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(03/13/12 10:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Some Indiana Daily Student alumni and readers have recently been prompted to donate money to a fundraiser to send IDS reporters and photographers to Portland, Ore., to cover the NCAA tournament. This fundraiser was not authorized by the IDS. IDS management and editorial staff were unaware that it even existed until well after several hundred dollars had already been raised. The fundraiser ended up quickly raising over $2,000 before it was closed. This fundraiser was initiated by a well-intentioned IDS alumnus who was trying to help send extra reporters to the basketball game. The IDS had already committed weeks in advance to pay to send one reporter and a photographer to cover the game, but others also wished to go. They were told they could go if they paid for the plane tickets themselves as our travel budget only allowed for the purchase of two tickets. The others agreed and then paid for their own tickets to Portland. After this, an IDS alumnus decided he would try to help the reporters by starting a fundraiser. This helpful alumnus didn’t think to ask the IDS management and editorial staff to see if this would be okay. While I appreciated the outpouring of support for IDS reporters and photographers in this fundraiser, IDS employees unfortunately cannot accept donations from the public for their coverage. There are IU and IDS regulations and procedures regarding soliciting alumni and the public for money and they were not followed for this fundraiser. Because of this, we were not be able to allow our employees to accept these donations. Upon finding out that the fundraiser was taking place, I immediately asked that it be shut down and that all of the money be returned. The alumnus has assured me that the money will be returned promptly to those who donated. A few alumni have emailed me after seeing the fundraiser to ask if the IDS is in financial trouble. This is not the case. While newspapers across the country have faced financial hardship, the IDS has also seen some decline in revenues, but we are on stable financial footing and this fundraiser was not initiated to help us pay to do our job. We were already doing that, and a well-intentioned alumnus simply wanted to help us out a bit. Unfortunately, he didn’t think to ask first. If you have any questions about this fundraiser or anything else, please contact me at editor@idsnews.com. - Zach Ammerman, Editor-in-Chief of the Indiana Daily Student
(11/28/11 5:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An IU student arrested in Cairo during mass protests Tuesday was released and returned to Bloomington late Saturday night, IU Director of University Communications Mark Land said Sunday. Luke Gates, a junior studying political science and Near Eastern languages and cultures, was participating in the semester study abroad program in Cairo, Ryan Piurek, director of University Communications, confirmed last Tuesday.“We’re very happy that he’s back and relieved that this whole incident ended the way that it did,” Land said about the student’s release.Gates was ordered to be released Thursday, but he missed his connecting flight in Atlanta on his way home and had to wait for a second flight. Land said he spoke with Gates’ parents Saturday, and “Obviously, they’re very excited to have him back at home.” The extra couple days in paperwork for his release and flight delays made the wait for his return that much harder for them, he said.Gates, with Gregory Porter from Drexel University and Derrik Sweeney from Georgetown University, took part in ongoing anti-government protests in Tahrir Square. The protesters are demanding an end to Egypt’s interim military rule as the country tries to transition to democracy from the autocratic dictatorship of deposed President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak was overthrown amid popular protests as part of the Arab Spring.The three students were accused of setting off Molotov cocktails and clashing with police, according to reports. The American students were studying at the American University in Cairo. All three students were ordered to be released last Thursday. Piurek said the American University in Cairo and the U.S. Embassy were primarily responsible for providing legal assistance to Gates, but the University had been in contact with them throughout the process. After news of Gates’ arrest surfaced, the University released a statement saying officials expressed their “deep concern for the safety of Luke Gates, as well as for the safety of the other two students who have been detained in Egypt.” The statement said University officials remained in close contact with Gates’ family and with U.S. Embassy officials in Cairo. The statement noted that two other IU students were also in Cairo, but they were both safe, and neither has been detained. On his Twitter account, Gates often wrote about going to Tahrir Square and participating in protests. On Nov. 13, he tweeted that he had a job in Cairo after graduation, and on Nov. 19, he tweeted about throwing rocks, his eyes burning and seeing police fire live ammunition and rubber bullets. On the same day, he also tweeted, “Honestly, hopefully I die here.” A video was posted on YouTube showing all three students on Egyptian state-run television. The video is in Arabic, but it shows the drivers' licenses and student IDs of each of the American students. The video also includes a brief clip of the three students standing behind plastic bottles with green fluid in them, as well as a blurry clip that is suggested to be the students protesting. All three students have now been released.
