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Top 10 stories of 2006
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
During a year in which the Indiana Toll Road lease and deadly fires in Michigan City dominated the front pages of The News-Dispatch, the top story of 2006 was a storm that uprooted trees, tore off roofs and allowed residents to debate exactly what it was that changed the physical landscape of the city.
News-Dispatch staffers picked the Aug. 23 storm that packed a 106-mph wind as the year's top story, just above the defeats of long-time legislators Mary Kay Budak and Marlow Harmon in this year's primary election.
Of the ballots turned in by staffers, the only news event to be included on every one was the August storm.
The defeats of Budak and Harmon in the May primary, as well as the general election defeat of U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola, and the lease of the Indiana Toll Road were mentioned on most ballots.
Residents in August debated whether the winds that ravaged the area were caused by a tornado or were simple straight-line winds. Despite accounts from witnesses who said they saw funnel clouds, National Weather Service meteorologists said that the damage was probably caused by straight-line winds.
Hundreds of trees were uprooted, including 70 very large, very old trees in Washington Park. Power lines were down and outages lasted a couple of days for many people in the city, Beverly Shores and Pines. Streets were closed temporarily by trees or limbs, as crews worked for hours to clear paths. Yards were littered with downed branches and tree trunks, causing many homeowners to take a day or more off work to clean up the mess.
The storm hit on the eve of the annual In-Water Boat Show, and even though one entire dock was ripped loose, damage to boats was minor, and the show opened the next day.
The defeats of Budak and Harmon helped shake up the political landscape of LaPorte County. Budak's defeat at the hands of Republican newcomer Tom Dermody was likely the result of Budak's support of a controversial lease of the Indiana Toll Road.
In a county where Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels is roundly disliked (he was booed and picketed during an appearance at LaPorte City Hall in the fall), Budak's support of his Toll Road initiative was, according to many local and state politicos, the long-time legislator's political death knell. Budak's support of the governor's Major Moves package provided a key vote in its narrow approval, and her own pollster acknowledged after her defeat that nothing she did could overcome the fact that most voters opposed her because of the lease, which turned the Indiana Toll Road over to a private operator for 75 years, with the state getting $75 million, large amounts of which is going to LaPorte and other Toll Road counties and is available for road construction.
Two-term U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola lost in November's general election to Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly. Donnelly lost to Chocola in 2004 by a slim margin, but this year, with some House Republicans caught in scandals and President Bush's popularity sharply down because of the war in Iraq, Democrats regained control of the U.S. House and Senate.
The number-four story dealt with the August deaths of four Mexican nationals living in the attic of what fire officials said was a single-family home that had been converted into a boarding house with up to 15 makeshift rooms.
The men couldn't escape when the house caught fire, investigators said, because the only way out of the upstairs was through a back staircase that led to where the fire was blazing.
Two young brothers - Andrew and Austin Griffin, died just over a month later when their West William Street home caught fire.
The fifth-rated story was the completion of a new, larger, single-story gambling vessel at Blue Chip Casino and the fall announcement that Boyd Gaming will build a 22-story hotel to go along with it. It will be the tallest occupied structure in LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties.
The sixth-rated story was that of controversial plans about North End redevelopment and a master plan presented for Washington Park. Residents and officials debated the validity of propositions, including one that would, among other things, transform the Trail Creek corridor by closing off portions of Michigan Boulevard to make way for large residential and retail efforts, with an investment of some $170 million, and a park plan that would bring a private restaurant to Washington Park Beach. Both issues will be back in 2007.
Coming in seventh on the list was Anthony Novak's state championship. The Michigan City High School student fired a 6-under par, two-round total of 138 to claim individual medalist at the IHSAA Boys Golf State Finals on June 13 and 14. It was the second-best two-day total of all-time for the state meet.
The eighth-rated story is the controversy over a proposed middle- to low-income housing development slated to be built on Pahs Road across from Michigan City High School.
LaPorte County residents who live near the property - led by LaPorte County Prosecutor Rob Beckman, acting as an individual - have questioned the validity of the city's annexation of the land and the legality of its zoning. The Michigan City Common Council is fighting the project, as well, but the developer appears to have the financing and most of the approvals to go forward.
