plus 4, For Sale: Ponzi Defendant's Car Collection - WSB-TV Atlanta |
- For Sale: Ponzi Defendant's Car Collection - WSB-TV Atlanta
- 2009 in review: Top headlines of an exceptionally busy year - Cleveland Plain Dealer
- Favourites in a tumultuous year - Edmonton Journal
- New state laws go into effect Friday - Chico Enterprise-Record
- Duneland 2009 Year in Review: There's no place like home - Chesterton Tribune
| For Sale: Ponzi Defendant's Car Collection - WSB-TV Atlanta Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:50 AM PST Gov't Auction To Include Some Likely FakesPosted: 3:53 pm EST December 30, 2009Updated: 10:56 am EST December 31, 2009 SALT LAKE CITY -- The government auction of a Utah fraud suspect's car collection will include some fakes. U.S. marshals will auction nearly 200 vehicles seized from Jeffrey Mowen, who is charged with running a Ponzi scheme. Mowen pleaded not guilty after his April arrest in Panama, but a federal judge ruled that authorities could hold an auction because they are paying $20,000 a month just to store his cars, motorcycles, RVs, dune buggies and golf carts. Two auctions are set for January. Trade publications say a lot of Mowen's so-called classics actually are fiberglass kit cars with little value. One supposed Lamborghini is mounted on a Pontiac Fiero chassis. A 1939 Jaguar replica was built from a 1984 Cadillac frame, according to the judge's auction order. Among the genuine cars are a 1981 DeLorean sports coupe, a 1989 Bentley Turbo, a 1969 Dodge Charger and a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda. Other replicas are Porsche and Ford roadsters. Among dozens of motorcycles is a Peter Fonda Easy Rider clone. Many of the cars have never been driven and some motorcycle tanks never filled with gasoline. Most vehicles are so clean "you could eat dinner off the engine," auctioneer Rob Olsen told The Associated Press. "I've never seen cars this nice." Olsen said federal agents "had to snatch-and-grab and pick them up from all places" around Utah. Marshals started moving them Wednesday from an undisclosed storage facility to a North Salt Lake warehouse for the auctions. The government hopes to raise about $2 million from auctions in January, and the money will go to Mowen's investors, who are owed more than $8 million, prosecutors said. "We will set minimum prices or reserves on the vehicles because we've got to maximize the return for investors," Deputy U.S. Marshal Dan Juergens said Wednesday. "Still, I think people are going to get some real good deals." It wasn't known if Mowen, 47, who is being held in jail, objects to the sale of his property when he hasn't been found guilty. "I don't know if he had a choice," Juergens said. Mowen couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. His lawyers didn't immediately return messages from The Associated Press. A court docket shows no effort by the defense to stop the auctions. The auctions will be held by Erkelens & Olsen Auctioneers Jan. 7 and Jan. 21. Juergens said a third auction may be held in January for the sale of miscellaneous trailers, car haulers and boats. Buyers will be able to take immediate possession of the vehicles that are sold, the marshal said. More than a dozen of Mowen's 210 vehicles have been pulled off the auction block after other people asserted in court papers that they had an ownership interest in the vehicles. The auction house says Mowen hadn't fully paid for some of the vehicles. Mowen, 47, formerly of Lindon, Utah, was indicted in February on three counts of wire fraud. More recently, he was charged with trying to persuade a fellow Davis County jail inmate to kill four witnesses in the case to keep them from testifying at trial. Mowen pleaded not guilty on Dec. 14 to the additional charges. Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| 2009 in review: Top headlines of an exceptionally busy year - Cleveland Plain Dealer Posted: 31 Dec 2009 02:42 AM PST By Brian AlbrechtDecember 31, 2009, 4:00AMIn the contrasting half-full, half-empty view of life, there was plenty in 2009 to appeal to folks who look either way at that proverbial drinking glass of optimism/pessimism. For those taking the half-empty outlook, there was the equally drained economy -- sloshing with bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment -- the continuing costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the possibility of nukes in Iran and North Korea, swine flu, the sweeping federal investigation of Cuyahoga County corruption, the Indians, the Browns, and an arch-rival double-whammy as the Steelers won the Super Bowl and the Yankees took the World Series. Those toasting the year with that half-full glass could cite the fortuitous outcome of the US Airways jetliner crash into the Hudson River, not to mention Mine That Bird overcoming 50-to-one odds and winning the Kentucky Derby, or Susan Boyle's triumphant vocal retort to anyone who ever judged anything by surface appearances alone. There also was LeBron James named MVP, the U.S. Navy rescue of a cargo ship captain captured by Somali pirates, the Cuyahoga River celebrating its 40th anniversary of not catching on fire again, the nation's first face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic, and arch swindler Bernard Madoff getting 150 years in prison. That, and more was 2009 by the half-a-glass. So go ahead, take a swig.
JANUARY
Jan. 2: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland and the governors of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin ask the federal government for a $1 trillion economic stimulus package to offset state budget deficits.  Former Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul at a press conference in January.
Also facing budget shortfalls, Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul lays off 18 deputies and three workers while giving raises to family members and friends working in the department. Jan. 3: Israeli tanks and troops sweep into the Gaza Strip, opening a ground war against Hamas militants as the death toll rises to more than 400. Dick Feagler, who authored nearly 4,000 columns in 38 years for the Cleveland Press and then The Plain Dealer, retires at age 70 to hang out with his Aunt Ida. Jan. 7: As sleeping Dawgs lie, the Cleveland Browns hire Eric Mangini, formerly of the New York Jets, as coach.
Jan. 8: Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland says the state's economy is so bad he's willing to roll the dice and consider expanded gambling ventures. Jan. 9: University Hospitals Case Medical Center performs a procedure allowing a 10-year-old quadriplegic boy from central Ohio to breathe without a ventilator, the youngest such patient to have the surgery. Jan. 10: Northeast Ohio is buried under nearly a foot of snow in a storm that blankets the Midwest and New England. Jan. 12: U.S. Sen. George Voinovich announces he will retire when his term expires in 2010, ending four decades of public service, including terms as Ohio governor and mayor of Cleveland. Jan. 15: A US Airways jetliner loses power to both engines on take-off after striking birds, and ditches in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. All 155 people aboard are rescued.
Jan. 16: Daniel Burns, the Cleveland schools' chief operating officer, resigns amid an investigation into district purchasing.  Barack Obama, left, joined by his wife Michelle, third from left, and daughters Sasha, fourth from left, and Malia, takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts to become the 44th president of the United States at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)Jan. 20: President Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the nation's 44th President as more than a million people jam into the capital to witness the historic event. Jan. 21: Two days after a cease-fire is arranged, the last Israeli troops withdraw from the Gaza Strip in an three-week conflict that has left more than 1,300 Palestinians killed. Jan. 22: Cuyahoga County commissioners announce that a $425 million convention center and medical mart will be built on land occupied by the Cleveland Convention Center. President Barack Obama orders closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, bans torturing suspected terrorists and shuts down secret CIA prisons. Microsoft Corp. makes the first mass layoffs in its 34-year history, cutting 5,000 jobs as demand for personal computers falls. Jan. 25: Drum Major John Coleman of the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums marching unit gets a six-month suspension for nodding, waving and winking at President Obama as the unit marched past the presidential reviewing stand during the inauguration. He subsequently resigns.
Jan. 26: The Cleveland Browns hire George Kokinis, former Baltimore Ravens pro personnel director, as general manager. Jan 28: In his State of the State address, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland outlines broad educational reforms which include extending the school year, freezing college tuitions and increasing the state's share of school costs.
The House of Representatives approves President Barack Obama's $819 billion economic recovery plan, without a single affirmative Republican vote. Cleveland is buried under 10 inches of snow in 23 hours as part of a massive storm stretching from the southern Plains to the East Coast that kills 23 and leaves more than a million people without power. Jan. 29: The Illinois Senate unanimously votes to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office and ban him from ever again holding elective office in the state.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 3: Pittsburgh's PNC Financial Services Group Inc. announces it will cut 5,800 jobs, most at the newly acquired National City Corp. of Cleveland. Going for the Acapulco Gold, Olympic superstar swimmer Michael Phelps treads in hot water after a photo of him inhaling from a marijuana pipe surfaces. Feb. 6: A woman who underwent the first face transplant in the U.S. is released from the Cleveland Clinic after a two-month recovery from the 23-hour operation. Kent State University Prof. Gertrude Steuernagel dies a week after being severely beaten in her Kent home. Her 18-year-old autistic son is charged for her death and assaulting a police officer. Feb. 10: The U.S. Senate approves an $838 billion economic stimulus package that could bring $7.9 billion to Ohio. Revisions trim the total to $789 billion. Feb. 11: The Ohio Department of Transportation says two, five-lane Inner Belt bridges will be built by 2015, involving either two brand new structures or one new span and rehabbing the existing bridge. Feb. 12: A Continental commuter plane from Newark, N.J., crashes into a house in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 aboard the aircraft and a person in the house. Feb. 15: Local culinary history takes a double hit with the death, at age 101, of Herman Pirchner, founder of the Alpine Village supper club on Playhouse Square which served a host of celebrities from the early 1930s to 1961; and the third generation of the Swingos family shuts down the last of its namesake restaurants in a dining tradition that started in downtown Cleveland in the 1960s. Feb. 16: A Stamford, Conn., woman is severely mauled by "Travis," a 200-pound chimpanzee owned by the woman's friend. The chimp is shot to death when it attacks police responding to the scene. The blinded and disfigured victim lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids and is flown to the Cleveland Clinic, which recently did the first face transplant in the United States.
Feb. 23: Two Cleveland Clinic workers are shot in the head, one fatally, during an apparent robbery at Reserve Square in downtown Cleveland. Four suspects are arrested the next day. Bratenahl Police Chief Paul Falzone resigns shortly before release of a report regarding missing guns, drugs and money from the department's evidence room. Feb. 28: Stand by for news! Radio legend Paul Harvey, who worked for more than 50 years in the business, dies at 90. Now we'll never know the rest of the story. More than 650,000 Americans lose jobs for a record third straight month, bringing unemployment -- now 12.5 million people, more than the population of Pennsylvania -- to a quarter-century peak of 8.1 percent nationally.
MARCH March 9: A ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research is lifted by President Barack Obama. March 11: Germany files an arrest warrant for John Demjanjuk, 88, a retired Seven Hills auto worker, accusing him of being an accessory to murder as a concentration camp guard in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II. Plans for four Las Vegas-style casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo and Cincinnati are announced. Proponents including Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, an investor, say $660 million in tax revenue could be generated if the proposal is approved by voters. March 12: Joanne Schneider, 67, of Lakewood, is sentenced to three years in prison for bilking $60 million from investors. And in New York, Bernard Madoff, 70, pleads guilty to running perhaps the biggest (an estimated $65 billion) investment scam in Wall Street history. The Cleveland Institute of Art announces that it will soon break ground on a $50.3 million expansion in University Circle. March 13: Former Cleveland Councilman Robert White is sentenced to 18 months in prison for taking a $500 bribe from a businessman in 2007.
 Joseph Meissner protests the closing of a Catholic church by parking his monster truck outside St. John Cathedral.March 15: The Cleveland Catholic Diocese announces plans to close 29 churches and merge 41 others into 18 new parishes.
March 18: The state Senate approves legislation increasing the speed limit for trucks on Ohio interstates from 55 to 65 mph. March 19: Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, who resigned in 2008 after a sex scandal in his office, is found guilty of violating election laws by spending campaign funds on personal items and fined $1,000. An Austrian man who imprisoned his daughter as a sex slave for 24 years, fathering seven children, is sentenced to life in a mental institution. March 20: J. Kevin Kelly, subject of FBI searches last summer in a probe of county corruption, resigns from the Parma Board of Education. March 23: Cleveland City Council approves new ward boundaries, eliminating two of the 21 council seats to reflect the city's shrinking population. The change takes effect in 2010. March 25: Citing failing health, Cuyahoga County Sheriff Gerald McFaul, 74, resigns amid controversy regarding his conduct in the office he held for 32 years. March 26: The Ohio Department of Transportation announces plans to build a new $300 million Inner Belt Bridge next to the current bridge over the Cuyahoga River which will be rehabbed or replaced at a cost of about $250 million.
