Around The Region

Shelter director used charity's credit for personal expenses\nINDIANAPOLIS -- The executive director of the Humane Society has charged personal expenses on the charity's credit card for years, an action that could prompt an Internal Revenue Service investigation.\nBut Executive Director Marsha Spring's use of the credit card for such purchases is acceptable under Humane Society policy as long as she repaid the charity, said Lucius Hamilton, president of the organization's governing board.\nThe Indianapolis Star, in a story published Sunday, reviewed several hundred credit card charges from 1995 to 2000 and found purchases from high-end women's clothing stores, gas stations, a spa and animal-product suppliers, among others.\nSpring, executive director since 1988, acknowledged making personal charges on the credit card and said she repaid them.\nA nonprofit could lose its tax-exempt status if an IRS investigation finds that a charity is benefiting an individual, she said.\nNew law has silenced unwelcome telemarketers\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's new do-not-call law appears to have accomplished what otherwise required unplugging home phones: curbing unwanted telemarketing calls.\n"You'd better believe it," Indianapolis resident Vivian McGuire said. "I told my husband, 'I'm gonna take us off that list. I don't get any calls, and I'm getting lonely.' Of course, he knew I was kidding."\nRoss and Vivian McGuire say the persistent ringing of their phone stopped after Jan. 1, when state law began requiring businesses to buy the state's $300 no-call list before making unsolicited sales calls in Indiana.\nMore than 784,000 Indiana phone numbers were registered for the list. Phone numbers listed by midnight Wednesday will be designated no-call April 1. Phone numbers filed after Wednesday's deadline will be added for the third-quarter update, effective July 1.\nIndiana's no-call list has critics, saying the law is unconstitutional and anti-business. \nState police seek help to reduce crushing caseload\nINDIANAPOLIS -- State police have asked lawmakers for more money to reduce a backlog at Indiana's crime laboratories, but even if they receive the cash, authorities may need years to clear the cases awaiting analysis.\nAs long ago as 1995, work held up in crime labs was causing delays in trials. In 1997, the Indiana State Police stopped accepting new cases for DNA testing for several months. \nFor a time, new DNA technology allowed the labs to catch up, but demand continued to outstrip resources, and DNA testing is again almost at a one-year backlog.\nVincennes Police Detective Mark Dupire said DNA testing is critical for a successful prosecution.\n"It's obviously something that you cannot not do, because if you don't, then the defense will kill you," Dupire told The Indianapolis Star for a story published Sunday.\n"I think it's desperate," said Steve Johnson, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. "There are probably some cases coming in now that they'll never test before trial. They're almost close to declaring a moratorium."\nParents sue over church's 'gross-out game'\nCROWN POINT, Ind. -- Four families are suing a church whose leaders they say forced their children to drink a mix of dog food, salsa, sauerkraut, sardines, potted meat, eggnog and cottage cheese.\nA youth pastor who organized the New Year's Eve event for teen-agers said the contest was for laughs and no one was forced to ingest the mixture.\nThe lawsuit against Living Stones Fellowship Church accuses the adults of pressuring 13- and 14-year-olds into activities that caused physical and mental harm.\n"We didn't even know if anyone would do it," Johnson said. "If I knew someone was going to be that bent out of shape about it, I never would have done it."\nSome of the teen-agers developed strep infections and were tested for other communicable diseases.\nJohnson said that the organizers were very cautious and the man who chewed up the food did not have any diseases.