When Sankara McCain walked across the stage to graduate from Emerson School for Visual and Performing Arts, she didn’t know where her arts journey would take her. Never did she think it would lead to her working with everyone from Phylicia Rashad to Saweetie to Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter for the “Cowboy Carter” tour. […]
Rayonna Burton-Jernigan
Rayonna Burton-Jernigan is the Business and Economic Development reporter for Capital B Gary.
Posted inEconomic Development, Redevelopment
Sneak Peek: Inside Gary’s Future $35 Million YMCA Campus
City officials, community leaders, and residents gathered in Gary’s Tolleston neighborhood to mark the start of construction on a $35 million YMCA and Boys & Girls Club campus. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Wednesday at the site of the former Tolleston Middle School, where the 91,000-square-foot facility will be built. “When we invest in […]
Posted inEconomy, Money, Politics & Policy
Gary’s Seniors on Edge as Tariffs Threaten Their Savings
On a recent weekday afternoon, the Gary Public Library’s community room was filled with dozens of seniors seeking community, friendship, and a game of bingo. For members of the Senior Citizens Friendship Club, it’s a welcome escape from the stress and uncertainty of daily life. It offers a brief window to laugh, unwind, and connect […]
Posted inCommunity
‘This Is About More Than Just Food’: Inside a Grassroots Effort Feeding Hundreds in Gary
On a windy Sunday morning this month in downtown Gary, families lined up outside the Family Life Community Center. They weren’t there for church, but for nourishment. “Number 1!” “Numbers 25-30!” a volunteer shouted into a bullhorn, his voice cutting through the jazz music that filled the air. The parking lot next to the Family […]
Posted inEducation
When the Tornado Hit, Their School Was Damaged. Now These Gary Students Are Rebuilding.
The roof was damaged. Classrooms were emptied. The building where hundreds of children once learned and laughed sat silently behind locked doors. Nearly three weeks after a tornado tore through the Tolleston neighborhood, students and staff of Frankie Woods McCullough Academy are returning to their school. The Gary Community School Corporation said classes will resume […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Redevelopment
From Eyesore to Opportunity: Gary’s Side Lot Program Gives Hope to Homeowners
Gaynette Ford remembers the day she danced in the street. After years of living next to a crumbling drug house, where strangers loitered, and needles littered the ground, she had all but given up on getting it torn down. Then, one afternoon, she came home to a sight she never expected: a demolition crew leveling […]
Posted inExtreme Weather, Public Safety, Utilities
Shaken Gary Residents Dig Out After Tornado Touches Down in Region
Toppled power lines. Caved-in roofs. Lumbering trees crashed into the Earth. And residents left stunned. These were just a few of the images greeting Gary this morning after a tornado whipped through the city Wednesday evening, devastating dozens of homes in the Tolleston neighborhood and leaving thousands of Northwest Indiana residents without power. By Thursday […]
Posted inArts, Community, Education
Gary Native PeQue Empowers Youth Through Art
As temperatures rise in Gary, so too is residents’ desire to push the city in a brighter direction. To that end, one avenue for change is being honed in our youngest citizens: through art. World-renowned artist PeQue, a Gary native whose murals have honored figures like Kobe Bryant and Kamala Harris, returned home — not […]
Posted inBusiness, Economic Development, Local Government
‘This Is the Right Time’: Melton Pushes for Convention Center in Gary
Chatter bounced off the high ceilings of St. Timothy’s Church on Thursday as hundreds of Lake County residents filled the pews, waiting for an answer to a question that has stirred both hope and doubt: Could Gary become home to the long-awaited Lake County Convention Center? With the decision narrowed to two locations, Hard Rock […]
Posted inCommunity, Culture, Education
Gary Students Learn From Harlem’s Finest at Dance Workshop
“And five, six, seven, eight!” Warming up to the tunes of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” and James Brown’s “Super Bad” with stretches and steps, a room full of Gary students gathered in the student of Indiana University Northwest to boogie down with a few of Harlem’s best dancers. The Dance Theatre of Harlem, a […]