Lake Station court closing helps clerks balance books

LAKE STATION | The City Court office is back to business as usual after a one-day closure to the public last Thursday, City Judge Chris Anderson said.

Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson fields questions

LAKE STATION | Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson answers questions during a city council special session Thursday, January 10, 2013.

Tempers flare during Lake Station City Council meeting to discuss City Court

LAKE STATION | Officials found little common ground during a special City Council meeting held Thursday to discuss revenue generated by the city courts.

Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson fields questions

Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson answers questions during frequently heated session with the City Council.

Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson fields questions

Lake Station City Council President Todd Lara poses questions to City Court Judge Chris Anderson on Thursday.

Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson fields questions

LAKE STATION | Lake Station City Court Judge Chris Anderson is questioned during a city council special session Thursday, January 10, 2013.

Lake Station city court, mayor still at odds

LAKE STATION | A recent night court turned into a two-day ordeal for a Griffith woman hoping to get her son out of jail.

Anderson Cooper and Mother Gloria Vanderbilt on the set of "Anderson" Daytime Talk Show

Anderson Cooper, whose popular syndicated daytime talk show 'Anderson' has been renewed for a second season, interviewed his mother Gloria Vanderbilt for an episode that aired in fall 2011.

OFFBEAT: Reader asks about Vanderbilt column and 'Anderson Cooper's Mom'

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

Childhood toy drives Crown Point man's miniature train village

A dinosaur and a helicopter dot the landscape in Tim Anderson's miniature holiday train village at his home in rural Crown Point.

Childhood toy drives Crown Point man's miniature train village

Tim Anderson puts on a show each year in his rural Crown Point home, incorporating friends and family into story lines that drive his miniature train village. The delivery driver, who began his retirement today, got started with a single engine he received as a child.

Childhood toy drives Crown Point man's miniature train village

The Olde School is one of the many stops along the elaborate toy train set Tim Anderson has built in a spare room of his rural Crown Point home.

Childhood toy drives Crown Point man's miniature train village

A terradactyl named after Tim Anderson's niece Lauren hovers over his elaborate miniature train display in a spare room of his rural Crown Point house. Over the years Anderson added to the fun of his holiday display by concocting stories that incorporate his family as places or characters. H…