The ninth-rated story is rejection by LaPorte County and Michigan City of membership in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. Local officials denounced the state-created agency - which would procure state and federal funding for a pool from which infrastructure projects in LaPorte, Lake and Porter counties would be taken - because many felt LaPorte County would be left out.
Some local officials said the county simply couldn't afford the millions of dollars required for membership.
Rounding out the top 10 is a November plane crash in a field south of Rolling Prairie in which four employees of an Iowa marketing firm and their pilot died.
The plane had left South Bend Regional Airport on the evening of Nov. 14, when witnesses and National Transportation Safety Board officials said it began a deadly spiral from about 5,700 feet and crashed into a corn field shortly before 7:30 p.m.
Just missing the top 10 were the murder of a Michigan City woman and her mother by the younger woman's estranged husband. The killings of Tonya Goble-Studer and her mother, Vickyann Dewey, took place at Dewey's Berrien County, Mich., home.
Goble-Studer, though, initially called police from the Renaissance Academy east of Michigan City, across from where the woman and her husband, Gary Studer, lived. He later was convicted of murder in Michigan.
Goble-Studer's call apparently went unheeded by emergency dispatchers per a Sheriff's Department policy, and the department took heat over the issue. Goble-Studer asked for police to come to her house in case Studer returned to harm her.
Tied with the Studer murders was the third consecutive state championship won by the Marquette High School girl's volleyball team. The team beat Loogootee for a second-straight year in the championship match.
Rounding out the top 15 were the addition of the first African-American honorees to the Michigan City Area Schools Wall of Fame, the run to a national regional final by a 13-1 Michigan City Pop Warner Football team, the two drunk driving arrests of 1st Ward Michigan City Councilman Chuck Lungren and the death of Michigan City High School junior and accomplished artist Meghan Jesse in a car accident on Indiana 2 in Porter County's Washington Township.
An arson at The News-Dispatch, groundbreaking for the new Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, the beating death of City man David Adams, the controversial comments by Michigan City Area Schools administrator Gene Sweeney about city residents and teachers and Mayor Chuck Oberlie's announcement that he'll seek re-election rounded out the top 20.
Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.
By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
During a year in which the Indiana Toll Road lease and deadly fires in Michigan City dominated the front pages of The News-Dispatch, the top story of 2006 was a storm that uprooted trees, tore off roofs and allowed residents to debate exactly what it was that changed the physical landscape of the city.
News-Dispatch staffers picked the Aug. 23 storm that packed a 106-mph wind as the year's top story, just above the defeats of long-time legislators Mary Kay Budak and Marlow Harmon in this year's primary election.
Of the ballots turned in by staffers, the only news event to be included on every one was the August storm.
The defeats of Budak and Harmon in the May primary, as well as the general election defeat of U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola, and the lease of the Indiana Toll Road were mentioned on most ballots.
Residents in August debated whether the winds that ravaged the area were caused by a tornado or were simple straight-line winds. Despite accounts from witnesses who said they saw funnel clouds, National Weather Service meteorologists said that the damage was probably caused by straight-line winds.
Hundreds of trees were uprooted, including 70 very large, very old trees in Washington Park. Power lines were down and outages lasted a couple of days for many people in the city, Beverly Shores and Pines. Streets were closed temporarily by trees or limbs, as crews worked for hours to clear paths. Yards were littered with downed branches and tree trunks, causing many homeowners to take a day or more off work to clean up the mess.
The storm hit on the eve of the annual In-Water Boat Show, and even though one entire dock was ripped loose, damage to boats was minor, and the show opened the next day.
The defeats of Budak and Harmon helped shake up the political landscape of LaPorte County. Budak's defeat at the hands of Republican newcomer Tom Dermody was likely the result of Budak's support of a controversial lease of the Indiana Toll Road.
In a county where Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels is roundly disliked (he was booed and picketed during an appearance at LaPorte City Hall in the fall), Budak's support of his Toll Road initiative was, according to many local and state politicos, the long-time legislator's political death knell. Budak's support of the governor's Major Moves package provided a key vote in its narrow approval, and her own pollster acknowledged after her defeat that nothing she did could overcome the fact that most voters opposed her because of the lease, which turned the Indiana Toll Road over to a private operator for 75 years, with the state getting $75 million, large amounts of which is going to LaPorte and other Toll Road counties and is available for road construction.
