Michiana

For the second time in three days, gas prices have jumped. Gasbuddy.com analysts predicted prices would jump 10 to 35 cents per gallon by tonight, and they were right. Pump prices, which were below $3.40 a gallon in much of Michiana earlier this week are now close to $4.00 in some areas. CLICK HERE to check gas prices in the South Bend area. Pipeline problems are being blamed. The oil company Enbridge shut down a pipeline from Canada to Chicago.

It's been a rough weekend for fires all throughout Michiana. We've heard of all kinds of grass fires and brush fires, and there was a house fire Saturday night in Elkhart. Initially there were reports of flames showing when a fire broke out at 221 Banks Street. Everyone made it out safely and it didn't take long to knock down the flames. A neighbor says the building's owner suspects an animal may have chewed through the wiring sparking the blaze. And in Niles a field fire broke out early this evening near the airport.

The sounds of new home construction are once again echoing through some Michiana neighborhoods. The past few years were pretty difficult for many homebuilders, who struggled to find business, but now it appears they're recovering, though slowly. “We feel like we rested during 2010 and 2011, so now we're ready to go back to work,” said Andy Place Jr., president of the St. Joseph Valley Homebuilders Association. It's easy to pass by the construction site just south of Eddy Street Commons, near Notre Dame, and not think much of it. The site, called the triangle development, is filled with dirt, heavy equipment and construction material -- so what?

Stay in = Stay safe The Blizzard of 2011 has struck, leaving no area untouched by dense, deep snow. Snow that fell in one place was picked up and whipped by "blizzard quality" winds overnight. Impassable roads are the norm throughout Michiana Wednesday morning. While the National Weather Service downgraded the blizzard warning to winter storm advisory, the blizzard's effects are far from finished. More snow and blustery winds will continue Wednesday, continuing to add to mounting snowdrifts.

A driver failed to stop for an Edwardsburg police officer late Wednesday — and wasn’t caught until other agencies joined in the pursuit. Police say the driver continued south from Michigan into Elkhart before heading west on County Road 6, but he left Elkhart County before their officers caught up with him. The man then continued into St. Joseph County along Cleveland Road, where county officers joined in the chase. But in the end it was the Edwardsburg officer who caught him as he turned north again on Beech Road and then surrendered.

Rainy weather with hail and wind hit Michiana on Sunday night through Monday morning.  WSBT-TV StormTracker HD forecast calls for isolated showers and thunderstorms overnight. The National Weather Service in northern Indiana issued a special weather statement early Monday to report thunderstorms along a line extending from Marcellus, Mich., to South Bend to LaPorte, moving east at 40 mph. Expect occasional cloud-to-ground lightning and heavy downpours with these storms.

Two more people from Michiana have died from fungal meningitis linked to tainted back pain medicine. And the lawsuits are now stacking up. Attorney Douglas Small of the law firm Foley and Small says both meningitis victims were clients of his. Small says 83-year-old Jack Durben of Edwardsburg, Mich. died in the early morning of November 10, and 87-year-old Viola Copsy of Constantine, Mich. died early this morning. Small says his office on Monday was filing a lawsuit on behalf of five other clients and will be filing additional complaints for more than a dozen additional people in the next two weeks.

Area lake levels are dropping as Michiana suffers through a serious drought. At Heaton Lake north of Elkhart, its level drops daily. “It's way lower now than what it's ever been. I have never seen it this low,” says Darrell Niles. He's among a growing number of homeowners along Heaton Lake who are concerned about how drought conditions have lowered water levels considerably. Everett Leinhart has lived in the area near 40 years, close to the inlet that feeds Heaton Lake.

SOUTH BEND - Massive snow drifts were blocking roadways across Michiana Tuesday night as 40-mile-per-hour winds whipped snow around. “It’s a bona fide blizzard,” said WSBT-TV chief meteorologist Rick Mecklenburg. He expected the storm to dump up to a foot of snow in Michiana, and reported snow drifts could be as tall as four feet in some areas. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, Elkhart County was declared to be in a state of emergency because of high winds and snow drifts 2 to 4 feet high covering roadways.

2012 has been a summer of record heat and dry conditions, but on Thursday a record that was a welcome sight was set. 2.06 inches of rain fell on South Bend, breaking the old record of 2.04” set way back in 1896. However, people in Mishawaka got even more - 2.9 inches, according to the National Weather Service. More than 2 inches of wet stuff was also reported in La Porte with other parts of Michiana getting lots of rain as well. Overnight storms moved through the area with their sights set on New Carlisle and Graeber Farms.