Geographic journeys still vivid

Long ago, in a galaxy of few, few TV channels, I grew up watching lots of standard-fare sitcoms. And more sitcoms.

Spring break a time of active helping for many VU students

VALPARAISO | Lauren Podowski, of Dyer, and D.J. Cole, of Portage, could have spent their spring break catching up on their sleep or their reading or their social lives.

Finding full measure in hard times

"Even for you, this was a strange column," a reader recently e-mailed, taking issue with me on some topic. "With you, I never know what to expect."

Taking another ISTEP

UNION TOWNSHIP | Wait a minute, didn't my kids just take the ISTEP?

Union Township/Wheeler: Clean water, natural surroundings a focus

UNION TOWNSHIP | "Union Township is a nice place to live, with a lot of good people around here," according to Ryan Samanas, assistant chief of the community's volunteer fire department.

Burns Harbor picking up speed

BURNS HARBOR | With the first new residential subdivisions in its 40-year history now open for occupancy, Burns Harbor is set to become the community its founders envisioned in 1967.

Chesterton moves ahead on their terms

CHESTERTON | This town's weekly European Market, opened in 2003, epitomizes the forward steps Chesterton has pursued over the past several years. Though taken on a relatively modest scale, the moves emphasize the right "feel" as much as the "progress."

Location key to Porter's success

PORTER | Thanks to its prime location, the town of Porter is on the verge of significant development, many observers say.

Education grows, but with wary eye on economy

Porter County schools enjoy consistently strong ISTEP+ scores and are known for their strengths in academic and extracurricular areas.

From history book to life

CHESTERTON | Eli Haugen knew a little bit about ragtime music before the project, but he hadn't heard of its best known practitioner, Scott Joplin.

Putting the fun in 'workshop'

VALPARAISO | Grown adults got paid Friday -- as part of their jobs -- to sit cross-legged on the floor in a circle and slap a bunch of fluffy balls.

Getting a taste for the legal life

VALPARAISO | As a first-time legal defense team -- and a very young one, at that -- Waltisha Wallace, Alexandria Hines and Elgis Streeter might have anticipated an unfavorable outcome in the case of their client charged with vandalizing cemetery headstones.

School board may relax public input rules

VALPARAISO | Continuing efforts to be more responsive to public concerns, the Valparaiso School Board on Tuesday discussed ways to allow greater flexibility for public input at board meetings.

Upgrades planned for VHS's auditorium

VALPARAISO | The Valparaiso High School auditorium will get a partial remodeling this summer, but not the complete makeover talked about in conjunction with improvement plans for the city's elementary schools.

Pen as mighty as the wand

HEBRON | When children's book author Janet Riehecky first started giving presentations on the writing life to school groups almost 20 years ago, she soon came to a sobering realization.

Hebron Elementary considers project

HEBRON | Hebron Elementary School is considering a $2 million project to correct poor pipe insulation that resulted in water damage to the first grade wing after a recent pipe burst.

Funding will boost student economic development projects

CHESTERTON | A Northwest Indiana business will provide $25,000 in startup funding for a program designed to spur partnerships between Chesterton, its businesses and Chesterton High School students.

VU narrows search for provost

VALPARAISO | Valparaiso University will likely have a provost-designate by the time the campus community returns from spring break in mid-March.

4-way stop keeps traffic flowing

VALPARAISO | A new four-way stop on LaPorte Avenue just outside Valparaiso University is designed to give eastbound motorists headed towards the retail centers on the east side of town the chance to arrive there smoothly.

Picture this: no Lincoln in our history

Technology done Abraham Lincoln wrong.

Special education director dies

VALPARAISO | Longtime Porter County special education teacher and administrator Janice Rees has died from complications of pulmonary fibrosis.

Lawyer looks at Lincoln's legal side

MORGAN TOWNSHIP | Two hundred years after his birth, Abraham Lincoln still left his mark on the rule of law Thursday.

Graduation moved back due to snow

VALPARAISO | Valparaiso High School's graduation date has been moved back two days due to the days lost to inclement weather.

Reflections on a life with Lincoln

VALPARAISO | Indiana has a true point of pride in Abraham Lincoln, Norm Hellmers believes on what would be the 16th president's 200th birthday today.

Lincolns share story with eighth-graders

CHESTERTON | Exactly 148 years after Abraham Lincoln delivered farewell remarks as he left Springfield for the last time on his way to Washington and the presidency, Max Daniels repeated the same words from memory.

