[Photo courtesy Hoosier Lottery]

Hoosier Lottery news release:

Retired Merrillville steelworker hits $77,500 on Cash 5

INDIANAPOLIS - Men, here's reason number 77,500 to listen to your wives.  It can pay off in a multitude of ways.  Just ask Edgar Relf of Merrillville. The lucky Lake County man has an extra $77,500 in the bank because he listened to his wife when she encouraged him to purchase a Cash 5 ticket that ended up being the game's first jackpot winner!  

To be fair, Relf's win wasn't all...

Northern Indiana Public Service Company has partnered with the American Lung Association and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to offer up to five-thousand-dollars in instant rebates to northern Indiana residents who change out or retrofit their older, high-emissions wood burning boilers, stoves and fireplaces with more efficient appliances. NIPSCO says residents of Lake, Porter, La Porte, Starke, Allen, Elkhart, and St. Joseph counties are eligible.

Here's the news release:

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News Release: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Fire Management staff will be conducting a prescribed fire in Hobart today (Wednesday Nov 28 2012).  The 178 acre Hobart Prairie Grove prescribed fire will be on the west side of Lake George, just east of Liverpool Rd and south of 49th Avenue, along the Lake County Parks' Oak Savannah Trail. The burn is intended to restore the ecosystem and reduce the number of invasive species of plants in the area.

Three Northwest Indiana school districts are among twenty-one statewide named to the College Board's Third Annual AP District Honor Roll for success in Advanced Placement (AP) testing. The Indiana Department of Education says more than 530 districts across the United States and Canada were honored for their success. Locally, that list includes Hanover Community School Corporation out of Cedar Lake, New Prairie United School Corporation, and North Newton School Corporation. Indiana has seen a...

Sometimes, when it looks like a highway project is finished, it really isn't. Work, for instance, looks to be wrapped up along I-65 in Jasper County, north and southbound, where bridge work was taking place over Knight Road, or County Road 500-North, about four miles south of State Road 10 near Roselawn.  Indiana Department of Transportation Spokesman Matt Deitchley says the reduced speed limit signs and restrictions need to remain in place until everything is complete. Deitchley says in this...

An announcement Tuesday that one well-known northwest Indiana grocery store is buying another. Officials say Strack and Van Til is acquiring seven WiseWay and PayLow stores – two WiseWays in Valparaiso, one in Hobart and one in Chesterton are expected to become Strack and Van Til stores, and the PayLows, two in Merrillville, one in Gary, will turn into Ultra Foods, reports say. The Times reports the deal is expected to close next month. Company officials said the PayLow store near 61^st and...

[Photo courtesy Valparaiso Police]

The Valparaiso Police Department is announcing the retirement of one of their K-9s at the end of this year. Britta, a female German Shepherd, has been partnered with Officer Jason Hamilton since 2007. Police say Britta was trained in narcotic detection and tracking and assisted in numerous arrests throughout her career as a member of the Valparaiso Police Department. Valparaiso Police say Britta will be spending her retirement days at home with Officer...

No one was injured but a rolled over semi on the entrance ramp to the Indiana Toll Road caused traffic to be backed up for hours on State Road 49. Indiana State police report at approximately 3:15 this afternoon. A semi pulling a tanker, driven by a 52 year old Gary man, was northbound on 49, when he made a left turn to enter the Toll Road entrance ramp too fast, causing the 70-thousand pounds of liquid truck wash to shift, which caused the semi and tanker to roll over. Authorities say the semi...

Monetary funds could prevent a undefeated Gary youth football program from competing in the Pop Warmer Super Bowl in Florida this weekend. Coach Scott Kaletha says the kids and coaches are raising money, and at last check had raised around 12-thousand dollars, and are over half way to their goal. He says this is a chance of a lifetime for the kids, which are mostly made up of low income boys, ages 11 to 14, from Gary and the surrounding area. To donate, call Coach Kaletha at (219) 898-1679 or...

An 18 year old homeless man has been charged after officers found a female rape victim and a man with stab wounds at a home in Michigan City Monday. Michigan City Police report Rah-Shan Cherry was picked up Monday afternoon as a person of interest on an unrelated warrant, and officially charged today with one-count of felony aggravated battery and one-count of felony rape. Authorities report they were called to the scene, on the 200^th block of Gladys Street, at 7:30 Monday morning, and both...