Andy Bozak

After months of work on Porter County's ARPA spending plan, the county council has only agreed to approve part of it. Council members voted six-to-one Tuesday to approve the appropriations recommended by the infrastructure and county COVID response subcommittees totaling over $10 million. But they held off on approving the almost $9 million requested for behavioral health and nonprofits.

The Porter County Council is holding off on approving the county's ARPA spending plan. The county commissioners approved a plan for much of the county's $33 million share of federal American Rescue Plan money in early August, but it wasn't placed on last week's county council agenda.

Porter County is seeing a big increase in what it's spending on autopsies. Coroner Cyndi Dykes says the number of autopsies increased by 10 percent in the first six months of the year, followed by 23 autopsies in July and August.