Two-term U.S. Rep. Chris Chocola lost in November's general election to Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly. Donnelly lost to Chocola in 2004 by a slim margin, but this year, with some House Republicans caught in scandals and President Bush's popularity sharply down because of the war in Iraq, Democrats regained control of the U.S. House and Senate.
The number-four story dealt with the August deaths of four Mexican nationals living in the attic of what fire officials said was a single-family home that had been converted into a boarding house with up to 15 makeshift rooms.
The men couldn't escape when the house caught fire, investigators said, because the only way out of the upstairs was through a back staircase that led to where the fire was blazing.
Two young brothers - Andrew and Austin Griffin, died just over a month later when their West William Street home caught fire.
The fifth-rated story was the completion of a new, larger, single-story gambling vessel at Blue Chip Casino and the fall announcement that Boyd Gaming will build a 22-story hotel to go along with it. It will be the tallest occupied structure in LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties.
The sixth-rated story was that of controversial plans about North End redevelopment and a master plan presented for Washington Park. Residents and officials debated the validity of propositions, including one that would, among other things, transform the Trail Creek corridor by closing off portions of Michigan Boulevard to make way for large residential and retail efforts, with an investment of some $170 million, and a park plan that would bring a private restaurant to Washington Park Beach. Both issues will be back in 2007.
Coming in seventh on the list was Anthony Novak's state championship. The Michigan City High School student fired a 6-under par, two-round total of 138 to claim individual medalist at the IHSAA Boys Golf State Finals on June 13 and 14. It was the second-best two-day total of all-time for the state meet.
The eighth-rated story is the controversy over a proposed middle- to low-income housing development slated to be built on Pahs Road across from Michigan City High School.
LaPorte County residents who live near the property - led by LaPorte County Prosecutor Rob Beckman, acting as an individual - have questioned the validity of the city's annexation of the land and the legality of its zoning. The Michigan City Common Council is fighting the project, as well, but the developer appears to have the financing and most of the approvals to go forward.
The ninth-rated story is rejection by LaPorte County and Michigan City of membership in the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. Local officials denounced the state-created agency - which would procure state and federal funding for a pool from which infrastructure projects in LaPorte, Lake and Porter counties would be taken - because many felt LaPorte County would be left out.
Some local officials said the county simply couldn't afford the millions of dollars required for membership.
Rounding out the top 10 is a November plane crash in a field south of Rolling Prairie in which four employees of an Iowa marketing firm and their pilot died.
The plane had left South Bend Regional Airport on the evening of Nov. 14, when witnesses and National Transportation Safety Board officials said it began a deadly spiral from about 5,700 feet and crashed into a corn field shortly before 7:30 p.m.
Just missing the top 10 were the murder of a Michigan City woman and her mother by the younger woman's estranged husband. The killings of Tonya Goble-Studer and her mother, Vickyann Dewey, took place at Dewey's Berrien County, Mich., home.
Goble-Studer, though, initially called police from the Renaissance Academy east of Michigan City, across from where the woman and her husband, Gary Studer, lived. He later was convicted of murder in Michigan.
Goble-Studer's call apparently went unheeded by emergency dispatchers per a Sheriff's Department policy, and the department took heat over the issue. Goble-Studer asked for police to come to her house in case Studer returned to harm her.
Tied with the Studer murders was the third consecutive state championship won by the Marquette High School girl's volleyball team. The team beat Loogootee for a second-straight year in the championship match.
Rounding out the top 15 were the addition of the first African-American honorees to the Michigan City Area Schools Wall of Fame, the run to a national regional final by a 13-1 Michigan City Pop Warner Football team, the two drunk driving arrests of 1st Ward Michigan City Councilman Chuck Lungren and the death of Michigan City High School junior and accomplished artist Meghan Jesse in a car accident on Indiana 2 in Porter County's Washington Township.
An arson at The News-Dispatch, groundbreaking for the new Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, the beating death of City man David Adams, the controversial comments by Michigan City Area Schools administrator Gene Sweeney about city residents and teachers and Mayor Chuck Oberlie's announcement that he'll seek re-election rounded out the top 20.
Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.