Vidette-Messenger of Porter County from Valparaiso, Indiana • 13

4 lold 'double nickel' on U.S. 6 and U.S. 30 People did not drive on the weekend," be said. "It is time to stop complimenting Old Man Winter and take the initiative ourselves." Begun In the mid-1970s, "Project 55" Is undertaken to achieve the same traffic safety goals for local access highways as "Operation Care" does for the interstate highway system, Dembinski said. U.S.

I and U.S. 30 were selected by state police because statistics show the two to be among the most unsafe roads in the county, said Dembinski. Drunken driving and a -variety of moving violations will receive special attention from troopers during the program, which will conclude May 15, Dembinski said. "We are identifying a problem and -going after it.r' Officers will also be on the lookout for motorists who disregard stop signs or traffic signals, he said. police, Dembinski said.

"They will find officers won't be as lenient, because that's their reason for being there," be said. "We may give you five. Don't try taking five." Traffic fatalities In Indiana during the first three months of ,1983 are running 63 ahead of last year's rate, Dembinski noted. Porter County has recorded one of the highest Increases In traffic fatalities in Indiana, he said, with 10 this year compared to three at this time last year. Traffic deaths were kept low last year by bad weather but have risen as more people venture onto the roads to take advantage of the balmy temperatures and sunny said.

"In bad weather, everybody drives like something is going to happen," Dembinski explained. "We had four blizzards from Thursday to Sunday last year. by Bob Mitchell State police are warning motorists not to take aa extra miles per hour on U.S. 6 or U.S. 30 in Porter County starting Friday.

State troopers plan to beef up patrols on the two roads as part of "Project 55," a 45-day campaign to promote safe driving on targeted state and federal thoroughfares, said Sgt. Larry Dembinski, state police public information officer. Dembinski said normal patrols will be supplemented by additional officers to guarantee specified roads will be patrolled at all times. The cost of keeping extra troopers on patrol will be picked up by the federal government, he said. Motorists who figure they can normally get away with an extra five miles per hour on the highway will find themselves mistaken on roads getting special attention from state be home front 3hr Utticttflllcwrmjer March 31, 1983 Page 13 County to see 25 road repair cutback -x VU -'j AP A i Road repairs planned for the summer will be at least 25 percent less than work done last year, the county highway superintendent projected today.

The department is leaning on the crutch of county funds for day-today operation, and highway superintendent Jack Jarnecke expects little improvement in coming months. The County Council Tuesday approved $100,000 in revenue-sharing funds for the ailing department, which will cover $26,000 In outstanding bills for patch work. An emergency loan of $100,000 was approved for the highway de- Sartment earlier this month, with le money transferred from the local roads and streets fund to the highway department's general fund. However, since that loan must be repaid by the year's end, it should be used on an emergency basis, according to Commissioner Michael Aylesworth. The revenue-sharing funds are aimed at helping with normal highway department expenses.

Despite a mild winter, the de- Eartment has faced financial trou-les because of Increased costs for materials and reduced state funding. The county needs $125,000 per Neighbors sue NIPSCO over drainage" problems i -y SoCsXN Channel 50 signing off by Pat Randle If you want to catch Channel 50, you'd better flip the dial now. The station is signing off at 11 tonight, and won't be back on the air unless someone assumes sponsorship of the station. Financial difficulties in the Lake Central School District, which has been running the educational television station, have forced the school district out of the broadcasting business. A few college credit programs will continue to run until early May, but other than that, Channel 50 will be off the air after tonight.

Station manager Lou Iaconetti predicted the station will be back under new ownership. "I'm looking right now for a new group to take over the station," Iaconetti said. "The chances are good that somebody will take over in the next three or four months. "But I'm the eter nal optimist," he cautioned Among the groups that may take over the station are Northwest Indiana Broadcasting, formed in 1979 by former Channel 50 advisory board members, and Indiana University Northwest. Despite the short term turmoil, Iaconetti said, the school board's move may he all (or the best.

A new group with more solid financing would allow the station to expand its programming, he said. "We'd never grow, licensed to the school board." Most of the station's staff of "about 10" will be out of work Friday, Iaconetti said He and two technical staffers will continue to work for WCAK until May 1. After that, he said, they'll be out of their jobs at Channel 50, al though Iaconetti himself may be returning to the classroom as a teacher with Lake Central Schools. He hopes, however, that he'll be able to remain involved with WCAE. "I'd like to be involved with whatever group takes over," he said.

The school system's decision to end its 17-year relationship with WCAE came about after Thomas Roman took over as administrator of the school system, Iaconetti said. The new administrator felt the $150,000 annual cost of running the station "was taking funds away from education, and I understand that," Iaconetti said. The final decision was left up to the school board, which voted Feb. 21 to terminate its ties with WCAE. Window vandals strike again A window was shattered, causing $200 damage, and someone apparently pried open a vending machine in search of money Wednesday at a laundry on Calumet Avenue, Valparaiso police said.

Police said they discovered the broken window at North-side Cleaning and Fabric Care Center at 1305 Calumet Ave. while on patrol this morning. No money from the soap-dispensing machine was missing, police said. The window was In a locked office area, according to police. The incident is the fourth this week in which a window at a Calumet Avenue business has been shattered by month from the state Motor Vehicle and Highway Department to maintain operations.

