A leading candidate in the Republican primary race for Northwest Indiana’s congressional seat released a new campaign ad Wednesday branding her most prominent opponent as a “Never Trump Liberal.”
Jennifer-Ruth Green, of Crown Point, also claims in the 30-second commercial set to air on Fox News and streaming platforms that former LaPorte Mayor Blair Milo “struggled” to decide between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and failed to support Trump’s strict immigration policies.
“Blair Milo claims she is a conservative. Don’t be fooled,” the ad warns.
It then shifts to a positive depiction of Green, declaring her “the real conservative for Congress” and highlighting Green’s experience as an Air Force combat veteran, endorsement by Indiana Right to Life and top-rating from the National Rifle Association.
“Green will fight woke insanity and advance Trump’s ‘America First’ policies,” the ad promises.
The Green campaign said voters deserve to know the differences between Green and Milo as they head to the polls with less than two weeks remaining until the May 3 Republican primary election.
“No matter how much she tries to rewrite history and fool Republicans, Milo’s attacks on Trump’s immigration policies, her long record of hiking taxes and her opposition to honoring the will of Republicans who nominated President Trump in 2016 disqualify her from being the Republican nominee for Congress,” said Ashleigh Presnar, Green’s campaign manager.
Green’s accusation that Milo struggled over supporting Trump six years ago is accurate based on contemporary reporting in The Times and other news publications.
Specifically, records show Milo withdrew as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention to avoid voting to officially designate Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.
“I was not convinced casting a vote for the presumptive nominee was something I could stand behind,” Milo said at the time.
“I felt if I’m not going to be able to serve in the full capacity as a voting delegate because of my own reservations about the decisions that were going to have to be made, then I needed to forgo attending the event and provide the opportunity to another who would feel more comfortable with it.”
But Milo insisted after Green’s ad came out Wednesday that she twice voted for Trump for president and otherwise has “a perfect Republican vote history.”
She’s also expressed Trump-like doubts about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and has called for further investigations of the result “to ensure that people feel trust in the electoral process.”
In addition, Milo noted Green most recently participated in a primary election by voting a Democratic ballot in 2018 — echoing a fact repeatedly cited by Mark Leyva, of Highland, another prominent candidate in the GOP congressional race.
“Jennifer-Ruth Green last voted in a primary as a Democrat yet wants us to nominate her for Congress?” Milo asked.
Milo said she reached out to Green last week suggesting they both remain focused on key policies in the final days of the campaign, only to be told Green already had decided to go negative and would be targeting Milo as the GOP campaign comes to an end.
“It was my hope this primary could remain positive and focused on issues. Jennifer-Ruth has rejected that approach and instead chosen a negative campaign, which is a clear sign she thinks she’s losing,” Milo said.
Milo also expressed concern that Green’s negative campaigning could jeopardize the hard work of Northwest Indiana Republicans to finally put the Region’s congressional seat within reach after nine consecutive decades of losses.
Indeed, two organizations that predict the outcome of the nation’s 435 U.S. House contests every two years recently reclassified Indiana’s 1st Congressional District of Lake, Porter and northwest LaPorte County, including Milo’s hometown of LaPorte, as “Leans Democratic,” instead of “Likely Democratic.”
Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball said the changes reflect the participation of Green and Milo, quality Republican candidates capable of raising money, who may have a chance to knock off first-term U.S. Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Highland, if it turns out to be a better than expected year for the GOP.
Kyle Hupfer, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, said he believes Hoosier Republicans are ready to send the message that Mrvan is through.
“It’s clear voters in Indiana’s First Congressional District are tired of the failed policies of the Joe Biden-Frank Mrvan agenda that are fueling skyrocketing inflation,” Hupfer said.
It’s not yet known whether or how the forecast will shift if, for example, Leyva wins the GOP nomination, as he has in eight Northwest Indiana congressional elections since 2002.
