HAMMOND — Republican voters have selected Mark Leyva eight times since 2002 to carry the party's banner in the biennial contest over who should represent Northwest Indiana in the U.S. House.
The Highland carpenter is hoping Region Republicans will give him a ninth shot to attempt to dislodge the Democratic incumbent, now U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, because Leyva says no other GOP candidate is more committed to conservative principles or more loyal to Republican former President Donald Trump.
"I'm an 'America First' candidate and we need to reverse our policies back to the Trump policies," Leyva said Thursday night during a Republican congressional debate at the Ophelia Steen Center, sponsored by the Calumet Area League of Women Voters, Rise NWI, and Lakeshore Public Media.
"This is an election like no others. In Washington, we have a serious problem. We're fighting the RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and we're the fighting the establishment from both parties that are not doing us well."
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Leyva said the establishment includes both of his better financed opponents: Jennifer-Ruth Green, of Crown Point, and former LaPorte Mayor Blair Milo.
He said the support they're getting from outside interests that's fueling near-daily mailers containing negative attacks on each other — including Green calling Milo a "Never Trump Liberal" and Milo spreading word that Green voted in the 2018 Democratic primary — may encourage Region Republicans to once again nominate Leyva for Congress because there's no doubt what he stands for.
"Right now there's a cat fight," Leyva said. "But May 3 it's all going to be said and done. And when the dust settles, I think people are going to be surprised."
Neither Green nor Milo participated in the debate. Both skipped the event to attend the Lake County Right to Life banquet Thursday night in Merrillville.
Leyva said if he does again win the GOP nomination, and claims victory at the Nov. 8 general election, his focus in the U.S. House will be undoing the policies of Democratic President Joe Biden, which he said have led to rampant inflation, and restoring Trump policies Leyva believes were responsible for an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity.
"We need to protect our borders, pass legislation that's constitutional, cut the taxes to get people back together, and definitely get this pipeline back online so that we can become oil independent again," Leyva said. "We need to get back to what works."
Altogether, seven Republicans are seeking the party's nomination in the 1st Congressional District. But only two others participated in the debate: Martin Lucas, a technology consultant from Schererville; and Ben Ruiz, an East Chicago small business owner.
Lucas said his top priorities are enacting term limits for members of Congress, permanently banning politicians from becoming lobbyists, and encouraging political candidates to donate a portion of their fundraising to charities.
Ruiz, meanwhile, also identifies himself as an "America First" candidate and has pledged to advance Trump's agenda in Congress without caving to "Communist Democrats and establishment RINOs."
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Sonic Drive-In and cookie shop coming to Dyer; cigar lounge, bar and chicken restaurant opening
Coming soon
Not one but two Sonic Drive-Ins are skating into Northwest Indiana.
The eagerly anticipated Sonic at 896 N. Superior Drive in Crown Point will open soon and investor Ray Naser said local franchisees plans to open a Sonic next to the new Chipotle on U.S. 30 in Dyer in less than a year.
"We would like to announce that Sonic Crown Point is set to open by mid-May and that we are starting open interviews for full staff on April 22," Naser said. "The store will employ a total of 80 people, including management positions."
"America's Drive-In" will hold walk-up interviews for staff in Crown Point on April 22 and April 23.
A second Sonic will roll into Dyer early next year.
"Our second store in Dyer is planned to open around January 2023," Naser said. "Construction should start in July."
The Oklahoma City-based chain has more than 3,500 restaurants nationwide, including one outside the River Oaks Center in Calumet City. It's a throwback to an earlier era, with carhops skating out food to a customer's car after an order is placed via intercom. There's also a drive-thru.
The fast-food menu features traditional American fare such as burgers, Coney dogs, corn dogs, French fries, onion rings and breakfast toaster sandwiches. It differentiates itself from many other burger joints with a wide array of drinks that can be customized in thousands of different variations. There's a dizzying array of pop, slushes, lemonade, limeades, teas, ocean waters and milkshakes in which different flavors can be mixed.
Like a retro drive-in that survived the rise of the drive-thru chains, it also offers sundaes and ice cream floats.
For more information, visit careers.sonicdrivein.com/us/en.
Coming soon
Crumbl is baking up something sweet in Dyer.
The Utah-based chain of cookie shops is taking over the 1,350-square-foot space formerly occupied by Game Stop at 819 Joliet St, in Dyer. That's the shopping center off U.S. 30 anchored by Jewel-Osco and Goodwill.
Crumbl has been growing rapidly across Indiana since opening its first location in Fishers last year. Crumbl now has stores in Indianapolis, Greenwood, Carmel, Bloomington and Evansville.
Rapidly growing
Founded by cousins Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan in 2017, it's exploded to more than 300 stores in 36 states and boasts it's now the fastest-growing cookie chain in the United States.
It specializes in freshly baked cookies available for takeout and delivery. It offers a rotating selection of more than 130 flavors such as mint chocolate chip, cookies & cream, lemon bar, classic pink sugar, carrot cake and peanut butter featuring Muddy Buddies.
