[Southsider2k12]

More great news on 6-year-old Nathan Woessner! Nathan's doctors say he is being transferred from the intensive care unit to a general pediatric medicine unit.

"Nathan is listed in good condition. He has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a general pediatric medicine unit. He is eating well, is active and continues to improve. The staples used to close a laceration on the back of his head will be removed today."

More photos here: http://www.wsbt.com/entertainment/photogal...74.photogallery

[Southsider2k12]

WNDU WNDU 19m
Nathan Woessner, the 6-year-old rescued from an Indiana sand dune, was discharged from the hospital Tues. afternoon pic.twitter.com/nQLv5iNRHD

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Boy rescued from sand hole released from hospital

By: Newscenter 16
Updated: Wed 2:51 PM, Jul 24, 2013

A 6-year-old Illinois boy who survived being buried by a sand dune has been released from the hospital, 12 days after the accident in Indiana initially left him in a coma.

Officials say Nathan Woessner of Sterling was discharged late Tuesday afternoon from the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital.

The boy was rescued after being buried for more than three hours on July 12 in a dune called Mount Baldy at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The hospital says Nathan will continue to receive rehabilitative therapy. Doctors say he walked without assistance Sunday and was cleared to visit the hospital playroom Monday.

Doctors have said Nathan is expected to make a full neurological recovery but may suffer lingering lung problems from inhaling sand.

[Southsider2k12]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=n...&id=9195566

Michigan City honoring rescuers who saved boy from Dunes
Updated at 09:50 AM today


August 5, 2013 (MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.) (WLS) -- Michigan City officials planned Monday to honor nearly two dozen Michigan City firefighters for helping to rescue 6-year-old Nathan Woessner when he was buried in the Indiana Dunes last month.

Nathan was swallowed up by a sinkhole and spent nearly four hours beneath the sand before he was rescued.

He is back home after spending a couple weeks in the hospital.

[ChickenCityRoller]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=n...&id=9195566

They aren't going to include Ryan Miller from D&M excavating or Todd Bell from Woodruff and Sons? Without the help of those two and their companies, the little boy would NOT have been found, at least not in the condition he was.

[Southsider2k12]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/08/12/fed...-dune-collapse/

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (CBS) — The National Park Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be examining the Northwest Indiana sand dune that collapsed last month, burying a 6-year-old boy under 11 feet of sand for more than three hours.

Federal investigators are using “ground-sensing equipment” on Monday to investigate Mount Baldy – a 43-acre sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore near Michigan City, Ind.

That section of the park has been closed to the public since July 12 when Nathan Woessner of Sterling, Ill., disappeared into the collapsed sand.

He was in the hospital for two weeks before returning home.

Rescue officials say he survived because he was trapped in an air pocket.

He was treated at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s hospital, for critical injuries to his lungs after inhaling sand.

He was released last month, after a recovery that amazed his father, Greg Woessner.

“To be where we are, after only two weeks, is phenomenal,” Greg Woessner said.

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/b...0,6154247.story

By Ellen Jean Hirst Tribune reporter

11:27 a.m. CDT, August 12, 2013
MICHIGAN CITY, IND.—

In an effort to discover how a 6-year-old boy became trapped under 11 feet of sand at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore last month, the National Park Service and Environmental Protection Agency this morning are beginning an on-site investigation using ground-sensing equipment.

Mount Baldy at the national park has been closed since the July 12 incident.

Related
Boy buried in Indiana dune goes home
Indiana Dunes investigation Indiana Dunes investigation
Maps
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, 1215 Indiana 49, Chesterton, IN 46304, USA

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Bruce Rowe, an Indiana Dunes spokesperson, said investigators will search for additional anomalies in the sand dune. They will also look into whether a rotting tree beneath the dune could have caused the apparent hole and the air pocket that kept Nathan Woessner alive for nearly four hours.

"We have no intention of reopening the dune until we understand the science behind what happened," Rowe said this morning.

A man pushing a $30,000 ground penetrating radar cart followed a woman with a specialized GPS machine strapped to her back on Mount Baldy as they began tracking 42 square acres of open sand at the dune.

