Borst files for recount in General Assembly primary\nINDIANAPOLIS -- A Republican who has for three decades held one of the most powerful positions in the General Assembly filed for a recount Tuesday in the primary election he lost by 48 votes.\nBut Senate Finance Chairman Larry Borst of Greenwood said he would let party officials decide whether to seek a special election because of election-day problems in Marion County, including some precincts running out of ballots.\n"I just simply hope that the party would react and the party would be as outraged as some of the people because they couldn't vote, and kind of lead the way," Borst said after two attorneys filed the recount request with the Indiana Election Division.\nIt seemed doubtful, however, that state and county GOP officials who could seek a special election would petition for one by a noon Friday deadline.\nMarion County GOP Chairman Mike Murphy said he would not do so. Johnson County GOP Chairman Doug Lechner said the voting problems were in Marion County, so it was Murphy's call to make. And a spokesman for the state party said it was a matter for candidates and local party officials to decide.\nThe Indiana Recount Commission will decide how to proceed on the recount, but typically any request for one is granted. The three-member panel would include Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita and one designee each from the state Republican and Democratic parties.\nWaltz, an investment banker, loaned his own campaign at least $114,000 in the effort to defeat Borst.
Spicy Mexican candies might contain lead>/b>\nELKHART, Ind. -- Some Mexican candies remained on Indiana store shelves despite a government warning that the treats might contain lead.\nWhile the candies -- including lollipops and other sweets dipped in chili powder -- are especially popular with Hispanic residents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month warned that they could cause lead poisoning in children.\nJuanita Ramos, who was born in Mexico and now lives in Goshen, Ind., has been encouraging people she knows not to buy the candy since she heard the FDA warning. But she said much of the community seems unaware of the problem because the candy still was being sold in Hispanic and other groceries in the northern Indiana county.\nAbout 9 percent of Elkhart County's population is Hispanic, and 81 percent of that group is Mexican, according to the 2000 Census.\nNancy Cobb of the Indiana state Department of Health said she was concerned about the potential for lead poisoning by candy, but was awaiting more data from the government before discussing the issue with county health agencies.
Alleged shooter to be psychologically examined\nANGOLA, Ind. -- A man who police say fired a gun at vehicles on a northeastern Indiana highway and later shot at police must undergo a psychological evaluation before he is formally charged with attempted murder, a judge ruled.\nDonald William Myers III, of Angola, had a court hearing Tuesday after he was released from a hospital where he had been treated for wounds he suffered during a standoff with police on April 29.\nMyers, 26, was shot in the groin and shoulder by officers responding to reports that a man had shot at a state police cruiser and other cars on U.S. 20 some 40 miles north of Ft. Wayne. He surrendered after a three-hour standoff with about 75 officers.\nAuthorities initially charged Myers with criminal recklessness, and later added six counts of attempted murder, said Steuben County Prosecutor Tom Wilson. Each attempted murder charge carries a possible sentence of 20 to 50 years.\nMyers pleaded the Fifth Amendment when Magistrate Judge Randy Coffey asked whether he had any mental illnesses during Tuesday's hearing. Coffey then ordered that Myers be tested to determine whether he is mentally competent.
Thousands show up to apply for housing assistance\nHAMMOND -- Thousands of people showed up at a National Guard armory to apply for federal housing assistance, surprising officials and police as the line snaked around several blocks.\nNeighbors said the crowd, which police estimated at 5,000, began forming about 4 a.m. Tuesday for a three-day application period that was scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Indiana National Guard Armory in Hammond.\nPolice blocked traffic on 173rd Street from Indianapolis Boulevard to Kennedy Avenue and dispatched officers to work on crowd control.
University of Southern Indiana tuition to rise\nEVANSVILLE -- The trustees of the University of Southern Indiana have approved a 5 percent tuition increase, slightly more than the limit Gov. Joe Kernan had sought from the seven state-supported colleges.\nThe new tuition rates mean that in-state undergraduates will pay about $4,117 for the 2004-05 school year, or $192 more than this year.\nThe increase was approved Saturday at a meeting of the 9,500-student school's board of trustees.\nUniversity President H. Ray Hoops said the fee increase would be used for operational costs, including personnel, benefits and utilities as well as new investments in faculty, instructional technology and equipment.\nOfficials at IU, Purdue and Ball State universities all approved tuition hikes of 4 percent this spring after Kernan sought that limit after much greater increases in recent years.\nKernan's request followed an unsuccessful attempt during this winter's legislative session to cap tuition increases by state-supported universities at 4 percent. The bill failed after heavy lobbying against it by university officials.\nThe tuition at Southern Indiana will remain less than the $6,746 rate for new students at IU's Bloomington campus and the $6,092 rate at Purdue's main campus.
State road named for Shelbyville lawmaker killed by drunken driver\nSHELBYVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A section of a state road was named Wednesday in honor of a state legislator killed on the highway in a crash caused by a drunken driver.\nLt. Gov. Kathy Davis unveiled a highway sign naming a stretch of Indiana 44 between Franklin and Shelbyville for Rep. Roland Stine.\nStine, 62, was driving home from the Statehouse in April 2003 when his car was struck head-on by a drunken driver. Stine, who had earlier that day voted to strengthen drunken driving penalties, died instantly in the crash.\nA first-term Republican lawmaker, Stine had been a member of the Shelbyville City Council and a middle school teacher for 40 years in the city about 20 miles southeast of Indianapolis.\n"I'll always think of him as a teacher and the love he had of kids and learning," said James Peck, superintendent of the Shelbyville Central Schools. "He was a true friend of all the kids that went through the middle school."\nDavis said renaming the 20-mile stretch of the road for Stine honored his contributions to Indiana.\n"The road leading to his hometown will bear his name and give people traveling on State Road 44 from Shelbyville to I-65 one more reason to remember his life of service," Davis said.\nA man who admitted driving while intoxicated was sentenced to 26 years in prison for causing the crash that killed Stine. He also had been convicted of drunken driving in 1999.
Kernan names panel to advise state on early education\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Joe Kernan appointed a 32-member commission on Tuesday to recommend improvements in the availability and quality of early learning programs and school readiness services.\nKernan signed an executive order establishing the Indiana Commission for Early Learning and School Readiness. The panel will focus on goals established by the Indiana Education Roundtable, a group of lawmakers, educators and business leaders that helps shape education policies.\nThe goals include making full-day kindergarten available to all children, giving every four-year-old access to quality pre-kindergarten programs and increasing parental involvement in early learning efforts.\nKernan said the state must do all it can to ensure that children start on the right path to succeed in school and the workforce.\n"This new commission will ultimately lead to additional efforts or retooled initiatives that will benefit them while they are young," said Kernan, a Democrat who is seeking a full term this year.\nThe panel includes state lawmakers and officials, educators, parents, child care providers and others. Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed, a Republican, and Mary Downes, Kernan's chief of staff, will be the chairwomen of the commission.\nKernan proposed a plan earlier this year to expand state-funded, full-day kindergarten and make it available statewide after three years. Kernan said the plan was affordable, but Republican legislators rejected it, saying a state with a $1 billion deficit should not be starting costly new programs.
