Calumet Township payroll has resembled a small village

GARY | Calumet Township taxpayers have provided their trustee with many helping hands during the most recent decade.

Firefighters, farmers train for grain bin rescues

EAGLE CREEK TOWNSHIP | Stepping out from inside a 50,000-bushel grain bin Saturday, Justin Albright said he can understand the need for tools and training to rescue farmers who become trapped in the metal behemoths.

Renewed fire territory push stalling

LOWELL | Residents all fired up about establishing a fire territory in and around this south Lake County community last year will need to wait another year.

Prospective wind farm developer pulls plug

EAGLE CREEK TOWNSHIP | The developer of a wind farm project in an agricultural area east of Lowell is pulling out.

Hoosier hay on the way to drought-ravaged Texas farms

EAGLE CREEK TOWNSHIP | A semitrailer load of hay from the Hayden farm east of Lowell is on its way to hungry Texas livestock.

Working together to become more efficient

Lake County's 11 townships are working together to reform and streamline their operations in the face of continued pressure from Gov. Mitch Daniels and some legislators to abolish townships in Indiana.

Michigan firm hopes to reap Lake's whirlwinds

A Michigan firm has plans to rent 10,000 acres in rural Eagle Creek Township near Lowell to pull money out of thin air. "I've looked around Michigan, Illinois and Ohio," Andy Paterson, president of Michigan Energy Generation, said recently. "And Northwest Indiana is one of the windier areas…

Farmers dealt a blow by Mother Nature

Casting an eye across the landscape littered with the remains of what had been a thriving grain operation, Dan Coffman swallowed hard as he recalls the June 4 storm that wreaked such havoc.

Potential deal brings fresh hope for local wind farm

Until last fall, Eagle Creek Township farmer John Bryant and others had expected a wind farm launch with Windlab, a Michigan-based firm with international ties.

Eagle Creek folks in wind farm talks

The winds of change may be coming to Northwest Indiana. Farm owners in Eagle Creek Township in southernmost Lake County soon could be signing contracts aimed at delivering a $5 billion, 100-megawatt wind farm to the landscape.

Potential deal brings fresh hope for local wind farm

Until last fall, Eagle Creek Township farmer John Bryant and others had expected a wind farm launch with Windlab, a Michigan-based firm with international ties.

Surging land prices have local analysts, farmers worried bubble could burst

Hoosier homeowners still are feeling the sting of the recession as property values are sticking in the doldrums after hitting peaks in recent years.

Fire territory plan sparks hot debate

WEST CREEK TOWNSHIP | Impassioned speeches on both sides drew applause Monday as folks in this largely rural area alternately questioned and supported the a fire territory plan that would nearly triple the taxes they pay for ambulance and fire services.

Opposition mounts to fire district

LOWELL | A petition opposing a proposed fire protection territory is being circulated throughout the rural Lowell area as well as Schneider and unincorporated Shelby.