-11-28T18:33:00.002-06:00

I wonder why no one moved her to the left a little bit. Daily Kos's comments got a little annoying. It's not as gory as I heard it was. Not very graphic at all. I really don't see the big deal here. . . .

I-65, Borman interchange open to traffic

2008-11-28T01:00:00.000-06:00

Motorists had an extra reason to be thankful on Thanksgiving Day, with the early reopening of a 1.5-mile stretch of Interstate 65 and two newly built bridges passing over Interstate 80/94.

Indiana State Police and the Indiana Department of Transportation reported the ramp closures, traffic restrictions and detours were removed at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday. Access between I-65 and the Indiana Toll Road also is now fully open.

Officials with the Indiana Department of Transportation said earlier in the month that the changes were expected to take place in early to mid-December.

The closures began in March to reconstruct the I-65 bridges over the Borman Expressway and the ramps at the interchange. New features include a flyover ramp from westbound I-80/94 to southbound I-65, new entrance and exit ramp configurations at Ridge Road and wider entrances at the ramps with higher traffic volumes, including the eastbound Borman to southbound I-65 and northbound I-65 to the westbound Borman.

INDOT reported the improvements should result in less merging of traffic and improved traffic flow. Minor lane restrictions on I-65, the Borman and the interchange ramps will occur during shoulder work, INDOT officials said, but the interchange will remain open.

From The Times. . . .

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T05:52:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving - We have overcome

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?

Forum on The Future of Northwest Indiana

2008-11-26T13:51:00.001-06:00

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!

Region Politics Roundup

2008-11-21T09:49:00.001-06:00

Politics in the Region

Retort: Ron Paul supporters aren't foolish - a back and forth debate occurring on Porter County Politics about the impact of Ron Paul supporters in the GOP going forward. In Lake County the Ron Paul supporters actually had one state rep. race they worked hard to win, losing but doing so with a lot of compliments and impressed pundits.

Jerimiah Wright has a franchise in Gary - Our most outspoken Lake County watcher, Buzz is keeping an eye on all the craziness in Indiana's most Chicago-like county.

Mini-Depression and the battle for economic common sense - From Red County, an open thread on economic solutions that don't involve bailouts or handouts of government cash.

Barack Obama Vacates Senate Seat. What Happens Now? - Kevin Tracy is probably the most widely read blogger from the region, having been very involved with the Huckabee campaign as a blogger. He is supporting Chip Saltsman for GOP chair and is keeping an eye on the ladder picks in Illinois as Obama moves up.

70% of voters show up at the polls in Lake County - Dan from Prayeramedic and 390Days is wondereing what it would take to get Republicans to be excited again? If 2008 was a vote against liberalism, and therefore very little excitement, what is it going to take to get Republicans and Conservatives excited enough to go grass roots and online and get involved?

I'll check in again in December with another Region Review from Northwest Indiana. We may have gone blue up here, but there's a glimmer or spark of hope that this can be a turning point.

Snow In NWI

2008-11-18T08:48:00.003-06:00

Well we have our first snowfall of the year on this fine 18th of November, just nine days before Thanksgiving. Up north where I am didn't get anything, but Kouts and further south east has a foot or so! The Post Tribune reports that "Lake-effect snow and icy roads caused several vehicle crashes on Interstate 94 in Porter and LaPorte counties on Monday night. . . . Police said the interstate was like "a solid sheet of ice" from Portage to Michigan City. Troopers could travel only around 10 mph." Pretty crazy!

Why is it that everyone in the Region forgets how to drive during the first snowfall of every year? We do this annually!

Man Cured From AIDS!

2008-11-13T08:58:00.002-06:00

A bone marrow transplant may have saved a man's life from AIDS. The Associated Press reports:

An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said.

While researchers — and the doctors themselves — caution that the case might be no more than a fluke, others say it may inspire a greater interest in gene therapy to fight the disease that claims 2 million lives each year. The virus has infected 33 million people worldwide.

Dr. Gero Huetter said Wedneday his 42-year-old patient, an American living in Berlin who was not identified, had been infected with the AIDS virus for more than a decade. But 20 months after undergoing a transplant of genetically selected bone marrow, he no longer shows signs of carrying the virus.

