(Photos Courtesy of the Porter County Substance Abuse Council)

Over 15-hundred Porter County students were recently given the opportunity to experience the hazards of impaired driving. The Porter County Drunk Driving Task Force visited four high schools: Boone Grove, Morgan Township, Valparaiso, and Wheeler, helping students through a series of challenges meant to simulate a variety of impairment levels. The Porter County Substance Abuse Council says the message of not drinking and driving is especially important this time of year with students attending proms, graduations, parties and other events, and remind parents to set an example and share the message not to drink and drive.
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Read more: Students Learn Drinking and Driving Don't Mix

A documentary about four living World War II veterans and a Midwest community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime will be showing this evening for one night only. “Honor Flight, One Last Mission” shows how volunteers race against the clock to fly thousands of WWII veterans to Washington, DC to see the memorial constructed for them in 2004, nearly 60 years after their epic struggle. The film will be at 5:30pm, at the AMC Showtime Theater 12, in the 14-hundred block of Eagleridge, in Schererville, and the cost per ticket is eleven dollars. For more information about the film, visit http://www.honorflightthemovie.com.
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Read more: Honor Flight Film to Run This Evening in Schererville

The latest crop report from the U-S Department of Agriculture says warm, sunny days allowed Hoosier farmers to make good progress planting corn and soybeans, with the most acreage planted across northern Indiana and some central counties. 64-percent of intended corn acreage is now in the ground, compared with 96-percent last year, but 65-percent is the five-year average. Thirty percent of soybean crops are planted, compared with 84-percent last year, and 36-percent for the five-year average. Just a couple weeks ago, there had been little to no progress on planting corn because of rain and soggy field conditions, especially in portions of southern Indiana.
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Read more: Farmers Making Progress

Whiting Police are asking for the public's help as they investigate a shooting near the Community Center Saturday night. At about 7:30 pm, officers responded to Clark Street and Community Court in reference to a shooting. Whiting Police say their preliminary investigation indicates a 19-year-old Robertsdale resident and an unidentified male individual were in the area when words were exchanged, and the unidentified male pulled a handgun and fired at the 19-year-old, striking him in the back, then fleeing in a dark-colored vehicle. Police say the victim was taken to a local hospital in serious condition, then later airlifted to a Chicago-area hospital. Whiting Police say they believe the incident was gang-related, and they are currently following leads. Anyone with information is asked to contact Whiting Police Police Department Detective Bureau at 219-659-2131.
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Read more: Teen Hurt in Whiting Shooting

Hoosier school kids will be getting their eyes checked more often. Indiana Governor Mike Pence has signed into law a measure that expands vision testing to students entering fifth grade. Current policy only requires screening for students entering kindergarten or first grade, third grade and eighth grade. Senate Enrolled Act 553 also requires exams for kindergarteners and first graders must be performed by a licensed opthalmologist or optometrist
Photo provided | Pictured, from left to right at desk: Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg), Sen. Becker, Gov. Pence, Rep. Ed Clere (R-New Albany); from left to right in back: Yara Catoira-Boyle, MD; Kim Williams, Executive Director of the Indiana Academy of Ophthalmology, Inc.; Rep. Ron Bacon (R-Chandler); Derek Sprunger, MD; Polly Hendricks, OD, Indiana Optometry Immediate Past President; James Stewart, OD, Indiana Optometry President; Rep. Suzanne Crouch (R-Evansville); Jim Zieba, Executive Director of the Indiana Optometric Association.
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Read more: Vision Testing Expands

Munster HS Science Olympiad Team [provided]
Region students were among more than a-hundred teams to compete in the Science Olympiad National Tournament at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Saturday. Munster High School placed 18^th, and Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Valparaiso placed 19^th. The local schools advanced to the national tournament after winning at the state competition at Indiana University in Bloomington in March. This was the 24^th consecutive year T- J students competed in the national championships. Science Olympiad competitions are like academic track meets, consisting of a series of 23 team events in each division, with a division for middle school and a division for high school.
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Read more: Area Students Compete in Science Olympiad

Paving crews in Valparaiso will hit the streets toward the end of next month for their annual repaving program, starting with Montdale Drive in Montdale Industrial Park. Parts of several other roads in the city are also having work done, including Academy Street, Andover Drive, Don Hovey Drive, Howard Street, Linden Street, and Sheffield Drive. Some sidewalks are also being replaced in parts of the city.
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Read more: Valpo Paving Season Soon

Tuesday May 21, 2013, is the next deadline to sign up for Indiana's Do Not Call List. Since January, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller's office has gotten more than five-thousand complaints about telemarketing calls either with a live operator or prerecorded message. Zoeller says nearly one-thousand consumers got an automated call from a woman from “Cardholder Services” offering to lower credit card interest rates, asking for money but not really providing any service.
Nearly four-hundred complaints have been filed this year about an automated call that mentions an FBI report on home break-ins offering a “free” home security system, but Zoeller says they'll sell your info to a home monitoring company that will charge you. Zoeller also says these telemarketers have no relationship with federal law enforcement agencies.
Individuals do not need to re-register for the Do Not Call list unless their address has changed. To sign up or to confirm a number is already on the list, visit www.IndianaConsumer.com or call 1.888.834.9969.
Zoeller's office says out-of-state area codes can also be added as long as the billing address is located in Indiana. Those consumers who are registered and receive an unwanted call can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com  and clicking on “file a complaint.”
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Read more: 'Do Not Call' Deadline

(Photos Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff's Office)

Two men face first degree murder charges in connection with the death of a 35 year old Markham man whose body was discovered in April in unincorporated Calumet City, Illinois. The Cook County Sheriff's Office reports an joint investigation with the Harvey Police Department led to the arrest of 27 year old Brandon Johnson, of Harvey, and 25 year old Lester Larkin, of Riverdale, Illinois, for the shooting death of Eddie Bell. The Sheriff's Office reports Bell, who had been the subject of a missing person's investigation, was identified on April 16^th, after his body was found near Thornton and Lansing Road, east of Stoney Island Avenue in Calumet City. An investigation began in late March while Harvey Police were investigating Johnson's residence where blood, weapons, and cleaning materials, but no body, were found, after gunfire had been reported. Both men were denied bond in their court appearance today.
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Read more: Two Men Charged in Death of Markham Man

(Photo Courtesy of the Times)
The Times is reporting a Merrillville officer shot a man for illegally parking a semitrailer at Planned Parenthood. According to the article, the incident occurred while a citation was being written, and both the officer and the man were reportedly taken to a local hospital. No further information is available at this time.
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Read more: Man Shot by Merrillville Officer at Planned Parenthood