Latest News

Lakefront Plan Unveiling

The final plan for Whiting's Lakefront Development Project will be unveiled on Tuesday, December 9th, at 6:30 pm in the Whiting High School Auditorium.

This plan, which has been funded by the Regional Development Authority, has had the benefit of extensive input by members of the community and stakeholder groups associated with the shoreline.

Please join us for this exciting look at the future of Whiting's lakefront!

The Hammond City Council voted 9-0 not to fund the Hammond Transit System in the City of Hammond budget for 2009.  The Mayor and City Council, however, have designed a plan to provide funding from casino revenues to allow Hammond Transit System to operate a reduced route schedule until July 1, 2009; this action does impact the service that Hammond Transit System provides to the City of Whiting.  Effective January 1, 2009, the City of Hammond plans reductions in fixed route and paratransit services as follows:

• Elimination of all Saturday fixed route and paratransit services.
• Route 6 (operating on Saturday only) will be eliminated.
• Route 1-C and Route 1-D will be eliminated during the weekday service reducing Route 1 services to an hourly basis.

The City of Hammond also plans to end all public transportation services currently provided through the Hammond Transit System effective July 1, 2009.

Public Hearing Dates Set to Hear Remonstrance's:

• Thursday, December 4, 2008, during the City of Hammond Board of Public Works & Safety meeting, in the Hammond City Council Chambers (2nd Floor), 5925 Calumet Ave., Hammond, IN  46320.
• Saturday, December 13, 2008, between the hours of 1-4 p.m., at the Hammond Public Library, 564 State Street, Hammond, IN  46320 (Main Floor conference room).

If you are unable to attend, your written views and comments will be accepted at or you may contact:

• Dan Rabin Center, 425 Sibley Street, Hammond, IN  46320.
• HTS Director, Keith Matasovsky at 219-853-6514, or
• NIRPC compliance officer Allen Hammond at 219-763-6060 ext. 141.
• Ridermail@everybodycounts.org

ASL interpreter will be provided with 48 hours advance notice.

The parade will start 10:40 a.m. at American Legion Post 80 and end at the Veterans Memorial site at 119th Street & Oliver Avenue.  Please be part of remembering and honoring our veterans living and deceased.  Also, see Phase II of our newly renovated Veterans Memorial with temporary plaques with contributors and veterans names thus far.  You can still contribute by picking up a form at City Hall.

Let's make this a large turn out as we did in May, and show our support to the many men and women who have, and are sacrificing so much for our freedom.

Complete election results for Whiting have been released.  You can view Precinct by Precinct results by clicking on the following link:

http://whitingindiana.com/intranet/Election_Information/2008_General_Election_Results.xls

The event will take place on Saturday, December 6 from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville. Registration and continental breakfast begin at 8:00 am.

The forum will use mediated small-group conversations and keypad polling technology to garner instant ideas and feedback from participants. Input on local priorities including transportation, environmental and economic growth, land use, and how to ensure social equity within the region will be the central focus of this first-ever meeting to develop a vision for the region’s future.

The forum kicks off a long-term effort to develop the region’s first three-county, comprehensive, regional plan to address the changing face of the area by the year 2040.

Register for the forum through the Northwest Indiana Regional Plan Commission's website...www.nirpc.org

The Whiting Fire Department will test City Fire Hydrants Late Sunday evening, 2 November and Monday, 3 November, through Saturday 8 November, between the hours of Noon and 4 pm.

This testing process may cause your household water to become discolored. In the process of flushing hydrants, sediments may get stirred up and pass into your water system. If this occurs, please run your water until the discoloration disappears.

Should you have questions regarding this process, please contact the Whiting Water Department at (219) 659-0407 or the Whiting Fire Department at (219) 659-1069.

REMINDER--Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, 2 November. It is time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors!

FEMA officials requested the City's help in identifying those who suffered damage from heavy rains and flooding over the September 12th weekend. Applications may be made until 6 December 2008.

