Congressman Pete Visclosky holds Town Forums

Congressman Pete Visclosky announced he will be holding 24 Town Forums throughout Indiana’s First Congressional District during the month of January. Each year Visclosky holds forums throughout the region to hear directly from constituents and provide an update on the issues facing Congress and Northwest Indiana.



Congressman Visclosky addresses the Unites Steelworkers rally. Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers, looks on as Visclosky makes his remarks. (6/26/06)


“There are many important issues facing this country and Northwest Indiana right now, including rising gas and energy prices, creating good-paying jobs, working to make high-quality healthcare more accessible, and establishing a responsible timetable for redeploying our troops from Iraq. As the New Year and the new session of Congress begin, I want to hear directly from the people of Northwest Indiana on the issues that matter most to them,” Visclosky said in a press release.

Just like in the past years, a local middle or high school student will have the opportunity to introduce Congressman Visclosky in his or her community and lead the forum in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thursday Jan. 10
6 p.m., Gary Wildermuth Library, 501 S. Lake St., Gary. Introduction by Tremaine Tillotson, Dunbar-Pulaski Middle School

Friday, Jan. 11
6:30 p.m., Merrillville Town Hall, 7820 Broadway, Merrillville

Saturday, Jan. 12
9 a.m., Gary Public Safety Center, 1st Floor Community Room, 535 Polk St., Gary. Introduction by Oliver Thornton, Tolleston Middle

11 a.m., East Chicago Public Library, 2401 E. Columbus Drive, East Chicago. Introduction by Tatiana Brito, Block Junior High

3 p.m., Hammond Main Library, 564 State St. Introduction by Calvin Sanders,Eggers Middle.

In December Visclosky announced that he secured $12 million for Northwest Indiana for a wide-range of programs including educational programs, disaster preparedness, and transportation projects throughout Northwest Indiana.
The funding is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Bill (HR 2764), which has passed the House and Senate, and is expected to be signed into law by the President.
This funding is in addition to the over $58 million in energy and water infrastructure projects and $4.6 million in crime prevention funding, also in HR 2764.

IUN
Also included in the legislation is $931,000 for a range of educational initiatives in Northwest Indiana, including after-school programs for K-12 students, funding for an urban academy geared for college bound students, and support for Indiana University Northwest’s (IUN) Health Research Institute.

Specifically, the Indiana University School of Medicine in Gary will receive $502,000 for facilities and equipment at the newly formed Northwest Indiana Health Research Institute, which advances new knowledge and information about the health and care of urban populations.

YWCA
Visclosky also secured $191,000 for after school and summer programs at the YWCA of Gary. The Gary YWCA will offer an after school and summer program, called Kids Café, designed to provide a safe haven for children and prevent them from engaging in risky behavior. The program aims to serve youth throughout Northwest Indiana.

Purdue Calumet Urban Academy

Visclosky also secured $238,000 for to help fund the Hammond Purdue Calumet urban academy focused on technology and science with a college-bound curriculum.

Purdue University Calumet, with the support of the Civil City of Hammond, will create an urban academy as an alternative educational opportunity for Hammond residents.

The academy would begin as a middle school focused on technology and science with a college-bound curriculum, with the academy adding grade levels each year until it becomes a middle/high school.

The academy would serve approximately 90 students per grade, and parental involvement would be a prerequisite for application. Total Purdue Cal School of Technology funding is $9.15 million.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will receive $1.476 million for land acquisition. The funding for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore fits into Visclosky’s vision for investing in Lake Michigan to improve the area’s economic and recreational opportunities.
Also included in the legislation is $1.225 million to align 45th Street and Calumet Avenue in Munster. By allowing this east-west thoroughfare to be aligned, traffic congestion and train interruptions will be greatly reduced.
Visclosky also secured $196,000 for Rohrman Park in Schererville. This funding will be used for park expansion and improvements, including improvements to the athletic fields in the park.
Also included in the legislation is $817,000 for Valparaiso University to help purchase a dual-polarization detection Doppler weather radar system.

Transportaion
Visclosky was able to secure funding for several transportation infrastructure projects throughout the 1st Congressional District, including $4.9 million for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s (NICTD) efforts to continue to invest in commuter rail throughout Northwest Indiana, which was also supported by Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Joe Donnelly.

