Featured Articles from WSBT-TV

Before you fire up the grill for some great summer meals, Consumer Reports has a caution. The beef you buy may have been tenderized by machines, and that process can introduce potentially deadly bacteria into your food. The trouble is that sharp blades or needles can drive dangerous bacteria, including E. coli, from the surface of the meat into the center, where they're harder to kill. That can increase health risks, especially for people who eat their meat rare or medium rare.

Pairings for the Indiana State Baseball Tournament were drawn this morning. Sectional competition begins Wednesday, May 22, and continues through Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day), with the 64 champions advancing to a four-team regional on Saturday, June 1. Defending sectional champs from the area include Penn, Elkhart Central, Marian and Tippecanoe Valley. This year's four state championship games, scheduled for Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, will be played at Victory Field in Indianapolis.

A new city committee meeting for the first time to review and rewrite South Bend's codes governing Animal Care and Control has their work cut out for them. Thursday night they looked at an updated version of Ft. Wayne's codes to see how it might apply here.  They started by looking at how key terms used in the code are defined.  They tackled it alphabetically and by the end of the meeting they hadn't made it past the letter "c. " A Notre Dame law student who has studied other animal control laws throughout the U.S. has found many cities have been unsuccessful in defending those ordinances in court challenges.

Ticks are pretty bad this year, especially for dogs, according to a veterinarian who has been pulling them off pets every day for the past few weeks. “Just since it's warmed up the past couple or few weeks the number of ticks have gone up dramatically,” said Dr. Jeffrey Vogl, a veterinarian at University Park Veterinary Hospital. It's sure not what most people want to think about as the weather warms, but it's something to be aware of now that a lot of people and pets are heading outdoors to play.

WHITE PIGEON, Mich. - A spokesperson for Midwest Energy Cooperative says 1200 customers have had their power restored after losing it because of a substation fire that broke out Monday afternoon near White Pigeon. The substation is on Dickenson Road, just west of U.S. 131. Midwest Energy says the cause of the fire is unknown at this time. The substation will have to be rebuilt.

More problems for ISTEP testing. The Penn-Harris-Madison and South Bend Schools both had test disruptions on Monday along with other districts around the state. South Bend suspended testing for the day, but at P-H-M, everyone was able to complete the test. This follows multiple problems last week. ISTEP testing around Indiana has been extended through this Friday. But the disruptions have raised concerns about the validity of this year's scores.

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - A man who called 911 after finding the bodies of a woman and her two children in a southern Indiana creek told dispatchers the woman's body appeared battered. Caller John Weeks says in a 911 recording released this week that 35-year-old Jamie Clutter's body looked "beat up and cut. " Weeks initially told dispatchers March 13 that Clutter's body and those of the two children might be mannequins, but called back moments later to say they appeared to be human bodies.

She's an award-winning reporter and a familiar face to WSBT viewers. Now this former reporter wants you to know about a surgical alternative you may not be aware of. She says it is a message every woman should hear. Denise Bohn Stewart covered some of WSBT’s biggest stories, including the Benton Harbor riots. But little did she know that when she left the business she'd work harder than she ever had before. Stewart got married seven years ago, and had three beautiful children.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - About half of the 90 teachers and staff at Benton Harbor High School are being let go. Union officials say they just learned a few days ago the district is going to send out pink slips to the entire faculty this week. The district plans on calling back only half of the current teachers and filling the rest of the positions with new hires. This is part of a so-called "turnaround" program at the high school, approved by the state, to avoid a takeover.

Erik Larson became part of the WSBT News team in April of 2011, although he is not new to WSBT. Erik was a summer intern at WSBT during the summer of 2010. Besides doing the weekend weather, Erik also co-anchors the Saturday Morning show. Erik was born and raised right here in South bend, IN. He grew up in the River Park neighborhood and graduated from John Adams High School in 2006. Since then he has obtained his degree in meteorology from Purdue University, and also has a minor in communications.

SOUTH BEND  - What if South Bend, named for the southern-most bend of the St. Joseph River, wasn't the fourth largest city in Indiana?  What if the University of Notre Dame and the RV capital of the world were technically in Michigan? And NASCAR drivers Ryan Newman and David Stremme, actress Vivica Fox and basketball star Skylar Diggins weren't from Indiana? Let's back up a bit, to something that happened nearly 200 years ago.  An historical marker near Johnson Road and U.S. 31 south of South Bend explains it all. The original state border for Michigan and Indiana were set in 1805, about 10 miles south of where it is today.  But when Indiana petitioned Congress for statehood in 1816, Territory Delegate Jonathan Jennings proposed that the Indiana line be moved north to its present location.

GOSHEN -- Goshen Police reports  two people were injured in a early morning shooting Saturday in Goshen. According to a press release, at 3:37 a.m. Saturday, the Elkhart County Dispatch Center received a 9-1-1 call in reference to a shooting in the area of Johnston and Woodridge Streets in Goshen. When police arrived, they located a female lying in the grass next to the roadway. She was suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound. She was transported to the emergency room at the Indiana University Health Facility in Goshen.

SOUTH BEND - The man who owned a popular Edwardsburg restaurant that burned two years ago pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of bank fraud.  Troy Treat, co-owner of T & R Investments, admitted to his involvement in a fraud scheme that swindled the former Standard Federal Bank, now Bank of America , out of nearly $400,000.  U.S. District court documents say Treat used "false statement and pretenses" on loan applications he...

ELKHART COUNTY -- Parts of the area are being invaded by bugs.  Mayflies have hatched and they're swarming some buildings and business.  One gas station in particular was covered in the insects Wednesday morning. "I almost want like a fly swatter or something before I pump my gas, because that's kind of gross," Todd Brake said after he pulled into the Phillps 66 station at the intersection of County Line Road and SR 933. As gas prices continue to creep down, thousands of bugs at the gas station were creeping people out.  The insects covered everything from the pumps to the awning.  They hatched out of the St. Joe River and while they're good for catching fish, they were also catching a lot of attention.