Indiana

Indiana Dunes Tourism turns focus beyond the beach

Published

2 years ago

March 16, 2024

Indiana Dunes Tourism turns focus beyond the beach

Porter County tourism is in a good place in 2024. At its sixth State of Tourism event at Riley’s Railhouse in Chesterton Thursday afternoon Indiana Dunes Tourism staff spoke of focusing its efforts beyond the beach.

Indiana Dunes Tourism’s Interim CEO/President Christine Livingston told the crowd that Indiana Dunes National Park had 4.6 million visitors last year, compared to 3.2 million in 2018. Those who stopped by the Visitors Center more than doubled in that same time frame to 226,000 last year.

Livingston told the crowd that when the Indiana Dunes went from national lakeshore designation to a national park the visiting crowds “went from beachgoers to park goers.” And the positive thing about parkgoers is that they like to stay in the region a little longer and explore the surrounding offerings.

That’s good news for the county’s more than 500 businesses. “We take the responsibility of supporting local businesses very seriously and it drives everything that we do,” Livingston said.

She told the story of the 160-acre Broken Wagon Bison Farm at 563 W. 450 North in Hobart that blossomed from occasionally selling meat out of a meat locker in a garage to offering tours twice a week, and selling the meat from a new gift shop that has space for classes, all following guidance from the Indiana Dunes Tourism staff.

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John Smierciak/Post-Tribune

Wally Koeppen waits to close the field gate as his brother Bud drives out at the Broken Wagon Bison, a bison farm tucked away in Porter County on Wednesday, October 12, 2023. (John Smierciak/Post Tribune)

Such relationships, both with privately-held businesses, and Porter County’s other sister venues the Memorial Opera House, the Porter County Museum, Porter County Parks, and the Porter County Expo Center, are a focus.

Livingston gave another example of the special attention her staff gives to small businesses.

She said the owner of the Schoolhouse Shop in Chesterton is vocal in his appreciation. “He really credits the staff at the Visitors Center for taking time to explain how to get to his shop,” she said.

Partnerships with other natural destinations such as Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Gabis Arboretum and Kankakee Sands, and other tourism entities like the South Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau and the South Shore Line are also being nurtured, Livingston pointed out. After 20 years in its building the Visitors Center is also planning for a refresh.

An update on the Indigenous Cultural Trail, a joint effort between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, the Pakagon Band of Potawatomi, the National Park Service, and Indiana Dunes Tourism, showed the new bridge over Dunes Creek. Trail signs that include Potawatomi and Miami translations are beginning to be installed and a 6-to-8-foot diameter limestone turtle by Chicago sculptor Roman Villareal is expected to be ready this year.

“We’re trying to get the biggest rock possible. I won’t know (the final size) until I get started,” said the artist, who has works at The Art Institute in Chicago.

“We were warned it was going to be so hard to do, no one was going to get along,” Livingston said of the Indigenous Trail partnership. “It’s been the complete opposite of that.”

And for those who loved Ranger Matt in his Dunes 101 Series several years ago educating hundreds of thousands of viewers on such topics as “What are the Indiana Dunes?” and “Where are the Dunes Beaches?,” the series will continue in 2024.

Indiana Dunes Tourism prodution director Dustin Ritchea speaks about an upcoming video project during a program to highlight tourism in Porter County at Riley's Railhouse in Chesterton on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune) — Indiana Dunes Tourism prodution director Dustin Ritchea speaks about an upcoming video project during a program to highlight tourism in Porter County at Riley’s Railhouse in Chesterton on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)

Indiana Dunes Tourism’s Production Director Dustin Ritchea told the crowd his staff has been working with elected officials to identify 120 locales that will appear in a new series of 11 videos.

“You have to remember, tourism is the first date of economic development,” he pointed out.

And then there’s good, old-fashioned Facetime. Indiana Dunes Tourism Partnership Coordinator Julie Brown said she’s still running “business blitzes” 10 years after joining the staff. Be it email, phone calls, or personal visits her job is to ensure business owners understand what Indiana Dunes Tourism offers from free listings to website and guide ads, coupons, display cases and sponsorship opportunities.

