Annual hike and dinner to support the Dunes

Save the Dunes Council will hold its annual fall hike and dinner Sept. 14.

The hike will begin at 9 a.m. from the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk site of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The dinner will be at noon at the Marquette Park Pavilion in Gary. Featured speaker will be Constantine Dillon, superintendent of the National Lakeshore. Save the Dunes staff will update participants about lobbying and advocacy initiatives and projects to restore and preserve the area's unique landscapes.

The Paul Douglas Award and the Save the Dunes Council Presidential Award also will be presented.

The dinner cost is $40 and will include a buffet, salad, entree, dessert and beverage.

For registration information, visit savedunes.org or call (219) 879-3937

VALPARAISO

VU provost leaving post at end of academic year

Roy Austensen, Valparaiso University's provost and vice president for academic affairs since 1992, will leave that position at the end of the current academic year. After a year's leave of absence, he will return full time to his role as professor of history in 2010.

A search committee will conduct a national search for Austensen's successor.

Austensen has been recognized with awards from the German Studies Association, the Conference Group for Central European History and the American Historical Society.

He is a former United Way of Porter County chairman of the board. He was honored by United Way last spring as one of its outstanding volunteers.

PORTAGE

Town space lease to help school pay debt

Portage Township School Board members approved a tentative agreement to seek as much as $2 million in advanced funding from the Indiana Bond Bank on Monday night. Finance Director Sharon Qualkenbush said funds will only be sought to cover the district's debt services fund, and with proper board approval, should be on hand by Sept. 10. The school corporation will need to repay the funds before the end of the year, but without property tax draws, Qualkenbush said the school corporation will likely need an extension.

To help raise revenue, the School Board also agreed to lease cell phone tower space at Fegely Middle School to Cricket Communications. Under the terms of the lease, which could last as long as 21 years, the cellular telephone service provider will pay the school corporation $400 a month in rent with a 3 percent annual increase.

PORTER COUNTY

600 North to be closed for culvert replacement

The Porter County Highway Department will close County Road 600 North in Portage and Union Township on Wednesday from the Lake County line to Ind. 130 for culvert replacement.