Nancy Coltun Webster

Irene Boone-Phillips of the Lake County Community Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition tries to alert parents and educators about e-cigarettes and vaping devices.

Tobacco programs fight for lungs and funds in Indiana

May 13, 2019 at 11:25 a.m.

Irene Boone-Phillips, coordinator for the Tobacco Free Lake County Coalition, sits in front of the e-cigarette paraphernalia she has collected. The assortment includes disposable and refillable e-cigarette devices and related...

Portage resident Leanne Ferrell tries out a flavor of e-liquid at Vapin N Portage.

With vaping under scrutiny, local retailers await potential regulations

May 13, 2019 at 11:15 a.m.

Nearly a dozen people waited patiently in line outside Vapin N Portage, 5912 U.S. 6, an adults-only electronic cigarette shop, for it to open on a recent brisk but sunny...

Nature fun abounds at The Children’s Farm, Little Red Schoolhouse

May 24, 2019 at 2:28 a.m.

Like many iconic Illinois destinations, The Children's Farm and the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center have their roots deep in the days of one-room log cabins, prairies and pristine nature....

Gary resident Vernon Parr, left, and his mother Stephanie visit with Sharea Cason and her prematurely-born daughter Laryn during a visit to the Methodist Hospital Northlake Campus neonatal infant care unit on April 25, 2018.

Neonatal units helping young lives for more than 30 years

May 13, 2019 at 10:09 a.m.

When Vernon Parr was born three decades ago, at just 35 weeks' gestation, he weighed in at 3 pounds, 5 ounces. Today, Parr is 5 feet 10 inches tall and...

MLK’s life remembered as Northwest Indiana leaders continue to struggle

May 13, 2019 at 10:05 a.m.

A half century has passed since Civil Rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, as he stood on a third-floor balcony of the...

Mehan Murphy, director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Purdue University Northwest, stands behind a one-way mirror in a therapy room in the Couple and Family Therapy Center in Hammond.

Indianapolis Boulevard transformation has Purdue Northwest academic flair

May 13, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.

Purdue Northwest is converting an old grocery store at 7034 Indianapolis Blvd. into the Indianapolis Boulevard Counseling Center, a modern suite of offices dedicated to two graduate counseling training programs....

Paula and Lowell Stephenson display a woven blanket with photo memories of their daughter, Jessica.

A mother grieves after her daughter’s flu-related death: ‘She wanted to get married’

May 13, 2019 at 9:55 a.m.

Paula and Lowell Stephenson are carving out a piece of clarity amid the unspeakable grief after the death of their 23-year-old daughter, Jessica, and they want to send a simple...

Maryann Pancheri cannot tolerate a flu shot, so her husband Jim is vigilant about protecting them from the illness.

Flu season wears on in Northwest Indiana

May 13, 2019 at 9:53 a.m.

Jim Pancheri opens the door of his Munster home with a smile and a question for Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana volunteer Janice Lorman: Have you had a flu...

A nurse administers a vaccine to a young patient at the Walker Medical Office in Gary.

Measles case prompts vaccine reminder

May 13, 2019 at 9:51 a.m.

With Indiana's first confirmed measles case since 2016, local health officials and physicians are reminding people to check their vaccination records and vaccinate their children. People who have been vaccinated...

Patient Care Associate Junisia Cain wipes down tables with a Sani-Cloth at the PACE adult day care center at Franciscan in Dyer.

Don’t want to get the flu? Stop using hankies, experts say

May 13, 2019 at 9:50 a.m.

One of the best defenses against the flu starts with tissue and hankerchiefs, two Northwest Indiana health professionals say. For tissues, don't use them twice. For hankies, don't use them...

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