Local News

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are working on a program with community college students found those who receive mentorship support had a greater chance of completing an associates degree than those who didn’t.

Michiana’s longrunning Sunburst races has dropped the marathon for the event this year.

Organizers say they plan to focus on the shorter races.

The marathon went from 800 finishers a few years ago to under 250 in 2017. That prompted organizers to cut it.

The race on June second will still have a half-marathon, 10-K and 5-K.

Travis Bladecki is the race director for Sunburst. He says with everything that goes into planning a marathon, it wasn’t worth it anymore.

  Data from the South Bend Police Department show more shootings in 2017 but fewer use of force incidents, and other positives in the numbers.

There were 102 shootings in South Bend in 2017. That’s up from 81 in 2016.

Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said they’re not happy with the numbers.

“Obviously we had an uptick from shootings in 2016 to 2017. None of us at this table, none of us not at this table, are happy with it at all. One is too many, period.”

After a successful football season rescuing food from Notre Dame, non-profit Cultivate is rescuing food from basketball and hockey games as well.

Cultivate rescued more than 7 thousand pounds of unused food after Notre Dame football games this fall. Now they’re rescuing food after hockey and basketball games.

Cultivate partners with food banks and shelters around South Bend. The food is either donated directly or repackaged as meals and given to those in need.

As students leave for holiday break, the fate of Elkhart crossing guards is still unknown. The city of Elkhart cut funding for school crossing guards when they adopted their new budget in October. The cost to fund crossing guards for a year is about $222,000.

The kerfuffle over who should pay for crossing guards is not new to Elkhart. Most people say it’s a often a disagreement between schools and city officials but usually settled quickly.

The bike-share company LimeBike has released end-of-year data that show the company’s first six months in South Bend have been successful.

LimeBike is a dockless bike share that started operating in South Bend over the summer. In that time 27 thousand riders have covered 85 thousand miles on the green bikes.  

The recent announcement of a proposal by CoreCivic, a private, Tennessee-based company, to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Elkhart County has some residents in search of ways to make their opposition known. The immigrant advocacy group, Elkhart-Goshen Sanctuary Coalition, hosted a seminar Saturday in Elkhart to discuss protest techniques with residents.  

Community centers, libraries and schools across the country are reading one book Thursday, in an effort to raise awareness and education around transgender children.

The book is ‘I Am Jazz” written by reality TV star and transgender child activist Jazz Jennings.

The South Bend nonprofit La Casa de Amistad hosted a meeting Thursday, to discuss the details of the recent consideration of Elkhart County as the site for a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention facility by the private company CoreCivic.

Residents of St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties gathered to write letters to urge local government leaders to vote down CoreCivic’s proposal to build the facility when the proposal is presented.
 

Officers at the Elkhart Police Department are back to well shaven after a month of growing beards and collecting food for the Salvation Army.

For the month of November Elkhart police officers could forgo shaving and bring in a non-perishable food item each day to wear a beard.

Officers are allowed to have a mustache under their dress code, but no other facial hair.

Department spokesperson Chris Snyder says it was fun seeing all the different types of facial hair.

The South Bend Community School Corporation held a listening forum yesterday where residents had an opportunity to give feedback to school leaders about the proposed Focus 2018 school plan.

Volunteers and workers at Hope Ministries in South Bend will provide nearly a thousand thanksgiving dinners for the holiday today.

Hope Ministries has been giving out thanksgiving dinners for 25 years. This year, they will serve just over 300 people at their facility and deliver more than 500 meals to people in need.

We were saddened to hear the news that drummer Billy “Stix” Nicks died Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the age of 82 after an illness. He died just one day after being inducted into the South Bend Community Hall of Fame.

Bill Nicks founded the popular jazz bands The Rhythm Rockers and the Billy Nicks Jazz Trio. He’s also known for having played and recorded with the prestigious Motown label with Junior Walker and the All Stars.

Billy performed at many WVPE events over the years, including one of the Meet Me on the Island events earlier this year with his band The Motown Machine.

The University of Notre Dame has established a new Office of Military and Veterans Affairs to help serve students in that population.

The process to get the new Office of Military and Veterans Affairs started in January. The University is using the department to bring together services that were previously housed separately.

Many other universities have similar departments to work with military and veteran students.

Morning Edition host Michael Linville speaks with Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher about her experience in a concentration camp, and a play about her experience being performed next week by the students at Bethany Christian High School in Goshen.

The new non-profit, Accelerator for America, launched in South Bend today. The group, chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, was developed with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Accelerator for America aims to provide strategic or financial support to help strengthen people’s economic security nationwide. That includes organizations that promote jobs and skills training in communities.
 

The city of Elkhart cut the ribbon in its first Americans with Disabilities Act compliant playground.

The new playground at McNaughton park features artificial turf and wider walkways that make it easier for maneuvering wheelchairs. And a special enclosed pod for children on the autism spectrum who might become over stimulated in a group.

Elkhart Mayor Tim Neese said the road to the project has been a long one.

The University of Notre Dame will stop providing birth control coverage to students and employees at the end of the plan year. This has made it one of the targets of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Contraceptive coverage is required under the Affordable Care Act.

The Family and Children’s Center  in South Bend is promoting the use of baby boxes in St. Joseph County in an effort to help reduce infant mortality rates. Baby boxes are cardboard boxes that come with a sleeping pad and provide a safe sleep option for newborns up to six months.