(11/11/11 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 53 hours after the election, Bloomington residents finally have results for the contested city council races. And it was a Democratic sweep — a big one. There isn’t a single Republican on the new city council, the first time this has happened in recent memory. Democratic City Council incumbents Tim Mayer, Andy Ruff and Susan Sandberg were all reelected in the at-large race and Democratic incumbent Chris Sturbaum was reelected in District 1. Republican at-large candidates Jennifer Mickel and Ed Schwartzman were defeated, as well as Republican District 1 candidate Kristopher “KC” Baker. Mayor Mark Kruzan and City Clerk Regina Moore were both reelected as well, but they ran unopposed, as did all five other members of the city council, all Democrats. Election Board members worked for two days to count the votes from the city’s municipal election after a series of problems in vote counting during Tuesday’s election. “The delay has been the result of efforts to ensure, without a shadow of a doubt, that all vote tallies from each polling place are counted exactly as intended,” Monroe County Clerk Linda Robbins, Election Board President Jan Ellis and Monroe County Council President Julie Thomas said in a statement Thursday. Monroe County Commissioner Patrick Stoffers gave an apology for the voting issues Thursday. “In the case of counting the 2011 municipal election, it was the perfect storm in terms of things not going right,” Stoffers said. “The public was not well served by Monroe County government in this election.”Stoffers also assured voters that after the votes were tallied, the county government would work to ensure this does not happen again.— Zach AmmermanFinal Vote Tallies: At-large race (pick three): Tim Mayer (D) - 3,774 votesSusan Sandberg (D) - 3,664 votesAndy Ruff (D) - 3,054 votesEd Schwartzman (R) - 2,237 votesJennifer Mickel (R) - 1,672 votesDistrict 1 race (pick one): Chris Sturbaum (D) - 521 votesKristopher “KC” Baker (R) - 311 votesSource: Election Board President Jan Ellis
(11/03/11 4:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jonathan George, a retired Air Force brigadier general, formally announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District last week.George served as an Air Force U-2 spy plane pilot during the Cold War and went on to serve as an advisor in the presidential administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. He also served as an assistant to the United States Secretary of Agriculture for Reagan. He was appointed as a member of the National Security Council’s staff by Obama. He has received several military awards, including the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross. From 2007 to 2009, George served in several positions responsible for overseeing the training of soldiers in the war in Afghanistan. George earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 1979. He later received a master’s in public administration from Harvard University in 1990. George is a native of Lawrence County, which contains Bedford, Ind., and his family has roots there that date back to the 1800s, his official biography indicates.George said in a press release he wanted to fight for the interests of southern Indiana residents by putting partisan bickering aside. “Too many politicians in Congress are hiding in Washington and not putting the interest of their citizens first,” George said. “Southern Indiana needs a statesman who stands for common-sense Indiana values and who can effectively fight for these values in negotiations.”“We don’t need more politicians who only support the party line and produce gridlock.”George described himself as deeply frustrated by “Washington’s inability to set priorities and the tragic decline in regional economic statistics.”George said he considers himself a non-partisan leader who will look at both sides of an issue. “Hoosiers want representation that brings Indiana common sense to Washington. That means solving problems, not playing party politics with the nation’s future,” he said.
(10/05/11 12:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett’s school reform package made up the bulk of the discussion Tuesday at an education forum sponsored by the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce. Monroe County Community School Corporation Superintendent Judith DeMuth, Richland Bean Blossom Superintendent Steve Kain and Terry Spradlin of the IU Center for Evaluation and Education Policy also participated in the forum. Bennett touted his wide-reaching school reform package, passed in the last legislative session, as one of the strongest in the nation. He likened the package to a railroad track. One of the iron tracks represents competition among schools, the other represents school freedom and the wooden bars between the two tracks represent school accountability. Bennett said his school voucher program, which allows students to use tax dollars to go to private or religious schools instead of public schools, increases competition among schools and makes public schools stronger. “This is our nation’s most extensive voucher program, and choice and competition make our system better,” Bennett said. Bennett also spoke of what he considers the educational success in Florida, which previously passed similar school reforms, as an example of why his reforms will improve student performance. DeMuth and Kain at times seemed to disagree with Bennett’s assessment of the situation. “True reform of public schools cannot come from the White House, cannot come from the statehouse. It has to come from the schoolhouse,” Kain said. DeMuth, when asked what she thought of the voucher program, referred to Bennett’s Florida example. “In Florida, there are haves and there are have-nots,” she said to loud applause from the audience. “I do not want to see that in Indiana.” Kain agreed, saying that he “did not want to see public school money going to private schools, even if none of our students are using the voucher program.” Bennett responded to this criticism by saying that “this is not public school money, this is money for our children’s future.” When asked by a member of the audience what Bennett thought about using tax dollars to send children to schools that do not teach evolution and use an ideological standpoint to teach history, Bennett said, “Honestly, I’m agnostic about the type of schools our children attend.” Spradlin said he thought Indiana “deserves a C at best” for world language instruction, especially in elementary schools. “Waiting until high school to start world languages does not work,” Spradlin said to more applause from the audience. DeMuth and Kain also discussed the lack of funding from the state for public education and the lack of support for early childhood education programs. The state provides a grant for districts to start full-day kindergarten programs (Indiana is one of 10 states that does not have full-day kindergarten), but the funding covers only about $2,500 per pupil for the academic year.Spradlin said early childhood education is a huge investment for any state. “For every $1 spent in early childhood education, the state gets back $17,” he said. But Spradlin said the meager funding for such programs is clearly an obstacle. Bennett said he would support increased funding for early childhood education but only when the funding is available. “I support the idea of full-day kindergarten and early childhood education, but it’s not a panacea,” Bennett said. “It’s not going to make everything better.”
