Latest
The newest stories from every Region N3 desk, newest first.
Crime
Wall of Shame — Porter County bookings (Sept. 27–28)
4 Porter County bookings (Sept. 27–28) meet the harm filter — alleged OWI, intimidation, and invasion of privacy. Lake blotter gap and empty LaPorte search documented.
BizTech
Your 2020 dollar buys about 78 cents — N3 Ledger reading the CPI
FRED’s CPIAUCSL puts the U.S. purchasing-power index at 77.6 as of August 2026, about a 22.4% drop since January 2020 — what that means for Northwest Indiana grocery carts and pay stubs.
BizTech
Real hourly pay barely beats 2020 — N3 Ledger on wages after inflation
Derived real average hourly earnings sit at index 102.98 (Jan 2020 = 100). Nominal $37.75/hr is about $29.28 in early-2020 dollars — and the index slipped 0.27 points year over year.
BizTech
30-year mortgage at 7.03% — N3 Ledger on housing capital costs
Freddie Mac’s MORTGAGE30US averaged 7.03% the week of Sept. 24, 2026 — far above the 2.65% trough hit in January 2021. What that rate gap means for NWI buyers and employers.
BizTech
Amazon leases Crown Point fulfillment hub, pledges 500 jobs
A 1.2 million-square-foot Venture Park 65 site on the I-65 corridor will handle large-format inventory, with operations eyed for 2027 and hiring a month or two before open.
Politics
Mrvan backs Hammond Bears build as Lake County waits on taxes and a final site
Mrvan backs a Hammond Bears build for local trades while Repay seeks a Stadium Authority seat and Cid holds county food-and-beverage taxes until the Bears lock in.
Community
Portage Harvest Festival fills Founders Square on Sept. 26
City parks department hosts a free Saturday of live music, food trucks, beer garden, artisan vendors, and kids’ activities at Founders Square — 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Crime
East Chicago man arrested after Hammond-to-Chicago chase, ISP says
Austin Earl Williams, 37, held in Cook County after a Hammond-to-Chicago pursuit; ISP says Lake County warrants and more felony charges pending.
Crime
Wall of Shame — Porter County bookings (Sept. 22–23)
6 Porter County bookings (Sept. 22–23) meet the harm filter — alleged OWI, theft, invasion of privacy, and neglect/endangerment. Lake and LaPorte public gaps stand.
Crime
Second man charged with murder in Michigan City killing of 14-year-old Devin Porter
Dewayne Quayveon Coleman, 18, is the second person charged with murder in the May 15 shooting death of Devin Porter, 14, in Michigan City.
BizTech
Cliffs consolidates NWI plate mills — no layoffs, company says
Cleveland-Cliffs is idling a Burns Harbor plate line and its Gary Plate finishing operation inside U.S. Steel’s Gary Works, shifting work to a larger 160-inch mill while promising transfers, not cuts.
Politics
IURC reopens AES Indiana’s $71 million rate hike after Braun board shake-up
Regulators vote 3-1 to reconsider the June order and reopen the record on Google’s Monrovia data center and a BlackRock-led AES deal; Sept. 17 prehearing set in Indianapolis.
Politics
Gary Mayor Melton presses NIPSCO for credits, food pay and grid fixes after derecho
Melton’s Recovery Action Plan demands bill credits, spoilage reimbursements, and grid investments after Aug. 11 outages he called “unacceptable” when thousands in Gary stayed dark past 12 days.
BizTech
NIPSCO GenCo adds 400 MW for Amazon’s NWI data-center build
The utility’s generation spinoff expands AWS power to 2,800 MW for a planned $15 billion campus centered on Hobart — and says residential bill credits could hit about $124 a year.
Crime
Wall of Shame — Porter County bookings (Sept. 13–14)
Three Porter County bookings in ~26 hours meet the harm filter — alleged OWI, battery on a public safety official, and theft. Lake blotter gap; LaPorte search empty.
Politics
Indiana lawmakers, Braun lock in SB 27 financing bid for Hammond Bears stadium
Senate 45-4 and a same-day Braun signature put an NWI stadium authority and Lake–Porter tax toolkit on the books; Porter County still fights food-and-beverage levies.
BizTech
BL Duke opens Portage yard to feed U.S. Steel scrap logistics
The Illinois metals firm is running a 24/7 heavy-haul program — more than 20 loads a day — from a new 10-acre Northwest Indiana base tied to U.S. Steel’s Portage mill.
BizTech
Ports of Indiana targets 2026 trial as Burns Harbor container terminal nears
At an Innovate Northwest Indiana luncheon, CEO Jody Peacock said a first export trial is planned by year-end as part of a $100 million port expansion.
BizTech
Cleveland-Cliffs opens NWI hiring pool for Indiana Harbor and Burns Harbor
Hourly utility jobs and mill technical posts are listed through Indiana Career Connect as Cliffs staffs two of the Region’s largest steel employers.
BizTech
Hammond data-center expansion deal expires after missed milestones
The city, Decennial Group, and CoreWeave failed to clear June 30 conditions on a planned 450,000-square-foot Digital Crossroads build; no further extensions are offered.