Today: a conversation with Jeff Strack, the chief executive of Indiana Grocery Group, the company that now owns and operates 20 of northwest Indiana's most popular supermarkets. The group purchased some of the Strack & VanTil stores, along with a few Town & Country and Ultra stores, from Central Grocers in U.S. bankruptcy court. Jeff talks about the process of creating a brand-new company -- setting up the wholesale agreements to replace Central Grocers -- and planning for the future.
We also bring you a conversation with State Representative Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) who, as Indiana House Minority Leader, will have a front-row seat to this weekend's Indiana Democratic Party event in French Lick. Scott also talks about the upcoming election cycle, particularly the U.S. Senate race, and what might come up in the next General Assembly session.
Margaret Semmer, the vice chancellor for academic affairs at Ivy Tech Community College, joins us to continue our conversation about the new Arts & Sciences Building on the Indiana University Northwest campus in Gary. Ivy Tech will share space, both academic offices and classrooms, with I.U. Northwest. Semmer calls this opportunity for using a state-of-the-art facility "a gamechanger" for IVTC.
And we bring you a conversation with author Douglas Cowie, who's closely studied Nelson Algren -- a fellow writer (of books like "Man with the Golden Arm," which led to the classic film) and wrote in both Chicago and in a house in Miller Beach, Indiana. Cowie will speak Friday evening at the Nelson Algren Museum on South Lake St. in downtown Miller. He offers an interesting insight into Mr. Algren and his written works.