WWII reproduced in rubber

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP | The "boom" of a rubber ball hitting a foam barrier at high speed provided a realistic, if small-scale, simulation of the cacophony of warfare Tuesday afternoon at Washington Township High School.

Students, teacher seek referee relief

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP | Washington Township High School government teacher Greg Simms today will be giving three students a real-life civics lesson that hits close to home.

Differentiate teaching among students

VALPARAISO | One-size-fits-all teaching does not serve students effectively. And teachers are an indispensable ingredient to student success, experts contend.

Appointment process gets scrutiny

VALPARAISO | State Rep. Ed Soliday would prefer the Valparaiso City Council take on the task of addressing public concern over the makeup of the city school district's board.

Students get glimpse of Secret Service limo

CHESTERTON | Chunks of packed snow littered the car's rear floor, not unlike the mess left behind when the kids pile out of the family sedan.

VU joins initiative to rebuild Iraq's education

VALPARAISO | About 25 Iraqi scholars looking to help move their country beyond its recent troubles may enroll at Valparaiso University this fall.

Pennies project helps sick schoolmate

VALPARAISO | Jason Beach is certainly not lucky to have been afflicted with leukemia, but he is lucky to have schoolmates who have stepped up to help fund research to find a cure.

'It feels really good to be back'

VALPARAISO | New carpet smell, a brighter look thanks to new ceiling tiles and a certain sense of novelty greeted Central Elementary School students Tuesday morning upon their return from a week at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

School reports point to economic hard times

In a local indication of the economic downturn gripping the nation, the percentage of students in all seven Porter County school corporations receiving free textbooks increased in 2007-08.

Central students settle back in after week away

VALPARAISO | New carpet smell, a brighter look thanks to new ceiling tiles and a certain sense of novelty greeted Central Elementary School students Tuesday morning upon their return from a week at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

Duneland School Board OKs trail

CHESTERTON | The proposed Porter Brickyard Trail has won permission to run past Yost Elementary School along Beam Street in Porter.

Lincoln slept here -- and more

Abraham Lincoln was a dork.

Central students to return Tuesday

VALPARAISO | Central Elementary School will re-open Tuesday, after cleanup of the fire that incinerated a third-floor computer lab.

Fanfare for the common place

VALPARAISO | The themes community, connection and caring were celebrated and welcomed to a new home on the Valparaiso University campus Saturday afternoon.

'Idol' winner coming to VU

VALPARAISO | American Idol star David Cook will bring his spring concert tour to Valparaiso University.

Central students to return Tuesday

VALPARAISO | Central Elementary School will re-open on Tuesday, following clean up of the fire that incinerated a top-floor computer lab.

Central students to remain at middle school Monday

VALPARAISO | In a fun nod to the upcoming Super Bowl, each of Central Elementary School's four days at Benjamin Franklin Middle School this week was treated as a "quarter."

Valpo school board OKs renovation study

VALPARAISO | The Valparaiso School Board and more than 40 city residents kicked off a study of renovation possibilities at the city's older seven elementary schools by presenting the study consultants with a handful of to-do lists Wednesday.

New ways of learning

WESTVILLE | College students do not think like many of us.

Students get lesson in little-known instrument

VALPARAISO | Singing the wonders of tobacco was admittedly not PC, but it was authentic.

School prepares for a week away after fire

VALPARAISO | Monday was an unexpected day off for Central Elementary School students, but faculty, staff and parents rallied throughout the day to prepare a temporary location for the rest of the week at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

Kouts scholarship fund celebrates a quarter. Century, that is

KOUTS | The Kouts High School Memorial Scholarship Fund marks its 25th anniversary this month, celebrating over half a million dollars in donations for educational advancement of the community's youth.

Central Elementary School prepares for a week away after fire

VALPARAISO | Monday was an unexpected day off for Central Elementary School students, but faculty, staff and parents rallied throughout the day to prepare temporary digs for the rest of the week at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

Valpo schools to discuss options

VALPARAISO | Having heard a cost estimate to consolidate and rebuild seven of the city's eight elementary schools, local parents are hoping for more specifics on renovation possibilities at a special School Board meeting Wednesday.

Former Chesterton fire chief dies

CHESTERTON | Longtime Chesterton Fire Chief Warren "Skip" Highwood was remembered as a firefighter's firefighter and a dedicated town servant following his death from cancer Thursday at age 65.