The radar takes ultrasound images up to 30 feet below the surface.

Scientists with the EPA — which is providing equipment and personnel — will analyze the images for anomalies such as buried trees.

Rowe said the search has implications for moving dunes across the country, if the team can identify what causes holes in the dunes.

After Nathan's story was broadcast across the country, several people contacted the National Park Service to report that they had also witnessed holes in lakeside dunes.

One man, Rowe said, fell into a hole to his knees on the eastern part of Mount Baldy. A woman reported seeing a hole in a southwest Michigan dune as well, he said.

As far as how long the investigation will take, EPA officials were unsure, because this type of search is unprecedented.

"We'll be out here as long as it takes," said Francisco Arcaute, an EPA spokesman.

Nathan, of Sterling, Ill., has since made a nearly full recovery.

ehirst@tribune.com | Twitter: @ellenjeanhirst

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...9adcd90b6d.html

Joyce Russell joyce.russell@nwi.com, (219) 762-1397, ext. 2222
Related Video

EPA radar sweeps Mount Baldy
Nathan Woessner discharged from hospital

Nathan Woessner, the 6-year-old Sterling, Ill. boy rescued from underneath some 11 feet of sand July 12, was discharged from the University of… Read more

MICHIGAN CITY | A month after 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was swallowed by a sinkhole, officials are still trying to figure out why it happened and if it could happen again.

Environmental Protection Agency officials began using two pieces of equipment Monday on the surface of Mount Baldy to determine if there are any additional voids or anomalies below its surface that could be a danger to visitors.

The park, a site of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, has been closed since July 12 and will not reopen until National Park Service officials can assure visitor safety, IDNL spokesman Bruce Rowe said.

Rowe hesitated Monday when asked if that meant the popular site for climbing sand dunes and swimming in Lake Michigan's waters could, possibly, never reopen to the public.

"It will not open if it is dangerous to the public," he said, adding nothing like this has ever happened at the dunes before.

The EPA Region 5 Chicago office provided a ground penetrating radar unit and a GPS unit, said Francisco Arcaute, spokesman for Region 5 EPA. The cost of the equipment is $30,000, but is being shared with the NPS at no cost.

The equipment, Arcaute said, can look below the surface of the dunes as deep as 30 feet.

"It will be here as long as it is needed," Arcaute said, adding the equipment is from the EPA's Super Fund division.

Officials had no timeline as to how long it would take to walk the 42 acres that make up Mount Baldy, nor how long it would take to analyze any images from the underground survey. Arcaute said any additional equipment deemed necessary would be brought in to the site.

Rowe said they will also conduct a conductivity study on the dune, but that equipment from the EPA was not yet on the site.

The Sterling, Ill., boy fell into a hole on July 12, under some 11 feet of sand. Workers unearthed Nathan after more than three hours of digging. The boy was was transported first to a local hospital, then to The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital. He remained hospitalized for about two week before being released. He is expected to fully recover.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/New-hol...-219575071.html

A hole similar to one that trapped a 6-year-old Illinois boy beneath 11 feet of sand has been found on the same northern Indiana dune.

The National Park Service says a crew using ground-sensing equipment to examine Mount Baldy at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore found a 10-inch wide hole resembling the size and shape of the hole described by the boy's family.

Park Service officials say the hole appears to be about 5-feet deep. More equipment is being brought in to collect sand from various depths for analysis by geologists and hydrologists. The dune remains closed to the public.

Emergency workers freed Nathan Woessner (WAYZ'-ner), of Sterling, Ill., after he disappeared under the sand for more than three hours on July 12. He was hospitalized for two weeks.

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So I guess they'll eventually determine if the park is plagued with SINKHOLES. It be a crying shame if the dunes wind up like Florida.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...b5f1416267.html

What caused Mount Baldy sinkhole?

MICHIGAN CITY | A month after 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was swallowed by a sinkhole, officials are still trying to figure out why it happened… Read more
Nathan Woessner discharged from hospital

Nathan Woessner, the 6-year-old Sterling, Ill. boy rescued from underneath some 11 feet of sand July 12, was discharged from the University of… Read more

MICHIGAN CITY | Investigators have discovered another hole at the Mount Baldy dune similar to the hole that enveloped an 11-year-old Illinois boy in July.