"We waited every day for a bad reading," Huetter said.

It has not come. Researchers at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school say tests on his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues have all been clean.

However, Dr. Andrew Badley, director of the HIV and immunology research lab at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said those tests have probably not been extensive enough.

"A lot more scrutiny from a lot of different biological samples would be required to say it's not present," Badley said.

This isn't the first time marrow transplants have been attempted for treating AIDS or HIV infection. In 1999, an article in the journal Medical Hypotheses reviewed the results of 32 attempts reported between 1982 and 1996. In two cases, HIV was apparently eradicated, the review reported.

Honoring Veterans in NWI

2008-11-07T09:52:00.002-06:00

C.P. celebrates Veterans Day with beer, breakfast
NWI Times

While one Crown Point business toasts veterans with free beer, a Crown Point church will honor military personnel and their families with breakfast.

People have long shown their appreciation for others with what they have available to them. In the case of Crown Brewery, what its owners have to offer is beer.

That's why from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday the brewery, 211 S. East St. will unveil its new beer the Special Force Ale, and provide a free beer to all veterans.

"It's our way of saying 'Thank you,'" said Adam Grape, the brewery's marketing director. "It's what we can offer, but it's not much for what they've done."

Graper said the idea of a beer to honor those in the military had been floating around for a while, but only recently came to fruition. He said the beer is smooth and light, and its drinkers don't have to be beer lovers to enjoy it. The Special Force Ale will be one of the brewery's three "year-round" beers on tap, alongside three seasonal beers.

One street away, First United Methodist Church, 352 S. Main St., is combining its celebrations of Veterans Day and Thanksgiving with a project so large Pastor Mark Wilkins said it has taken on a life of its own.

The church has spent the last six months contacting the families of local military personnel to invite them to a breakfast Nov. 16. Wilkins said the church is not only honoring veterans, but saying thank you to the families of active service personnel.

"We want to say thank you for the lonely nights and the nights they've stayed awake wondering if their loved ones are OK," he said.

The church will have a service at 9 and again at 11 a.m. with a private breakfast receptions for the families in between.

Wilkins said the families who are participating have been shocked that they are being recognized too.

"They're gratified someone recognizes the sacrifice they make everyday," he said.

The city of Crown Point will have a Veterans Day ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday on the east side of the old courthouse with the American Legion and the VFW. The city also will remember troops who are overseas during the holidays with a ceremony at 6 p.m. Nov. 15 to light the tank at Goldsborough and Main streets.

Local veterans from the American Legion and VFW also are invited to a Veterans Day program at 9 a.m. Nov. 14 at St. Mary Catholic Community School, 405 E. Joliet St.

I'm definitely going to go claim my free beer ;)

70% of voters show up at the polls in Lake County

2008-11-06T20:40:00.003-06:00

It was very neat to see the large turnout at the polls on November 4, 2008. The NWI Times points out:

That exceeds the 55 percent turnout for the 2004 George Bush-John Kerry race or the 56 percent turnout for the Bush-Al Gore race.

"This election is obviously seismic," said James McCann, a professor of political science at Purdue University.

The number of voters had declined -- with few exceptions -- from 1960 to 2000 and were on a mild upswing until Tuesday's spike at the polls, McCann said. . . .

Perhaps just as precedent setting, Lake County elections officials managed to collect and tally all 214,023 ballots -- nearly 70,000 more than in the spring primary -- with much less trouble than in the spring primary when the delay of voting results made the county the butt of criticism across the nation.

I certainly noticed a much greater voter turnout at my polling station in Merrillville! Very encouraging to see more people becoming involved in politics! Now we'll see if it was genuine "change" in 2012 or if it was motivated by something else. . . .

Election Predictions Versus Actual

2008-11-05T10:58:00.005-06:00

Well the media has been saying it all along: Obama is the next president. I know the blogosphere was filled with election predictions, each favoring their particular candidate. I kept my prediction silent merely because I was just playing around with the RealClearPolitics Electoral Map Tool. I decided that I might as well post my prediction and the actual final results (or what we have so far).

My prediction:

Actual results (this far):

I wasn't far off. Not that it matters, but is there any word yet on Missouri or North Carolina? Congrats to Obama!