March 29: Warrensville Heights Police Chief Frank Bova, 48, is named interim Cuyahoga County Sheriff, replacing Gerald McFaul. Cleveland Central Catholic High School wins its first-ever basketball state championship. APRIL
April 1: Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth is charged by Florida prosecutors with DUI manslaughter for hitting and killing a pedestrian in Miami Beach on March 14. Oberlin College becomes the first in Ohio to push its annual tuition, room and board costs to over $50,000. April 4: Cleveland hosts induction ceremonies for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with featured honorees including Metallica, Bobby Womack, Jeff Beck, Run D.M.C., Wanda Jackson and Little Anthony and the Imperials. April 7: The Cleveland Play House will sell its historic complex on Euclid Avenue and move to PlayhouseSquare's Allen Theatre along with Cleveland State University's drama program. April 8: Somali pirates attack a U.S.-flagged cargo ship off the coast of Africa and take the vessel's captain hostage. He is rescued five days later when Navy SEAL snipers aboard a U.S. destroyer kill the kidnappers. April 16: Cuyahoga County commissioners unanimously approve a contract to invest $900 million in taxpayer money on a downtown convention center and medical mart. United Airlines joins eight other carriers in mandating that passengers who can't fit in their seats must buy a second seat. April 19: Cavaliers coach Mike Brown is named NBA Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 66-16 franchise record. April 23: Longtime WEWS Channel 5 anchor Ted Henry, 63, retires after nearly 28 years at the station. U.S. News & World Report rankings name Case Western Reserve University as Ohio's best medical school. April 24: Ronald Berkman, provost at Florida International University, becomes the new president of Cleveland State University. April 27: General Motors announces its latest alternative-to-bankruptcy restructuring plan that includes shutting down 16 plants, costing 21,000 workers their jobs; closing 42 percent of its dealerships; giving the government half or more of its stock; and killing the 80-year-old Pontiac line. April 28: A free weekend health-care festival at the Cuyahoga County fairgrounds is canceled due to concerns the swine flu virus could be spread by the thousands of people expected for the event. It is later rescheduled for July. April 30: Chrysler files for bankruptcy protection, shutting down most of its plants while hoping to merge with Italian car maker Fiat. That merger could shut down the Twinsburg stamping plant by 2010. MAY
May 1: Cuyahoga County Democrats choose Bob Reid, 57, Bedford city manager and former police chief, to be county sheriff, replacing Gerald McFaul. May 2: The Kentucky Derby is rocked by a 50-to-1 shot, Mine That Bird, galloping to a win by nearly seven lengths. Jack Kemp -- former Buffalo Bills quarterback, nine-term congressman, vice presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative" -- dies at 73.  LeBron James poses with his trophy and his mother, Gloria, after being named the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
May 4: In a day of honors, LeBron James receives the NBA's Most Valuable Player award at his former high school in Akron; Cleveland restaurateur and Iron Chef Michael Symon wins the 2009 James Beard Foundation Award in the Best Chef Great Lakes category; and Plain Dealer columnist Regina Brett receives the American Bar Association's Silver Gavel award for her columns on open discovery. May 5: The nation's first face transplant, Connie Culp, shows the new look she got last December in a 23-hour surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Her debut comes a day after surgeons perform the nation's first double hand transplant on a man at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Actor/comedian Dom DeLuise, who got his theatrical start in Cleveland before becoming a well-known Hollywood celebrity, dies at 75. May 6: Cleveland's Domestic Registry starts with the hopes of unmarried couples that it may prompt employers and hospitals to extend them the same rights as those reserved for married people.  John Demjanjuk is wheeled out of his Seven Hills home on his way to Germany for trial.May 11: After repeated appeals and delays fail, John Demjanjuk, 89, of Seven Hills, is flown to Germany to face charges of being an accessory in the deaths of 29,000 Jews at a Nazi death camp in 1943.
May 13: A former local pharmacist is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the 2006 death of Emily Jerry, 2, who died from an accidental lethal injection of a salt solution during cancer treatment at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. Her death prompted passage of "Emily's Law," setting state guidelines and requirements for pharmacy technicians. May 14: Chrysler closes 14 dealerships in Greater Cleveland, among 789 shut down nationwide as part of its bankruptcy reorganization. GM follows suit a day later, canceling contracts with 1,100 dealers nationally. Anthony Gutierrez, ex-director of general services for former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann who resigned in 2008 resulting from a sexual harassment scandal, is indicted on six felonies, including theft in office.
May 19: The Urban League of Greater Cleveland, $2.75 million in debt, almost folds after 92 years of service to low-income residents. A temporary reprieve is announced 11 days later. May 26: Federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor is chosen by President Barack Obama as his Supreme Court nominee. She will be the first Hispanic to serve on the court. May 27: Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital opens its new 30,000-square-foot, $26 million neonatal intensive care unit.
May 29: Comedian Jay Leno ends a 17-year run with his final hosting of "The Tonight Show." The Cleveland Hebrew School announces that it will close after 119 years of Hebrew and religion instruction, due to declining enrollment. May 31: An Air France jet carrying 228 passengers and crew disappears in a thunderstorm over the Atlantic Ocean while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. A week later the first bodies and wreckage are found floating in the ocean; all are presumed lost, cause unknown. Millvina Dean, last survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage to New York, dies at 97 in Southampton, England.
JUNE
June 1: General Motors files for bankruptcy protection and plans to close 14 plants nationwide (including one in Ohio), costing 10,000 workers their jobs and eliminating 2,000 dealerships. June 5: Former Cleveland Indians owner Richard E. Jacobs dies at 83. June 6: Cleveland Heights native Alysa Stanton, 45, is ordained in Cincinnati as the first-ever black female rabbi, and will serve at a synagogue in North Carolina. June 10: The Ohio Supreme Court upholds a 2006 state law prohibiting municipalities, including Cleveland, from requiring that city employees live in the city. June 11: The World Health Organization designates the swine flu as a global pandemic, with some 13,000 cases of H1N1 in the U.S. and 27 deaths so far. June 12: The first major charges in a federal investigation of corruption among Cuyahoga County officials are filed in U.S. District Court against four friends and associates of County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and County Auditor Frank Russo. Analog TV broadcasting ends at 10 a.m. in Northeast Ohio. June 13: Reservations open for tickets to the Statue of Liberty's crown, which has been closed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Six Flags Inc., operator of 20 amusement/theme parks in North America and $2.4 billion in debt, hops aboard a Chapter 11 coaster to Bankruptcy World. June 14: Riots erupt in Tehran and other cities in protest of the lopsided re-election victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. June 16: Cleveland Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth gets 30 days in prison, two years of house arrest, eight years probation, 1,000 hours of community service and lifetime suspension of his driver's license after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter for striking and killing a Miami, Fla., man with his Bentley in March. Stallworth is also suspended indefinitely without pay by the NFL. June 17: Jacobs Investments announces that it will put a $9 million, 55,000 square-foot aquarium in the Powerhouse in the Flats, opening in 2010. Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is second in the nation in neonatal care for the second year in a row, according to U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of children's hospitals. Cleveland Clinic maintains its fourth place position in neurology and neurosurgery. June 19: Facing a $3.2 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Ted Strickland proposes slot machines at Ohio's seven horse racetracks, and $2.43 billion in state spending cuts. Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, president of the Cleveland Gladiators arena football team, files for bankruptcy. June 22: Cleveland celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire.  Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, at a meeting in November.June 23: Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, subject of a federal public corruption probe, takes a temporary leave of absence as the county's Democratic Party boss. Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic retains his post as voters reject an attempted recall. June 24: The Cavs and Phoenix Suns reach an agreement to bring basketball star Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland. After going AWOL for several days, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admits he has been having an affair and had secretly flown to Argentina to see his mistress.  The late Michael Jackson sings in a 1988 concert.
June 25: "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, 50, who recorded more than 60 Top 40 hits with the Jackson 5 and during his solo career, dies in Los Angeles on the verge of staging a planned comeback concert tour.
June 28: Cleveland Museum of Art Director Timothy Rub leaves to direct the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff arrives at a federal courthouse.
June 29: Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff, 71, who bilked investors out of $13.2 billion, is sentenced to 150 years in prison.
JULY
July 1: The U.S. Census Bureau announces that Cleveland had the fastest-declining population of any American city during the past decade except New Orleans which had Hurricane Katrina to blame. Former Cuyahoga County employees J. Kevin Kelley and Kevin Payne plead guilty to charges including conspiracy, bribery and tax evasion, resulting from a federal probe of county corruption. Ohio ties with Arkansas as the 10th-fattest state, with 28.6 percent of adults considered obese, according to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report. Mississippi tops the list of fattest states and Colorado was the leanest. July 3: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin quits without finishing her first four-year term, citing a desire to effect change outside government.. July 6: Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who directed escalation of the war in Vietnam despite his own misgivings, dies at 93. July 8: Broadview Heights contractor Steven Pumper is charged in the federal investigation of Cuyahoga County corruption with bribing officials for help getting county work. July 10: General Motors exits bankruptcy after a judge allows the firm to sell most of its assets to a new company with 60 percent ownership by the federal government. July 11: The newly restored Cleveland house that was once home to Jerry Siegel, co-creator of the comic icon Superman, opens to the public. July 13: Ohio lawmakers approve a $51 billion budget that cuts state funding to universities, food banks, libraries and mental health care, but Ohioans can now play the slots at horse tracks. July 14: Harry E. Figgie Jr., of Hunting Valley, founder of Fortune 500 company Figgie International, dies at 85.
July 15: The Cleveland Clinic is ranked tops in the nation for cardiac care, for the 15th straight year, by U.S. News & World Report's annual Best Hospitals ranking. July 16: Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan and Peter Lawson Jones vote to put their own government reform issue on the November ballot, calling for a 15-member panel to study and recommend a new government structure. Critics say the commissioners' move is intended to foil and competing reform proposal. Commissioner Jimmy Dimora speaks publicly for the first time since being implicated in public-corruption allegations, saying he will continue to vote on county business because "I'm innocent. Why should I step aside?" July 17: Famed CBS TV newscaster Walter Cronkite, once described as "the most trusted man in America," dies at 92. And that's the way it is. Former D-A-S Construction Co. executive Steven Pumper pleads guilty to charges of bribing public officials to get construction contracts.
July 21: Prize-winning Plain Dealer photographer William Kennedy, of Medina, dies at 54. July 22: The Cleveland Clinic agrees to buy the 12-acre Cleveland Play House site on Euclid Avenue for a price said to be from $13 million to $15 million. The Play House is renovating the Allen Theatre on Playhouse Square for its new home, targeted to open in 2011. July 23: President Barack Obama visits Shaker Heights High School to push his plan to reform the nation's health care system. He also visits the Cleveland Clinic to learn more about the hospital's innovations in information technology and robotic heart surgery. Cuyahoga County Commissioners Tim Hagan and Peter Lawford Jones announce they will not seek re-election in three years, and agree to put a reform issue on the November ballot that would replace the three commissioners with an elected executive and 11-member county council. July 24: The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority announces it will eliminate all 12 community circulator bus routes and raise most fares by 25 cents to offset a project $5.2 million deficit. July 28: Cleveland also moves up from 38th to 14th place in Forbes.com's annual ranking of the best cities for single people, beating out Columbus (28th) and Cincinnati (38th). July 30: Why can't we all just get some suds? President Barack (Bud Light) Obama shares a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis (Sam Adams light) Gates and police Sgt. James (Blue Moon) Crowley on the White House South Lawn in an effort to thrash out the highly publicized differences arising when Crowley arrested Gates during a mistaken case of breaking-and-entering at Gates' home. The federal cash-for-clunkers program, offering $3,500 to $4,500 toward purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles, burns through its $950 million budget in less than four days. A study by Cleveland Clinic researchers and others finds that redheads are more sensitive to pain in dental visits. Smile -- or not. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport starts using whole-body scanners that can see through traveler's clothing.