The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday began using sensing equipment at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to look for anomalies in the sand dune.

Supervisory Park Ranger Bruce Rowe, who is the public information officer for the IDNL, announced Wednesday morning that investigators found a hole, about 10-inches in diameter, in the surface of the dune. The hole resembles the size and shape of the hole described by the family of Nathan Woessner, the boy who was trapped under the sand for several hours..

Rowe said the hole appeared to be five feet deep but may have been deeper and the sand at the bottom was very loose. Investigators say the hole was not created by human activity and is believed to have formed as a natural phenomenon. Samples of the sand and debris within the hole have been collected and will be analyzed.

Rowe said more equipment was being taken to Mount Baldy on Wednesday to collect sand samples from various depths within the hole, if it still exists, and areas near the location of the hole.

The samples could provide the dates of the sand deposition under this area of loose sand, he said.

Among the testing conducted this week by the EPA was ground-penetrating radar, which investigators hope will create a three-dimensional model of the dune.

The Mount Baldy area of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will remain closed to the public until further notice.

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Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore News Release

Release Date: August 14, 2013


National Park Service Finds Additional Hole at Mt. Baldy
INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE: On Monday, August 12, 2013, the National Park Service (NPS) and the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 (EPA), began using sensing equipment to look for anomalies, gaps, and holes in the Mt. Baldy dune of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This investigation is a follow-up to the rescue of Nathan Woessner from a hole that had developed in the dune in July. (Note to editors: the hole that led to the rescue was not a sinkhole and should not be referred to as a sinkhole).

During the course of the work investigators found a hole, approximately 10-inches in diameter, in the surface of the dune. The hole resembles the size and shape of the hole described by the Woessner family. The hole appeared to be 5-feet deep but may have been deeper as the sand at the bottom was very loose. The hole was not created by any human activity and is believed to have formed as a natural phenomenon. Samples of the sand and debris within the hole have been collected and will be analyzed.
Additional equipment will be brought to Mt. Baldy on Wednesday, August 14, 2013, to collect sand samples from various depths within the hole, if it still exists, and areas near the location of the hole. The samples could provide the dates of the sand deposition under this area of loose sand.

The National Park Service has developed an investigation team comprised of NPS geologists and hydrologists and university researchers from several disciplines. The team will collectively make decisions about the progression of the investigation into the phenomenon associated with the conditions on Mt. Baldy.
The EPA conducted limited ground-penetrating radar (GPR) testing at Mt. Baldy on Monday, August 12, 2013 to initiate the park investigation. It is hoped that the GPR can provide a 3-D model of the dune (inside and out) as well as locate any anomalies within the dune that might require further investigation.

Additional testing and analysis of results will take weeks and the entire Mt. Baldy area will remain closed to the public until further notice. “We realize that many people would like to visit Mt. Baldy and we regret that the area is closed,” said park superintendent Constantine Dillon, “but the fact that we do not know what caused the original hole, and that a new hole has spontaneously appeared, reinforces our concern that Mt. Baldy is not safe for visitors at this time.”

www.nps.gov/indu

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is part of the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 402 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

[Ang]

Aliens from the Planet P are taking the sand in the middle of the night to make blue glass on thier planet......

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An area at Central Beach, adjacent to Mount Baldy, is closed. The National Park Service has extended the closure of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Mount Baldy section indefinitely during an investigation after Nathan Woessner was swallowed up in a sinkhole in the sand.

National Park Service finds additional hole at Mount Baldy

August 14, 2013 11:30 am • Times Staff

MICHIGAN CITY | Investigators have discovered another hole at the Mount Baldy dune similar to the hole that enveloped a 6-year-old Illinois boy in July.

The National Park Service and the Environmental Protection
Agency on Monday began using sensing equipment at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to look for anomalies in the sand dune.