“They don’t really understand what Indiana Dunes Tourism can do, and is doing, for them,” she said. When the visit is over she’s corrected that.

Indiana Dunes Tourism partnership director Julie Brown speaks about fundraising goals during a program to highlight tourism in Porter County at Riley's Railhouse in Chesterton on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune) — Indiana Dunes Tourism partnership director Julie Brown speaks about fundraising goals during a program to highlight tourism in Porter County at Riley’s Railhouse in Chesterton on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Kyle Telechan/for the Post-Tribune)

Rob Albrecht-Mallinger of the Northwest Indiana Paddle Association was visibly raising his fists in cheers throughout the presentation. “Indiana Dunes Tourism is the people who have the vision of what this region is capable of,” he said when it was over.

“Sometimes the things are right in front of you and somebody has to show you, and Indiana Dunes Tourism does that.”

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

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Indiana

50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map

Published

3 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map

At least 50 Indiana counties are under a travel advisory, and 20 counties were issued a travel watch for Dec. 14, following an overnight snow storm.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) travel advisory map has each county shaded in red for a travel warning, orange for a travel watch, yellow for a travel advisory and gray for a county without an elevated status report on it’s current travel conditions.

Here’s how you can check your county to see where it lands on the map.

Travel advisory

According to DHS, a travel advisory is the lowest level of a related advisory.

“Routine travel or activities may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation, and individuals should use caution or avoid those areas,” the department says on its website.

Watch advisory

According to DHS, a watch advisory is issued when conditions are threatening to a county’s safety.

“Only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations,” the department’s website states.

Warning advisory

According to DHS, a warning advisory is the highest level of a related advisory, where people may be told not to travel at all.

“Travel may be restricted to emergency management workers only,” the department’s website states.

Here’s the winter weather info you need

🚨 Indiana Weather Alerts: Warnings, Watches and Advisories.

⚡ Indiana power outage map: How to check your status.

💻 Internet outages: How to track them.

🚫 What you should and shouldn’t do when the power is out.

🐶 Your neighbor left their pet outside. Who you should call.

Indianapolis weather radar

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.

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Indiana

What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

Published

15 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Tucker DeVries met with reporters after the Hoosiers’ 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Here’s what the DeVries duo said during their near-seven-minute press conference.

Q: I guess, Darian, it’s sort of another night where it feels like it just kind of gets difficult to really break down an opponent off the dribble, kind of get that inside-out sort of paint touch to three looks you want, just like what, I guess, are you guys, what’s not happening there, what’s just kind of sort of failing at the source offensively when that’s not working?

DD: Yeah, I thought the first half, you know, we got some pretty good action, pretty good movement, I thought the second half, Kentucky certainly turned up the pressure and was able to get into us and we didn’t respond well enough and we turned the ball over too much and live ball turnovers against them are really hard because now they’re out in transition playing in space, so the turnovers and the offensive rebounding, I mean, that flipped the game around that second half.

Q: On Kentucky’s long run, what was the problem there?

Yeah, I thought the turnovers, it was a combination of things, I thought, you know, we left our feet a few times, I thought we just, you know, got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed to, you know, as that, you know, the crowd got cranked up and things, that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds, you know, they just went and got them and, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job of creating space and getting bodies and going and securing the ball.

Q: What do you think you need to improve on, the team needs to improve on against ball pressure at the point of attack?

DD: Yeah, the number one thing when you get at ball pressure is everything from an execution standpoint and a movement standpoint, it’s just got to be done with more force, you can’t continue just to get pushed out and everybody stands, so you have to find ways to give yourself up with a back hook, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, you know, and get some movement to, you know, even as, you know, they had gotten ahead and we started to break it off a little bit, once we got movement again, we were able to get those clean looks or better looks, so it’s something we got to get better at, there’s no question.

