GARY

Obama campaign will open an office in city

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is preparing to open a presidential campaign office in Gary.

The Obama campaign is establishing a state headquarters in Indianapolis and satellite offices in Anderson, Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Lafayette, Muncie and South Bend. A lease still is being worked out for the Gary office, so the exact location is not yet available, a spokesman said Monday.

The Obama campaign also is deploying key staff who worked in earlier contests to Indiana ahead of the Hoosier state's May 6 primary.

"This year, Indiana will play a key role in determining who will be the Democratic Party's nominee for president," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement. "We look forward to building grass-roots support in Indiana the old-fashioned way -- person by person and community by community."

NORTHWEST INDIANA

Artists invited to enter statue design contest

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., on Monday announced a design competition for a bronze statue of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks that will be permanently installed in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

"I am excited that artists in Northwest Indiana have the opportunity to honor Rosa Parks, an inspirational American, with their work," Visclosky said.

Congress unanimously passed the bill, which Visclosky originally co-sponsored, to authorize the statue in November 2005. It marked the first time Congress had authorized a full-sized statue since the 1870s.

The competition will be administered by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Architect of the Capitol and the Joint Committee on the Library.

Interested artists should submit an application to the NEA by May 30 that includes a proposal for the sculpture and work samples that demonstrate the ability to cast large-scale bronze sculptures and to work in the portrait mode.

A panel of experts will select up to 10 semifinalists to create small-scale maquettes for consideration by the Joint Committee on the Library. The Architect of the Capitol will commission the winning artist to create a bronze sculpture and granite pedestal.

More information on the contest and its guidelines are available at arts.gov/grants/apply/RosaParks.html.

GARY

Mayor plans to detail grant-funded projects

Mayor Rudy Clay will launch Community Development Week at 10 a.m. today in the Gary Room at City Hall, 401 Broadway.

The mayor will highlight local projects that have received financial help from a block grant provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

INDIANAPOLIS

Ending Pastrick lease proves costly for city

East Chicago owes a former landlord $137,986 after the city defaulted on a warehouse lease in 2005 and then ripped out security equipment it had installed, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday.

In July 2003, then-Mayor Robert Pastrick's administration signed a four-year lease for office space from Cardinal Harbor LLC. State records show the company was formed seven months earlier by Kevin Pastrick, the former mayor's son.

Kevin Pastrick was later sentenced to 55 months in federal prison on an unrelated real estate bribery charge involving a union pension fund. Robert Pastrick was defeated in 2004 by current Mayor George Pabey.

Herbert and Almer Lasser bought the warehouse property from Cardinal Harbor in March 2005, but the Pabey administration stopped paying rent and taxes required by the lease.

East Chicago cut a check for $50,063 in back rent and taxes the following month but still owed the Lassers another $8,458.

When the city vacated the property it removed all of the security equipment it had installed, including an electronic door pass system. That left the building's metal doors with holes where knobs normally would be.

Porter County Judge Robert Bradford in August ordered East Chicago to pay the Lassers $95,000 to replace the security system, plus the $8,458 in back rent and $34,496 in legal fees. The appeals court upheld Bradford's ruling Monday.

MERRILLVILLE

Awards luncheon for officers set for Friday

The Northwest Indiana Public Information Officers Association and Lake County Law Enforcement Council will announce the Officer of the Year for 2007 at the annual awards luncheon Friday.

Calumet College will select the law enforcement program of the year, three officers will receive the Lifesaving Award and 12 will be honored for service above and beyond the call of duty.

The family of late Officer Benjamin Wilcher, of the Gary Police Department, will be honored with the Ultimate Sacrifice Award.

The luncheon will be at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Celebrity Ballroom East of the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville, at the intersection of Interstate 65 and U.S. 30.