Distinctive look
The flavors rotate with new cookies added every week. The cookies come in distinctive four-pack, six-pack and 12-pack boxes. They're pink and oblong – a unique look Hemsley and his classmates at Utah State University came up with to make the boxes recognizable and Instagrammable.
Crumbl also sells half-pints of housemade ice cream in flavors like brownie fudge, peanut butter brittle, snickerdoodle and raspberry cheesecake.
For more information, visit crumblcookies.com.
Open
Honeys Chicken is cooking up crispy fried chicken and fish in Griffith.
The fast-food restaurant opened at 100 W. Ridge Road unit 30, taking over the old Mezquitacos space that the restaurant vacated when it moved to downtown Griffith.
The menu includes chicken dinners, wing dinners, chicken tenders, catfish dinners, perch dinners, shrimp, livers, gizzards and a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. One can get a variety of sauces, including hot sauce, mild sauce and barbecue. Sides include fries and coleslaw.
One can also grab dessert. Options include cookies, cakes, peach cobbler and banana pudding.
Honeys Chicken is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more information, call 219-513-8182.
Coming soon
Elements Cigar Lounge will soon light them up in Highland.
The new cigar lounge is located at 8349 Indianapolis Blvd., suite C in the Highland Ultra Plaza across from Wicker Park.
The veteran-owned business will let guests puff on stogies and savor wine, bourbon, whiskey and cocktails. It's now hiring bartenders.
For more information, email elementscigar@gmail.com or find the business on Facebook.
Open
Fuse Bar and Grill added another nightlife spot to Chesterton last year.
The bar at 791 Indian Boundary Road in Chesterton serves craft beer, domestic beer, whiskey, bourbon and Scotch. It also has a bar food menu that includes burgers, wings and steaks.
It also offers live entertainment by local bands.
"We've got a fresh upbeat vibe, offering a full menu, bar, and an amazing nightlife venue," Fuse posted online. "We started this business to provide a place for anyone to come to, relax, grab a beer and listen to live music. We're looking forward to growing our business to continue to serve Chesterton and the surrounding communities. We'd like to personally invite you to stop in for fight nights, karaoke, dancing, live music, burgers, beer, and so much more."
For more information, call 219-728-1047 or visit www.fusechesterton.com.
Closed
The 5th Avenue Food Stop packed up and left town in downtown Gary.
The downtown food truck park was meant to serve steelworkers at the nearby Gary Works steel mill and address a food desert in the Steel City. It offered grab-and-go and outdoor dining in an open field on Fifth Avenue between Carolina and Georgia streets, a few blocks east of the U.S. Steel Yard.
The Cracked and Blacktop BBQ food trucks, its original tenants, have rolled out. They had served food like brisket, breakfast sandwiches and truffle Parmesan fries.
Expanding again
The Region was once home to many chain bookstores, but Amazon put a dent in the once-popular business model.
The defunct Borders chain had stores in Highland and Hobart, and Barnes & Noble had a book emporium by the Southlake Mall that shuttered in 2010.
Now there's just the Barnes & Noble in the Valparaiso Marketplace shopping center in Valpo. Barnes & Noble was originally supposed to locate in Shops on Main in Schererville but the Great Recession killed those plans, and the suggestion a chain bookstore would come to Munster's Centennial Village has never materialized.
But now, buoyed by a revival in reading the popularity of bookstores, Barnes & Noble is expanding again and looking to open 25 new stores this year. Northwest Indiana is not currently on the list but the bookseller is seeking suggested locations.
"We have nothing at the moment but are always looking for new opportunities," a company spokesperson said. "You can email us at mybarnesandnoble@bn.com with the area/town in the subject line if you have locations you think we should look at."
Renovated
Grindhouse Cafe renovated its flagship coffee shop at 146 N. Broad St. in downtown Griffith.
It closed for a couple days to redo the floor. It was time for a fresh look, owner Gabriel Mauch said.
"When we opened Whiting, it looked so nice," he said. "Now that Griffith has been at it for almost a decade, we wanted to start updating the Griffith location."
New ownership
Sip, the popular local coffee shop chain, bought its downtown Highland location that it opened in 2016, becoming a popular hangout spot overnight.
Owner Rhonda Bloch has acquired the building at 2815 Jewett Ave.
"After a long haul of being the town of Highland's tenant, I was able to finally purchase the building from them," she said.
She also bought the building of the neighboring Primitive Peddler antique store, which will remain open and now lease from her instead.
"It wasn’t a long-term goal but when they forced my hand and were going to sell it I knew either I had to buy it or somebody was gonna buy it and throw me out, lol," she said. "The whole back garage is a big warehouse that somebody is interested in renting from me, but if they don’t I’m thinking of putting a venue in back there."
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.
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Dan Carden
Chief Political Reporter
Dan has reported on Indiana state government for The Times since 2009. He also covers casinos, campaigns and corruption.
