Monthly Archives: December 2009

Indiana State AFL-CIO Names First Woman President

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The Indiana State AFL-CIO announced that Nancy Guyott has been elected its new president and Joe Breedlove has been re-elected as its secretary-treasurer.

Guyott makes history by becoming the first women and, at age 41, the youngest person in nearly fifty years to lead the labor organization. She was unanimously elected at the AFL-CIO’s state convention to replace retiring president Ken Zeller. Guyott is now one of only the six women in the nation to head a state AFL-CIO.

The Indiana State AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) is a federation of 800 local unions across the state belonging to 50 International Unions. In total, the Indiana State AFL-CIO represents more than 300,000 working Hoosiers.
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Notes: Indiana Revenue Forecast Comes Up $1.8 Billion Short

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With lower tax revenues forecast to create a $1.8 billion budget deficit over the next two years, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says the state will drain the reserve fund to zero, but will still need at least $300 million in education cuts to balance the budget.

The Environmental Protection Agency will use $13 million in Great Lakes restoration funds on engineering projects in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to stop Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes.

The Michigan City Redevelopment Commission approved a $150,000 grant to create a downtown “artist’s colony.”

Ironworkers Local 395 celebrated the opening of their new union hall Tuesday.

By damming a culvert to create a water supply, firefighters in Wheatfield managed to extinguish a pesky muck fire than had been burning since June.

A museum, a hospital and a casino were all suggested as possible new uses for the College Football Hall of Fame building in South Bend. The Hall is relocating to Atlanta next year.

Physician-Owned Hospitals Form Indiana Physician Hospital Association, Inc.

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Physician-owned hospitals across Indiana have joined together to form the Indiana Physician Hospital Association, Inc. (IN PHA), to improve access to healthcare and advocate for greater control of superior patient care by physicians and their patients.

The new state association formed as a result of ongoing efforts in Congress to pass healthcare reform that would threaten the existence of physician-owned hospitals across the nation. The healthcare reform bill contains language that bans new physician-owned hospitals and does not allow existing facilities to expand to meet increasing demands for service. Fifteen communities across Indiana are served by physician-owned hospitals, which employ more than 4,000 nurses and staff, and 2,610 physicians.

IN PHA will act as a statewide advocate on behalf of physician-owned hospitals in Indiana, similar to the mission performed at the national level by Physician Hospitals Association of America (PHA).
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Survey: Hoosiers Favor Property Tax Cap

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There is strong sentiment among Hoosiers that the Indiana General Assembly should pass a much-discussed constitutional amendment to cap property taxes, says a new public opinion survey from Ball State University.

The Hoosier Survey produced by Ball State’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs found that about 64 percent of Indiana residents favored the constitutional amendment, which has been championed by Gov. Mitch Daniels for several years.

The constitutional amendment was embraced by voters in every region of the state with the strongest support in the extreme northern and southern counties. About 14 percent of respondents were undecided on the issue.
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Notes: Gary Airport Expansion Prep Continues

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The Gary Airport continues to move forward with expansion plans.

The Starke County Development Foundation has updated its Web site and added “economic” to its name.

A new report questions the profitability of the proposed “garbage to ethanol” plant in Schneider.

South Bend school board officials are looking for ways to avoid raising taxes after identifying $24 million in improvements that need to be made to local high schools.

‘Steel Giants’ Authors to Host Book Signing at IU Northwest

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Indiana University Northwest faculty members and authors Gary Wilk, Ph.D., and Stephen McShane will sign copies of their new book, “Steel Giants: Historic Images from the Calumet Regional Archives,” at an event to be held in the Savannah Center on Thursday, Dec. 17, starting at 4 p.m.

The program will begin with a PowerPoint presentation about the history of Inland Steel and U.S. Steel Gary Works, and the Indiana Harbor and Gary communities that were built to support them. The book signing will begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. Copies of “Steel Giants” will be available for purchase at the Barnes and Noble Campus Bookstore. The event will conclude at 6:30 p.m.

“Steel Giants” is filled with photographs, some more than 100 years old, depicting the construction and operation of U.S. Steel’s Gary Works and the Inland Steel plant in East Chicago. McShane contributed the text, which details the mighty effort to transform a swath of Lake Michigan shoreline into the mill district and adjacent communities that would help to build 20th-century America.

The book contains 278 black-and-white and 32 color photographs, along with a foreword by “Making Steel” author Mark Reutter. “Steel Giants” also contains a reproduction of a 1911 sales booklet that Inland Steel used to tout its product.

Notes: St. Joe’s on the Move Today

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St. Joseph’s Medical Center is moving from its old South Bend facility to its new hospital in Mishawaka today.

Porter County Commissioners will consider stripping Valparaiso, Hebron and the Tri-Towns of representation on the Porter County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission at a meeting tomorrow night.

New forecasts for Indiana’s tax revenues are due out tomorrow.

Notes: Notre Dame Lands Kelly as New Head Coach

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Notre Dame has hired now-former University of Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly to lead the Fighting Irish. Kelly, who led the UC Bearcats to a 12-0 season and a Big East Conference championship this year, will be introduced at a press conference in South Bend today.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has ordered NIPSCO and other Indiana utilities to establish demand-side management programs to help consumers save energy.

Northwest Indiana is is set to receive $6 million in federal funds for transportation, law enforcement and education projects.

Gary, Portage, St. John and Valparaiso will get extra road work paid by federal stimulus funds thanks to low bids by contractors on state highway projects.

Wingtip Aviation Hosts Open House

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Wingtip Aviation, a local aircraft charter service, will host an open house December 15 at Buddy & Pals in Crown Point. The company is inviting small and mid-sized business to stop by and discover how air charter services can build their businesses without busting their budgets.

For more information, visit www.wingtipaviation.com. For complete details on the open house, and to RSVP, contact Tom Richerme at tom@wingtipaviation.com.

Nature’s Cupboard to Open Chesterton Store in December

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Michigan City-based Nature’s Cupboard will open a new location at 757 Indian Boundary Road in Chesterton by Christmas.

“Right now, you have to go to Valparaiso or Michigan City to get the kinds of things we are selling,” Nature’s Cupboard Co-owner Mylese Tucker said. “But with our new store, you’ll be able to get it right in town.”

Tucker runs Nature’s Cupboard with her mother, LaVora, who founded the business nearly 30 years ago at 1806 U.S. 20. It offers everything from natural health and beauty products and vitamin and herbal supplements to therapeutic-grade essential oils and nutritional counseling.

The Chesterton location will be smaller and focus on nutritional supplements, as well as locally raised meat and raw dairy. Another goal, Tucker said, is to add the Organic Produce Coop, which has been successful at the Michigan City store. The coop offers organic produce at wholesale prices.

Nature’s Cupboard took over the new location in November, having been interested in acquiring the space for about five years. Mylese’s husband, Bruce, and a friend have gutted the space, redone the floors and are installing new shelving.