AUGUST
Aug. 1: Former Philippine president Corazon "Cory" Aquino, who swept away a dictator and sustained a democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts, dies at 76 of colon cancer. Aug. 4: Former President Bill Clinton visits North Korea and wins release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegally entering the country in March. Aug. 6: The Senate confirms Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. Former MetroHealth Medical Center vice president John Carroll and Nilesh Patel, a local construction firm executive, are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery, with Carroll accused of faking cost overruns on taxpayer-funded construction contracts and using the cash to pay for a lavish lifestyle and travels around the globe. A former RTA bus driver is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide by prosecutors who say Angela Williams, 49, of Cleveland, was talking on a cell phone when she struck and killed a pedestrian in a crosswalk in downtown Cleveland in March. ArcelorMittal says it is restarting some operations at its Cleveland facility, bringing hundreds of laid-off steelworkers back on the job. Aug. 7: Faced with mounting debt, the Western Reserve Historical Society puts 19 rare vehicles from its collection up for auction. Aug. 10: Cleveland attorney Kathleen Burke assumes duties as new director of the Ohio Lottery. Aug. 11: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy, and a recognized national advocate for the mentally disabled, dies at 88. General Motors announces that its new gas/electric hybrid Chevrolet Volt, available for $40,000 in 2010, could get up to 230 miles per gallon in city driving. Aug. 12: Former Bratenahl Village Police Chief Paul Falzone is indicted on charges of obstructing official business and theft in office. Aug. 13: Former Lakewood mayor and Ohio state senator Anthony Sinagra is charged with bribery and mail fraud charges as part of the federal investigation into county corruption. The charges relate to his work as a consultant since leaving public office. He subsequently pleads guilty. Deborah Gribbon, former director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, is named interim director of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Les Paul, guitar innovator and entertainer, dies at 94. Public outcry forces the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a Cleveland Indians farm team in Niles, to cancel a "Traficant Release Night" promotion planned for Sept. 2, when former U.S. Rep. James Traficant is released after serving seven years in prison for racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. Aug. 14: Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, 60, former disciple of Charles Manson, convicted of trying to kill President Gerald Ford in 1975, is released from prison. Aug. 15: Original Woodstock music groups and fans gather in Bethel, N.Y., for a concert to remember the epic rock festival on its 40th anniversary. Aug. 18: GM restarts a second shift at its Lordstown plant, bringing more than 1,000 people back to work, due to increased consumer demand resulting from the federal "Cash for Clunkers" rebate program. Kim Dae-jung, former South Korean president from 1998-2003 and Nobel laureate, dies at 85. Ohio executes Jason Getsy, 33, for the 1995 murder of Ann Serafino of Hubbard. Aug. 20: The Scottish government releases a terminally ill Libyan man convicted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270. The man had served eight years of a life sentence. Aug. 21: Clifton Onunwor, son of former East Cleveland mayor Emmanuel Onunwor, is sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting his mother, Diane Onunwor, eight times in the face last September. Aug. 25: Sen. Ted Kennedy, a 46-year legislator, one-time presidential candidate and last of a political dynasty, dies of brain cancer at 77. Aug. 26: A Beachwood man and 40 associates are indicted in a mortgage fraud scheme involving 453 homes in Cuyahoga County and $44 million in fraudulent loans. Aug. 27: A woman kidnapped in 1991 as an 11-year-old, then held hostage by a sex offender who fathered two children with her, walks into a Northern California police station. The accused abductor and his wife are arrested. Aug. 31: A wildfire burns more than 100,000 acres in a week as it approaches 40 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Walt Disney buys Marvel Entertainment and its 5,000 comic-book characters for $4 billion, prompting speculation that the next crime-fighting duo will be Spider-Man and Mickey Mouse.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1: The recession claims another victim in the Bang and the Clatter Theatre, with stages in Cleveland and Akron. Sept. 2: Former U.S. Rep. James Traficant of Youngstown is released from federal prison after serving a seven-year term for bribery and racketeering. Pfizer Inc. agrees to pay a $1.2 billion criminal fine, the largest in U.S. history, for fraudulently marketing drugs for uses other than those approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Sept. 9: During an address by President Barack Obama to a joint session of Congress, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, shouts, "You lie." Sept. 10.: Alex "Kiki" Olejko, former Lorain mayor from 1984-1995, dies at age 87. Sept. 11: Award-winning writer Larry Gelbart, who helped create the Broadway hit "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the films "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!", and the TV series "M*A*S*H", dies at age 81. Sept. 13: Cleveland Clinic chief Dr. Delos "Toby" Cosgrove sends an e-mail to employees, apologizing for comments he made a month earlier about extending the Clinic's ban on hiring smokers to obese people. Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, who won a Nobel Prize for his role in combating world hunger, and described as the father of the "green revolution," dies at age 95. Sept. 15: President Barack Obama visits the GM plant at Lordstown and tells workers the economy is improving due to administration policies like bailing out the automakers. The state's execution of convicted murderer Romell Broom is canceled when a suitable vein cannot be found to administer a lethal injection. Rebuilding the east bank of the Flats gets a boost from a $54 million financial aid package of public loans and grants that could result in construction of a $270 million first phase opening in 2012. Harrah's Operating Co. buys the bankrupt Thistledown Racetrack in North Randall for $89.5 million. Sept. 16: The Mandel foundation offers $16 million to move the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland from PlayhouseSquare to Beachwood after more than 40 years at its downtown location. Sept. 17: A Postal Service carrier, Daniel Kondas, 53, of Cleveland, is fatally shot in the head while delivering mail in Maple Heights. Police say the attack appears to have been an attempted robbery. Sept. 18: Santina Klimkowski resigns as chief administrator to Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo after federal prosecutors file charges accusing her of funneling more than $1.2 million in cash bribes to Russo. Cavaliers guard Delonte West is arrested on weapons charges for carrying two handguns and a shotgun while riding his motorcycle, speeding and cutting off a police cruiser, near his Maryland home. Citing unspecified health concerns and a recall effort, Brooklyn Mayor Kenneth Patton resigns in the wake of charges that he assaulted and sexually harassed a city hall employee. CBS extinguishes the "Guiding Light" soap opera that started on radio and later switched to daytime TV, running for more than 72 years and 15,700 episodes. Sept. 21: The Ohio Supreme Court rules that Gov. Ted Strickland's proposal to put slot machines at seven horse racing tracks in the state must be put to a public vote. Susan Atkins, imprisoned for life following a 1969 killing spree as a follower of Charles Manson, dies of natural causes behind bars in California at age 61. Sept. 25: Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray vows to investigate Cuyahoga County's appraisal system as a result of a federal investigation of Auditor Frank Russo's office. Dobama Theatre celebrates its 50th season and a new location on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. Sept. 26: Kings Island removes a controversial scene from its Halloween Haunt promotion, depicting skeletons dressed to resemble recently deceased celebrities including singer Michael Jackson, actress Farrah Fawcett and former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. Sept. 27: William Safire -- former speechwriter for President Richard Nixon, novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist for the New York Times, dies at age 79. Sept. 28: Cleveland City Council approves a $2 million loan to a subsidiary of Jacobs Investments Inc. for construction of an indoor aquarium at the Powerhouse complex on the west bank of the Flats. An undersea earthquake triggers a tsunami that kills more than 100 on the islands of Samoa and American Samoa. Sept. 29: Cleveland is selected to host the 2014 Gay Games, a sports and cultural festival that could pump $60 million into the local economy from visiting athletes and guests. The Cleveland Clinic announces that it will provide free H1N1 flu vaccinations at its 15 family health centers, nine community hospitals and main campus. Sept. 30: The Cleveland Indians fire 7-year manager Eric Wedge at the end of a slumping season. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland wants to repeal the fifth and final year of a state income tax reduction, providing $844 million to help pay for a budget deficit. General Motors shuts down Saturn and its dealerships after failing to sell the unit to the Penske Automotive Group. The nation's jobless rate hits 9.8 percent, highest in 26 years.
OCTOBER Oct. 1: Researchers including seven Northeast Ohioans unveil a 4.4-million-year-old skeleton of a human ancestor showing the oldest evidence of upright walking. Oct. 2: Santina Klimkowski, former aide to the Cuyahoga County auditor, pleads guilty in federal court to taking bribes for public contracts. Inkstop closes all of its 152 stores nationwide (14 in Northeast Ohio) and lays off 550 employees. The International Olympics Committee rejects Chicago, opting for Rio de Janeiro as site of the 2016 Summer Games, despite personal lobbying for the Windy City by President Barack Obama. A CBS producer is arrested for trying to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million, forcing the late-night TV comic to admit, on-air, to having sex with some of the women who worked for him. Ratings for the show that night soar 38 percent. A state court in Munich, Germany, rules that former Seven Hills auto worker John Demjanjuk can be tried for the murder of thousands at a Nazi death camp during World War II. Oct. 3: Protesters objecting to the sale of vintage cars by the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum are joined outside the facility by Kay Crawford, the 94-year-old widow of the museum's founder. Oct. 5: Gov. Ted Strickland halts executions until December so the state's system of lethal injection can be reviewed in light of the failed execution of an Romell Broom in September. Gourmet magazine, described as the dean of culinary publishing, folds after 70 years. Oct. 7: A FirstEnergy Corp. plan to deliver 3.75 million energy-efficient light bulbs to its customers -- charging each household $21.60 for two bulbs, plus the cost of electricity not used because of the bulbs -- is postponed after coming under fire by consumers and public officials. Oct. 9: President Barack Obama wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." NASA slams a rocket into a crater near the moon's south pole in hopes that the resulting cloud of debris can be analyzed for evidence of frozen water. Oct. 10: Regina High School announces the Catholic girls school will close at the end of the school year due to money woes, after operating for 56 years in South Euclid. Oct. 12: Renowned Little Italy baker/restaurateur Charles Presti of Pepper Pike dies at age 93. In rural India, a "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign started two years ago results in 1.4 million toilets being built in a country where half the 665 million people lack access to latrines. Oct. 13: The Cleveland Clinic sets a world record for most lung transplants (129) performed at a hospital in a single year. Oct. 14: The Dow Jones industrial average tops 10,000 for the first time in a year, and folks off Wall Street start looking for the trickle-down effect. Oct. 15: Viewers anxiously watch live TV coverage as a runaway homemade helium balloon, possibly carrying a 6-year-old boy, drifts 50 miles across the Colorado countryside before landing. Turns out the boy was back home all along, hiding in his garage attic. His parents later admit the whole thing was a hoax, plead guilty to criminal charges and get sent to jail. Due to negative inflation rate this year, Social Security recipients will not get a cost-of-living adjustment in 2010 for the first time since the automatic adjustment was created in 1975. Oct. 16: Playboy magazine hits newstands with Marge Simpson as its November cover girl, the first cartoon character on the front of the bunny book in an effort to reach 20-something readers. As hubbie Homer Simpson would say, "D'oh!" Oct. 18: A new state law takes effect allowing restaurants to start serving liquor and wine at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. in areas where voters have approved Sunday liquor sales. Oct. 20: Marine Lance Cpl. David Baker, 22, of Painesville, is killed by a bomb while on foot patrol in Afghanistan just weeks before he was due to return home. Afghan President Hamid Karzai agrees to a runoff election Nov. 7 in response to widespread claims of ballot fraud in his August election. The election is subsequently canceled when his opponent drops out of the race. Oct. 21: LakeEast Medical Center, serving Painesville since 1904, closes with opening of the $155 million TriPoint Medical Center in Concord Township. Two pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Minneapolis fail to notice when they fly 150 miles past their destination and don't hear efforts to contact them for 90 minutes. Oct. 22: Comedian Soupy Sales, who took the first of a career 20,000 pies to the face as host of a 1950s children's TV show in Cleveland before hitting national TV stardom, dies at age 83. Former Sales co-stars White Fang and Black Tooth could not be reached for comment. Oct. 24: President Barack Obama declares the H1N1 flu a national emergency as the virus sweeps the nation and vaccine supplies fall short. Oct. 25: The Indians sign Manny Acta, formerly of the Washington Nationals, as the Tribe's new manager. Oct. 27: Cradle to Grave: Wal-Mart starts selling caskets on its Web site; 15 models, most for less than $2,000. Oct. 28: NASA successfully tests the Ares I-X rocket which includes a section designed and built at Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center. President Barack Obama signs legislation making acts of violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people a federal hate crime. Oct. 30: Cleveland police don't find convicted rapist Anthony Sowell at his Imperial Avenue home when they go there to arrest him in connection with a reported rape, but they do find the bodies of six women. Sowell is picked up the next day. Four more bodies and a skull, all female, are subsequently found at the house.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 2: On the heels of the Browns' seventh loss, owner Randy Lerner sacks his general manager, George Kokinis.  Cuyahoga County Commissioners Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan.Nov. 3: Voters re-elect Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, approve replacing Cuyahoga County's three-commissioner system with an elected executive and 11-member council, and OK casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. Nov. 5: An Army psychiatrist goes on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 28 before being shot by a civilian police officer. Cuyahoga County abandons plans to buy Public Auditorium for a medical mart and convention project after learning that renovating the historic structure would cost millions of dollars more than budgeted. Nov. 9: German Chancellor Angela Merkel leads a gathering of world leaders and spectators in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Nov. 10: John Allen Muhammad, the sniper who killed 10 people in a three-week random killing spree in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002, is executed in Virginia's death chamber. Nov. 14: Climate data released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research shows that the country has experienced twice as many daily record high temperatures as record lows in the past decade. Nov. 17: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo officials discover during a routine physical exam that a 400-pound giant "female" tortoise that came to the zoo in 1955, is really a male. Thus Mary becomes Terry.Nov. 18: A former RTA bus driver gets six months in jail after being convicted of vehicular homicide for killing a man in a downtown crosswalk in March. Nov. 23: "Buckeye," a peregrine falcon who nested on the Terminal Tower and sired 34 chicks, dies at age 14, possibly from an aerial collision. Nov. 27: In an early morning accident, Tiger Woods crashes his SUV into a tree at his Windermere, Fla., home and declines to explain why. As stories of marital infidelity subsequently arise, Woods takes an indefinite leave from golf.
