Gary is putting roughly $1.4 million toward a new homeless shelter at a moment when the availability of a bed could mean the difference between a place to sleep and a criminal charge. The City Council approved the money for Brothers’ Keeper as a new Indiana law raises the stakes for people sleeping outside. They […]
Local Government
Posted inCommunity, Criminal Justice, Public Safety
Gary’s Homicide Rate Falls to Its Lowest Point in More Than 50 Years
For a city that once held the highest murder rate in the country in the early 1990s, reducing gun violence has been a central focus of city leaders for the past quarter of a century. Last year, Gary recorded 28 homicides, the city’s lowest total in 55 years. The drop was accompanied by a nearly […]
Posted inElections, Local Government, Politics & Policy, State Government
Early Voting Underway in Indiana as Gary Voters Decide Key Local Races
The 2026 midterm voting season kicked off in Indiana this week as polls opened for early voting to considerably less fanfare than the last time voters gathered here to vote in 2024. Poll workers sat idle for most of the morning into the afternoon before placing their lunch orders as voters trickled in at a […]
Posted inLocal Government, Politics & Policy, Redevelopment
How Gary Lost a $5 Billion Jackson Family Theme Park Deal
For a brief moment in the mid-1990s, Gary stood on the edge of a radically different future. City leaders and members of the Jackson family began discussing plans for a theme park in Gary, an idea that soon expanded into something far more ambitious. Envisioned as a destination on par with Graceland, the home of […]
Posted inLocal Government, Politics & Policy, Redevelopment
Gary Takes Next Step on $100 Million Lake County Convention Center
Gary officials moved a long-discussed Lake County Convention Center closer to reality, approving a key step that allows the city to begin negotiating costs for the project planned next to the Hard Rock Casino. At its March 24 meeting, the Gary Common Council approved a resolution allowing the city to begin working with a selected […]
Posted inLocal Government, Politics & Policy, Public Meetings
April 2026 Public Meeting Schedule for Gary
The Gary Redevelopment Commission moved forward on a mix of neighborhood and downtown initiatives, including a measure to expand the city’s sidelot program and taking steps tied to the future of the Genesis Center. The sidelot program allows homeowners to acquire adjacent vacant lots for maintenance or expansion, part of an ongoing effort to stabilize […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Loose Dogs Leave Some Gary Residents Wary of Walking Their Own Blocks
When Penelope Love walks out of her Aetna home, some days she doesn’t know if it will be a good day or a day she may have to fight. And it’s all because of loose dogs. “Nobody wants to encounter a pack of dogs in any kind of situation,” she said. Over the past several […]
Posted inLocal Government, Politics & Policy
February 2026 Public Meeting Schedule for Gary
February’s public meetings in Gary will center on decisions with direct implications for residents, including proposed sewer rate hikes, a sweeping zoning rewrite, and expanded redevelopment activity across the city. As those issues move forward, the Gary Common Council begins the year under new leadership. 5th District Councilwoman Linda Barnes-Caldwell now serves as council president, […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Public Safety, Redevelopment
Gary Secures $1.1 Million to Demolish Long-Abandoned West Side School
Abandoned school buildings have been among the biggest thorns in Gary’s side, standing as hulking reminders of decline. While some buildings have been torn down, the scale of the problem has continued to grow faster than funding to address it. Now, the city will use newly awarded congressional funding totaling $1.1 million to demolish the […]
Posted inPartner Content, Politics & Policy, Public Safety
Ruling Absolving Legislature in Halting of Lawsuit Praised, Panned
This story was originally published by The Indiana Citizen. For the Gary gun lawsuit that has survived three appeals and multiple changes to state statute, the recent order to dismiss from the Court of Appeals of Indiana might be yet another chapter, rather than the end of the decades-old litigation. The December ruling from the […]
