The U.S. economy needs more kids.

The general fertility rate — that is, the number of births per thousand women ages 15 to 44 — declined to 55.8 in 2020, according to new provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a record low for the United States. Birth rates declined for every racial and ethnic group and nearly every age group.

The 2010s had the smallest population growth of any decade since the Great Depression, partly because of these birth declines. So the pandemic may have worsened the baby bust, but it’s hardly the only cause. A host of other factors suggest low birth rates will continue, including changing preferences, financial insecurity, and the country’s general inhospitableness to working parents.

Should America adopt a national paid family leave policy? 

Today's guest on SOUND OFF was LaPorte County Prosecuting Attorney John Lake. Prosecutor Lake talked about county politics, the Judah Morgan case, and what can be done to help child abuse cases and deaths go down in the state. 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), John Lake (Guest), Jeff Wuggazer (Producer/Editor)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Center Township Trustee Lisa Pierzakowski and LaPorte County Council Attorney Guy DiMartino are the guests today on SOUND OFF. We talked about homelessness in LaPorte County, rental assistance, and more. 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), Dennis Siddall (Producer), Jeff Wuggazer (Editor), Guy DiMartino (Guest), Lisa Pierzakowski (Guest)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

It's Monday! It's time to SOUND OFF in a conversation on the environmental regulation of Lake Michigan.

At the end of September, US Steel discharged a significant amount of iron into the waters of Lake Michigan, a body of water that provides drinking water for 7 million people. In addition, in 2017, 300 pounds of hexavalent chromium was spilled into Lake Michigan. As a result, many residents call for the state and federal government to better regulate and punish corporations that use Lake Michigan's water.

What do you think? Should the government do a better job protecting the Indiana lakeshore and the waters of Lake Michigan?

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), Jeff Wuggazer (Editor), Dennis Siddall (Producer)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

In today’s episode of SOUND OFF, we asked how our listeners think the county, cities, and schools should spend the millions of dollars they received from the American Rescue Plan. Infrastructure? Recovery programs? Better pay for employees? Air filtration for public buildings? 

Here are the ARP allocations for the county entities: 

La Porte County districts are estimated to receive: 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), Dennis Siddall (Producer), Jeff Wuggazer (Editor)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Back in the SOUND OFF studio today is the Mayor of LaPorte, Indiana, Tom Dermody. He's a former State Representative, school board member, and business owner. Mayor Dermody talks about Indiana redistricting plans, the North/South Economic Corridor, wage increases for city employees, and much more. 

CREDITS: Tom Dermody (Guest), Nate Loucks (Host), Jeff Wuggazer (Producer/Editor)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Today's SOUND OFF topic is something we MUST talk about as it impacts every voter in Indiana; Indiana's redistricting plans. Just this week, the Indiana House voted in favor of redrawn lines that change which districts you're in and who represents you. For the last year or more, our guest has been working with the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission to try and persuade our legislators to move to a more non-partisan, independent way of drawing the districts. Former mayor, former head of the LaPorte County GOP, and an Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission member, Leigh Morris, updated how things are going with gerrymandering and redistricting. 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host/Editor), Dennis Siddall (Producer), Leigh Morris (Guest)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Experts say that recruiting and retaining state and local government workers is the most difficult in decades. Competition from the private sector has left many governmental jobs unfilled and understaffed in local police, fire, street, and parks departments. Should local governments be willing to pay more to attract more and better talent? If elected officials were paid more, would that be one less barrier for more people to run for office? Should the Mayor of Michigan City get a substantial raise as the one proposed? We invited our listeners to give their opinions on these questions and more. 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), Dennis Siddall (Producer)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Get your party hats on becuase it's Friday! And, on Fridays, it's time to SOUND OFF. Today's guests were LaPorte Parks Superintendent Mark Schreiber and Director of Civic Auditorium Brett Binversie. We discussed the parks department, the latest parks construction projects, and the Civic Auditorium's use as an event center. 

CREDITS: Nate Loucks (Host), Jeff Wuggazer (Editor), Dennis Siddall (Producer), Mark Schreiber (Guest), Brett Binversie (Guest)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.

Today's show talked about how you would rate the job that Eric Holcomb has done handling the COVID-19 pandemic in Indiana. Do you think he's done a good job? Bad job? Do you wish he would be doing more? Some governors are mandating masks in schools; others are banning masks in schools. Some are putting their state on lockdown with the higher COVID-19 transmission rates we have; others are not.

Credits: Nate Loucks (Host), Dennis Siddall (Producer), Jeff Wuggazer (Editor)

SOUND OFF is a community conversation show that airs every Monday and Friday on 96.7 the Eagle in LaPorte County, Indiana. SOUND OFF is a Spoon River Media production.