AROUND THE STATE

Democrats OK spending $200M from Ind. reserve

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Democrats are moving forward a one-year budget plan that includes some key differences in a proposal recommended by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The plan would increase operating money for higher education by 1 percent in the next fiscal year, instead of cutting it as Daniels had proposed. A separate House Democrat plan for public schools would provide an average increase of 2 percent next year, while Daniels had recommended that their funding remain flat.

The combined spending plans by majority Democrats in the House would tap $200 million from the state’s reserves to prop up spending.

Daniels wants to keep the reserves in case the sagging economy becomes worse.
The budget bill endorsed by the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday now moves to the full House, which Democrats control 52-48.


Kokomo mayor to discuss auto industry at Yale

KOKOMO – Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight is traveling to Yale University to talk with graduate students about the auto industry.

The mayor says he will speak Feb. 23 with business students who are working on a case study about the impact of auto job losses in Kokomo.

Yale is paying for Goodnight’s trip to the New Haven, Conn., school, where the mayor expects to be asked about the need for federal loans to the U.S. automakers and how Kokomo is trying to diversify its economy.

Goodnight has been a vocal supporter of the government loans, as his city has about 5,000 Chrysler workers and some 3,000 employees of parts maker Delphi Corp.


IU Cancer researcher Dr. Stephen Williams dies at 62

INDIANAPOLIS – Dr. Stephen Williams, who led IU’s Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center since its creation in 1992, died Sunday at age 62.

Williams was diagnosed with melanoma in 2006, and the cancer returned in 2008.
Under his leadership, the cancer center experienced tremendous growth and last year opened a $150 million facility at IU’s medical complex in downtown Indianapolis, one of only 63 accredited cancer centers in the nation.

Dr. D. Craig Brater, dean of the IU School of Medicine, said Williams was successful in building the center because of his ability to focus people on common goals.

“He’s just a nice guy,” Brater said. “If somebody says they can’t get along with Steve, you just instantly know it was their problem; it wasn’t Steve’s problem.”

Williams wrote more than 150 medical articles, and his research included ovarian and testicular cancers.

He was born in the central Indiana city of Shelbyville and grew up in Bedford.
He graduated from DePauw University and received his medical degree and performed his residency and fellowship through IU.

Survivors include his wife Kathryn and their children, Thomas and Caroline.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at Zionsville United Methodist Church in Zionsville, Ind.