They encouraged residents who suffered any damage to contact them to determine whether or not they qualify for assistance. This assistance is being made available to homeowners, renters and businesses.

To apply for funding, contact the Federal Emergency Management Administration at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), (For those who use TTY: 1-800-462-7585), or online at www.fema.gov.

Before contacting them, it is helpful to have your Social Security Number, a list of damages suffered, the name of your insurance carrier and policy number and your bank account code (if you wish to speed your assistance through direct deposit).

Whiting has been announced as one of 5 finalists in a national Mrs. T's Pierogy Pocket of America contest from New York.  Last year we finished second, but this year is a new year.  Lets top that and finish first this year!  (This WILL NOT change anything about our Pierogi Fest, everything will still remain the same).

But now we NEED EVERYONE to go online and vote (EVERY DAY) PLUS forward this message on to all your friends not just in Whiting, anyone can vote!  Go to www.pierogypocket.com and cast your vote for WHITING, IN!  Check out Whiting's video while you're online.  You can (and we hope you do) vote once a day till the deadline of October 24, 2008.  We're the only representative of the entire Midwest in this contest so if you can help, we'd sure appreciate your vote.  Three of the other contestants are from New York and the other is from Pennsylvania.  Let's bring honor to the region where it belongs!

On behalf of all who participated in Mayor's Stahura Annual Walk/Run on September 13, 2008, we want to thank you.  Those who showed up due to bad weather had fun.  It stopped raining just before the start of the walk/run and our Co-Chairman, Bob Kark, fired the starter pistol.

Thanks to our volunteers who worked to get this event off the ground.  Co-Chairman - Bob Kark, Official Timer - Matt Dudzik, Registration Table - Kathy Kazmierski, Course Set-up - Chuck Kosalko.

Thanks to our many sponsors that help make the walk/run a success, THANK YOU so much for your support.  We would also like to thank St. Catherine's Hospital for coming out and providing health screening for all participants.  And Dino's for providing pizzas after the event.

Norb Dudzik - Chairman

2K Walk - (1st) George Kettle 18:33, (2nd) Bob Kark 20:30, (3rd) Mary Jane Kark 20:31, (4th) Tom Ryan 21:36, (5th) Denise Sejna 22:08, (6th) Shirley Zochalski 22:45, (7th) Brad Stelow 23:31, (8th) Carol Stelow 23:32, (9th) Janice Starcevich 23:33, (10th) Carol Dudzik 23:54, (11th) Dee Young 31:31, (12th) Jennifer Walsho 31:32, (13th) Terri Loera 31:33.

2K Run - (1st) Mike Hrinyo 11:42

5K Walk - (1st) Carol Graziani 42:19, (2nd) Stan Zygowicz 47:37, (3rd) Rebecca Coleman 48:29, (4th) John Coleman 48:30, (5th) Guillermo Gamino 49:18, (6th) Lilymay Gamino 49:19, (7th) Nancy Baranski 50:52, (8th) Jeanie Kristek 52:04, (9th) Dawn Ramirez 52:05, (10th) Stacey Jurek 52:44, (11th) Joe Jurek 52:45, (12th) Eileen Adam 53:35, (13th) Diane Stahura 53:36, (14th) Brian Lowry 53:38, (15th) Mary Strubel 54:01, (16th) Patricia Turpin 54:05, (17th) Carol Mora 54:07, (18th) Debbie Gazda 54:30, (19th) Carolyn Sarvanidis 54:31, (20th) David Reed 1:01:29, (21st) Priscilla McCarty 1:01:30.

5K Run - (1st) Nick Heeringa 20:24, (2nd) Pat Ramirez 25:46, (3rd) Mike Stribiak 26:08, (4th) Marty Jakubowski 27:23, (5th) Matthew Zabrecky 28:35, (6th) Mark Adam 30:53, (7th) Dan Kristek 34:24.

Click here to read archived news »