Q: Tucker, your individual line tonight was really great, I mean, your effort was fantastic, 15 points, 7 rebounds, a lot of the three point shots tonight didn’t go down like they normally do for the Hoosiers, what do you think that is, was it just not seeing the basket as well, was it the defense, was it not in the offense where you were getting clean looks?

TUCKER DEVRIES: To be honest, making and missing shots, I thought tonight, honestly, wasn’t a problem, I know, certainly, I did not shoot it great, as a team we didn’t shoot that great either from three, but, you know, even with that being said, I think there were certainly areas that we needed to be a lot better at, as a group, and if we were able to, you know, especially in the second half, execute in those areas, I think that would have made up for some of those, you know, shooting habits and miscues, but, you know, making them missing shots sometimes is basketball, but I thought in the other areas, if we could just, you know, execute there a little bit.

Q: On that, if shots maybe weren’t the problem, what kind of was, do you think?

TUCKER: I mean, he hit on it pretty good, the turnovers and obviously the offensive rebounds they had, especially in the second half. I mean, I take full responsibility for both of those areas. Obviously, four turnovers is far too many. As a group, I think when they pick up the pressure, I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession. But good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.

Q: When Lamar picked up his fourth foul and missed nearly nine minutes, what went wrong offensively?

DD: Yeah, I don’t remember the exact sequences there, but, you know, not having Lamar out there is certainly a big part of our offense, and, you know, his foul trouble tonight certainly limited him with only the 21 minutes because he was, again, he’s, you know, a big focal piece of what we try to run our offense through, so, you know, I believe during that little stretch that he wasn’t out there, that’s when the turnovers started to happen and

we weren’t able to get into, you know, maybe some of our actions the way we needed to.

Q: Darian, you mentioned Kentucky’s offensive rebound and kind of flipping that game. Was that just their physicality, their effort out beating you guys or something else that you saw going on?

DD: Yeah, I thought their effort, their physicality in the second half was, you know, really good. I mean, they certainly cranked it up a notch in that second half and we needed to respond to it, but, you know, I thought their aggressiveness defensively, their aggressiveness in the offensive glass, you know, was ultimately the factor.

Q: Darian, you mentioned Lamar, but how much did the foul trouble for not just him, but other guys, affect you tonight?

DD: I mean, foul trouble is foul trouble. You have it every night, so you’ve got to figure out a way to deal with it and, you know, we just didn’t do a good enough job with that.

Q: Just to follow up on that, with this team, and you’ve talked about sort of where you are with the two bigs and things like that, like does foul trouble become sort of a compounding problem when it disrupts rotations? It felt tonight like maybe guys were just not either on the floor long enough to find the rhythm or maybe had to be on the floor too long because other guys were in foul trouble.

DD: Again, our guys, you know, their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. You know, certainly, you know, a guy like Lamar, you want him out there, but when he’s not out there, I feel very confident that the guys that are coming in are going to do their part and do their job and, you know, we certainly have a lot of faith in them, so, you know, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to tonight.

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Indiana

Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Basketball icons Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley headline the broadcasting crew for Indiana vs. Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Vitale, a longtime ESPN analyst, and Barkley, a Basketball Hall of Famer-turned analyst, are teaming up to call two games this season, with the first coming between a pair of blue bloods in a nonconference matchup. Dave O’Brien will handle play-by-play duties.

Vitale and Barkley will broadcast together for the second time this season during TNT and CBS Sports’ First Four coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament in March.

Watch Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley call Indiana vs. Kentucky live with Fubo (free trial)

The humorous duo will be appointment viewing for many college basketball fans, as both are known for their larger-their-life personalities. The team-up became possible after TNT lost its broadcasting rights for NBA games, moving TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to ESPN.

Vitale is returning to regular broadcasting in 2025 after battling multiple forms of cancer since 2021. He has called over 1,000 games for ESPN since joining the network in 1979.

Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star, averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds across his 16-year career. He was drafted No. 5 overall out of Auburn in the 1984 NBA Draft.