Supervisory Park Ranger Bruce Rowe, who is the public information officer for the IDNL, announced Wednesday morning investigators found a hole, about 10 inches in diameter, in the surface of the dune. The hole resembles the size and shape of the hole described by the family of Nathan Woessner, the boy who was trapped under the sand for several hours.

Rowe said the hole appeared to be 5-feet deep but may have been deeper and the sand at the bottom was very loose. Investigators said the hole was not created by human activity and is believed to have formed as a natural phenomenon. Samples of the sand and debris within the hole have been collected and will be analyzed.

Rowe said more equipment was being taken to Mount Baldy on Wednesday to collect sand samples from various depths within the hole, if it still exists, and areas near the location of the hole.

The samples could provide the dates of the sand deposition under this area of loose sand, he said.

Among the testing conducted this week by the EPA was ground-penetrating radar, which investigators hope will create a three-dimensional model of the dune.

The Mount Baldy area of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will remain closed to the public until further notice.

[Southsider2k12]

City By the Lake.org
Press Release from the Mayor's Office about next Wednesday.

For Immediate Release

Date: August 19, 2013
Phone: (219) 873-1400
Fax: (219) 873-1515
Contact: Kalon Kubik

“Miracle at Mt. Baldy Recognition Programs”

Michigan City, IN ---Mayor Ron Meer and the City of Michigan City, Indiana announce a dual recognition program honoring all of the agencies and individuals involved in the rescue of Nathan Woessner on Wednesday, August 28, 2013.

The first recognition program will be conducted by Indiana Governor Mike Pence at Michigan City City Hall (100 E. Michigan Boulevard) at 11:00 a.m. and will run approximately one hour.

At approximately 1:00 p.m., Mayor Meer and the City of Michigan City will present a recognition program in the Stardust Events Center at the Blue Chip Casino (777 Blue Chip Drive) in Michigan City.

Nathan Woessner and Family plan on being in attendance at both programs.

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Nathan Woessner is a survivor. A month ago, he was trapped under 11 feet of sand in Indiana for more than three hours. And on Monday, he headed back to school after weeks of rehabilitation and recovery.

http://bit.ly/14QAagZ

[Southsider2k12]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=n...&id=9211574

Nathan Woessner is a survivor. A month ago, he was trapped under 11 feet of sand in Indiana for more than three hours.

And on Monday, he headed back to school after weeks of rehabilitation and recovery.

The 6-year-old and his parents spoke with ABC7's Evelyn Holmes about his first day of school, how their son is feeling and his incredible recovery. Nathan Woessner looks like any other 6-year old as he plays with his brothers and sister and other kids at the park after his first day of school.

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Remember...

GOVERNOR PENCE TO HONOR HOOSIER HEROES

FOR INDIANA DUNES RESCUE IN LAPORTE COUNTY



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2013



Indianapolis, IN - Tomorrow, Governor Mike Pence will honor Hoosier heroes whose efforts saved the life of young Nathan Woessner, age 6, of Sterling, Illinois, who was trapped under eleven feet of sand for more than three hours on Friday, July 12. Details below.



Wednesday, August 28:



11:00 a.m. CDT - Governor Mike Pence will honor Hoosier heroes who assisted in the rescue of Nathan Woessner, age 6

*Media are welcome to attend.

Michigan City City Hall, 100 W. Michigan Boulevard, Michigan City, IN

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Pence lauds rescuers who saved boy buried in dune

By: NewsCenter16 Staff
Updated: Wed 2:19 PM, Aug 28, 2013


Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is praising more than 100 people who helped rescue a 6-year-old Illinois boy buried beneath 11 feet of sand at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for more than three hours last month.

Pence told people gathered in Michigan City on Wednesday that Nathan Woessner of Sterling, Ill., became "the miracle of Mount Baldy" when he was pulled alive from the sand on July 12.

All 135 rescuers received certificates for their efforts and were thanked by Nathan's parents. Many hugged the boy.

A second event honoring the rescuers was scheduled later Wednesday at Blue Chip Casino.

Nathan was hospitalized for two weeks but has recovered and has started first grade. The National Park Service is trying to determine what caused Nathan to become trapped.

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It was a great and powerful ceremony.