Gayle Van Sessen bows out today after 15 years as executive director of the Greater Crown Point Chamber of Commerce. Van Sessen is headed south to rural Tipton County, where she will take up the mantle of executive director of community and economic development.

Startup airline Viza Air is exploring the possibility of providing service to Newark, NJ, and Washington, DC, from the Gary/Chicago Airport.

The state budget standoff continues, though there are reports this morning that a tentative deal has been reached. Legislators from northern Indiana are still wrangling over various issues, however, including the creation of a local transit authority and funding for Gary, IN, schools.

In Washington, Indiana Representatives Joe Donnelly (D-South Bend), and Pete Visclosky (D-Merrillville), both cast “no” votes on climate change legislation before the House. The bill still passed narrowly. As currently constituted, the legislation could lead to a significant increase in energy costs for area businesses and residents.

Nationally, retailers are struggling with sluggish summer sales as consumers stash money in savings accounts instead of spending it at the mall.

The concern is that shoppers’ mood could actually level off in coming months. The Conference Board today is slated to release confidence figures for June that economists estimate at 55, which would be essentially even with May’s 54.9.

Friday’s government economic reports weren’t comforting to merchants, showing that households used most of their government stimulus payments to boost savings to the highest level in more than 15 years in May, instead of splurging at the mall.

“There was a lot of hope with the surge in confidence,” said Dennis Jacobe, Gallup’s chief economist. He added that consumers were convinced that the second half would be better but he noted, “you can live on that hope for only so long.”