Despite boasting some of the lowest gas prices around the country, due to the suspension of taxation on gasoline, Northwest Indiana saw some severe price spikes as of late. Some stations were seen as high as $4.50/gal, with the average sitting around $4.20/gal. The catalytic reformer at the Joliet ExxonMobil refinery was shuttered early last week, causing prices to jump up by the end of the week. Prices seem to have normalized largely going into today.

Following the passing of Senate Enrolled Act 1, school systems across Indiana have been reeling to find replacement funding in the wake of more restrictive referendum laws and reduced property taxes. Locally, seven school systems will have referendums on the ballot this Election Day, on November 3rd, since they can no longer propose referendums in non-general election years. The school systems attempting to solidify funding this election are as follows: Crown Point; River Forest; Whiting; Tri-Creek; Michigan City; Porter Township; Union Township. For full information on tax rates and estimated revenue raised, seek out this article from the NWITimes.

Amid huge pushes for job expansion and increased development in Gary, three large companies have been going on a hiring spree. FedEx, U.S. Steel and Indiana Sugar have made significant investments into increased presence in Gary, listing hundreds of jobs and putting a lot of money into expansions like Gary Works’ relining of Blast Furnace No. 14. FedEx and Indiana Sugar are building huge new warehouses and corporate headquarters, respectively, in Gary, with hiring sprees following as well.

A notice was sent to the Indiana Election Division this past week saying that monitors will be sent to observe the voting process and make note of how elections are carried out. If errors are noticed, information will go up the chain of command to determine further action. It’s not known what polling places will be “monitored”, but the election monitors are supposed to introduce themselves to those working the polling places. Monitors are also being sent to Marion County, a move that was met with immediate backlash from local representation and politicians due to the high density of Black and Hispanic residents (similar to Lake County).

Over concerns for workers rights, pay, benefits and workplace safety, a majority of the workers on the Transportation Operation Management team at the Merrillville Amazon Warehouse have filed union authorization with Teamsters Local 142. It now falls to Amazon to recognize the workers as having union representation, which is not a guarantee considering Amazon’s outwardly hostile behaviour toward unionization efforts elsewhere in the country.

400 laborers, represented by Teamsters Local 877, were locked out of the Bayway Refinery and Linden Terminal in Linden, New Jersey this past week. Teamsters Local 877 rejected a contract proposal from BP, to a similar tone that USW Local 7-1 here in NWI did when their contract dispute began earlier this year. BP has deployed a similar move in New Jersey as they did here, locking out hundreds of workers and stalling contract negotiations entirely.

Our news summaries are aggregated through local Facebook posts, as well as articles from local publications like the NWITimes, Chicago Tribune, GreatNewsLife and more. Our summaries are not a substitute for reading the full article. Seek out the whole picture on their websites.

On Oct. 30, 1916, barely two months after the National Park Service itself was created, its first director, Stephen Tyng Mather, held a hearing in a courtroom of the Chicago Federal Building on a proposed 'Sand Dunes National Park' along Indiana's Lake Michigan shore. Four hundred people attended and 42 spoke in favor — including University of Chicago botanist Henry Cowles, landscape architect Jens Jensen and sculptor Lorado Taft — and not one person spoke in opposition. Mather's report proposed buying a 25-mile strip of lakeshore, but World War I shelved the plan, the slogan 'Save the Dunes!' became 'First Save the Country, Then Save the Dunes!', and the wait for a national park ran another half-century, to the 1966 National Lakeshore and full national park status in 2019.

Tudor-style home perched on a wooded dune in Ogden Dunes, 3bd/2.5ba, 3,329 sqft, built in 1986 directly adjacent to Indiana Dunes National Park and about a 15-minute walk from the Lake Michigan beach. Reclaimed Chicago church brick, hand-hewn reclaimed beams, wide-plank wood floors, two masonry fireplaces and a substantial stone chimney, a kitchen with Holiday Kitchens cabinetry and a Bertazzoni range, and a deep tandem garage on 1.5 lots, with the South Shore Line station nearby for Chicago trips. Listed Active on the NIRA MLS feed, updated Oct. 9, 2026.