DECEMBER
Dec. 1: President Barack Obama says he will send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan but pledges to start bringing U.S. forces home in mid-2011. Dec. 3: Accused serial killer Anthony Sowell, 50, of Cleveland, pleads not guilty by reason of insanity during arraignment on charges of murdering 11 women whose bodies were found at his house on Imperial Avenue. Continental Airlines will stop offering direct flights from Cleveland to London. Dec. 4: Federal regulators seize AmTrust Bank of Cleveland, latest of 130 banks to fail nationally this year, and sell it to the New York Community Bank of Westbury, NY. Dec. 6. The Lancer Steakhouse, a landmark in Cleveland's black community since 1960, burns to an extremely well-done crisp. The restaurant was uninsured. Dec. 8: Ohio executes Kenneth Biros using the first single-drug lethal injection procedure in the nation. Dec. 11: Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus, as the 1-11 Browns beat the Super Bowl Champ Steelers, 13-6, in subfreezing temperatures at home. The Cleveland Orchestra reports a $2 million deficit, its first since 2005. Dec.13: A Plain Dealer investigation finds that Cleveland aggravated its own foreclosure problems by helping low-income people buy homes they couldn't afford. Dec. 15: Televangelist Oral Roberts, who pioneered use of TV and computer databases to spread the Gospel, and founded his own university in Oklahoma, dies at age 91.
Dec. 21: Former Seahawks and Packers Super-Bowl-winning coach Mike Holmgren agrees to become president of the Cleveland Browns. Dec. 22: Federal prosecutors charge Joseph Gallucci with conducting a bogus 2006 election campaign against incumbent Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo in exchange for a job in Russo's office. Dec. 23: The Ohio High School Athletic Association strips the 2009 state Division II girls soccer title from Hathaway Brown for using an ineligible player. Dec. 24: The Senate passes a health care reform bill intended to provide greater medical coverage for Americans. Dec. 25: Passengers on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam subdue a Nigerian man who tried to set off an explosive strapped to his body as the plane was landing in Detroit.
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| Favourites in a tumultuous year - Edmonton Journal Posted: 31 Dec 2009 03:54 AM PST In a year marked with the bankruptcy of the world's once largest car company, the hubris of one of the planet's smallest car companies (that would be Porsche) trying to swallow one of the largest (Volkswagen) whole and the ignominious sale of once storied and proud brands, it would be impossible for the excitement of the actual automobiles to match the high-stakes dramas unfolding in the boardrooms. Nonetheless, some managed to stand out so that your immensely thankful for the headline-generating news Motor Mouth might pontificate on something other than the soap opera that was the automotive industry this past year. The Extreme Makeover Award for makeup-free cosmetic enhancement goes to Land Rover's well disguised but thoroughly redesigned LR4. Though the '10 model looks virtually identical to its predecessor, the LR3, the new Land Rover is significantly revised if not quite all new. Rather than raving about a flashy new dress, a sultry hairdo and new fender flares, the Land Rover's ameliorated attractiveness is based on its completely new direct-injected 5.0-litre V8. Making almost the same power as the supercharged 4.2L that used to power the top-of-the-line Range Rover, the LR4 stresses performance upgrades over esthetic enhancements. Coupled with an interior that goes from well to wow, it's enough to make you think that, even in this jaded world, substance can still triumph over style. It's certainly enough to make the LR4 my new favourite sport-brute. The Cindy Crawford Award for ageing gracefully goes to Audi's R8, now fortified with 10 essential pistons and 5.2 litres of sugar-coated sweetness. It's fairly easy to wow us men. Pen an aggressively angular shape, equip it with fetching rubber and a vroom engine and for about, oh, 10 seconds, it will be all we can think about. Much more difficult is maintaining our attention beyond the introduction of newer, more enhanced models. This is where Audi's supercar shines more brightly than any other. It's been around for almost three years and, though it's been enhanced with 525 horses, it's still that outrageous shape that sells. Park any other run-of-the-mill supercar beside the R8 — from the Nissan GT-R to Ferrari's 430 — and it disappears. The quattro GmbH-designed coupe is the best-looking car of the decade and almost assuredly a future classic. The Scrooge Always Rules Award for the car I'd buy with my own money goes to Mini. Though it is far from being the universal automobile (I guess that would be the Camry, God help our souls), it does everything I require of an automobile. Now that the basement troll is all growed up (and most importantly, possesses a TTC pass), I only need two seats. The Mini also handles a hoot, at once being as manouvreable as a go-kart and yet as stable as a limousine. It's quite a trick. If you opt for the John Cooper Works edition, it will even humble many a more powerful supercar and will do so while quite literally sipping our dwindling natural resources. The icing on the cake is that, almost 10 years after its rejuvenation, the Mini is still on my "hot" list. And, as every successful marriage can attest, anything that can still turn your head after 10 years of close cohabitation is a keeper. The Eddie the Eagle Prize for Dave being way, waaay over his head goes this year to a motorcycle, the BMW S1000RR. The German company's very first true superbike in its 86-year history, the S1000RR possesses a class-leading 193 horsepower, weighs just 206.5 kilograms full of gas (for a power-to-weight ratio of barely more than one kilogram per horsepower) and the torque to lift the front wheel at more than 220 kilometres an hour. The only thing that made the new Beemer even remotely rideable for a klutz like me was a sophisticated electronic traction control system that somehow transformed my ham-handed throttle application into something that resembled ability. Factor in radical styling, BMW's traditional build quality and a Japanese motorcycle industry seemingly taking a hiatus in the 1,000-cubic-centimetre sport bike category and you have the totally unlikely scenario of a BMW atop the superbike field. Imagine the pandemonium if Eddie Edwards had actually won the gold medal. The Greg Norman Runner-up Prize winner for leading my car of the year sweepstakes right up until the last week of testing is Cadillac's CTS-V. Enormously powerful (how else do you describe 556 horsepower's worth of supercharged sweetness?), the new CTS-V also handles well, stops like it's hit as brick wall and has an air of sophistication its predecessor lacked. Even the interior, the first-generation CTS' Achilles heel, is not half bad. All you smug BMW and Mercedes owners better take notice, there's a new king of super sedans in town and it's from Detroit. Bankrupt or not, the General makes good on its promise of turning Cadillac into a world-class car company. The Tiger Did What? Award for the surprise of the year goes to Volkswagen's Golf TDI Wagon, which, in almost the last week of my testing, just blew me away with its value. Frugal in the extreme (how about the 4.2 litres per 100 kilometres on the highway, the best I've ever achieved), an interior luxurious beyond its price tag and enough room for its intended college graduate/new family/empty nester clientele, the TDI proves that the road to miserly fuel consumption does not necessarily run through a Toyota dealership. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| New state laws go into effect Friday - Chico Enterprise-Record Posted: 30 Dec 2009 11:58 PM PST CHICO — A host of new laws go into effect Friday, and the majority of them will affect drivers and roadway users. One of the most significant is the so-called "move over/slow down" law. It requires motorists to move over one lane, if possible, when approaching tow trucks or other emergency work vehicles displaying flashing lights. In most cases, the vehicles would be responding to the scene of a traffic accident or other emergency. If an alternate lane isn't available, motorists are required to slow down to an appropriate speed as they pass. Failure to follow the new law can result in a citation. David Anderson, owner of Always Towing, said drivers endangering tow truck operators is a continuous problem. "I think this law is a good idea," he said. "A lot of people just aren't paying attention. If they get a ticket, maybe they'll start," he said. "If we could get another lane between us and the traffic, it would be a good thing," said Ken Butler, owner of Browers Towing. Also Friday, the California Public Utilities Commission will be able to crack down on charter carriers who operate buses on a suspended permit, or which have three or more liability insurance violations within a two-year period. The new law was prompted by a charter bus crash near Colusa last year that killed 11 people. Upon notification by the CPUC, the California Highway Patrol would be authorized to impound a bus for 30 days. Another new law permits motorists who use toll highways or bridges to have the toll billed to them based on a pay-by-plate system, or be deducted from an Automotive Vehicle Identification account.Yet another law provides added penalties if a suspect assaults a city or county employee while working on a street or roadway project. A similar protection is already in place for state and federal highway workers. Finally, starting Friday, it will be legal for people to ride a bicycle without a seat if the bike was designed by the manufacturer to be operated without a seat. On July 1, 2010, a pilot program will begin in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties requiring people convicted of driving under the influence to install ignition interlock devices in any vehicle, including motorcycles, they may operate. The IID's would have to be installed before the state will issue a restricted driver's license to the offender. Also starting Friday, restaurants in California will be prohibited from cooking food with trans fats. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Duneland 2009 Year in Review: There's no place like home - Chesterton Tribune Posted: 30 Dec 2009 12:45 PM PST By VICKI URBANIK and KEVIN NEVERS Of all the issues that made the news repeatedly and fatiguingly over the course of 2009 in Duneland—the sour economy, late property tax bills, and political warfare over regional development—the top story of the year in Duneland was only 13 minutes in the making. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 7:32 p.m., an EF2 tornado buzzsawed through Chesterton, mauling roofs, windows, and sheds, and shearing trees. Born somewhere south and west of South Park Acres, it blitzed its way to the northeast until finally dying, around 7:45 p.m. somewhere in the Beverly Shores area (or, anecdotally, somewhere over Lake Michigan). Incredibly no one was seriously injured but damage was horrific, including the blown-off roof of the Goldsborough Gym at Chesterton Middle School and a "catastrophically destroyed" apartment complex on Brown Avenue. Yet the tornado proved to be an uplifting event in more ways than one, as scores of volunteers from Duneland and throughout Porter County—to no one's surprise—flooded Chesterton to aid in the weeks-long clean-up effort, whose cost in the end exceeded $45,000. Then, only a month later—ironically, maybe fittingly—a symbolic tornado blew through town, as the resurrected Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival returned triumphantly to the Downtown after going defunct the previous year at its new venue at the Porter County Expo Center. All credit for the success goes to the Duneland Business Initiative Group. Meanwhile, Dunelanders struggled as the rest of the nation did with a troubled economy which showed few rays of hope. ArcelorMittal, for example, posted a loss of $1.063 billion in the first quarter and announced the indefinite lay off of 978 workers at its Indiana Harbor West facility. The pain continued in the second quarter as ArcelorMittal posted another net loss of $792 million. The steelmaker managed to stem the hemorrhage in the third quarter, however, and post a net income of $900 million. New in 2009: BioBlitz—a joint effort of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the National Geographic Society—brought national attention to the wonders of the Indiana Dunes, though bad weather dampened the festivities. The new Discovery Charter School won approval from Ball State University to open an environmentally-themed curriculum in Duneland. The Duneland School Board, meanwhile, proceeded with a $5.85 million addition to its most crowded school, Liberty Elementary. And the Chesterton High School Athletic Hall of Fame held its inaugural ceremony in June. But for all the change this year, 2009 was also about the status quo. Porter County was once again late with its property tax bills, fueling the frustrations of local government officials who found themselves borrowing more and more to keep afloat. The county's drug and suicide problems continued at a depressing pace, with 22 people killing themselves in the first half of the year and drug abuse showing no signs of improvement. But the status quo can be positive, too. Duneland students continued to shine, taking a host of top honors in state and national competitions, while CHS athletes rocked. In February the CHS boys swim team won the state championship in Indianapolis, its second consecutive one, while the CHS girls swim team finished fourth. In the same month CHS wrestler Anthony Quiroz took second place in the 152-pound class at state. In September the CHS girls golf team qualified to compete in state competition, and in October the CHS boys cross country team finished second at state. And the Duneland Resale Shop continued to grow as a strong charitable force in the community with its re-location in September to the old WiseWay building on Broadway. In 2009, the community lost a number of leaders: Chesterton Fire Chief Warren "Skip" Highwood, 66; former Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Chief Jim Branham, 61; former Jackson Township Trustee Bill Mathe, 84; former Porter County Clerk and council member John Ruge, 90; and St. Francis Episcopal Church Pastor Father John "Jack" E. Meyer, 65. The year also welcomed new leaders, from the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama