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Mortgage rates down, but still over 5 percent; jobs recovery slower than expected; bankruptcy filings are way up in Illinois and Indiana and there is a push on to legalize alcohol sales on Sunday. State will get over $3 million in Pfizer settlement; Indiana AG says Porter County cannot stay out of the RDA and Southwest Airlines will charge for early boarding. Indiana bankruptcies increased 28.4 percent and Illinois bankruptcies jumped 32.9 percent from Jan. 1 through June 30 compared to the first six months of last year. Bankruptcies filed at federal courts in Hammond, Fort Wayne, Lafayette and South Bend increased 40.2 percent in the first half of 2009 compared to a year earlier. nwi.com
• Porter Co. will fight to stay out of RDA Estimated raw steel production in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area—the nation’s second-largest steel producing region—was 383,000 tons during the week ending Aug. 29 up from the 378,000 tons produced the week prior, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. nwi.com/inbusiness
• State chamber accepting ‘Small Business of the Year’ nominations Gov. Mitch Daniels last week embraced the possibility of education reform that focuses on growth in student achievement rather than forcing every student to meet a single standard. “Schools cannot control the students who show up, so we’ll be measuring them based on how much improvement they do or don’t bring to those students,” Daniels said after a meeting of Indiana’s Education Roundtable. “I think it’s a much more fair way to evaluate our schools.” nwi.com
• DALLAS—Southwest adds charge to board sooner Southwest Airlines announced last week that customers can pay extra to reserve a spot in the boarding line right behind elite fliers and ahead of families and other travelers. The Dallas-based discount airline lost $37 million in the first six months of this year, and analysts expect that 2009 will be its first unprofitable year since the early 1970s. nwi.com
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