Also running in the GOP primary are Martin Lucas, of Schererville; Nicholas Pappas, of Portage; Ben Ruiz, of East Chicago; and Aaron Storer, of Schererville.
Either way, Mrvan is certain to have more money in the bank heading into the general election campaign than either Green, Milo or Leyva following the bruising Republican primary.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Sonic Drive-In and cookie shop coming to Dyer; cigar lounge, bar and chicken restaurant opening
Coming soon
Not one but two Sonic Drive-Ins are skating into Northwest Indiana.
The eagerly anticipated Sonic at 896 N. Superior Drive in Crown Point will open soon and investor Ray Naser said local franchisees plans to open a Sonic next to the new Chipotle on U.S. 30 in Dyer in less than a year.
“We would like to announce that Sonic Crown Point is set to open by mid-May and that we are starting open interviews for full staff on April 22,” Naser said. “The store will employ a total of 80 people, including management positions.”
“America’s Drive-In” will hold walk-up interviews for staff in Crown Point on April 22 and April 23.
A second Sonic will roll into Dyer early next year.
“Our second store in Dyer is planned to open around January 2023,” Naser said. “Construction should start in July.”
The Oklahoma City-based chain has more than 3,500 restaurants nationwide, including one outside the River Oaks Center in Calumet City. It’s a throwback to an earlier era, with carhops skating out food to a customer’s car after an order is placed via intercom. There’s also a drive-thru.
The fast-food menu features traditional American fare such as burgers, Coney dogs, corn dogs, French fries, onion rings and breakfast toaster sandwiches. It differentiates itself from many other burger joints with a wide array of drinks that can be customized in thousands of different variations. There’s a dizzying array of pop, slushes, lemonade, limeades, teas, ocean waters and milkshakes in which different flavors can be mixed.
Like a retro drive-in that survived the rise of the drive-thru chains, it also offers sundaes and ice cream floats.
For more information, visit careers.sonicdrivein.com/us/en.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Crumbl is baking up something sweet in Dyer.
The Utah-based chain of cookie shops is taking over the 1,350-square-foot space formerly occupied by Game Stop at 819 Joliet St, in Dyer. That’s the shopping center off U.S. 30 anchored by Jewel-Osco and Goodwill.
Crumbl has been growing rapidly across Indiana since opening its first location in Fishers last year. Crumbl now has stores in Indianapolis, Greenwood, Carmel, Bloomington and Evansville.
Joseph S. Pete
Rapidly growing
Founded by cousins Sawyer Hemsley and Jason McGowan in 2017, it’s exploded to more than 300 stores in 36 states and boasts it’s now the fastest-growing cookie chain in the United States.
It specializes in freshly baked cookies available for takeout and delivery. It offers a rotating selection of more than 130 flavors such as mint chocolate chip, cookies & cream, lemon bar, classic pink sugar, carrot cake and peanut butter featuring Muddy Buddies.
Joseph S. Pete
Distinctive look
The flavors rotate with new cookies added every week. The cookies come in distinctive four-pack, six-pack and 12-pack boxes. They’re pink and oblong – a unique look Hemsley and his classmates at Utah State University came up with to make the boxes recognizable and Instagrammable.
Crumbl also sells half-pints of housemade ice cream in flavors like brownie fudge, peanut butter brittle, snickerdoodle and raspberry cheesecake.
For more information, visit crumblcookies.com.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
Honeys Chicken is cooking up crispy fried chicken and fish in Griffith.
The fast-food restaurant opened at 100 W. Ridge Road unit 30, taking over the old Mezquitacos space that the restaurant vacated when it moved to downtown Griffith.
The menu includes chicken dinners, wing dinners, chicken tenders, catfish dinners, perch dinners, shrimp, livers, gizzards and a Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. One can get a variety of sauces, including hot sauce, mild sauce and barbecue. Sides include fries and coleslaw.
One can also grab dessert. Options include cookies, cakes, peach cobbler and banana pudding.
Honeys Chicken is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more information, call 219-513-8182.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Elements Cigar Lounge will soon light them up in Highland.
The new cigar lounge is located at 8349 Indianapolis Blvd., suite C in the Highland Ultra Plaza across from Wicker Park.
The veteran-owned business will let guests puff on stogies and savor wine, bourbon, whiskey and cocktails. It’s now hiring bartenders.
For more information, email elementscigar@gmail.com or find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete
Open
Fuse Bar and Grill added another nightlife spot to Chesterton last year.
The bar at 791 Indian Boundary Road in Chesterton serves craft beer, domestic beer, whiskey, bourbon and Scotch. It also has a bar food menu that includes burgers, wings and steaks.
It also offers live entertainment by local bands.
“We’ve got a fresh upbeat vibe, offering a full menu, bar, and an amazing nightlife venue,” Fuse posted online. “We started this business to provide a place for anyone to come to, relax, grab a beer and listen to live music. We’re looking forward to growing our business to continue to serve Chesterton and the surrounding communities. We’d like to personally invite you to stop in for fight nights, karaoke, dancing, live music, burgers, beer, and so much more.”
For more information, call 219-728-1047 or visit www.fusechesterton.com.
Joseph S. Pete
Closed
The 5th Avenue Food Stop packed up and left town in downtown Gary.
The downtown food truck park was meant to serve steelworkers at the nearby Gary Works steel mill and address a food desert in the Steel City. It offered grab-and-go and outdoor dining in an open field on Fifth Avenue between Carolina and Georgia streets, a few blocks east of the U.S. Steel Yard.
The Cracked and Blacktop BBQ food trucks, its original tenants, have rolled out. They had served food like brisket, breakfast sandwiches and truffle Parmesan fries.
Joseph S. Pete
Expanding again
The Region was once home to many chain bookstores, but Amazon put a dent in the once-popular business model.
The defunct Borders chain had stores in Highland and Hobart, and Barnes & Noble had a book emporium by the Southlake Mall that shuttered in 2010.
Now there’s just the Barnes & Noble in the Valparaiso Marketplace shopping center in Valpo. Barnes & Noble was originally supposed to locate in Shops on Main in Schererville but the Great Recession killed those plans, and the suggestion a chain bookstore would come to Munster’s Centennial Village has never materialized.
But now, buoyed by a revival in reading the popularity of bookstores, Barnes & Noble is expanding again and looking to open 25 new stores this year. Northwest Indiana is not currently on the list but the bookseller is seeking suggested locations.
“We have nothing at the moment but are always looking for new opportunities,” a company spokesperson said. “You can email us at mybarnesandnoble@bn.com with the area/town in the subject line if you have locations you think we should look at.”
Joseph S. Pete
Renovated
Grindhouse Cafe renovated its flagship coffee shop at 146 N. Broad St. in downtown Griffith.
It closed for a couple days to redo the floor. It was time for a fresh look, owner Gabriel Mauch said.
“When we opened Whiting, it looked so nice,” he said. “Now that Griffith has been at it for almost a decade, we wanted to start updating the Griffith location.”
Joseph S. Pete
New ownership
Sip, the popular local coffee shop chain, bought its downtown Highland location that it opened in 2016, becoming a popular hangout spot overnight.
Owner Rhonda Bloch has acquired the building at 2815 Jewett Ave.
“After a long haul of being the town of Highland’s tenant, I was able to finally purchase the building from them,” she said.
She also bought the building of the neighboring Primitive Peddler antique store, which will remain open and now lease from her instead.
“It wasn’t a long-term goal but when they forced my hand and were going to sell it I knew either I had to buy it or somebody was gonna buy it and throw me out, lol,” she said. “The whole back garage is a big warehouse that somebody is interested in renting from me, but if they don’t I’m thinking of putting a venue in back there.”
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.
Joseph S. Pete
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