American Rescue Plan

Small businesses and nonprofit organizations in Gary will be able to get some financial help. The city council Tuesday agreed to appropriate $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to support small businesses, plus another $800,000 for nonprofits.

A Valparaiso City Council member's efforts to redirect federal COVID money to infrastructure upgrades have fallen short.

Funding has once again been pulled from the Memorial Opera House renovation and expansion.

The city of Gary is putting together a plan to address housing insecurity.

The Gary Health Department is looking for input, as it plans for a new facility. The department has been allocated $5 million dollars from the city's share of federal American Rescue Plan money.

Valparaiso continues making financial arrangements for some large-scale projects.

Neighbors' Educational Opportunities (NEO) will have to wait a bit longer to see if the city of Portage will help fund a proposed childcare program and career training center.

Funding to upgrade the Memorial Opera House is apparently back in Porter County's plans for American Rescue Plan money.

Porter County government services will soon be easier to access online. The county commissioners Tuesday approved a pair of contracts for additional services from CivicPlus, totaling almost $106,000 over the next three years.

After months of work on Porter County's ARPA spending plan, the county council has only agreed to approve part of it. Council members voted six-to-one Tuesday to approve the appropriations recommended by the infrastructure and county COVID response subcommittees totaling over $10 million. But they held off on approving the almost $9 million requested for behavioral health and nonprofits.