Abandoned dog 'Jenny' shot 3 times\nPOLAND , Ind. -- Homeowners from Poland, Ind., found a dog in their garage Friday that seemed to be suffering from an injury to her back leg. After an evening layover with food and water, she was taken to the Bloomington Animal Shelter. X-rays from a local veterinarian revealed the dog had been shot three times; her long grey-cream coat had covered the entry wounds.\n"(Jenny) is just the sweetest dog, even though she has three bullets in her," said Sarah J. Hayes, executive director of the Monroe County Humane Association. "We took her to a new vet(erinarian) today to see if she has a broken bone or nerve damage. She just wants to sit with you and be petted; she just wants to be scratched behind the ears."\nBloomington Animal Shelter and MCHA personnel believe Jenny is an Australian Shepard mix. Owen County homeowners found her cowering in a garage, according to a Monroe County Humane Society statement. Jenny was discovered wearing a red and black paisley collar with no tags.\nHayes said no one can be sure if the dog was shot and then dumped or dumped and then shot. Hayes said Jenny appeared as though she is from a home given her healthy coat and weight, but no owner has come forward to claim the animal.\n"This is the most blatant abuse of an animal I have seen," Hayes said. "This is the first time I have seen a dog with bullets in her who wasn't dead."\nMCHA is asking that anyone with any information pertaining to Jenny's plight contact the Bloomington Animal Shelter at 349-3492.\nAnimal abuse is a class D felony.\nJenny's medical funds were paid by the Olivia Cruelty and Abuse Fund, which provides financial support for the care of abused and neglected animals.\n"If (Jenny) recovers from her injuries and is healthy, she will go through a temperament test to gauge her disposition," Hayes said. "Then she would be available for adoption."
Muncie man pleads guilty to killing Ball State student\nMUNCIE, Ind. -- A man admitted in court Monday that he shot and killed a Ball State University student who had offered him and two others a ride home from an off-campus party.\nThe admission from Damien Sanders came as he pleaded guilty to murder and armed robbery charges for the March 7, 2004, death of 20-year-old Karl Harford of Carmel.\nIn exchange for Sanders' guilty plea, prosecutors dropped other charges and agreed they would not seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.\nSanders, 23, of Muncie, faces a sentence of 45 to 65 years in prison on the murder charge. Delaware Circuit Court Judge Marianne Vorhees scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 4.\nPotential jurors for Sanders' trial had arrived at the courthouse Monday for questioning when the plea agreement was finalized.\nDefense attorney Louis Denney said after the hearing that he believed the possibility of avoiding life in prison played a role in Sanders' decision to plead guilty.\n"He decided it was in his best interests," Denney said.\nDenney said co-defendant Brandon Patterson hoped to assign a greater share of the blame for Harford's shooting on Sanders.\nPatterson has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and is awaiting trial.\nSanders testified during Monday's hearing that he shot Harford but that he and the others, none of whom were Ball State students, had intended only to rob him.\nSanders said he met Harford at the party a few blocks from campus and that he, Patterson and a 14-year-old male accomplice left the party about 5 a.m. with Harford and drove about two miles to a house on the city's east side where Sanders formerly lived.\nSanders testified Patterson, who had Sanders' handgun, pulled the gun on Harford and tried to rob him. Harford resisted and Sanders joined the fight, eventually taking the gun from Patterson and shooting Harford.\nAsked during the hearing how he knew Harford was dead, Sanders replied, "He didn't move."\nAuthorities said the attackers netted just $2 in the robbery, after which they put Harford's body in the back seat of his car. The car was then abandoned in an alley, where the body was found several hours later.
Lawmakers hear debate over requiring voters to show photo ID\nINDIANAPOLIS -- State lawmakers are considering a bill that would require voters to show a driver's license or another government-issued photo identification before they cast a ballot.\nSupporters say asking for proof of identity could prevent voter fraud and give voters more faith in elections, but opponents question whether the legislation could prevent some people from voting.\nSecretary of State Todd Rokita, who supports the proposal, said Monday that many voters already expect to show a driver's license before they cast a ballot. He said voters may feel the system is flawed when poll workers do not ask to see their identification.\n"Voters need more confidence when they go to the polls," said Rokita, a Republican.\nBill sponsor Sen. Victor Heinold, R-Valparaiso, said he met a person who said he was encouraged to vote more than once by returning to the polling place using a different name each time. He said the bill could prevent such fraud.\n"This is strictly to prove identification," Heinold said. "This bill is not to discriminate against anyone."\nBut others said the bill could prevent people from voting if they do not have a driver's license or another form of government-issued photo identification.\nJulia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana, said the bill could discourage people from voting if they have disabilities and do not typically carry a driver's license. She also said the legislation could affect low-income voters and minorities who are less likely to have a driver's license than others.\n"Their participation is marginal already," Vaughn said.\nSen. Billie Breaux, D-Indianapolis, said the state should work to get as many people to vote as possible.\n"Many people are intimidated just by going to the polls," she said. "We ought to be making it more accessible rather than less accessible."\nHeinold said most people were accustomed to showing driver's licenses to board an airplane, to open a checking account or even to rent a video.\nBut Vaughn said such activities were a privilege.\n"Voting's different," she said. "It's a right."\nThe Senate Election and Civic Affairs Committee did not vote on the bill after hearing testimony Monday, but the bill could be voted on next week.
Atheists might bid for suggested \ncourthouse Ten Commandments site\nCRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- A man who says he represents an atheist group is planning to bid for a small plot of the county courthouse lawn that a businessman has said he wants to buy as a site for a Ten Commandments monument.\nEarl Myler, who heads a company that designs and builds churches, proposed this month to Montgomery County commissioners a plan to buy the property to return a Ten Commandments monument to the lawn, where a previous monument was removed in 2001.\nKen Lewis said his atheist group would bid against Myler's company if the commissioners endorsed Myler's proposal.\nThe process should permit the commandments monument because freedom of speech can be exercised on private property, Myler company officials said.\nSeveral county officials received an e-mail last week from Lewis, who wrote that his group wanted to erect a monument reading "Freedom from Religion."\nLewis told the Crawfordsville Journal-Review that an anonymous benefactor has pledged money to outbid Myler if the commissioners decide to put the land up for sale.\nLewis said he lives near Denver, Colo., and that he learned about the proposal from news reports. He said the group was interested in opposing Myler "because we strongly believe in the separation of church and state."\nMyler said he expected a bid for the property from an atheist organization.\n"The people in the Myler organization believe that Christians in Montgomery County and across the country will join us in raising enough money to assert our Christian rights to display the Ten Commandments on a lawn that we as taxpayers pay for anyway," Myler said.\nA Ten Commandments monument stood on the courthouse lawn in the city about 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis from 1958 until 2001, when the Indiana Civil Liberties Union went to court to have it removed.\nThe commissioners, acting on the advice of the county attorney, decided not to fight the action and had the monument removed.
