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Welcome one and all to your Monday edition of NWI Explored, your all in one guide to everything worth exploring in Northwest Indiana. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here, even though we’re staring Thanksgiving directly in the face. The holiday mood is being set around here, and we couldn’t be more happy to be welcoming in the winter weather with so many loyal readers in tow.
A huge thank you to all of you who have helped to make our first month of operation into such an outsized success. Thanks to all of you, we just hit 2000 subscribers to the newsletter. We’re so grateful that so many of our neighbors and friends have found value in what we’re building here.
🧭 On Today’s issue of NWI Explored 🧭
A look ahead at what the holidays have in store for NWI
The latest news to keep you informed about what’s going on in NWI
The latest from the NWI Explored Instagram
Today in NWI
Today’s Forecast
Monday’s Events
7595 E Lincoln Highway, Merrillville, IN
Open Daily from 5:30pm
The Standard Taproom, 1346 119th St, Whiting
Doors @ 5pm, Presentation @ 6pm
695 N 400 West, Valparaiso
Recurring every Weekday, from 10am-4pm
106 Jefferson St, Valparaiso
Multiple Times
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🏘The Lowdown 🏘
Every Monday, We give you the best happenings over the weekend and what you can look forward to exploring in the first half of the week.
Metropolitan Baptist Church in Gary (1920 Broadway) has been demolished, as the City of Gary has kicked a razing and demolition of vacant buildings effort into high gear
The City razed 55 buildings last year in it’s renewed efforts to rebuild abandoned areas of the sprawling city, with 57 buildings being razed this year so far.
BMV license branches across NWI will be closed Thursday and Friday, as well as Saturday and Sunday, for the Thanksgiving long weekend. Plan accordingly!
State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla has issued a warning to Hoosiers to keep an eye for suspicious mailings, citing an increase in false letters with cobbled together logos going out to citizens.
The office of the State Comptroller has also issued a warning that mail from their office will never request personal payments by mail, so be on the look out.
Defying odds, No. 5 Merrillville High School Football has won their very first semistate title, in a 41-14 pummeling over No. 6 ranked Concord High School.
This victory comes after the previous ten appearances in the semistate matchup led to losses for Merrillville. The team will face off against No. 1 Ranked New Palestine on Black Friday for the Class 5A State Championship.
After some offensive trouble in the first half, Andrean has beat Adams Central to return to the State Championship for the first time since 2022.
Andrean beat Adams Central 24-19 nailbiter that sees the team make good on their promise from last year, wherein they lost in the semistate game and vowed to never let that happen again. Congrats to both Andrean and Merrillville for making the Region proud!
D. Martin Enterprises has invested $30 million into their new headquarters in Michigan City, with a new building on Motts Parkway.
The company has been around for a half century and serves both the steel industry along the NWI lakeshore and elsewhere nationally. With the additional space and capabilities afforded them with this expansion, they are expanding their workforce and able to produce at an even higher rate.
Wisconsin-based developer Eminent Development Corp. is investing $20 million into a five-story multipurpose building in Michigan City, near the Lighthouse Outlet Malls.
The development has been dubbed “Project Wabash” and aims to contain 45-60 apartments of varying sizes, retail space for three tenants on the first floor, and an anchor restaurant as well. Buildout is expected to take 18 months, and Project Wabash joins a host of other huge development projects in Michigan City. These include the 12-story Franklin Street Tower that sits adjacent to the recently-redone South Shore Line, South of the Lakes - a 14 story resort style development giving views over Lake Michigan-, and the 300 apartment Sinding Sands Suite on the corner of 8th and Michigan.
Fran DuPey, a trailblazer in Lake County politics and former Chair of the Lake County Board of Commissioners, has passed away at age 86.
DuPey was a Hammond native, loyal member of the Indiana Democratic Party, and served on the Lake County City Council for a decade, overseeing county expenditures,before becoming a Commissioner. She ran for Mayor of Hammond in 1999 and devoted the majority of her life to bettering the quality of life for all of her Lake County neighbors. She is preceded in death by her husband, Former Police Chief Frank DuPey.
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What’s In, What’s Out?
On occasion, we like to compile a list of what NWI businesses are opening up shop and which ones are shutting their doors for good. This is What’s In, What’s Out!
Shark Tank featured food truck chain Cousins Maine Lobster will be opening a food truck in Northwest Indiana soon. The truck will also service the South Bend area and offers staples of the New England state: such as, clam chowder, lobster rolls, and every other lobster concoction you can dream up.
Athletic Performance Factory will be taking the spot of Gators Gym in Highland. A massive indoor baseball training facility, APF is much more than just a training gym: it will also have a full restaurant and bar on site. Golf simulators, duckpin bowling, and multisport sims round out the wide range of entertainment offerings APF has in store. The new business is located at 3150 45th St. in Highland.
Lebanese restauranteur Mohammed Mroueh is bringing an underground dining experience to Michigan City. The Lebanese style restaurant will be called c.12 and will be offering traditional Lebanese food with a world-traveled twist.
Eris and Olive Charcuterie & Juice Bar has opened up inside the food hall Lincoln Kitchen at 704 Silhavy Rd. in Valparaiso. The fresh spot offers fresh pressed juice blends, charcuterie plates of varying sizes, salads, wraps, flatbreads, and wellness shots.
7 Brew will be opening up yet another Region location, this time in Portage. Details are still in the works but the location is most likely set for somewhere along the highly-trafficked US. 6.
Round the Clock in Schererville has reopened it’s doors after an electrical fire in June set back their operations. The owners promise the same great food at the same great prices, with some new menu additions to welcome regulars back.
The owner and chief tattoo artist of Famous Legs Tattoo in Calumet Township has decided to retire, and thus close doors for good. The shop has been around for 36 years.
What’s Coming Up: Every Midweek Event You Need to Know About
Recurs the last Tuesday of each month
Each participating restaurant will be offering a $7 special
4pm-8pm
1048 US Highway 41, Schererville
7pm to 9pm
101 Joliet Street, Dyer
8pm Start
Hobart Art Theater, 230 Main St
Doors @7pm, Show @ 8:30pm
18th Street Brewery, 5725 Miller Ave, Gary
Doors @ 4pm, Trivia at 6pm, Karaoke at 7pm
Tuesdays: 7pm Start
605 E 9th Street, Michigan City
6:30 pm
605 E 9th St, Michigan City
7:30-10:30pm
Thank you so much for reading yet another entry from NWI Explored. Come back later this week for our Thursday issue, which will be jam packed with every upcoming holiday event you will absolutely want to know about. Thanks, and…
Happy Exploring,
Eric & Luke
The NWI Explored Team
I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was. Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.
-Ransom Riggs