(08/25/11 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>State and federal budget cuts nearly forced the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington to cut back their staff, transportation and programs this year.But a sign this week at the groups’ home, Lincoln Street Club, revealed their savior, proclaiming, “Thank you, Walmart.”The Walmart Foundation presented the Boys and Girls Clubs with a $34,000 grant in a ceremony Wednesday.About a dozen representatives of Walmart and the Boys and Girls Clubs stood outside the Lincoln Street Club in front of a shiny new bus in the sweltering heat for the ceremony.$10,000 of the donation to the nonprofit organization is for a new bus, $15,000 for staffing at all three of the Bloomington Boys and Girls Clubs, $6,000 for supplies and $3,000 for gas and maintenance on the new bus.Two of the Boys and Girls Clubs staffers, Elaina Dunn and Shawna Meyer-Niederman, spent about three months earlier this year working on a grant for the donation, which they won in early June.“The funding from the Walmart grant will guarantee that we will be able to continually serve our youth with appropriate staff, reliable transportation and safe resources,” Meyer-Niederman said.The grant was part of about $300,000 the Walmart Foundation has given away in Indiana so far this year. The requests for these grants are read by state committees composed of Walmart employees from cashiers to managers who decide to whom the money should be sent. Phillip McIlrath, a representative from the Walmart Foundation, said the Boys and Girls Clubs are especially close to his heart because he grew up in a children’s home.“Any time you have the chance to make an impression on a child’s life, you should do that,” McIlrath said at the event. He also stressed the philanthropic tradition at Walmart.The representatives from the Boys and Girls Clubs thanked the Walmart Foundation for the donation and talked about the positive impact the youth organization can have on children’s lives.Program Director Matthew Searle said the Boys and Girls Clubs have impacted the lives of the children he works with.“It’s a place where you feel safe and feel supported,” Searle said.
(08/24/11 5:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Student loan debt has risen to $936 billion since 1999, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows. All other household debt combined (mortgages, credit cards, automobile debt, etc.) has only risen about 150 percent in the same period. While student loan debt is still only about 5 percent of overall household U.S. debt, data shows that percentage is growing rapidly. Total student loan debt nationwide is approaching $1 trillion and has already surpassed total credit card debt across the United States.Remarkably, student loan debt rose almost twice as rapidly as homeowner-related debt (mortgages and revolving home equity) did in the same period during the lead-up to the housing bubble in 2008, which was a significant catalyst in the 2009 recession.
(08/23/11 3:33am)
With Welcome Week fast approaching and thousands of students about to
move in to Bloomington, things can get a little hectic. These are some
roads you may want to think twice about before using.
