Portage Mayor Austin Bonta

Visitors to downtown Portage may soon be able to take their drinks from one bar to another.

Plans for a new Portage subdivision continue moving ahead. Providence Real Estate Development has been looking to build a combination of single-family homes, cottage homes and paired villas on 120 acres north of County Road 700 North between 450 and 500 West.

"How many car washes are we going to have in Portage?" resident George Graves asked during Tuesday's city council meeting.

The Greater Portage Chamber of Commerce wants the city to reconsider the need for contractors to take a written test to work in Portage.

"There really wasn't places to take people that were in crisis, so ultimately, it was a lot of bad — a lot of bad choices for us, either an arrest or kind of just getting out of there," Portage Police Chief Michael Candiano told the city council Tuesday. "So we're hopeful that with this training and some of the avenues that this is going to open, that we can really start getting some people some more help."

Portage residents will soon see a sharp increase in their utility bills.

A gas leak in Portage led to the closure of I-94 for much of Tuesday afternoon.

Lakeshore Public Media host Dee Dotson sits down with Portage Mayor Austin Bonta.

Meet the Mayor with Portage Mayor Austin Bonta Minority blood drive in Gary, Indiana.