to local officials. Bernie Doyle took the post of Chesterton Town Manager, Mike Orlich of Chesterton Fire Chief, Dave Novak of Chesterton Building Commissioner, Matt Keiser of Porter Director of Engineering and Development, and Randy Skulku of Burns Harbor General Maintainence / Street Supervisor. The year 2009 also had its share of resignations and terminations. Steve Yagelski resigned as Chesterton Utility Superintendent in January (as did his replacement, James Chris Shank, only days after taking the job in August, "for personal reasons"), while Porter County Parks Superintendent Ed Melendez' resignation was to take effect by the end of the year. The Porter County Council touched off a storm of political debate with its decision to withdraw from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, while Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Constantine Dillon prompted protests and a petition drive with his decision to remove the animals and end use of Chellberg Farm as a working farm. Just seven months after moving into its new facility on Canonie Drive, Pathway Family Center closed its adolescent drug treatment program. And with a business history dating back more than 100 years, James Connors Buick announced that it has lost its franchise and will no longer sell Buicks as of Oct. 31, 2010. Here is the Chesterton Tribune's annual month-by-month recap of the year for 2009. January Porter County Council names Scott McClure its attorney, replacing longtime counsel Dave Hollenbeck. A steering committee created by the Burns Harbor Advisory Plan Commission to update the town's Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance meets for the first time. Porter County Expo Center Manager John Thorstad resigns. Report: the unemployment rate in Porter County hit 5.8 percent in November 2008, up from 3.4 percent in the year-ago period. The Indiana General Assembly opens its session faced with the challenge of creating a balanced two-year budget in a struggling economy. Mark J. Easter, 22, of South Haven, is sentenced to 55 years in prison for the beating murder of Christopher J. Janus, 15, also of South Haven, in June 2007, after being found guilty by a jury. A draft bill proposed by the Indiana State Library and the Indiana Library Federation would mandate the creation of individual county planning committees to prepare a library services plan, the first step in a process some fear would force the consolidation of township library systems with county ones. Report: in 2007 and 2008 sheriff's sales on foreclosed properties spiked by 59 percent, from 383 in 2006 to 606 in 2008. Antoine Lungs, 34, of Griffith, is killed by a South Shore commuter train at the Porter/Lake County Line Road at-grade crossing after he tries to drive around the lowered gates. The Chesterton High School speech team takes second place at the 14th annual Hoosier Invitational at Indiana University. Bitter cold and snow sap Dunelanders and lead to a string of crashes on the Indiana Toll Road, two of them fatal: John Liefbrower, 69, of Chesterton, dies in one, then 60 seconds later, less than half a mile away, Paul Shrewsbury, 70, of Elkhart, dies in another. Report: U.S. foreclosure filings increase 81 percent in 2008. The temperature at 8 a.m. Jan 16 hits -15 with a wind chill of -36, not quite the record low set in 1994 of -21. A surprise lake-effect snowfall adds to the total of 50 inches so far for the season, already a foot or more over the annual average. State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, defends his bill which would create a new charitable community foundation, administered by a county's council, to which the proceeds of the sale of any county hospital after 2006 would be donated. Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Jennifer Lynn Cook, 35, of Portage, is charged with the murder of Andrew Katzelis, 82, of South Haven, whose shooting death was initially believed to be suicide. U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-1st, amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act legislation to include an "American Steel First" provision. Report: global steel production falls 1.2 percent in 2008, down from a record high in 2007. Newly installed Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce President Chuck Parkinson vows to reach out to the towns of Porter and Burns Harbor and to their business communities. Former Chesterton Fire Chief Warren "Skip" Highwood, 66, dies after 46 years in the fire service; Duneland mourns. U.S. Steel Corporation reports a net income of $308 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 but projects a net loss in the first quarter of 2009. The Chesterton Town Council names Bernie Doyle the new Town Manager. Chesterton Utility Superintendent Steve Yagelski abruptly resigns. The Chesterton Town Council hears a pitch from the Duneland Business Initiative Group for a resurrected Wizard of Oz Festival in the Downtown. The Indiana Senate Committee on Local Government clears a bill which could lead to the consolidation of township and county library systems. The home owned by Sofianos Hasapis in the Rose Hill Estates subdivision is destroyed by a fire which the Chesterton Fire Department later determines to have be incendiary in origin; Chesterton Police say Hasapis was in Illinois at the time of the fire. February Robert Wainwright, 65, of Chesterton, is apprehended in Mexico after he fled the country in 2008 following his conviction in federal court on two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm; Wainwright, a convicted child molester, was taken into custody after being listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fugitives website on suspicion of breaking federal environmental law at his waste disposal business in Gary. The Big Snow of 2009 dumps two feet on Duneland; Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg, looking like Old Man Winter, is interviewed on The Weather Channel. NiSource reports a weak year in 2008 with a net income of $79 million compared to $321.4 million in 2007. The CHS boys swim team wins the state championship in Indianapolis, its second consecutive one. The CHS girls swim team finishes fourth at state. CHS wrestler Anthony Quiroz finishes second in the 152-pound class at state. Nicole Moore, 27, of Liberty Township, is charged with two counts of operating while intoxicated-causing serious bodily injury after police say she was driving drunk when she struck brothers Adam and Aaron Casko as they were riding a moped on U.S. Highway 6, critically injuring Adam, 17. The Chesterton Utility Service Board names Town Engineer Mark O'Dell the Interim Superintendent. The CHS debate team wins the state championship; Lincoln-Douglas competitor Ankur Chawla takes the individual title as do Public Forum competitors Spencer Hadley and Luke Morgan. Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg tells the Town Council that the Street Department is $62,125 over budget for street salt, after the price of salt jumps 117 percent over the previous year; the council releases emergency CEDIT funds to cover the shortfall. Report: the Chesterton Fire Department sets a new annual call record, for the third consecutive year, responding to 1,165 calls in 2008 compared to 1,141 in 2007. Lakeside Wealth Management Group of Chesterton is honored with the 2008 Edge Award by the Indiana Small Business Development Center. ArcelorMittal reports its first ever quarterly loss of $2.632 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, as the floor drops out of the global steel market. A winter weather pattern is established in Duneland: frigid weather and heavy snow followed by significant melt and flooding rains. The Porter County Sheriff's Police is ordered to seize autos and personal property from Luddington Nissan in Burns Harbor by Porter Superior Judge Roger Bradford, after Fifth Third Bank says the Luddington Automotive Group failed to pay two promissory notes under the agreed terms. Municipalities begin the process of lining up at the federal trough to receive their share of stimulus funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At a town hall meeting in Chesterton State Sen. Karen Talian, D-Ogden Dunes, State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, and State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, all voice opposition to various pending bills which they say would weaken local control of government with no assurance of tax-money savings. Kathy Borrowdale, 38, of Trail Creek, Ind., dies in a single vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 20 in Westchester Township. The Porter County Convention, Recreation, and Visitor Commission (PCCRVC) votes to retain, at a cost of $5,000, a consultant to monitor the legislative session after a rumor surfaces that a bill would be introduced forcing the merger of the Porter, Lake, and LaPorte County tourism bureaus. CHS forensics coach Robert Kelly receives his third Diamond Key Coach title from the National Forensics League. Jim Branham, retired chief and life member of the Liberty Township Volunteer and South Haven fire departments and the founder of the Porter County Fire Investigation Strike Team, dies at 61. ArcelorMittal idles its East Chicago long-carbon facility in a move laying off around 400 members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1010. U.S. Rep. Visclosky announces the return of $18,000 in campaign contributions made by three men officially listed as associates of Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm The PMA Group after national media question the three men's actual relationship to PMA. The Porter County Treasurer's Office mails the second 2008 property-tax bills, late in February 2009. The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority names Bill Hanna its executive director, replacing Tim Sanders. The Chesterton Town Council names the connector street linking 100E and South Calumet Road, in the South Calumet District, Thanos Road in memory of John and Mark Thanos, the father and son heroes who drowned in September 2008 after jumping into a drainage ditch during the floods to save a boy swept away in the raging waters in the Westchester South subdivision. Porter County Auditor James Kopp receives $10,000 in additional overtime pay for employees preparing the 2009 property-tax bills, bringing total overtime in his office in the year-to-date to $15,000. Eugene Joseph Jr., 42, of Chesterton, dies in a three vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 421 in LaPorte County. U.S. Rep. Visclosky joins Democrats in a party-line vote in the House to kill a resolution introduced by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., calling for an investigation into the relationship between earmarks and campaign contributions, after it emerges that Visclosky's campaign committees received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from PMA associates and from the associates of companies for which he secured earmarks. March The CHS Winter Color Guard takes first place at the Midwest Color Guard Circuit's Invitational at Lake Park High School in Illinois. Kyle Nathan Witten, 18, of Burns Harbor, is charged with three counts of burglary in connection with the entry of Bob's Shop, World Wide Wireless, and Peggy Sue's Diner in Downtown Chesterton; four Duneland juveniles are detained at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center in connection with the burglaries. The CHS Japanese Olympiad Team wins the state championship in the fourth-year division and takes second in the second-year division at the Japanese Olympiad of Indiana at Earlham College in Richmond. U.S. Steel concentrates production at Gary Works and two other facilities as it temporarily idles operations at Hamilton Works and Lake Erie Works, in a move laying off 1,500. Porter County Commissioner John Evans, R-North, issues an apology to property taxpayers, after the 2008 bills are finally mailed late in the first quarter of 2009. An overflow crowd attends a public field hearing before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in Gary to protest NIPSCO's proposed residential electric rate hike of 15.6 percent. The Burns Harbor Town Council creates a Board of Stormwater Management and a special stormwater taxing district comprised of all property within the town's corporate limits. The Porter County Park Board agrees to proceed with the master plan for a new park to be developed on 67 acres located in Liberty Township west of Meridian Road, north of the CSX right-of-way, and east of C.R. 50W, on property being acquired over three years at a total cost of $889,000. U.S. Rep. Visclosky bolts from the Democrats to vote in favor of a resolution calling for an investigation into PMA earmarks and campaign contributions but House Democrats overwhelmingly vote to table the resolution. Heavy rains drench Duneland again, forcing yet another bypass at the Chesterton wastewater treatment plant. Porter County Coroner Vicki Deppe is honored by fellow Democrats for retrieving files from former coroner John Evans, after going to the Indiana Commission on Open Records and the Indiana Public Access Counselor. The Chesterton Town Council names Mike Orlich the new Fire Chief. The Chesterton Town Council approves a contract with the Duneland Business Initiative Group to hold a resurrected Wizard of Oz Festival in the Downtown in the third weekend of September. The CHS speech team finishes second at the sectional tournament at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Report: drug deaths increased, suicides decreased in Porter County in 2008. The Duneland School Board announces a snow-day make-up schedule which includes a Saturday in April. The Indiana House passes a resolution honoring the CHS swim team and debate team for their state championships, the second consecutive title for the swim team, the 19th title ever for the debate team. Porter County extends the deadline to pay property-tax bills by two weeks in response to concerns over unusually large increases in the most recent assessed values for some commercial property. Report: the slumping economy boosts usage of the Westchester Public Library, as year-over-year circulation so far in 2009 has increased by 17 percent. Local 2038 of the International Longshoremen's Association protests the recent election of officers on the grounds that nominations and voting were not open to the full membership. Report: the Porter County Sheriff's Police investigated 17 fatal crashes in 2008, more than in the previous two years combined. The CHS debate team dominates the Northeast NFL District qualifying tournament, taking nine of 12 qualifying slots for the national tournament later in the year in Birmingham, Ala. The CHS financial analyst team of Tommy Peller, Glenn Peterson, George Sanidas, and John Thanos places first at the state contest of the Business Professionals of America; Joshua Kalita takes first place in payroll accounting. CHS wins the third annual Purdue North Central-Porter County Academic Super Bowl Invitational. CHS eighth-grader Allie McAloon finishes second at the regional Northwest Indiana Scripps National Spelling Bee, becoming an alternate at the National Bee in Washington, D.C. The St. Patrick Catholic School Science Olympiad Teams compete at the state Science Olympiad in Indianapolis. Report: the Porter County Sheriff's Police participated in 1,038 evictions in 2008, an increase of 23 percent over 2007, while executions—court-ordered seizures of property in the case of default—skyrocketed to 33, from only one in the previous year. Report: Porter County students self-report higher than the state average drug use. The CHS speech team takes second place at the state tournament in Indianapolis. April The PCCRVC awards a $3,000 grant to the resurrected Chesterton Wizard of Oz Festival. The CHS Winter Color Guard wins the Midwest Color Guard Circuit's championship. The Chesterton Tribune celebrates 125 years as Duneland's hometown community newspaper. The State Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs passes an amendment which would create a Northwest Indiana regional transportation district with the authority to impose a tax of up to 0. 