Starting Monday, the LaPorte County Sheriff's Office reports they will no longer be accepting paper handgun permits and will no longer fingerprint applicants due to recent changes implemented by the Indiana State Police. The Sheriff's Office reports those interested in obtaining an application must do so online, via the State Police's website, http://www.in.gov/isp/2828.htm, where they can also schedule an appointment for fingerprinting, http://www.in.gov/isp/2674.htm, at a location of their choice. Authorities say once those two-steps are complete, applicants must report to the agency that has primary law enforcement jurisdiction of their place of residence for a background check. Anyone living in LaPorte County who cannot access the internet is encouraged to contact the Sheriff's Office to schedule an appointment for a handgun permit.
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A roundtable discussion was held today in Gary regarding President Obama's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage. Acting Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Department of the Department of Labor, Mary Beth Maxwell, says they have been traveling the country and hearing stories from hard-working-people and finding folks cannot make ends-meet on $7.25 an hour. She says people are having to choose between medicine or food, and struggling to even get to their minimum wage job due to high transportation costs.
Maxwell says despite the argument that this would have a negative effect on job growth, which it doesn't, raising the minimum wage strengthens the economy because people spend the money, which is good for local businesses.
Maxwell says this is just the beginning of this process, which is meant to build majority support by lifting up the stories of people affected by it, which she says most Americans believe should happen.
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Overnight tonight, a Hammond/Highland flood prep drill ... in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers... to make sure Region responders, including public works and safety officials, are ready to act quickly in the event of a major flood. Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission Executive Director Dan Repay says closures beginning at 10:30 tonight (Wednesday March 20) will include all lanes of Kennedy Avenue at the river, north and southbound, along with the ramps from the Borman Expressway to southbound Kennedy Avenue. Repay says they anticipate the closures should last no longer than 3am Thursday (March 21). Repay says participants will use concrete blocks and sandbags to basically construct a 'wall' in just a couple hours on Kennedy Avenue as if floodwaters were rising. The exercise follows the devastating floods that hit Lake County in September 2008.
Hear our interview with Dan Repay here online at On Demand.
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Sentencing this morning in Hammond Federal Court for Jack Schaap, the former leader of First Baptist Church of Hammond. The ex-pastor of the megachurch who pled guilty last year to interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Our Karl Berner reports US District Court Judge Rudy Lozano sentenced Schaap to 12 years in federal prison, with five years of supervised release to follow. He must serve a minimum of 85 percent of the total sentence. The Schaap family left after the sentencing with no comment. The courtroom was filled to capacity, with another 30 to 40 people standing outside the doors.
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The Indiana National Guard has announced hundreds of soldiers will not deploy as scheduled a few months from now in support of Operation Enduring Freedom because of sequester cuts and federal budget issues. The units slated for these missions include 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry, 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry, and Company D, 113th Combat Support Battalion. The units were set to deploy in June 2013.
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[Photo provided]
Police are investigating an armed robbery at a Speedway gas station in the five-thousand block of Central Avenue around 3-o'clock this morning. Portage Police say a man pointing a gun ordered the attendant to put money in a bag, then was told to lie on the floor behind the counter. The suspect is described as a white male between 5-foot 10-inches and 6-foot tall, wearing all black or dark clothing including a hoodie-style sweatshirt, and a black bandanna covering his face. Anyone with information is asked to call Portage Police.
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Butler University will join the Big East conference this July. The Bulldogs’ football team will remain in the Pioneer League, while other sports will begin their Big East competition in the fall. Butler just joined the Atlantic 10 last year, after leaving the Horizon League.  As a Big East member, Butler will join Creighton], DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence College, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Villanova, and Xavier University.
“Joining the Big East is an unprecedented opportunity for Butler and represents an ideal fit for us—academically, athletically, and geographically,” said President Danko.
Joining the Big East will further enhance Butler’s national visibility, which soared following the men’s basketball team’s back-to-back Final Four runs in 2010 and 2011. “Butler’s increased national prominence will create new opportunities not only for student-athletes,” stated Butler President James Danko, “but for our entire student body and for our alumni, while increasing the value of a Butler degree.”
The conference change comes a year after Butler’s move from the Horizon League to Atlantic 10 Conference. “The A-10, like the Horizon League, is an outstanding conference, and we were honored to be a member,” Danko added. “After in-depth deliberations and analyses, we determined that joining the Big East was the right thing to do for our students and our institution, regardless of the timing of past conference transitions.”
From 1946 to 1950, Butler was in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulldogs played in the Indiana Collegiate Conference from 1950 to 1978 and were independent in 1978–1979. In 1979, Butler became a charter member of the Midwestern City Conference (later renamed Midwestern Collegiate Conference and then Horizon League). Butler joined the Atlantic 10 in 2012.
The Bulldogs have made appearances in NCAA National Championship Tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s cross country, lacrosse, and baseball, and over the past decade, Butler teams have captured 29 conference championships.
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Gary Police say a 17-year-old suspect is in custody in connection with a double homicide. The Lake County Coroners office says 18-year-old Charles Wood of Gary died at a local hospital Monday afternoon after suffering a gunshot wound in the 25-hundred block of 13^th Avenue in Gary Sunday. On Sunday, police say the body of 19-year-old Shaqwone Ham of Gary, whose body was found in shrubs nearby. Gary Police also say the report of a 15-year-old boy being approached by four people and robbed in the street minutes earlier within about a half-mile of the shooting remains under investigations.
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Sentencing is scheduled in Hammond Federal Court this morning for Jack Schaap, the former leader of First Baptist Church of Hammond.  Officials say the 55-year-old ex-pastor of the megachurch is facing ten years in prison after pleading guilty last year to interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Sentencing was set for 10 am in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano.
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According to the White House Blog, President Barack Obama is taking the Hoosiers to go the distance for March Madness. The President's 2013 NCAA mens basketball tourney bracket shows Ohio State, Louisville and Florida making up the rest of the Final Four. The President, who shared his picks with ESPN, predicts Michigan State will eliminate VU this Thursday, and he's got Butler winning just their first game.
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