Population shrinking in most Lake County cities

Lake County communities across the board have seen a loss in population the past two years, including ones that had recently seen growth, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Crown Point was the only Lake County city to see a gain in …

Griffith board backs Pokro microbrewery

GRIFFITH — The town could add its name to the growing list of communities with its own craft beer by the end of summer. The Board of Zoning Appeals at its Wednesday night meeting approved 5-0 a favorable recommendation for a special-use variance for Pokro …

Hobart board fines contractor for building wall without permit

HOBART — The Contractor’s Licensing Board on Wednesday agreed to fine a Cedar Lake-based contractor $4,000 for building a retaining wall without having the proper permits and license after residents complained that the wall fell over. The board said the fines would be waived if …

Oregon trucker shot by off-duty Merrillville cop charged in parking-lot attack

A Portland, Ore., man was charged Wednesday with disarming and battering a police officer in the parking lot of the Merrillville Planned Parenthood Health Center on Monday afternoon, a confrontation that ended with the trucker being shot. Craig Strand, 43, is charged with disarming a …

Former EC library director accused of tax fraud working on plea deal

Former East Chicago Public Library Director Manuel “Manny” Montalvo is working with federal attorneys on a deal to plead guilty in his income tax fraud case, according to a motion filed Wednesday. Montalvo, 38, was charged last fall with two counts of lying on his …

Law and Order Gary

GARY Christmas day jewelry thief charged A Midtown man is in custody, arrested Tuesday on a felony theft that occurred Christmas Day at his girlfriend’s Glen Park home. Dwayne A. Mabon, 50, of 2339 Pennsylvania St., called the woman he had been dating for three …

Law and Order Lake County

Hammond Chicago man took steel drums A Chicago man was placed on probation for two years for theft and ordered to pay $5,200 in restitution for stealing 300 empty steel drum containers. Daniel Fred King, 33, admitted he took a semi-trailer on May 4, 2011, …

Latin King gets 25 years for role in double homicide

A Latin Kings street gang member will serve 25 years in prison in connection with his part in the double homicide outside a Griffith restaurant in February 2007. The sentence is five years less than Jason Ortiz’s co-defendant Martin Anaya received earlier Thursday at his …

Hammond business loses property tax appeal

CROWN POINT — Morrison Construction will not get an additional 35 percent reduction in the assessed property value of its Hammond headquarters. Tuesday the Lake County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals ruled against granting the 35 percent reduction requested by property tax consultant Don …

Crown Point woman had sex with teen, must register as sex offender

Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced a Crown Point woman to four years on probation for a sex crime involving a 16-year-old relative. Teresa Lyn Peron, 30, of 1000 W. South St., admitted she had sex with the teen between April 2011 and June …

Valparaiso man shot in car in Gary’s Midtown area

GARY — For the second time in five days, a young man was shot and killed while he sat behind the wheel of a car on a Midtown street. Jovan R. Jackson, 22, with addresses in Gary and Valparaiso, was stopped in the 2500 block …

Gary council OKs summer internships

GARY — The Gary Parks Department will offer 12 paid internship positions this summer for teens. The Common Council at its Tuesday night meeting approved 9-0 an ordinance amending the salary budgets for the Youth Services Bureau, which included a new bureau director and nine …

Church project irks Merrillville officials

MERRILLVILLE — Town Council and Plan Commission members Tuesday chastised both the contractor planning to build the new Harvest Baptist Church 7520 Madison St. and its pastor over a number of issues, including the fact that work was begun with no building permits.

Town officials …

LEAD Prep parents shop for new school

GARY — A tinge of sadness filled the warm gymnasium Tuesday as school officials from the LEAD Preparatory Charter School helped parents find new schools for their children. In January, Ball State University yanked LEAD Prep’s charter and the school’s last day is June 7. …

Charges filed in Hammond crash

Charges have been filed against a Hammond man in a Saturday afternoon crash that seriously injured another motorist. John Atchley, 55, of the 500 block of Kenwood Street, was charged in Lake Superior Court with failure to stop after an accident resulting in serious bodily …