Kernan, Daniels remain split over possible I-69 tolls \nEVANSVILLE -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels said the possibility of building the planned Interstate 69 extension as a toll road should remain an option because the state does not have the money to pay for the project.\nDemocratic Gov. Joe Kernan, however, called consideration of additional toll roads in the state a bad idea and said an I-69 toll road would stifle economic development along the Indianapolis-to-Evansville route.\nDaniels was asked Tuesday during an Evansville Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce event how he would ensure I-69 was built as soon as possible. He responded by saying, "find the money ... there isn't any money for it right now."\nHe told the audience that "we've got to look at tolling as an option. Money will not fall out of the sky from Washington."\nUnder plans announced last year, the state would extend I-69 in a project estimated to cost about $1.78 billion and take eight to 14 years to build.\nBoth Kernan and Daniels have said they support construction of the I-69 extension and both have made similar comments before about the possibility of additional toll roads.\nKernan, in a meeting Tuesday with the Evansville Courier & Press editorial board, said Indiana must battle for a larger share of federal highway dollars, something Daniels also mentions in stump speeches.
Mother claims Madison prosecutor injured her son\nANDERSON, Ind. -- A special prosecutor is to review allegations that Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings used inappropriate force in ejecting a 12-year-old boy from an after-school boxing program.\nAn investigation stems from an incident that occurred Friday at Anderson's Southside Middle School, where Cummings was helping operate an after-school boxing program, Cummings said.\nCummings, who has not been charged, said the incident began when he told a male student to keep his hands off a girl.\nCummings said the student started quarreling, telling the prosecutor to get out of his face. Eventually, Cummings said, he told the boy to leave the gym, put his hand on his shoulder and walked him outside.\nThe boy's mother, Carla Hubbard, said she thought Cummings had battered her son.\nShe said she took her son on Saturday to a hospital, where doctors determined he had strained his shoulder muscle. It was hospital personnel who contacted police, she said.\nHubbard said she had signed a hands-off policy with her son's school that stated if her son ever got out of hand, she should be contacted right away.\n"(Cummings) really did scare my son, and that wasn't fair," she said. "All he had to do was call me. As I told the school, I was due a phone call. I live two blocks from the school, they could have sent him right home."\nMadison Superior Court Judge Thomas Newman appointed Mark McKinney, a Delaware County deputy prosecutor, to handle the case, Cummings said.
Settlement would permit strip mall \nat nature preserve \nRICHMOND, Ind. -- A deal between city officials and the group that runs a private nature preserve would allow construction of a strip mall on a 33-acre section of the preserve.\nThe settlement would bring an end to more than 16 months of dispute over whether to allow commercial development of the Hayes Arboretum property and includes a pledge that would permit no further development on some 350 other acres of preserve land during the next 40 years.\nThe agreement, which was approved Monday by the Richmond Common Council, now goes to Wayne Superior Court Judge Gregory Horn for final review.\nIn July, Horn urged the two sides to seek mediation after the Stanley W. Hayes Research Foundation, which runs the nature preserve, sued the city in March for $8.25 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed after Mayor Sally Hutton vetoed an ordinance rezoning the 33 acres along U.S. 40 on the city's east side.\nSeveral council members who had opposed rezoning the land for development said they reluctantly voted to accept the settlement.\n"I think it was probably as good as we could get, so I'm willing to live with it," Councilman Gil Klose said.\nArboretum officials say the planned sale of the land was needed to strengthen its endowment and that the preserve might be forced to close without the additional money.\nArboretum Director Rod Waltz said he was pleased with the settlement.\n"I'm very happy that this part of the project is complete," he said. "We're in a position where we're looking forward to all the possibilities in the future"
