The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) has announced the award of funds to 17 communities totaling more than $8 million, including a grant to the City of Knox in the amount of $464,620 for an addition to the Knox Phoenix House Advocacy Center Building.  The Phoenix House provides transitional housing for victims of domestic violence.

The City applied for the grant on behalf of the Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, Inc., with the funds to be used to add meeting/advocacy rooms for clients, increased office space and storage space for donated items for current or future victims of domestic abuse.

The Indiana Department of Transportation has scheduled a bid letting on March 7, 2012 for a Starke County Project.  That Project is for a bridge replacement on US 35 over the Yellow River approximately .99 miles south of SR 8.  The Project has a completion date of October 13, 2012.

The Ports of Indiana handled 8.1 million tons of cargo in 2011, the largest annual tonnage since 2006.  New ethanol and dried distillers grains shipments, combined with gains in limestone, salt, and steel cargoes fueled a 5 percent increase in total shipments moving through Indiana's three ports.

The Ports of Indiana - Burns Harbor moved 2 million tons of cargo in 2011, an increase of 10 percent over 2010, which included shipping increases in limestone (23%), steel (18%), fertilizer (61%), coal (44%), and salt (18%).  The Ports of Indiana - Burns Harbor is located approximately 45 miles from Starke County.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning issed its unemployment and jobs report for the month of December.  The number of jobs created during the month was 200,000, which marked the 6th straight month that more than 100,000 jobs have been added.  In addition, the unemployment rate fell from a revised 8.7% in November to 8.5%, which is the lowest rate since February of 2009.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) earlier this week released its unemployment report for the month of November.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had earlier released its own report showing that the national unemployment rate had dipped to 8.6% after being at 9.0% in October.  For November, the State of Indiana rate stayed at 9.0%, while the Starke County rate increased slightly from 10.3% up to 10.5%.  In a mixed bag of reporting, about half of all Indiana counties saw some increase in their rate from October, and about the same number saw a decrease.  On the national level, 42 states reported a decrease, 3 went up, and 4 stayed the same.

Congressman Joe Donnelly has announced an event to be held on Friday, January 12, 2012 entitled "Access to Capital: Leveling the Playing Field".  The event will be held from 8:30 am to 10:30 am EST in the 3rd Floor Boardroom at Innovation Park, located at 1400 East Angela Boulevard in South Bend.  Registration will begin at 8:30 am, with a panel discusssion and question and answer session set to begin at 9:00 am.

While free, space is limited, so to register for the event, send an email to Jorge Ortiz at Jorge.Ortiz@mail.house.gov by Friday, January 6, 2012.  That email should include your complete name, company name, address and telephone number.  The event is being held to help understand about applying for loans in a tight credit market.

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued its jobs report for the month of November, finding that the unemployment rate for the country has fallen for the second month in a row, and has reached its lowest point since March of 2009.  The rate for November is 8.6%, down from 9.0% registered in October.  An additional 120,000 jobs were added in the month, up from October's total of 80,000.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has released its unemployment report for the month of October.  A total of 71 of Indiana's 92 counties saw an increase in their rate from the September report, including Starke County.  The rate for Starke County increased from 10.1% to 10.3%, putting the rate back to where it was in August of this year.  The rate for the State of Indiana also increased to 9.0%, which matches the national unemployment rate for the month of October.

Indiana continues to have the lowest rate in the Midwest region, tying Ohio, while being considerably lower than Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky.

The Department of Labor this morning issued their unemployment report for the month of October.  New jobs cretaed during the month fell short of most estimates, as only 80,000 new jobs were reported.  However, the unemployment rate fell from 9.1% to 9.0%.

While the U.S. and State of Indiana unemployment rates either went up or stayed the same for September, the Indiana office of Workforce Development (DWD), in a report issued this morning, found that the Starke County rate went down to 10.1% from 10.3% in August.  The U.S. rate remained at 9.1% and the Indiana rate went up from 8.7% to 8.9%.  However, Indiana remained at a lower rate than any of the four contigious states for the 8th consecutive month.  Those states have a range of 9.8% up to 11.9%.

The Starke County rate is now down from 12.1% recorded in January of this year and is the second month in a row that it has been down from the previous month.