AROUND INDIANA

School suspends student for bringing in grenade

A northern Indiana middle school student has been suspended after police say he took an inactive hand grenade to school.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department says the 14-year-old boy had the device in his backpack when a teacher at Milford Middle School saw it.
Milford is about 30 miles southeast of South Bend. Wawasee School Resource Officer Derek Kreider, who’s also a Kosciusko County sheriff’s deputy, inspected the grenade and quickly determined that it wasn’t functional.
It’s not illegal to possess inactive grenades, but having one in a school violated Wawasee Community School Corporation policy.
The student told authorities that a member of his family recently purchased the grenade at a gun and knife show and then gave it to him as a present.

300 workers returning to Chrysler’s plants

About 300 workers are being recalled to jobs at Chrysler’s transmission factories in central Indiana.
United Auto Workers local president Rich Boruff says 175 people returned to work at the Kokomo plants on Monday, with about 140 more scheduled to return on March 22. Boruff says production is increasing at the factories as new Chrysler owner Fiat switches to using more six-speed transmissions.
Chrysler had more than 4,600 workers at its four Kokomo plants before it filed bankruptcy last year.

Burglar cleans out garage of police chief

An eastern Indiana police chief has a little less spring cleaning to do after a burglar took everything from his garage.
Richmond Police Chief Kris Wolski was among at least five residents in his neighborhood hit in a two-day string of garage and vehicle burglaries in the city. Four other garages were burglarized in about six hours on Sunday.
Wolski tells the Palladium-Item that “they cleaned me out” when his garage was hit Monday evening. Lt. Brad Berner says increased patrols are planned in the targeted areas.