25 percent in Porter, Lake, LaPorte, and St. Joseph counties. St. Patrick Catholic School seventh-grader Brendan Mulshine competes at the state Geography Bee championship in Indianapolis. St. Patrick Catholic School middle-schoolers finish 16th out of 26 schools at the Indiana State Science Olympiad in Indianapolis. The old Jewel/Osco building on Indian Boundary Road is razed to make room for a new emergency department being developed by the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc., operator of Saint Anthony Memorial Health Center in Michigan City. A bail-out bill for Indianapolis sports stadiums—which would double state alcohol taxes—clears a Senate committee. A public hearing is held on a new Burns Harbor Comprehensive Plan. The CHS Winter Color Guard finishes 20th out of nearly 300 units competing from the U.S., Japan, Canada, and Europe at the Winter Guard International World Finals in Dayton, Ohio. The Porter County Commissioners are divided on whether the county should remain a member of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance upholds the assessments used in the 2008 property-tax bills but orders the Porter County Assessor's Office to re-do the tax ratio to be used in the 2009 bills. Porter County Judge Pro Tem James Sarkisian dismisses a lawsuit filed by the Liberty Landowners Association challenging the re-zoning for the new Porter hospital at U.S. Highway 6 and Ind. 49 in Liberty Township, on the grounds that the group lacks legal standing. The Village of Burns Harbor is the first subdivision in the nation to receive a "green" designation from the National Association of Home Builders. Former Jackson Township trustee William Mathe dies at 84. The Porter County Council votes 4-3 to withdraw the county from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. Dunelanders protest the National Park Service's decision to cease all farming operations and dispose of remaining animals at Chellberg Farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. U.S. Rep. Visclosky says that he will not seek any earmarks in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget for any private or for-profit entities, citing the ongoing federal investigation of The PMA Group. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance defends the most recent assessments, amid complaints from business owners who saw their assessments skyrocket, but does urge property owners to appeal. John Ruge, former Porter County Clerk and Council member, dies at 90. Porter Building Commissioner Art Elwood says that numerous apparent violations at Splash Down Dunes water park must be corrected before the park may open for the season. Fire destroys the picnic shelter at Fairhaven Baptist Church, with damage estimated at $15,000. Porter County Treasurer James Murphy and Auditor James Kopp say they will defy the Porter County Council's order to cease payments to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority; the RDA seeks the State Attorney General's opinion about the legality of the Porter County Council's vote. Report: in March unemployment hit 10.2 percent in Chesterton. The Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce supports the Town of Chesterton's offer to treat the wastewater of Porter hospital's new facility in Liberty Township. The Porter Park Board votes to allow the Duneland Soccer Club to have a practice field at Hawthorne Park. ArcelorMittal announces the outage of the No. 4 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor facility, the only blast furnace currently in operation there, as the company begins to negotiate a layoff minimization plan with USW Local 1011. U.S. Rep. Visclosky secured $501,000 in stimulus funding to support projects at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Town of Chesterton receives its 13th Tree City USA designation. The Porter County Council adopts a resolution in support of the Dunes Kankakee Trail. Liberty Township resident Lee Gast, 26, dies in a one vehicle accident in the area of Meridian Road and C.R. 700N in Liberty Township. Local municipalities fight to keep Porter County in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. U.S. Steel posts a net loss of $439 million in the first quarter of 2009. U.S. Steel gets set to re-start the No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works and recall temporarily laid-off workers. ArcelorMittal posts a net loss of $1.063 billion in the first quarter of 2009. The Porter County Council retains an attorney to defend its vote to withdraw the county from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. May Indiana-American Water Company petitions the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for a rate increase of nearly 29 percent, in what would be if approved its fifth rate hike in seven years. NiSource reports a net income of $148.4 million in the first quarter of 2009. The CHS Symphonic Orchestra qualifies for state competition. Porter Town Council names Matt Keiser its Director of Engineering and Development. The CHS Wind Ensemble earns a Group I Gold Division rating in competition at Warsaw Community High School. The National Park Service holds a forum on the future of Chellberg Farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; a consensus emerges to enlist volunteers, craft a plan, raise donations, and save the farm. USW Locals 12775 and 13796 ratify a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with NIPSCO. The Burns Harbor Town Council adopts the new Comprehensive Plan, although two minor amendments force the document's return to the Advisory Plan Commission. The Liberty Landowners Association appeals the ruling of a Porter County court that the group lacks standing to challenge the re-zoning of the site of the new Porter hospital. Ground breaks on a new skate park at the terminus of the Prairie Duneland Trail at 15th Street and Broadway. CHS graduate Matthew Christensen marches with the world champion Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. The Town of Chesterton contributes $5,000 to the community fireworks extravaganza to celebrate Independence Day spearheaded by the Town of Porter and planned for Indiana Dunes State Park. CHS senior Kevin Kokesh is named Duneland Exchange Club Student of the Year. ArcelorMittal announces the indefinite lay off of 978 workers at its Indiana Harbor West facility. The Duneland Masters 1,650-yard team places third in the nation. A charter school is proposed for Duneland; it would emphasize environmental education and initially serve grades K through 6. The Burns Harbor Town Council orders the demolition of the Standard Oil Plaza on U.S. Highway 20. Deborah Parlock, 53, operator of a day-care facility in Liberty Township, is charged with battery resulting in the death of a person younger than 14 in connection with the death of Chesterton-area infant Nicholas Munden. The Duneland Exchange Club honors CHS senior Jonathan Mesich with its Accepting the Challenge of Excellence Award. The Discovery Charter School would provide a tax-funded environment-themed curriculum, backers say. Report: the Westchester Public Library ranks 13th of all 238 public libraries in Indiana and 406th of all 7,115 in the nation. PCSP Sgt. Tim Emmons receives the department's Life Saving Award for using an automated external defibrillator to revive Jackson Township resident Keith Lakin, who suffered cardiac arrest in April. The National Park Service and National Geographic Society bring Bioblitz to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Portage Police seek a man and woman in the fatal shooting of Jeremiah Higgins, 27, in what investigators believe was a case of mistaken identity. The Chesterton Stormwater Utility purchases a slightly used street sweeper for $129,500. Kouts Clerk-Treasurer Gregory Frame is charged with sexual misconduct with a minor between the ages of 14 and 16. South Shore Commuter Train conductor Gregory Beach is charged with the battery of a passenger; Beach denies all wrongdoing. Liberty Township man Steven Jorden, 18, pleads guilty to the felony murder of Luke Oil clerk Barbara Heckman in December 2008. Jackson Township resident Hilda Demuth-Lutze, co-author of Plank Road Summer, has a book-signing in Valparaiso. Artist Holly Jackson creates the design for the cover and poster of the 58th annual Chesterton Woman's Club Art Show. The CFD takes delivery of its new ladder truck, purchased for the contract price of $759,950 and built by Central States Fire Apparatus. The Town of Chesterton borrows $1 million while it waits for a 2009 property-tax draw. Daniel Winn, 36, of Jackson Township, dies of injuries sustained in a one vehicle accident on U.S. 6 in Jackson Township. The Association of Artists and Craftsmen of Porter County honors Walter Rector. The Chesterton Town Council enacts an "advanced" curfew more restrictive than state statute. Father John "Jack" E. Meyer, 65, dies; he was parish pastor of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Chesterton. The Porter County Council clashes with Auditor James Kopp over delayed 2009 property-tax bills. The Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce urges Porter County to re-join the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. The European Market begins its 2009 run, to be followed on Saturdays this season by Chesterton Cruise Night, sponsored by the Duneland Business Initiative Group. The U.S. Department of Justice serves grand-jury subpoenas seeking documents on the campaign committee, the Congressional office, and certain unnamed staffers of U.S. Rep. Visclosky, in connection with its ongoing investigation of The PMA Group. June The Portage Township School Board extends its Adult Education program for another year but eyes the possible closure of one or more of its 24 Adult Learning Centers in order to cut costs. The Duneland School Board approves a $5.85 million addition to and renovation of Liberty Elementary School. An alligator is spotted in Pine Lake in LaPorte County. Nicole Moore, 27, of Liberty Township, pleads guilty to OWI-causing serious bodily injury, after police say that she was driving when she struck a moped being driven on U.S. 6 by Aaron Casko, 15, and his brother, Adam, 17, critically injuring Adam. Ten are named to the inaugural CHS Athletic Hall of Fame: Jenni Anderson, Mike and Maria Bachuchin, Tim Bagby, Warren Canright, Keith Davison, Leonard Eason, Dr. John Forchetti, Larry James, and Steve Wynder. A revised Duneland Schools 2009-10 calendar ends half days. U.S. Rep. Visclosky confirms the retirement of his chief of staff, Chuck Brimmer. Splash Down Dunes water park owner Paul Childress announces the likely sale or auction of the park at the end of the summer season. The Porter County Commissioners vote 2-1 to approve a legal contract in the dispute over the county's withdrawal from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority; John Evans, R-North, votes nay. The Porter County Commission-ers contribute $5,000 to the Duneland community fireworks extravaganza. The 119th CHS commencement is held at the football stadium. The Porter County Park Board proceeds with Phase II of the Liberty Township land acquisition, acquiring 27 acres for $271,000. Valparaiso resident Alexander Santoyo, 54, dies in a fall at USS Gary Works. All members of USW Local 1014 laid off in the wake of blast furnace troubles at USS Gary Works are called back to work. Best of show at the 58th annual Chesterton Woman's Club Art Show goes to Robert R. Williams for his pastel "Amanda in Purple." The Chesterton Town Council names Dave Novak its Building Commissioner. The Chesterton Town Council agrees to seek stimulus funding for the construction of a second fire station east of Ind. 49. Chesterton artist Mary Ann Pals' design wins Honorable Mention in the International Association of Pastel Societies' catalogue cover competition, for her work "Anhinga." The Porter County Council says that 2009 property-tax bills could be mailed late in the summer. An on-line petition is posted in support of Chellberg Farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Eugene A. Thomas, 80, of Liberty Township, dies in a three vehicle accident in the area of Ind. 49 and C.R. 600N in Center Township. Former Chesterton Utility superintendent Steve Yagelski reimburses the Utility the $1,728.12 spent for a forensic examination of office computers, conducted after files were found missing following Yagelski's resignation; in exchange the Utility releases Yagelski from any future litigation or prosecution. The Chesterton-based Flora Richardson Foundation awards a $10,000 grant to IUN students and faculty for a study of beach erosion at Mt. Baldy at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Federal Election Commission rules that U.S. Rep. Visclosky may use campaign funds to defray legal expenses in connection with the ongoing federal investigation of The PMA Group. 