Portage officials gathered Wednesday for a groundbreaking at AmeriPlex at the Port for a new building that'll be known as The Belmont. Three existing companies in Portage already have plans to move in – Holladay Properties, Silvent North America and Falk PLI, and more than 19,000 square feet of space is still open for other tenants. Construction is expected to be complete this fall.

On a related note, in Lake County, the first pieces of pre-cast were installed at the Riley Building at AmeriPlex at the Crossroads in Merrillville. That building is the future home of Horizon Financial Management.
[Photos/Holladay Properties https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=529525377109220&set=a.529525347109223.1073741827.142743892454039&type=1&theater ]
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Read more: Groundbreaking in Portage

Major General R. Martin Umbarger, the adjutant general of Indiana, has announced the selection of Colonel Wayne Black to assistant adjutant general. Officials say Colonel Black is the first African-American to hold the rank of brigadier general and first to hold a general officer rank in the history of the Indiana National Guard. A promotion ceremony will be held Saturday, July 13.
“Col. Black is a proven leader.  I have absolute trust and confidence that he will serve in this capacity with honor and distinction”, said Maj. Gen. Umbarger
A business graduate of The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Col. Black received a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Master of Science in Strategic Studies from the Army War College.
After more than a decade on active duty, Col. Black rose to the position of plans officer of the Simulations and Wargaming Center at the Training and Doctrine Command of Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He joined the Indiana National Guard in 1996, serving much of his Citizen-Soldier career as a leader in the 139th Field Artillery Battalion in Crawfordsville, leading to command of the battalion from 2005 to 2008.
Black served in Afghanistan as the commander of the Regional Police Advisory Command - North, in Mazar-e-Sharif in 2008 to 2009. He also served in Operation Joint Endeavor as the chief of the joint visitors bureau of Task Force Eagle during the 38th Infantry Division deployment to Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2004 to 2005.
Black has served as a manufacturing supervisor for RR Donnelley in Crawfordsville, Ind. for the past 17 years and is directly responsible for 140 personnel and the performance and output of eight offset web presses, valued at approximately $50 million. He develops and manages an operating budget of approximately $15 million. 
“It is with great pride that we promote Col. Black, who brings with him a wealth of military and civilian experience, as the first African-American general officer in the Indiana National Guard,” said Umbarger.  “I am deeply appreciative of the support his wife, Symea, their three children, two grandchildren, and his civilian employer have given him throughout his career.” 
“It is a great honor to be selected to serve as a general officer in the Indiana National Guard.  The fact that I am the first African-American to serve in this capacity makes it truly special”, said Black.  “I want to thank Maj. Gen. Umbarger for his trust and confidence in my leadership abilities to service in this capacity.”
Col. Black currently serves as the construction and facilities management officer at Indiana National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in Indianapolis.
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Read more: Ind Natl Guard Promotes 1st African-American General

Gas experts say ongoing refinery issues in the Region and elsewhere lie at the root of high gas prices seen in northwest Indiana and the Great Lakes area. On Wednesday, Region motorists saw prices leap to $4.35 a gallon, and this morning GasBuddy-dot-com is showing prices up to 4.39 in Lake and Porter counties.  According to Triple-A's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, Indiana is one of a handful of states where a gallon of regular unleaded is averaging over four-dollars a gallon... the others being Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and also Hawaii and Alaska. The current average is the Gary Metropolitan Area is now at about $4.23, 15-cents higher than yesterday, and nearly forty-cents higher than a week ago.
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Read more: Gas Prices Surge in the Region

Funeral arrangements are being prepared for former Gary Mayor Rudy Clay, who passed away this week at the age of 77 after battling prostate cancer. Officials say visitation will take place next week, Tuesday at the Genesis Convention Center in downtown Gary, and a funeral with elected representatives from state, county and local government and the Gary Police Department in full-dress uniform Wednesdaymorning, also at the Genesis center. Clay had four decades of public service across state, county and city government. He was mayor of Gary from 2006 to 2011.
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Read more: Funeral Next Week for Mayor Clay

Two Gary residents facing child sex charges now facing additional charges. 29 year old Christopher Bour and 34 year old Natisha Hillard were each charged Wednesday in Hammond Federal Court in a superseding indictment with two additional counts of production of child pornography. Bour, who was charged in the initial indictment with one-count of purchase of a child, also was charged Wednesday with one additional count of possession of child pornography. Hillard was initially charged with one-count of sale of a child.
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Read more: Additional Charges Against Gary Pair in Child Sex Case

A Griffith man has been charged with punching his pregnant daughter in the mouth on the same day she laid to rest her unborn child's father. According to court documents, Richard Metsch is charged with battery, resulting in bodily injury to a pregnant woman, and resisting law enforcement regarding the incident that occurred in his home on May 30^th, in Griffith. Abigail Metsch suffered a busted lip as a result of her father's actions, who informed officers who arrived at the scene that her father had allegedly been smoking crack and drinking earlier in the day to self-medicate due to old injuries, and was upset that she would now have to live with them.
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Read more: Griffith Man Charged with Punching His Pregnant Daughter

The Lake County Prosecutor's Office reports an 11-point-eight percent increase in child support payment from April of 2012 to April 2013. Prosecutor Bernard Carter announced on Wednesday that the Child Support Division collected over four-point two-four million dollars in child support payments for April 2013, compared to almost three-point-eight million in April 2012. Carter says his office had collected almost 13-point -seven million dollars this year through April.
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Read more: Lake Co Prosecutor Collects $4.24 Million in April Child Support

(Photo Courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff's Office)
The Cook County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help to locate a mentally ill woman who has been missing since May 9^th. Sheriff Thomas Dart says 68 year old Marcella Somerville, of South Carolina, traveled to the Maine Township area to visit her Glenview-based sister, but became upset and fled the house when told she eventually would need to return to South Carolina. Authorities report Somerville, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, is unfamiliar with the area, and left possessing 300-dollars in cash, but without a vehicle or cell phone. Sheriff Dart says the woman is suspected to have headed to a local homeless shelter or a train station, and anyone with information about this woman is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at (708) 865-4896.
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Read more: Sheriff Seeks Public's Help in Missing Person's Case

An investigation continues after a woman reported to police in LaPorte that she had been sexually assaulted and battered by a local man she knew and had been out with earlier in the morning. LaPorte Police report officers were dispatched at 4:11am Tuesday for a woman screaming for help. Upon arrival, officers observed a 27 year old LaPorte woman standing at the intersection of Philadelphia and East Jefferson Avenue, covered in blood, with a swollen face, and several facial lacerations. The woman was taken to I-U Health LaPorte for treatment.
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Read more: LaPorte PD Investigating Report of Sexual Assault and Battery

Two 22 year old men were taken into custody for their disorderly behavior aboard a South Shore train Tuesday night in East Chicago. NICTD Transit Police report Gregory Clark, of Munster, and Paul Thompson, of Valparaiso, are each charged with intoxication upon a common carrier. Authorities report the two men were using profane language and frightened other passengers, and once removed from the train by police, argued and used profanity towards them as well. Officials say an ambulance had to be called out for a female companion of the two men, who fell and began convulsing uncontrollably, but after recovering refused medical treatment.
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Read more: Two Men Arrested for Disorderly Behavior Aboard S Shore Train