A settlement between a Northwest Indiana utility and the US Environmental Protection Agency will likely result in cleaner air here and throughout the region. It could also bring renewed attention to Chicago’s two aging plants as one mayoral candidate has publicly expressed his wish that they clean up or shut down. more ›

A trio of highway shootings have occurred across Northwest Indiana over the last week, two within minutes of each other. While authorities are still exploring whether or not these three incidents are connected, they're insisting they aren't connected to a series of highway shootings that occurred near the same area in 2006. more ›

The State Line Power Station sits on a spit of land jutting into Lake Michigan that is officially the northernmost territory of Indiana. But considering that you cannot get to the coal plant from the Hoosier State unless you drive through Chicago, it is just a technicality. But it’s a big technicality, as it has kept Illinois regulators from addressing one of the worst emitters of soot in the entire country as it spews pollution over the South Side while Indiana seems disinterested in addressing the situation. That might be changing as a coalition of environmental groups have filed suit to push enforcement of a rash of air pollution violations levied against the aging coal plant. more ›

As the EPA response to the mess from an oil spill that dumped as much as a million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River shifts from crisis to clean up mode, concerns remain here and in Michigan. The threat to Lake Michigan seems to have been contained, but some are registering surprise to the delivery of toxic materials from the cleanup in Chicagoland, while one prominent politician complains that a larger threat to the Great Lakes remains: more ›

While the nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico drags on thousands of miles away, impacts and repercussions from the goopy mess have reached all the way into Chicagoland, making interesting theater of the reactions from a wide array of local figures tangentially touched by BP. more ›

if you're planning on doing any traveling to or from Northwest Indiana at least tonight, you may want to double check your travel plans. The Indiana Department of Transportation closed a four-mile stretch of Cline Avenue between Calumet Avenue in Hammond and Michigan Avenue in East Chicago due to corrosion. The bridge will be reopened after it passes further inspection. more ›

Northwest Indiana's native son, Michael Bessigano, is back in prison after a federal judge ruled that he be sent to a Boston-area federal mental health institution for male repeat sex offenders. Bessigano, who has been incarcerated twice before, will spend nearly three years in prison for downloading images of people having sex with animals, and three years of supervised release. more ›

Apparently, Northwest Indiana has a thing for replicas of the Statue of Liberty. Community activist Jim Nowacki is leading the charge in Gary to raise funds to repair an eight-foot-tall copper replica of Lady Liberty that was damaged during a storm last year. The statue - one of 200 that were distributed at different sites around the country in the 1950s courtesy of the Boy Scouts - used to stand at the entrance to U.S. Steel and repairs will cost between $8,000 and $10,000. Lest we forget, Hammond has its own Statue of Liberty replica, but nowhere to put it after a structural engineer told the city the foam replica was not structurally sound enough to survive the windy Wolf Lake location. [WBBM/AP] more ›

Now that Early Voting Season has come to a close in Illinois, they've counted up the ballots, and a metric shitload of people turned out to make their mark. (Just the ballots have been counted - the actual votes won't be counted 'til election day.) ABC-7 reports that nearly half a million in Indiana, another half-million voters in Cook County, and about 285,000 in the collar counties all voted early, resulting in lines that had wait times of two hours in some cases. And we thought our ten minute wait was surprising a few weeks ago. more ›

A truck hauling chocolate overturned on the northbound Skyway this morning, spilling diesel fuel but none of its precious cargo. The semi, carrying 4,000 gallons of liquid chocolate, crashed near 71st Street. Three people suffered minor injuries, and we're left to fantasize about the nastiest, biggest fondue party that could have been. We're still trying to figure out why chocolate would be transported in its liquid state and where exactly it was headed. more ›

If you’ve played along Chicago’s lakefront this summer, then you may have noticed the 124 sculpted, painted globes designed by artists with the intent to inspire and empower the public to take action against global warming. Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet dots the lakefront north of the Field Museum and at Navy Pier. “Cool Globes presents a vast array of solutions with a clear message: We can solve the problem,” the exhibit’s... more ›

Wade Miller is in, and Mark Prior is on his way to Iowa. Spike Lee is spending time with about 300 CPS students. Someone broke into the Deatrick family's Bolingbrook home and stole a computer, jewelry and a pug named Pixie, but all they really care about is getting their dog back, especially for their kid. Thanks to the Bolingbrook Crime Stoppers, family and friends of the victims, and B96 radio hosts Eddie and... more ›

Unfortunately this isn't one of those fun stories where we anthropomorphize the animals and let them make a statement. Actually, it's more about people acting like animals: abandoning their young, fear-biting, forcible sodomy, and pouring boiling water on your enemies. OK, those last two are things that only humans do, which leaves us to wonder who the animals really are. more ›

We know that it's not easy to find a job, depending on the availability, your skill set and your hygeine, but what if you just lost one? What becomes of those broken-hearted? more ›

Last year, Chicagoist was taking a leisurely stroll through Northern Virginia, when we were accosted by every dieter’s worst nightmare: the dreaded Girl Scout. We soon found ourselves shelling out a good chunk of change for a few boxes of glorious Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs.
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In an effort to provide funding for new programs designed to better serve its youth, the Girl Scouts of the USA will be reorganizing several regional councils, including some in the Chicago area. more ›

A Northwest Indiana woman says she was shot at this morning while driving on I-80/94 at Cline Ave. The Dyer, Ind., woman and a passenger were not injured in the attack. This is the second incident in Northwest Indiana in the past week. On Tuesday, a man reported seeing a man in a trench coat fire at his pickup truck on 169th St. near Cline Ave. more ›

If you rely on the Dan Ryan Expressway to get anywhere on a regular basis, we feel really sorry for you. Starting on April 1, the Illinois Department of Transportation will begin a major renovation of the roadway that is scheduled to last for nearly two years. The construction will modernize the Dan Ryan, which now handles twice as much traffic as it was originally built to handle, but in the meantime it will take... more ›