Lake County Sheriff
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department is set to receive $658,000 for two major and much needed technological upgrades. A majority of the funds will be for the Wireless Network Project, which will serve as the fundamental vehicle by which the Lake County Sheriff Department, Fire Department, EMA and EMS will establish an interoperable communication system, which was a regional recommendation of the Good Government Initiative. The funds will be used for the purchase of data sharing software and interoperable wireless communications devices.


“As the Sheriff’s Department continues our efforts to track down those who have committed crimes, it is crucial that we have access to high-quality equipment and technology that will assist in our efforts, and I thank Congressman Visclosky for his continued assistance,” said Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez.

The remainder of the $658,000 will be used to purchase digital photography equipment and software for the Lake County Sheriff’s Crime Lab, which was also a recommendation of the Good Government Initiative. According to the initiative, the current photography equipment in the lab is over 20 years old and current processing of photos is inefficient.

Local Police Divisions
Another law-enforcement tool that will receive funding, and is part of the Good Government Initiative is the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which will receive $376,000. In an effort to increase the safety of Northern Lake County Indiana, six police departments; Hammond, Gary, East Chicago, Whiting, Highland and Hobart, have agreed to create an integrated booking system that electronically captures, prints and transmits fingerprints and data. The implementation of this system will allow these departments to share their resources and to more efficiently identify and arrest criminals. The funds provided will be used to purchase and install the equipment in the six departments.


The Gary Police Department will receive $451,000 to complete Phase IV of the Shot Spotter Gunfire Detection System by purchasing additional sensors. The Gary Police Department will use the system to deal with gun-related crime, including a significant number that are directly related to drug trafficking and gang activity.

Juvenile Justice
Also included in the legislation is $94,000 for the “No Workshops No Jumpshots” Program. This program, which is based in Gary and is part of the Department of Justice’s Juvenile Justice Program, provides programming activities for youth between the ages of 13-18 years old. The goal of the “No Workshops No Jumpshots” program is to provide a positive, structured environment in which the participants work to improve academic achievement, social skills and emotional maturity.

HIDTA
Visclosky was also able to secure $3.022 million for the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Lake County’s HIDTA’s goal is to reduce illegal drug-trafficking and drug-related crime throughout the area. “Because so much of the crime in Northwest Indiana is related to drug activity, it is critical to invest in anti-drug programs like HIDTA,” said Visclosky.

Also included in this appropriations bill is $25.850 million for the nation-wide Bullet Proof Vest Partnership Program, which Congressman Visclosky authored in 1997. The program works with local law enforcement agencies throughout the country to provide funding for the purchase of bulletproof vests. The purpose of the program is to save the lives of law enforcement officers engaged in local crime-fighting activities.

Earlier this year, in addition to this funding for crime prevention, Visclosky announced he secured $800,000 for the Indiana National Guard’s Drug Demand Reduction Program, which will provide support to several drug-prevention programs for area students in Northwest Indiana.

Fortress SSH Server

In an effort to start a newspaper on line, I was told by a salesman and a consultant that it would have to be hosted on my on server. Anyone in the business of Internet anything will at some point need to consider a secure shell server for their business to keep hackers out of the mix.
I am still researching this subject because I will need an influx of capital by way of many advertisers and this SSH will not be optional--I'll have to have it in order to work.
One way to cut overhead is to have minimal office space and have writers work off-site. They would log in to the computer to submit and or edit stories. I will have a software intensive environment with the newspaper. Files will have to be backed up and I will need lots of memory for high-resolution photos and e-mail accounts. The list is endless and can be overwhelming at times.
Owning my own business will require me to learn more about things like a SSH Server.
I have found that to host a newspaper site that supports advertisers and subscribers submitting payments over the Internet in addition to a print edition published twice a week cannot be accomplished with my current set up because of the Internet traffic.
No, I am not an expert but by the time this plan becomes an actuality, I will be.

I am an editor for Topix.com

I am an editor for Topix.com as I mentioned before in a post.
What I get to do is edit news for my area, Gary, IN. It was free to sign up and I utilized the site anyway because I liked that I could get a variety of local news on one page. Also because I saw one of my friends was an editor, I, being the copycat that I am, decided to sign up too.
This is not a paid position but since I am up sitting at my computer reading news on line anyway, I might as well add some news to the page I'm looking at because who could know an area better than it's inhabitants?
I can also add stories that I write but so far I have only added a weather photo and caption.
Also, a blogger of note is Dwight Taylor. I don't think I know him personally but his blog, Uncensored Reality is informative and he can be heard on WLTH Radio quite often.

