Morning Gary! We've got the scoop on the latest happenings in town. Read on to get looped in. ☕️️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: The Wellness Retreat: A Festival Where Mind, Body, and Music Meet and 9 more events.
Today's riddle: What do you call a belt that is made of watches? 🤔 (Answer below!)
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1. IU Northwest awarded $3 million grant from US Department of Labor, Education (iu.edu) — Indiana University Northwest in Gary has secured a five‑year, $3 million federal grant to launch its ASCEND program, aimed at preparing students here for an AI‑driven job market. The funding will create new AI labs, faculty training, and paid experiential learning, giving Gary‑area students more hands‑on tech experience and stronger career pathways in Northwest Indiana's evolving workforce.
2. Volleyball rallies from two sets down to stun St. Francis (nwitimes.com) — IU Northwest's volleyball team gave Gary fans a thrill Tuesday night, rallying from two sets down at home to defeat St. Francis in a five-set comeback. The RedHawks, now 9-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play, leaned on big performances from hitters like Amie Schutz, Kaelan Murphy, and Gabi Lilovich to turn the match around.
3. Indiana Gov. Braun extends gas tax holiday, adds diesel relief into November (chicagotribune.com) — Gary drivers are seeing the impact of Gov. Mike Braun's extended gas tax holiday, with one Amstar station on Harrison Street listing regular gas at $3.52 per gallon. The statewide suspension of gas and diesel taxes through Nov. 4 aims to ease fuel costs, especially for farmers, while officials debate whether the relief is enough amid global oil turmoil.
4. Gary man sentenced to almost 4 years for bringing machine gun to school (chicagotribune.com) — A 20-year-old Gary resident has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for bringing a pistol converted to fire as a machine gun into Calumet High School in January 2025. Prosecutors say the case underscores their focus on school safety in Northwest Indiana, after Hobart police discovered the weapon during a search and investigators later seized additional items from his home.
5. Reps Carson and Spartz, Senator Warren Urge Action on BlackRock Acquisition (house.gov) — A recent push in Congress to block BlackRock's acquisition of AES is tied to concerns about rising utility bills and reliability, including a more than two‑week NIPSCO blackout in Gary this August. Lawmakers argue federal regulators must protect Hoosier consumers from higher rates and hold utilities accountable when prolonged outages hit communities like Gary.
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Ok Gary! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: A waist of time. (Thank you Martin L. for sending it in!)
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