Checks came to $79,000 in January and $86,000 in February, according to Jar-necke. State payments picked up this month, with the March check totaling $118,000. But with Friday's 5-cent per gallon federal gasoline tax increase, motorists may cut back on travel, which would mean less in state tax revenues and less money funneled to Porter County. Jamecke said suppliers project the cost of liquid asphalt will go from $165 to $200 per ton by July. "I don't look for things to get much better for awhile." Also Tuesday, the council approved: A request of the county Health Department to spend $3,500 to demolish an abandoned house on Furnleigh Road in The Pines.

A request from County Auditor Dorothy Lenburg to transfer $20,000 from the reassessment fund to pay for computer tapes from new county plat books for reference. Transfer of $4,250 Into the radio account to cover costs of moving the county radio tower equipment from the Nyby property to the WLJE radio station. Bauers, who are father and son, said they dropped opposition to NIPSCO's request to change zoning on the property from an agricultural to light industrial classification. Once NIPSCO began construction, contend the plaintiffs, it changed the original drainage plans and thereby disrupted the area's existing drainage pattern. Since then, the Bauers contend, the 80 acres of land they own have been subjected to damage because of NIPSCO's alleged change of plans.

The couples are asking $150,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $2 million in punitive damages. The court petition requests that amount because NIPSCO reportedly "arrogantly and callously" denied responsibility for the drainage problems once they were brought to the company's attention. The complaint also asks the court to rescind the zoning change granted the property. The Bauers contend that the plan commission approved NIPSCO's project based on a drainage plan that later was changed. union nor parent company National Steel management teams, are being asked to form other USWA locals.

A vote on those proposals, which would affect about 190 people, could take place within the next few months. The union drive at Midwest came about one year after a similar organization drive failed among technical and clerical workers at nearby Bethlehem Steel Burns Harbor mill. There has been no indication whether another attempt will be made to enlist those workers into the union. Following certification by the federal government and USWA headquarters In Pittsburgh, leaders will be chosen for the new union. A dispute over alleged drainage problems near Northern Indiana Public Service Valparaiso district headquarters has erupted into a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the utility.

Paul and Ardell Bauer, 2308 Division Road, and Gordon and Maxlne Bauer, 2104 Division Road, filed suit Wednesday in Porter Superior Court asking for $2.15 million in damages from NIPSCO. The couples charge that the state's second-largest utility ille- created water drainage prob-ems around operations and storage buildings that It recently built on Indiana 49 and Division Road. In 1978, NIPSCO received a County Plan Commission permit to erect the structures. The company was in the process of moving its area operations from the north side of Valparaiso. According to the Bauers, who own property adjoining the NIPSCO plant, the company agreed to "construct a drainage plan and system for the collection and dis-posal of surface water." Relying on those alleged promises, the' Sign of spring No matter how mild the winter, when spring comes so do the potholes.

The Valparaiso Street Department has its crews making re pairs, such as those Bill Smith was making today on Harrison. (V-M: Kathy Steinbach) '-'v. -s? f4 i-i-V-'-. -yf. reference of all permit applications and manifests "to see if any are missing, Improperly filed or out of order in any other way." PAHLS will also turn more attention to special wastes, one step down in toxicity according to Environmental Protection Agency definition.

Wheeler Landfill is permitted to receive special wastes. Concerned with the broad scope of hazardous waste problems, PAHLS members traveled to Nob-lesville Friday to help citizens organize there. The program drew more than 350 residents of the area, where Waste Management has proposed to locate a landfill. "They treated us like celebrities," said PAHLS chairman Sue Greer. "It was a really huge event -1 couldn't believe It." PAH LS celebrates victory, but outlines new strategy Midwest clerical workers join USWA creeks or rivers.

Waste Management was cited by the state Board of Health this month for four violations, Including not collecting and treating runoff. According to PAHLS' attorney, Scott Schwarz of Washington, the state's decision on an NPDES permit is "not a matter of approval or disapproval," but a matter of establishing what will be tested and what levels of concentration will be set. PAHLS passed a resolution Wednesday asking the state attorney general to review and evaluate on-site records at Wheeler Landfill and company records on all waste other than municipal solid waste. resolution calls for a "full-scale" investigation of past and (resent dumping practices at the andfilj, and comparison and cross- by Linda Schmidt WHEELER Members of People Against Landfill Sites shared a small celebration Wedneday, but only after outlining a new strategy for fighting toxic waste dumping. Waste Management Oak Brook, 111., announced last week it has withdrawn its application for a hazardous waste disposal permit for Wheeler Sanitary Landfill.

In light of the move, PAULS members have shifted gears and have made preparations for local bearings on a water discharge permit their top priority. Waste Management applied for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit early this year. The permit is required by the state Board of Health If water Is -discharged from a landfill into A small group of office and technical workers at the Midwest Steel Division plant in Portage has joined forces with the United Steel-workers of America (USWA). Production record clerks there voted 46-16 on Wednesday to affiliate with the USWA. The election, officiated by the National Labor Relations Board, marked the second time In recent years that the employees have tried to form a union.

"They wanted to have a voice in what's going on out there," said union organizer Jack Baker today. "They Just wanted a little respect and dignity." Baker said the rest of the mill's "salaried non-exempt" workers, wh are neither part of a labor.