Learn to Play the Piano in 2008

Children and adults who want to learn how to play the piano should plan this new year to make good on that promise to themselves or their children. People who know how to play a musical instrument are considered to be more interesting and also of a higher intelligence that the average person.
Piano lessons & piano chords unfortunately, are in a world unknown to me.
I have friends who know how to play the piano and my mother is teaching herself chords on her organ but I don't know a note. This is a fact that saddens me but makes me want to learn.
I found a site recently--Playpiano.com--where they send out DVDs to you so that you may learn at your own pace. They even have a free newsletter they'll send you upon request.
The site is easy enough to navigate so that you can see how the DVD's can help you and so that you can read the testimonials from satisfied customers.

I listen to WLTH Radio 1370 AM

I am an avid listener to WLTH Radio. The hosts and hostess also known as the "Tri-City Connection" take callers from all over the Northwest Indiana area but the subject of the day is almost always Gary, Indiana.
This morning they touched on the city's murder rate and how bad some of the grocery stores are in terms of cleanliness.
The murder rate story may be found at Topix.com where I am an editor. I cannot help you with the source of the other story.

Bad Credit Auto Loans

People who use bad credit auto loans to get a car after experiencing financial problems also improve their credit score.
The more you pay on time on a loan, the better your credit will be. Credit reporting occurs at 30, 60 and 90 days--especially if you are late with a payment.
Being late with a payment is how consumers end up in a situation where they have to take bed credit auto loans. The interest is higher.
When I go to buy a car, I will probably have to obtain a bad credit auto loan. I hope the interest rates aren't too high.
The lower the interest rate the more car you can buy with the loan amount.

Clean the snow off of your property

Make sure you clean off your stoops, steps and sidewalks. People coming to your home do not want to stumble over ice and snow drifts trying to knock on your door.
Besides that, it is rude and lazy.
If you cannot do it yourself make sure you hire someone to do it.
The reason I am writing this post is because my father just yelled at me about not sweeping the snow off of my porch.
Other than that, I hope everyone had a happy New Year because I know I did.
I hope the rest of the year is just as good.

Daniels announces state employee pay raise for 2008

INDIANAPOLIS (December 19, 2007) - Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels today announced state employee salaries will rise 4.8 percent in 2008 on average. Since taking office, Daniels has made properly compensating state employees a top priority through his "pay for performance" program. Prior to the Daniels administration, all state employees received the same across-the-board increase regardless of job performance. This approach led some high-performing employees to leave state employment because they felt unfairly and inadequately compensated.

"It's the rule in life that those working the hardest and getting the best results are rewarded more than those doing a poor job, but Indiana state government, until now, didn't apply that rule," said Daniels. "The best public servants deserve the best pay."

"We have been able to significantly increase salaries and benefits and increase them dramatically for those doing the best job of serving taxpayers," Daniels added. "Because of the new approach, we are in an improved position to attract and retain top talent, even while holding total payroll costs flat."

All state employees will receive a 1.5 percent increase that will be reflected in the employees' final 2007 check. Those whose performance evaluations "meet expectations" will receive an additional three percent performance-based increase for a combined total pay raise of 4.5 percent. Staff who "exceed expectations" will receive an additional 8.5 percent performance-based increase for a combined total pay raise of 10 percent. These merit-based raises will become effective on the last check in February for agencies completing their employee evaluations by the end of January.

Approximately 80 percent of state employees will receive a rating of "meet expectations," while 10 percent will "exceed expectations." Employees in the lowest 10 percent will receive a work plan designed to improve their job performance to the "meets expectations" level.

In addition to salary adjustments, over the last three years, Daniels also authorized increases in the state's contribution to employees' health insurance and implemented two bonus programs. Even with larger increases in average state employee compensation, total payroll costs to the state have dropped by nearly $50 million since the start of the Daniels administration. The overall decrease was made possible by a 10 percent reduction in the number of state employees.

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Rank in Rankrz

I don't know if it is because I am sleepy or what but I have completed the Rankrz registration and all but I still don't understand it. I have two votes--one of them mine--and I have a new place to promote my blog, www.imadeamesss.com. About the site, I read that Rankrz is a user-generated ranking site, which gives ad revenue opportunities to users. I want ad revenue. They want initial users for their beta site. This, I think is what I was supposed to accomplish for Rankrz and I think that I did it. If it were the aforementioned items, then we have all met our objectives and that is just fine. It is a nice site and I like it when I get help with keywords. Maybe you should go check it out for yourself. Look in the box below.