OFFBEAT: Reader wants answer about Dillinger's jail break 'gun'

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

Better with Age: Antiques offer an investment in memories and craftmanship

Aria Manalan of Old Town Square Antique Mall in Crown Point has become "her own expert," she says while "witnessing antiquing trends."

OFFBEAT: Paramount Theatre giving Broadway in Chicago rivalry with 'A Chorus Line'

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

OFFBEAT: Region actors featured in Matt Damon's new film 'Contagion' opening today

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

Amy Scamerhorn on the Red Carpet at "Public Enemies" Chicago Premiere July 2009

Amy Scamerhorn of Indianapolis joined Times Columnist Philip Potempa on the red carpet at the Chicago film premiere of "Public Enemies" in July 2009.

Volunteers needed to help with St. Pat's Day events

The Crown Point Mayor's Office of Special Events is looking for volunteers to help with this year's St. Patrick's Day Celebration on March 17.

Jennifer Beals fired up for police drama

Chicago's top cop is a woman in "The Chicago Code," the new Fox crime drama premiering at 8 p.m. Feb. 7.

Crime spree map

View an interactive map showing bank robberies Dillinger participated in.

OFFBEAT: Readers honored in cookbook and at Star Plaza Cooking Show Book Launch Party

With each day of our countdown to next week's big Star Plaza Theatre Cooking Show and Book Launch Party, I get more and more excited about the event.

OFFBEAT: Readers honored in cookbook and at Star Plaza Cooking Show Book Launch Party

PRIZE PATROL - - This large limited edition Lee Middleton Doll, one of just 2,000 made in 2000, pays homage to storybook favorite Little Red Riding Hood and comes complete with her tiny basket featuring a tiny "Big Bad Wolf" pup. It's just one of the many terrific prizes being given away at …

OFFBEAT: John Dillinger still inspiring headlines, from new play to family squabbles

PRIZE PATROL - - It's DAY 12 of the countdown to the big May 7 Cooking Show and Book Launch Party at Star Plaza Theatre. For anyone who didn't make it to any of the big first screenings of Universal Pictures' "Public Enemies" and failed to get a proper memento from all the excitement, here's…

OFFBEAT: John Dillinger still inspiring headlines, from new play to family squabbles

First he inspired the 2004 book by Bryan Burrough aptly titled "Public Enemies."

OFFBEAT: You never know who you'll meet, or what you might learn, while in prison

The opening scene of Universal Pictures' film "Public Enemies" has Johnny Depp as John Dillinger in black and white prison stripes breaking out of the Michigan City Prison in 1933.

OFFBEAT: You never know who you'll meet, or what you might learn, while in prison

GAME ON - - Actor Sean Astin is shown wearing a vintage letterman's jacket from Notre Dame University on the set of the popular 1993 movie "Rudy," directed by Indiana claim-to-fame director David Anspaugh. (File Image Courtesy of Columbia Tri-Star Pictures)

OFFBEAT: Long-awaited 'Public Enemies' finally here on DVD

FILM FIRSTS -- Actor Jonathan Macchi of Chicago, who plays the bank teller that John Dillinger robs in a scene in the Universal Pictures film "Public Enemies," is shown with his mother Kathy Cates on the red carpet at the movie's Chicago premiere in June 2009. (Times Archive Photo)

OFFBEAT: Long-awaited 'Public Enemies' finally here on DVD

Universal Pictures summer blockbuster "Public Enemies" starring Johnny Depp, who plays John Dillinger, put our region in the Hollywood spotlight over the summer when it arrived in movie theaters in July.

Who has the real fake Dillinger gun?

The fake gun John Dillinger wielded, or didn't, to escape the Lake County Jail in Crown Point in 1934 is again firing debate.

Dillinger family coming back to Northwest Indiana

As promised earlier this month, I have an update for readers interested in the book, "Banking with Dillinger" (March 2009 Carol's Adventures Publishing $17.95), I wrote about earlier this month. I know it's been a tough book for readers to find. I bought my copy of crime writer Carol Sissom'…

Dillinger family coming back to Northwest Indiana

OFFBEAT: 'Public Enemies' film has received fair share of criticism

There was a time when newspaper columnists were not only extremely powerful, but also less then ethical when it came to financial connections, especially to the film industry.