WBND-TV (South Bend, IN)

NOW: Showers still lingering across Michiana

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend community leaders, educators, and a national early childhood policy expert gathered Thursday evening at Howard Park Event Center for a public forum addressing the challenges facing childcare and early education in St. Joseph County.

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- Today at around 5:33 p.m., 4 vehicles were involved in a crash on US 20 and SR 15 in Goshen. A Dodge Pickup truck was westbound on US 20 at SR 15 when a Toyota SUV was in the eastbound left turn lane on US 20. A Dodge SUV was directly behind the Toyota SUV and a Dodge Pickup was directly behind the Dodge SUV.

WINAMAC, Ind. -- Businesses along US-35 in Winamac saw the worst from Tuesday’s relentless storms. Trucks from the Chrysler dealership were drowned in water up to each bumper; Peak Community services had to evacuate their facility because of water getting inside, and the VFW Winamac Post 1728 is still working on drying the inside of their building.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Country music stars Eric Church and Hardy are just some of the headliners for the Boots on the Bend Country Music Festival happening Friday, August 14 and Saturday, August 15 at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds. South Bend Mishawaka Communications Manager Jena Stopczynski says the concert is happening rain or shine, so be prepared for possible weather changes.

DOWAGIAC, Mich. -- The Dowagiac Fire Department was dispatched to the Pokagon Tribal property at 57781 Dailey Road. The call came in at 4:25 a.m. on Thursday, August 13. The fire started inside the doorway on the ground level and extended into the attic area and eventually to the roof of the building. Firefighters arrived on the scene to find a large maintenance facility with heavy smoke and flames showing throughout approximately 40 percent of the building.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- A new push is being proposed to consolidate 13 local townships in St. Joseph County into 3 new regional townships to improve services and potentially save taxpayers money. This is a voluntary government modernization proposal in the wake of a new state law set to force consolidation. The concept is being floated by current Portage Township Trustee Jason Critchlow.

NEW CARLISLE, Ind.--- Samsung is moving forward with the battery plant project in New Carlisle. Though it's too soon to know for sure if original promises will be kept, local officials are celebrating the resumption of this major St. Joseph County development. The project was previously a joint venture with General Motors (GM) to build an electric vehicle (EV) battery factory. However, in response to a downturned EV market, GM paused the project indefinitely back in May.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- ABC57 sat with District Congressman Rudy Yakym to discuss the severe weather happening across Indiana, the state of the U.S. economy, the war in Iran, and competing in the November midterm elections against Democrat Jamee Decio.

BOSTON -- A federal judge in Boston dismissed the Trump administration’s multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against Harvard University that alleged the school failed to protect its Jewish students from discrimination, marking the latest development in their lengthy dispute over funding and academic independence. US District Judge Richard G.