190 North, seen on WLS Channel 7, Chicago's ABC affiliate, shoots a segment in Chesterton. Report: 23 people died of heroin or cocaine overdoses in Porter County in 2008, very nearly double the number who died in 2007. Report: suicides surge in Porter County in the first half of the year, with 22 persons killing themselves compared to 15 in the whole of 2008 and 29 in 2007. The U.S. Department of Labor agrees to investigate the disputed election of officers conducted in March by Local 2038 of the International Longshoremen's Association. U.S. Rep. Visclosky secures $1 million in federal funding to install a water line to Good Fellow Lodge at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Report: in May the unemployment rate hit 9.6 percent in Porter County and 10.5 percent in Chesterton. The CHS speech and debate team wins the Bruno E. Jacob National Award of Excellence at the NFL national tournament in Birmingham, Ala., becoming the first public school ever to win that prestigious award for a third time; junior Tyler Fabbri is a finalist in U.S. Extemporaneous, placing fifth in the nation. The Chesterton Town Council votes to condemn the fire-damaged house at 616 S. Second St., owned by Terry Long. Report: the Duneland School Corporation is projected to lose $168,000 in 2010 due to the state's new "circuit-breaker" tax caps. Porter County Auditor James Kopp tells the Porter County Council that the soonest 2009 property-tax bills could be mailed is in October. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Constantine Dillon tells supporters of the Chellberg Farm that he envisions a "Dunes Cultural Heritage Center" which could include the farm in some form. NIPSCO donates $40,000 to the Shirley Heinze Land Trust to purchase 30 acres on the Little Calumet River in Westchester Township. The 13th annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is held on the grounds of the Chellberg Farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Stand up For Duneland Schools, a parent group, organizes to fight the proposed Discovery Charter School, on the grounds that public tax dollars should not be used to subsidize those seeking an alternative education for their children. July Bruce Guess, 18, of Liberty Township, pleads guilty to the robbery-homicide of Luke Oil clerk Barbara Heckman in December 2008. A total of $1.4 million in federal stimulus funding is earmarked for the restoration of Dunes Creek at Indiana Dunes State Park. Glaziers Local 1165 strikes Trout Glass & Mirror and two other companies in Northwest Indiana. Florence Dresch and Jim Ruge are named to preside over the Town of Porter's Independence Day parade. The first annual Duneland community fireworks extravaganza, spearheaded by the Town of Porter, is a booming success, with an estimated attendance at the Indiana Dunes State Park lakefront of 8,500. Ball State University grants approval for the Discovery Charter School less than 24 hours after BSU hosts an informational meeting about the approved school. Seven months after moving into its new facility on Canonie Drive in the Town of Porter, Pathway Family Center closes its adolescent drug treatment program there; Pathway board member Bob Taylor cites the inability of families to pay for the program. The Chesterton Lions Club holds the 70th annual Turtle Derby in Hawthorne Park as part of the Town of Porter's Independence Day celebration. The Chesterton Police Department joins the Northwest Indiana Major Crimes Task Force. The Duneland Business Initiative Group holds Bark in the Park at Thomas Centennial Park. The Porter County Health Department temporarily closes Splash Down Dunes under a voluntary agreement; at dispute is whether necessary safety equipment is readily accessible and whether the chlorine level is too high at some rides. USW Local 6787 President Paul Gipson tells ArcelorMittal that his membership will make no further concessions beyond those already negotiated in a layoff minimization plan approved in November 2008. The Duneland Exchange Club hosts its annual Frog Hunt at Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve. Two boys shoot a 150-pound alligator in Iroquois River in Jasper County. The Chesterton Town Council adopts a resolution urging the National Park Service to re-open Chellberg Farm as a working farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Jennifer Lynn Cook, 35, of Portage, pleads guilty to the murder of Andrew Katzelis, 82, of South Haven. The Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce holds its 2009 State of the Chamber and Community Awards Luncheon: Dr. Dan Keilman is named Humanitarian of the Year; Jackie Ruge-Perkins, Duneland Distinguished Woman; the New Construction Award goes to The Flower Cart; the Business Renovation Award, to Taco Bell. The Porter County Fair opens its run at the Fair Grounds and Expo Center. U.S. Rep. Visclosky secures $2 million for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, $500,000 for the Dunes Kankakee Trail. U.S. Steel posts a net loss of $392 million in the second quarter of 2009. The 51st annual Chesterton Art Fair is held at Hawthorne Park. Glaziers Local 1165 settles its strike against Trout Glass & Mirror. ArcelorMittal posts a net loss of $792 million in the second quarter of 2009. August The Chesterton Fire Department holds its eighth annual Street Dance. The South Shore Commuter Railroad announces the temporary suspension of service over five weekends in the fall between Gary Metro Center and South Bend, to allow a contractor to string a new overhead electrical catenary system. NiSource posts a net loss of $4.8 million in the second quarter of 2009. Josephine Darling of Chesterton celebrates her 100th birthday. The Chesterton Utility Service Board names James Chris Shank its new Superintendent. Aaron Blum, 32, of Morgan Township, is found shot to death in the cab of a pickup truck parked in Washington Township; his father, James Blum, 67, also of Morgan Township, is found next to his son, wounded by a gunshot to the chest. The Northwest Indiana Patriots swarm a town hall meeting on health care reform at the Library Service Center, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Democratic Alliance and featuring guest speaker U.S. Rep. Visclosky. A dispute between Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana and Atlanta, Ga.-based Apollo MD, Porter hospital's new emergency medicine provider, forces users of the ER to pay higher out-of-pocket costs. Report: former Post-Tribune employees whose customer service jobs were outsourced to overseas are eligible for federal aid. Chesterton motorcyclist Derek Dodd, 23, is killed is a two vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 30 in Valparaiso. Duneland School Superintendent Dirk Baer blasts Porter County for the property-tax mess at a meeting of the Duneland School Board. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Constantine Dillon tells attendees at a Q/A session that his No. 1 goal is to see the park survive. The Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce holds its fifth annual Party in the Park. The Chesterton Town Council orders the owner of the fire-damaged house at 1500 Maximilian Drive in the Rose Hill Estates subdivision, Sofianos Hasapis, to demolish his home. East Porter Ave. between Ind. 49 and South Calumet Road is closed for the installation of a sanitary force main, part of the upgrade of the Dickinson Road lift station. Dr. Janet Rowley, a University of Chicago scientist and a longtime resident of Porter Beach, is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work in cancer chromosome studies. The Burns Harbor Town Council split-votes to name Randy Skalku its General Maintenance/Street Supervisor. Report: the National Park Service plans to demolish the old Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore visitor center at U.S. 12 and Kemil Road; no date for the demolition is set. Indiana-American Water Company dedicates a new pumping station at 1041N 100E in memory of the late Warren "Skip" Highwood. The Porter County Council rejects the PCCRVC's proposal to eliminate the $89,100 venue fund from its 2010 budget and shift the money into an expanded grant program and website development. Alysha M. Ramos, 19, is sentenced to three years of home detention after pleading guilty to OWI-causing death, in connection with the crash in June 2008 which killed Alish A. Purnick, 17, of Liberty Township; Ramos was waived into adult court following the crash. CHS student Jannon Jeffries wins the "Watershed Area" signage design contest sponsored by the Chesterton Stormwater Utility. The Chesterton Utility finalizes the issuance of $5.1 million in sewer revenue bonds to finance an ambitious schedule of capital projects and equipment acquisitions. The Porter County Council faces the fact that projected tax revenues next year won't come close to covering the cost of the 2010 election, employee health insurance, and police and jail expenses. The Duneland 2009-10 school year begins. Miraculously no one is seriously injured on Aug. 19 when an EF2 tornado roars through Chesterton. Born at 7:32 p.m. just to the south and west of South Park Acres, and blazing a slicing, hopping, skipping trail of destruction to the northeast before dying 13 minutes later at 7:45 p.m. somewhere in the Beverly Shores area, the tornado uproots scores of trees, opens the roof of Goldsborough Gym at CMS to the sky, and catastrophically damages an apartment complex on Brown Ave. A total of 211 structures are hit: eight of them are destroyed, 52 sustain major damage. The tornado brings out the best in residents and in Chesterton's neighbors, as police officers, firefighters, and a host of municipal employees from across Porter County converge on the town. Technically the tornado is not a disaster, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security rules, while the Porter County Emergency Management Agency blames the inability of the 911 Dispatch Center to activate the tornado sirens in town on a malfunctioning control panel. Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg puts the preliminary cost of cleanup at upwards of $40,000. A WGN talking head asks Town Manager Bernie Doyle at a news conference what impact the tornado has had on the town; Doyle tells her that the tornado has had a positive impact, proving if anyone were to have needed proof that a strong spirit of volunteerism and community goes to Duneland's roots. The body of a Miller boater who went missing during the storm is found at Kemil Beach at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. September WDSO begins its 33rd year of broadcasting at CHS. Christopher Egener, 33, of Chesterton, dies after crashing his motorcycle into the rear of a pickup truck on U.S. 20 in Portage. The Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc., which operates Saint Anthony Memorial Health Center in Michigan City, and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana announce a new multi-year contract which maintains in-network benefits for policy holders. The CHS girls golf team qualifies to compete at the state championship. NIPSCO announces that it will cut up to 40 salaried, non-union positions, or 2 percent of its workforce of 2,568. The Chesterton Park Board admonishes users of the new skate park to clean up their act and stop littering there. Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford issues an injunction closing Splash Down Dunes water park until owner Paul Childress provides proof of insurance; Childress does in time to open the park for the Labor Day weekend, then closes it for the season and probably forever. Northwest Indiana environmentalist Lee Botts is inducted into the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame. Porter Beach artist Stephanie Carnell wins first place in the Illiana Artists 12th regional juried exhibition. The Porter County Health Department plans for a massive H1N1 flu immunization campaign. Porter County Commissioner John Evans, R-North, suggests that Porter hospital should maintain countywide ambulance service if it wishes to secure a tax abatement for its new facility in Liberty Township. Jennifer Lynn Cook, 35, of Portage, is sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Andrew Katzelis, 82, of South Haven. The tornado cleanup continues: scores of trees are staged at Dogwood and Coffee Creek parks to await chipping. The Indiana Attorney General's Office issues a non-binding opinion to the effect that Porter County is mandated to join the Northwest Indiana Redevelopment Authority. Porter County Park Superintendent Ed Melendez resigns. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance says that Porter County cannot reimburse local units for the interest paid under tax anticipation loans. Local 2038 of the International Longshoremen's Association agrees to hold a new election of officers supervised by the U.S. Department of Labor, following a challenge of the March election by dissident members. Report: the Dunes Kankakee Trail will pass through Downtown Chesterton. The Duneland Business Initiative Group holds ArTour 2009 in Chesterton. The Porter County Commissioners unanimously grant a tax abatement to Porter hospital for its new facility in Liberty Township, with three conditions: Porter hospital must continue to provide countywide ambulance service, negotiate an agreement with the construction trades, and pay an annual fee intended to boost redevelopment along the U.S. 6 corridor. The Duneland School Corporation receives $9.6 million in federal stimulus funding for energy efficiency projects at six schools. The Chesterton Town Council enacts an ordinance legalizing the use of golf carts on town roadways. The Indiana Department of Education reports that Duneland students are mostly above average on ISTEP scores. Robert Wainwright, 65, of Chesterton, is sentenced to 108 months in federal prison after being convicted of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The CHS Trojan Guard finishes second at its season opener at the Goshen High School Crimson Invitational. The Wizard of Oz Festival returns to Downtown Chesterton: "It's like Oz never left town." The Duneland Harvest Festival is held at Chellberg Farm at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The Porter County Council votes 4-2 to deny the request of Auditor James Kopp and Treasurer James Murphy for funds to hire their own attorney in the legal dispute over county membership in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. The Duneland Resale Shop opens at its new location, 801 Broadway in Chesterton, formerly home of WiseWay Foods. Steven Jorden, 19, of Liberty Township, is sentenced to 57 years in prison for the felony murder of Luke Oil clerk Barbara Heckman in December 2008. Investors in the failed Dunes Country at Furnessville sue developers Gary Atkinson and Donna Harris, alleging that they were swindled of more than $2.7 million. