Jessica Jepsen

The removal of a Progress Pride flag from a Valparaiso High School classroom drew a number of impassioned comments during Thursday's school board meeting.

Last week's Valparaiso mayoral election will leave a vacancy on the Valparaiso Community School Board, and some community members already have ideas of who should fill it. Jon Costas will have to give up his school board seat when he returns to the mayor's office in January.

How much of a say the Porter County Board of Health should get in filling board vacancies was the topic of an ongoing debate during Monday's county commissioners meeting. State law currently requires county health boards to come up with a list of five candidates — but doesn't require the board of commissioners to choose from that list.

A pair of Porter County officials are out of their positions, following Tuesday's county commissioners meeting.

A vocal critic of mask mandates has been appointed to the Porter County Board of Health. The county commissioners Monday replaced three of the board's seven members.

Valparaiso Community Schools is making the final push for its operating referendum. Superintendent Dr. Jim McCall says the district has a tremendous amount of support heading into the May 3 ballot.

The City of Valparaiso will soon be asking the public for input on how to spend $7.6 million of federal COVID money. Mayor Matt Murphy told the city council Monday that he wants to use some of the American Rescue Plan funds to compensate city employees — like police, firefighters, and first responders — who provided essential services during the pandemic. The rest would be focused toward youth and seniors.