Around The Region

Ten Commandments display prohibited in Goshen classrooms\nGOSHEN, Ind. -- The Goshen Board of Education has rejected a proposed policy change that would have allowed the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms.\nBoard member David Coyne said before Monday's vote that he opposed the proposed change because he believes it is unconstitutional and misleading.\nCoyne said displaying a religious document in a public school building is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. Also, displaying the Ten Commandments with legal documents improperly implies our government and legal system are based on the Commandments, he said.\nAccording to the proposed policy, which used language similar to state legislation, the Ten Commandments could have been displayed in school buildings provided they were displayed with other documents of legal or historical significance.\nCoyne stressed that he does not want to give the impression he is opposed to the Ten Commandments, but said it is not an issue for the Goshen school board to decide.\nBoard member Cathy Cripe agreed, saying she does not want to put Goshen in the position of having to defend a lawsuit.\n"I don't want to open the door for our school system to be a test case," she said. "We don't have the time, money or inclination to fight this in court."\nTerre Haute man denies stealing bird he killed\nTERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A Terre Haute man accused of stealing and killing a rare bird said the bird he killed was his own and that it was not animal cruelty.\nVictor Cihonski Jr., 44, remained jailed without bail Monday in the Vigo County Jail on charges of theft and animal cruelty.\nCihonski was arrested in June after allegedly stealing a $1,500 African Gray Congo parrot from a pet store. Later that day, police found Cihonski at his home with a headless bird, court records show.\nBut Cihonski denied that the bird was the one stolen from the pet shop. Instead, Cihonski said the bird was one he had bought at a garage sale. He said he killed the bird when police came to his home because he was on parole at the time and had a history with police.\n"So when they showed up again, accusing me of theft…I killed my bird," he said Monday. "I did kill my own bird; and I have plenty reasons for that. There was no cruelty; I snapped its neck."\nCihonski is scheduled for trial March 5.\nThe theft charge, a felony, is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Animal cruelty is a misdemeanor that carries up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine.\nCharges not expected in trooper's shooting of Roanoke man\nHUNTINGTON, Ind. -- Charges likely will not be filed in the shooting of a man who police say was shot by a state trooper after he ran toward the trooper's cruiser and pulled out a cellular phone.\nHuntington County Prosecutor John Branham said Monday that while the Nov. 25 shooting was a tragedy, he found no evidence that a crime was committed, either by Trooper Jay Anspach or Amos Van Ness.\nVan Ness, 20, of Roanoke, remains in fair condition in a local hospital. He likely will never fully recover from the single gunshot wound to the left side of his head, Branham said.\nHis mother, Jennifer Minick, said her son is paralyzed on his right side, unable to speak and cannot move his left leg without assistance.\nAnspach shot Van Ness after he darted from the shadows of buildings in downtown Roanoke, according to state police.\nAs Van Ness ran toward Anspach's marked police cruiser, he pulled his right hand out of his coat pocket and pointed or extended an object at the trooper.\nFrom inside the cruiser, Anspach fired one shot from his .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. The driver's side window was down slightly.\nThe object in Van Ness' hand was later found to be a cell phone.\n"In a split second, the officer had to make a decision," Branham said. "It looked like a gun. It wasn't."\nResolution adopted in honor of Goeglein\nINDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The House and Senate adopted a resolution Tuesday in honor of Rep. Gloria Goeglein, who died Nov. 1 at the age of 70.\nGoeglein, a Republican from Fort Wayne, had represented House District 84 since 1990.\nColleagues remembered her as a tireless worker for her constituents, dedicated to improving the lives of the mentally ill, the developmentally disabled and their families.\n"I issue a challenge to both parties: When you're recruiting candidates for the General Assembly, look for the same qualities that Gloria Goeglein had," said Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven.\nRep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, said lawmakers often become partisan in their arguments.\n"I never had that sense from Gloria because it was always a matter of her struggling for those who couldn't struggle for themselves," Brown said.\nMembers of Goeglein's family, including her husband, Leonard, attended the tribute in the House.\n"She enjoyed every day working for the people of the state of Indiana," he said. "She was always willing to work and do more."\nSenator proposes emergency broadcasts about missing children\nINDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- A state senator has introduced legislation that would broadcast reports on missing children using the same emergency system that warns people about severe storms.\nThe legislation, sponsored by Sen. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, would create the "Amber Alert" system to help rescue abducted children by broadcasting descriptive information to the public.\nThe Senate Public Policy committee voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse the bill and send it to the full Senate.\n"In these kinds of child-abduction cases, time is of the essence," Zakas said. "The Amber Alert program increases community awareness in the rare event of a stranger abduction and helps to dispense information when needed so that citizens become the eyes and ears of law enforcement."\nThe program is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped and murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.