IT'S THURSDAY, JANUARY 27TH, 20-22.
Today, the Chicago Bears have hired their new coach, Lake County will be under a winter weather watch tonight…
I'M TOM MALONEY AND THIS IS YOUR LAKESHORE MIDDAY NEWS UPDATE...
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LAKE COUNTY IS UNDER A WINTER WEATHER WATCH BEGINNING TONIGHT, THROUGH TOMORROW AFTERNOON WITH 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE OVERNIGHT.
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For a second straight week, every Indiana county is coded red on the state's COVID-19 map. That's the highest level, indicating a very high community spread.
The state's seven-day positivity rate is almost 31-percent, but much of Northwest Indiana is below the state average: Lake County at 22 percent and Porter County at 23 percent. The number of COVID hospitalizations in Northwest Indiana has dropped below 300 for the first time since November.
More than 15-hundred Lake County residents have died of COVID since the pandemic began, along with 484 Porter County residents. Nearby Pulaski County has had the highest number of deaths per capita.
More than 60 percent of eligible Porter County residents are now fully vaccinated, compared to almost 55 percent in Lake County.
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NIPSCO, northwest Indiana's electric and natural gas utility, is looking for a new home in THE REGION, which is in line with efforts to give its employees a better working environment.
The company's current headquarters are on East 86th Street, along I-65, in Merrillville. NIPSCO's director of communications Wendy Lussier [[loo-SEE-air]] told the Times' that they are currently in the very early explorative phases of the search. Any changes would likely begin in 20-24.
The utility told employees in a recent email that the new headquarters would align with its new hybrid workplace model in which some employees work remotely from home.
Both NIPSCO and its parent company NiSource have several hundred employees in the Merrillville headquarters, which reportedly used to be a Prudential Insurance building and was extensively renovated for its present use. NIPSCO currently has about 820-thousand natural gas and 420-thousand electric customers in northern Indiana.
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The head of the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police is calling for a Merrillville Town Council member to apologize, after a discussion on license plate readers apparently led to disparaging remarks about police. Council member Donald Spann said, "We hate cops," during the January 11 council meeting.
When the council met again Tuesday, state F-O-P president Bill Owensby called Spann's comment a slap in the face to the state's 13,000 police officers. "There still should be an apology. He still should be on record as to what his feelings are about the law enforcement officers that he as an elected official protects and sees over in this community. That's what I expect. That's what these men and women expect," Owensby told council members.
But Spann declined to comment.
"Mr. Spann, did you want to address the group at all?" asked Council President Rick Bella.
"Nope!" Spann replied.
Many of those in attendance Tuesday acknowledged that Spann's apparent joke was in poor taste. But some felt the response was different, compared to when photos surfaced of a council member wearing blackface.
Merrillville resident Darian Collins is the political action chair for the Gary NAACP.
"You have come here like a lynch mob against this man, and this is terrible. What he said, he did not mean, and what he said was from a cultural standpoint that none of you understand. None of you understand it," Collins told FOP members.
In other business, council members rescinded their appointment to the Merrillville Police Commission and instead appointed Republican Michael Rich, to maintain the commission's political balance.
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Prosecutors say an Illinois man was surfing a pornographic website moments before his tractor-trailer collided with a tar tanker near Lowell, in 20-20, killing the road construction worker who was driving. Sixty-nine-year-old Clark R. Johnson, of Illinois, was charged Monday with reckless homicide, two counts of criminal recklessness and three counts of misdemeanor distracted driving. The Post-Tribune reports Johnson was ordered held on a $4,000 cash bond, The crash occurred at 8:40 a.m. on Aug. 25, 2020, on U.S. 41 in Lowell. Sixty-three-year-old Martin Knip of LaPorte and DeMotte, was killed. Johnson was treated for minor injuries at a hospital.
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IN SPORTS:
Matt Eberflus is the new coach of the Chicago Bears, tasked with turning around a franchise mired in mediocrity for much of the past decade. A person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed the move to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there had been no announcement by the Bears. Eberflus has spent the past four years as Indianapolis’ defensive coordinator, helping turn around a unit that ranked among the league’s worst. The Colts ranked eighth on defense in 20-20, though they slipped to 16th this season.
TONIGHT IN THE NBA:
THE BULLS AND PACERS BOTH HAVE THE NIGHT OFF. CHICAGO TRAVELS TO SAN ANTONIO TOMORROW NIGHT.
IN THE NHL:
THE BLACKHAWKS ARE OFF. THEY'LL HOST COLORADO TOMORROW NIGHT.
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LOOKING AT YOUR LAKESHORE WEATHER FORECAST...
TODAY: A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW BETWEEN NOON AND 4 P-M.
TONIGHT: WE'RE UNDER A WINTER STORM WATCH, BEGINNING AROUND 10 P-M. TWO TO FOUR INCHES OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW IS POSSIBLE IN LAKE COUNTY, WITH AREAS CLOSEST TO LAKE MICHIGAN GETTING HIT THE HARDEST. WE'LL HAVE AN OVERNIGHT LOW NEAR 10 DEGREES WITH WIND-CHILLS AT OR NEAR 0.
FRIDAY: A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW BEFORE 3 P-M, WITH A HIGH NEAR 20, WITH WIND-CHILLS AT OR NEAR 0.
FRIDAY NIGHT: PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH A LOW NEAR NEGATIVE 1.
SATURDAY: SUNNY SKIES WITH A HIGH NEAR 22.
SUNDAY: PARTLY SUNNY SKIES WITH A HIGH NEAR 26.
