Celebrate vibrant, visionary Valparaiso

V-Line bus driver Dorian Quinn departs from a transfer at the Heart Center parking lot at Glendale Boulevard and Roosevelt Road in Valparaiso last May.

Celebrate vibrant, visionary Valparaiso

In Valparaiso, we have so much to celebrate in the way we work and play and live each day.

IREAD tests students' skills

Third-grader R.J. Smith reads with classmates Tuesday at Boone Grove Elementary School. All of the school's students passed the IREAD test. Statewide, 84 percent of students passed.

IREAD tests students' skills

Third-graders at Boone Grove Elementary School read together Tuesday during class. Nearly 94 percent of third-graders in Porter Township School Corp., which includes Boone Grove Elementary, passed the state's new IREAD test.

IREAD tests students' skills

Boone Grove Elementary School third-grade teacher Madeline Taylor asks student Alyssa Bailey a question about her book during reading time Tuesday at the school.

IREAD tests students' skills

Boone Grove Elementary School third-grader Madeleine Cannon reads with classmates Tuesday. All of Boone Grove Elementary School's 35 students passed the statewide IREAD test.

IREAD tests students' skills

Boone Grove Elementary School third-grader Corbin Gurley picks a book to read during class Tuesday.

IREAD tests students' skills

Third-grader R.J. Smith reads with classmates Tuesday Boone Grove Elementary School. Smith was among the 35 students at Boone Grove who passed the IREAD test, which the state administered for the first time in March.

IREAD tests students' skills

Third-grader Madeleine Cannon reads over a lesson during class Tuesday at Boone Grove Elementary School. Boone Grove Elementary School and Northview Elementary School in Valparaiso were the only two Porter County schools to pass all of their students on the IREAD test.

Bus ridership in Valpo continues to be strong

Sandy Dommer, of Valparaiso, boards a Yellow Route V-Line bus Tuesday at the Heart Center in Valparaiso. Dommer said she rides at least a few times per week since she does not own a car. Ridership for the city's two bus services remained strong through March and April but didn't break any records.

Bus ridership in Valpo continues to be strong

A V-Line rider boards the Yellow Route bus Tuesday on Calumet Avenue in Valparaiso. The V-Line intracity bus service carried 8,609 people in March and 8,326 in April after topping 9,000 earlier this year.

Bus ridership in Valpo continues to be strong

Rates to the city of Valparaiso's V-Line service are displayed inside the bus.

Bus ridership in Valpo continues to be strong

V-Line bus driver Dorian Quinn departs from the Heart Center on Tuesday in Valparaiso. The V-Line intracity bus service carried 8,609 people in March and 8,326 in April after topping 9,000 earlier this year.

Bus ridership in Valpo continues to be strong

A V-Line Yellow Route bus travels south on Calumet Avenue on Tuesday in Valparaiso during its normal route through the city.

Downtown park a symbol of Valpo's success

VALPARAISO | The redevelopment of the city's downtown and its key commercial corridors continued to progress during 2011, and it looks like that progress will not stop or even slow down this year.