Granger

GRANGER - A new stretch of construction along busy State Road 23 in Granger is now underway. State crews closed Brick Road west of State Road 23 Thursday morning. That side needs to be rebuilt as part of the SR 23 widening project. It's scheduled to reopen in July. The east side reopened last week after being closed for a couple of months.

It could be something out of a sci-fi B movie - Thousands of bees swarmed a car show at Heritage Square in Granger Saturday evening. In the video attached above, WSBT's Clifton French reports on the buzz surrounding what happened.

If you picked up a South Bend Tribune over the weekend -- you may have read about this song: Nick Ortega, a 16-year-old junior at Penn High School, wrote this catchy tune about South Bend. Now the city's tourism bureau and the St. Joseph County chamber of commerce is working with him to develop it into a promotional video. Nick, 16, moved from Albuquerque, N.M., to Granger with his family about a year and a half ago. "At first I wasn't the biggest fan of moving from mountainous and really warm Albuquerque," he said, "but I've got to say I really enjoy it (in South Bend)

GRANGER - Two local sisters will represent our area in two national competitions in Washington D.C. next month. Their specialties?  Spelling and geography, and they have a winning history in both. This isn't the first time they have competed on a national level. Margaret Peterson, 12, went to the national spelling bee when she was in fourth-grade. Caroline Peterson, 14, to the state geography bee when she was in sixth-grade. Their parents couldn't be more proud.

GRANGER - A WSBT reporter at the scene says a family made is out safe but responders had to give the family dog oxygen when a fire broke out in the 52000 block of Wayne Court in Granger. The fire started in an upper bedroom around 8:20 a.m. Sunday. Flame damage was contained to that bedroom. There is no word at this time on how the fire started. Stay with us for updates.

WSBT has confirmed that Gino's East closed its doors for good at the the end of business Sunday. Originally the restaurant was set to close at the end of the month, but staff confirmed that Sunday night was the end of the line. The restaurant opened in Heritage Square in Granger back in 2009.

A consultant of a Granger bridal boutique that's been under fire for weeks from its customers speaks to WSBT. Brides A la Mode in Granger suddenly closed its doors in late January, leaving many brides stressed and worried about their special day. But now, the store said a consulting firm has been hired by the owner's family to handle day-to-day operations. They are in the process of contacting each customer about their dress order. The store is open, but by appointment only.

HARRIS TOWNSHIP - Each day, hundreds of cars pass through the intersection of Brick and Fir roads in Granger. Most of those drivers and the people in the nearby Knollwood “ Waterford Green” neighborhood probably don't know that land plays an important role in local aviation history. But there is one man who knows all about it. Because he lived it. “I was just a kid then,” said local aviation expert Bernie Rice. “It was all grass. Just a sod runway, you know.”  The year was 1928. Airplanes were new and exciting machines and everyone wanted to watch them fly. A group of men from northeast St. Joseph County formed the St. Joseph Valley Aviation Club.  “They bought a hay field. [And]

GRANGER - To some, using a gift certificate eases the load on the wallet. To others, it's their ticket to a night out on the town. So when a pizzeria in Granger wasn't accepting valid gift certificates, you can imagine the outrage. Gino's East has been under fire for months because customers have not been able to redeem Restaurant.com gift certificates there...but our story changed their minds. Many customers were afraid of losing money, and thought they were caught up in a scam.