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District raises adult weekend fares on the South Shore, as ridership in a slumping economy drops by 10.4 percent so far in 2009. Bruce Guess, 19, of Liberty Township, is sentenced to 85 years in prison for the robbery-homicide of Luke Oil clerk Barbara Heckman in December 2008. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission honors John and Mark Thanos, the father and son who drowned in the floods of September 2008 saving a boy who had been swept away in the raging waters of a drainage ditch in the Westchester South subdivision. The Chesterton Town Council votes to create a Riverfront Development District in the Downtown in an effort to attract fine dining. The Duneland YMCA is selected for the 2009 Best of Chesterton Award in the Child Day Care Services category by the U.S. Commerce Association. The Liberty Landowners Association loses it appeal of a county court ruling which found that the group does not have standing to challenge a re-zoning for the new Porter hospital facility. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Indiana and Apollo MD settle their dispute; Apollo maintains despite the settlement that Anthem's near monopoly allows it to go cheap on the reimbursement of physicians at Porter hospital. Porter hospital reports no medical errors for the second consecutive year. The Burns Harbor BZA votes 3-1, reversing a decision in June, to grant a zoning amendment necessary for ArcelorMittal to expand an on-site solid waste landfill. The Federal Election Commission rules that U.S. Rep. Visclosky's staffers may use campaign funds to defray the cost associated with the ongoing federal investigation of The PMA Group. "Nonchalant" hero Colin Ringas, 15, of Chesterton, saves his buddy, Colin Wilson, also 15, from drowning in Lake Michigan off Ogden Dunes Beach. Nine days after his first official day on the job, newly hired Chesterton Utility Superintendent James Chris Shank resigns for "personal reasons"; the Utility Service Board once again names Town Engineer Mark O'Dell its Interim Superintendent. October The CHS Trojan Guard wins Gold at the ISSMA district competition. CHS seniors Adam Boatright and Megan Adamczewski are named CHS Homecoming King and Queen. Ken Brock, the dean of birding in Northwest Indiana, is honored by the Indiana Audubon Society with its prestigious Earl Brooks Award, presented annually to those persons who advance conservation of natural resources in the state; birders from around the state converge on the Dunes as the society holds its annual Fall Birding Festival in Chesterton. "Partnership" is the watchword of the first Northwest Indiana economic development summit at the Sand Creek Country Club. The Porter County Commissioners amend the Unified Development Ordinance to provide a framework for wind farms in the county. CHS Assistant Principal Jeffrey Van Drie is named 2009 District Assistant Principal of the Year for Northwest Indiana by the Indiana Association of School Principals District 1. Chesterton Town Council Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, voices his desire to put the Dickinson Road extension project back on the front burner. The intersection of South Calumet Road and 1100N is effectively closed forever as work continues on the South Calumet District project. The Dunes Creek daylighting project enters Phase II at Indiana Dunes State Park. Rick Hicks, retired chief of the Cypress, Calif., Police Department, is the keynote speaker at the annual Community Prayer Breakfast held at St. Patrick Catholic Church. The Chesterton/Duneland Chamber of Commerce officially launches its new website, outfitted with a fully functional economic development feature including property listings and zoning, permitting, and ordinance information. The Porter County Plan Commission gives site plan approval to the $5.8 million addition to Liberty Elementary School. Porter hospital closes on its acquisition of the land at the northwest intersection of U.S. 6 and Ind. 49 in unincorporated Liberty Township for its new $300 million, 225-room hospital. The CHS Trojan Guard wins Gold at the ISSMA Northern Regional competition. Bailly Elementary School students raise $12,000 in the PTO-sponsored "Wild About Reading" read-a-thon. Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg is named Urban Forestry Individual of the Year by the Indiana Urban Forest Council and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. H1N1 flu vaccination clinics begin in the Duneland schools. The Porter Park Board informs the Town Council that security must be hired for the Town of Porter's Christmas party at the Community Building in Hawthorne Park. Gloria and Walt Rector are honored with the Patron Award by the Chesterton Art Center. Report: the state unemployment rate dropped in September for the third consecutive month; it also dropped significantly in Porter County and Chesterton. Berglund Construction Company of Chesterton is honored by Building Indiana magazine with the Swanky Award for Best Green Office. The CHS Trojan Guard ends a successful season at semi-state competition. Chesterton Tribune reporter Vicki Urbanik announces her candidacy for Porter County Auditor in the 2010 election. U.S. Steel reports a net loss of $303 million in the third quarter of 2009. A vaccine shortage forces the re-scheduling of a flu clinic at Bailly Elementary School. The Chesterton Town Council abandons the plan to retrofit the former United Tractor facility at 116 N. 15th St., opting instead to demolish the current building and construct a new one for use as municipal office space and equipment storage. ArcelorMittal posts a net income of $900 million in the third quarter of 2009. The Porter Redevelopment Commission votes to spend up to $350,000 to buy 31 acres where the historic Beam Street brickyard operated in the early 1900s; the site could be home to a future fire station and possibly up to 193 residential units. The Porter County Council urges voters to reject a regional transportation district in the November referendum. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor wants the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to cut in half a rate hike proposed by Indiana-American Water Company; any rate hike approved would be the fifth in seven years. NiSource posts a net loss of $15.4 million for the third quarter of 2009. Around 2.5 inches of rain forces the Chesterton wastewater treatment plant to bypass; leaves clogging storm drains cause the temporary flooding of local roadways. The CHS boys cross country team finishes second at the state championship. November Edward Ibarra, 21, of Valparaiso, is charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of his mother's fiancé, Juan Miguel Garcia, 33, also of Valparaiso. Joseph Draus, 32, of Chesterton, is charged with dealing heroin to a minor, after police say he sold it to a 16-year-old girl whom he met at the skate park; police also say Draus introduced the girl to heroin. The Duneland School Corporation reports a 30-percent increase in expulsions in the 2008-09 academic year, attributed to an increase in the number of students with extensive tardies and truancies. The Porter County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League celebrates its 50th anniversary. Fully 80 percent of voters reject a regional transportation district in a countywide referendum. NIPSCO announces that it may file a second, brand-new electric rate case in 2010; the IURC has not yet ruled on a pending case in which NIPSCO is seeking a rate hike of 14.34 percent. ArcelorMittal's East Chicago facility is awarded $31 million in federal stimulus funding for a No. 7 blast furnace gas flare capture project. CHS seniors Daniel Carmody, Jordan Hoover, and Megan Gillespie are named National Merit Scholarship semi-finalists. The Porter County Treasurer's Office announces that the 2009 property-tax bills are finally set to be mailed. CHS senior Christian Parroco is one of 1,600 Black American students named as semi-finalists in the annual Achievement Scholarship Competition. Longtime Chesterton BZA Member Jim Kowalski announces that he will resign his seat on Jan. 1 before the expiration of his term. Jack Connors Buick, tracing its history in Chesterton to 1898, announces that it has lost its franchise and will no longer sell Buicks as of Oct. 31, 2010. The Chesterton-Porter Rotary Club hosts its annual Veterans Day commemoration. Herb and Charlotte Read are honored with the Robert Klawitter Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hoosier Environmental Council. Report: the Porter County Voter Registration Office says that counters in three precincts—one in Westchester Township, two in Pine Township—inadvertently flipped the results of the regional transportation district referendum, mistakenly reporting that all three precincts supported an RDT. Hudson Evans, 22, of Bloomington, Ill., dies after crashing his car into the Pavilion at Indiana Dunes State Park. A 20-year tradition continues at the Chesterton Feed & Garden Center: visit Benny the Turkey. The Town of Porter wins $1.8 million in funding from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority as lead agency in the Ind. 49 Lakeshore Gateway Corridor Development Project. More questions are asked than answered at an informational meeting in Burns Harbor on ArcelorMittal's proposed new landfill. The 11th annual Winter Lights Night is held at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Liberty Township. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District eyes fare hikes and service cuts as ridership falls, revenues drop, and operating costs rise. Neighbors voice their opposition to a proposed pawn shop on Brown Ave. at a public hearing before the Chesterton BZA. The annual Twilight Christmas Parade ushers in the holiday in Downtown Chesterton. Traci Scott, 33, of Jackson Township, dies in a one vehicle accident on U.S. 6 in Jackson Township. December Chesterton United Methodist Women hold the 17th annual Holiday Cookie Walk. A man robs the Super 8 Motel at 418 Council Drive of $112 at knife point. Report: CHS 8th grader Josh DeVries is to tour China with the South Shore Orchestra. IDEM is grilled at an informational meeting in Burns Harbor over how it has managed solid wastes which have accumulated over the years at ArcelorMittal's steel mill there. Gov. Mitch Daniels announces $150 million in funding cuts for state colleges and universities as tax revenues continue to plummet. Post-Tribune reporter Karen Snelling, 50, of Chicago, pleads guilty in federal court to embezzling $18,100 from the Gary Newspaper Guild while serving as its treasurer. Indiana Dunes State Park naturalists report on the results of their first ever Northern Saw-whet Owl banding operation, only the fourth such station in the state: a total of 19 owls was caught, banded, and released. The "Reform Slate" of Local 2038 of the International Longshoremen's Association romps in the Department of Labor-supervised election of officers: Kensey Alsman elected president, Mike Battista secretary/treasurer, and Jeff Kleefisch business agent; all three were signatories to the complaint filed with the DOL over the March 13 election. Ron Greenfield, 63, of Chesterton, is killed after being struck by flying debris in a plant explosion while stopped at a rest area on I-90 near Belvidere, Ill. CPD: Michael E. Wade, 57, of Michigan City, a suspect in the Super 8 Motel robbery, is being held at the Hancock County Jail on suspicion of similar robberies in the Indianapolis area. The 15th annual Duneland Community Advent Festival is held at St. Patrick Catholic Church. A temporary building moratorium comes to an end in Porter Beach after the Town Council creates a Lakeshore Preservation District with development standards unique to Porter Beach. The Chesterton First United Methodist Church raises $1,000 at a chili supper for the Shop with a Cop program run by Fraternal Order of Police Westchester Lodge 152. Mike Anton of Anton Insurance Agency is named 2009 Director of the Year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission orders NIPSCO to achieve annual energy savings of 2 percent by 2019. The Duneland School Corporation projects a possible budget deficit of $4 million in 2009 in expectation of an 8-percent cut in state operating funds; Superintendent Dirk Baer "absolutely" anticipates staff layoffs. The Porter County Commissioners agree to table the proposal of Commissioner Bob Harper, D-Center—after receiving numerous requests to reconsider—to strip the Tri-Towns, Valparaiso, and Hebron of their appointments to the PCCRVC and make those appointments themselves. USW Local 6787 President Paul Gipson characterizes as a "vicious rumor" a Wall Street Journal report that ArcelorMittal will cut 10,000 jobs in 2010. Gov. Mitch Daniels says that public school funding will be cut by at least $300 million following a forecast that the state will receive $1.8 billion less in revenues than originally believed. PCSP: Lawrence Hull, 56, dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting and wounding his brother, Ronald O. Hull, 69, at a Union Township residence. The Chesterton Utility braces for the long-discussed, long-postponed Downtown sewer replacement and separation project, warns businesses that the two- to three-month project will disrupt traffic on South Calumet Road in the spring, but promises the project to be finished by Memorial Day in time for the summer tourist season. The Town of Chesterton prepares to get tough with stormwater and refuse and recycling fee deadbeats. The CPD reports the theft of the Baby Jesus from two front-yard Nativity scenes. The Chesterton BZA rejects a petition for a pawnshop at the former home of Childress Industrial Controls at 100 Brown Ave. "I'm dreaming of a sloppy Christmas": sleet and freezing rain, then rain, then snow make for a bad weather-filled holiday. Porter County Auditor James Kopps tells the Chesterton Tribune that he will run for re-election in 2010. Report: a 3.5 percent cut in state school funding—nearly $300 million—will be applied evenly to all school corporations; "Any district can find 2 to 3 percent savings without reducing teaching staff," Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett says; "If everyone, including teachers themselves, will pitch in, we'll get through this recession just fine." Horizon Bancorp, the parent company of Horizon Bank, headquartered in Michigan City, signs a definitive agreement to purchase the banking-related assets and assume the deposits and certain liabilities of American Trust & Savings Bank, headquartered in Whiting.
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