Hard Rock Casino President Matt Schuffert gives Times Reporter Dan Carden a guided tour of the new Hard Rock Northern Indiana a week before opening. Connor Burge, The Times
GARY â A new era of gaming, dining and entertainment in Northwest Indiana begins at 5 p.m. Friday when officials press play and open the doors of the Hard Rock Casino to the public for the first time.
There is no stop button.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the speakers will be thumping inside the $300 million casino located immediately adjacent to eastbound Interstate 80/94 at the Burr Street exit in Gary.
âIâll see you in heaven.â
It was the last thing Al Braccolino, 90, of Crown Point, told one of his daughters as paramedics loaded him into an ambulance Nov. 16. COVID-19 forced him into the final fight of his life.
Ten days later, the chair Al usually occupied at the Thanksgiving table would sit empty. The husband to his wife of 70 years, father of three and grandfather of six died on the holiday.
Alâs daughter, Sandra Noe, was herself suffering from COVID-19, which she contracted while caring for her sick parents, when the virus forced Alâs hospitalization.
Noe, 66, is no stranger to helping elderly shut-ins weather isolation.
âIâll see you in heaven.â
It was the last thing Al Braccolino, 90, of Crown Point, told one of his daughters as paramedics loaded him into an ambulance Nov. 16. COVID-19 forced him into the final fight of his life.
Ten days later, the chair Al usually occupied at the Thanksgiving table would sit empty. The husband to his wife of 70 years, father of three and grandfather of six died on the holiday.
Alâs daughter, Sandra Noe, was herself suffering from COVID-19, which she contracted while caring for her sick parents, when the virus forced Alâs hospitalization.
Noe, 66, is no stranger to helping elderly shut-ins weather isolation.
Robert Kania is the new Wheeler football coach. Provided by Robert Kania
Robert Kania has coached a lot of football over the years, serving as an assistant at Penn, South Central, Portage, Wheeler and Chesterton.
After spending the last eight seasons with the Trojans and coach Mark Peterson, Kania confirmed Monday that he s finally leading his own program. The 1991 Penn grad has returned to Wheeler and has been hired as the Bearcats new football coach. I started my career at Penn (in 1996) and won a (Class 5A) state title. I should ve retired then, Kania said, laughing. I ve kind of worked my way around, but I ve enjoyed every second if it.
Highland s coach knew his team was dead in the water â until it wasn t. I was getting ready to tell them, You can t beat good teams like Crown Point and not execute, Bogner said. . Then all of a sudden we started chipping away, and when our last guy got hit (by a pitch) and we ended up winning on a walk off, the guys ran onto the field. I was just yelling, Mask up! Mask up!
Bogner, who is in his eighth year at the helm, was so concerned with his team s COVID-19 safety protocols that it took a moment for the Trojans victory to sink in. Highland rallied to earn a 5-4 home win over Crown Point in eight innings on April 3, erasing a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh.