A federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a white South Bend police officer.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona praised the efforts of educators and focused on the importance of masks to keep schools open as he visited classrooms in northern Indiana Wednesday. The stops in Elkhart and South Bend were part of a multi-state bus tour across the Midwest, highlighting the return to in-person school.

Students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade will be required to wear masks indoors, while face coverings will not be required but strongly encouraged among unvaccinated staff and middle and high school students

Starting this fall, South Bend Community School Corporation teachers will work an additional 40 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays with no salary increase.

Meg Hartz spent four years trying to secure comprehensive mental health care for her son, and she believes he could have avoided in-patient treatment if she would not have faced so many delays and roadblocks.

A state law signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb this year requires cities and counties that want to pursue their own legal action to "opt out" of the attorney general's lawsuits by June 30.

The Indiana Department of Education asked state auditors to review the enrollment at the South Bend Community School Corporation's Rise Up Academy following a complaint that students were not receiving an adequate education.

This is the first time the state process for deciding between two charter schools that want the same building will be put to the test, according to the Indiana Department of Education.

The Indiana House voted Monday for final legislative approval of the agreement signed in January by Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Dowagiac, Michigan-based Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians.

South Bend's police officers will be banned from using chokeholds under a newly revised use-of-force policy that officials in the northern Indiana city say still needs some tweaking.