N as in Noel

A winning bingo card is checked during a game at Miller Merry Manor in Portage.

N as in Noel

Ron Donahue, a Prompt Ambulance executive account director, leads bingo Tuesday dressed as Santa Claus at Miller Merry Manor in Portage.

N as in Noel

Seniors Charlotte Fike, left, and Kathy Tatlock, wearing Santa hats, play bingo during a special game Tuesday featuring Ron Donahue of Prompt Ambulance dressed as Santa Claus.

N as in Noel

Residents of Miller Merry Manor in Portage check their bingo cards as Santa aka Ron Donahue, executive account director at Prompt Ambulance, announces letters and numbers Tuesday.

US 30 Postal Express

Christine Coughlin stands by some of the items she helps to sell through the eBay consignment part of her business at U.S. 30 Postal Express in Valparaiso.

US 30 Postal Express

Christine Coughlin stands by some of the items she helps to sell through the eBay consignment part of her business at US 30 Postal Express in Valparaiso.

Old-style Sacher torte

During the summers spent in an enclave of old cottages on Lake Michigan in the Grand Mere area off the highway near Stevensville, summer treats meant going to Bit of Swiss Bakery, then owned by Hans Kottman and his wife Mary. Kottman, who hailed from Austria, had first been a baker back in t…

Twinkie Kerfuffle: Simplify your life and make them yourself

I started writing this column when I heard Hostess had closed and there would no longer be Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and no Sno Balls in our lives and that people were beginning to sell them on eBay and Amazon at astronomical prices. For example, an eBay ad touts “the original 8K Twinkie …

AT HOME: I Had a Dream – And I Got Over It

Attention those who can’t let go. The problem is not your stuff. It’s your stories.

OFFBEAT: Singer Davy Jones remembered as a favorite face of generations

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

Gary postal worker charged in coupon scam

CROWN POINT | Prosecutors charged a Gary postal worker Tuesday with theft and official misconduct in the auctioning of stolen coupons on eBay.

Online sales tax could go national

SPRINGFIELD | Illinois' online sales tax law soon may go national.

Saving hospital funds might be best medicine

Porter County officials are trying to figure out how best to spend $11 million. We should all have such a problem.

Luv Spud

Lisa Jenns of Hebron discovered a heart-shaped potato among her Idaho Russets bin and has listed it on eBay for sale just in time for Valentine's Day 2011.