(07/31/11 11:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Republican candidate for governor Jim Wallace walked into the Indiana Daily Student newsroom holding an Android tablet and started off his interview talking about its advantages and disadvantages. Wallace is not your run-of-the-mill Republican. He’s tech-savvy and he doesn’t think it makes sense to focus on divisive social issues. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Wallace is the grandson of a grandmother who didn’t speak English and a grandfather who couldn’t read or write. His father was the first in his family to complete high school and Wallace was the first to graduate from college. Wallace stopped by the IDS newsroom to discuss his campaign. IDS — Why are you running for governor?Wallace — The short answer is job growth and the economy. I started talking to folks around the state, casual conversations with the governor and others, just asking ‘What’s the most important thing to Hoosiers?’ And, sure enough, in a statewide poll, by a margin of 8-1, Hoosiers are more concerned about jobs and the economy than they are about any social issues. IDS — So you would sort of follow in the footsteps of Mitch Daniels, calling a ‘truce’ on social issues, that you wouldn’t address social issues like abortion and gay marriage during your tenure? Wallace — I think he might have been the victim of a poor use of words. It’s not that social issues aren’t important. I feel the same way as Mike Pence does and most Hoosiers. I’m a man of faith, I’m pro-life. I just don’t wear that on my sleeve. And it’s not a defining factor that would separate people that want to create jobs and would be helpful. I think Mike Pence’s priorities of being a Christian, conservative and Republican — in that order — are actually exclusionary. You know, if you don’t share them, it causes a lot of folks to have suspicions, skepticisms, misgivings. I don’t think the color of your book of faith is important. IDS — How are you similar or dissimilar to the current governor, Mitch Daniels? Wallace — I do think I’m probably the most Mitch-like candidate in the crowd. Although, on the other hand, I think there are probably three areas that I think I differ from the current administration. One is property tax caps. We need to be pretty careful. They’re a very popular voter issue, but it’s causing a lot of stress for communities around the state as they try to deal with funding issues in this tough environment. Township consolidation is another area that the governor and other people at the statehouse need to pursue aggressively. Most counties are rural in Indiana; and if we got rid of the township level of government, fire safety, poor relief, assessing services would all suffer. Another is education reform. We have a lot of teachers involved in our campaign. I’ve talked to them and heard them say they’re just like the rest of us. They want to go to work, feel like they made a difference in a child’s life and get paid a fair wage at the end of the day. I think the whole education reform template that we’re looking at now, where the state will just come in and take over a school, fails to recognize that we’ve put teachers in the role of babysitter and kind of removed parental involvement. IDS — Where do you stand on the Planned Parenthood defunding law? Wallace — Stupid. It’s like swatting a gnat with a four-by-four. I mentioned that I’m pro-life. And there are ways to deal with eliminating public funding of abortion without costing the whole segment of women’s health care its existence as well.That’s one thing I would take Mike Pence to task for. Those are the kind of Neanderthal responses that give Republicans a bad name. I don’t think the government should be anyway involved in the institution or the legislation of morality. That kind of flies right in the face of why the Puritans came to America in the first place. It was to escape those types of proscription of the freedom. I don’t think government should be involved in that at all. Every step we take toward legislating is making us a more exclusionary environment. IDS — Should the state have to always balance its budget, even in a recession? Wallace — I think the short answer to that is, I’d like to think that Hoosiers and Americans are intelligent enough to be given the latitude to borrow when we need and not borrow when we don’t need to. Indiana has fared pretty well at managing its finances. A balanced budget amendment might be required in some other states, and I’d like to see it structured the same way we have it here in Indiana where you have to pay it back within a specific time frame, rather than saying ‘You can never spend more than you take in.’IDS — Do you think it’s appropriate for the state to have more than a billion dollars in reserves when local communities are hurting financially? Wallace — I think we should push that money back into the communities. I’m not in favor of building a huge war chest at the state level. In fact, I’d like to reduce the size of state government and move those services out to the local level. IDS — What’s the biggest difference between yourself and your opponent, Mike PenceWallace — I have business experience and he doesn’t. I also like to think that I’m a lot better at reaching across the aisle.
(07/28/11 1:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Upland Brewery, a Bloomington-based brewery, announced plans for a $3 million expansion of its brewing facilities after much growth during the past few years. Upland will be moving its brewing operations to a new, 47,000 square foot building located on West Grimes Lane. The move will allow Upland to increase its brewing capacity from 11,000 to 25,000 barrels per year. The current 11th Street facility will still house Upland’s restaurant and bar, the Tap Room. However, Upland will switch its brewing operations there to a smaller pilot program to focus on the development of new specialty beers. The new facility will be located immediately adjacent to the B-Line Trail and a former rail switchyard that Mayor Mark Kruzan said he wants to turn into “our community’s Central Park.”The move comes during a time of growth for the brewery. Upland’s president, Doug Dayhoff, said their sales have tripled in the past five years. “This rate of growth has been possible because we have reinvested all profits back into the business, maintained modest salaries — thanks to a staff that is more passionate about quality beer than big paychecks — and squeezed capacity out of our original facilities and equipment in a ‘scrappy’ fashion,” Dayhoff said in a statement. Dayhoff said Indiana is still far behind Wisconsin and Michigan in craft beer sales and hopes the growth in local breweries in Indiana continues to climb. Caleb Staton, Upland’s head brewer, also thought the move was necessary because of Upland’s growth. “We have experienced steady growth over the past five years, and the writing was on the wall when the last tank we installed stuck out of the roof by 4 feet,” Staton said. He said he expected that growth to continue at the new facility, and the new facility will enable a tripling of Upland’s current size over the next decade. Big Red Liquors was the first wholesale business to start selling Upland, and Upland beers have grown in sales ever since they started. “We are excited that they are making a further significant investment in the Bloomington facilities, which will benefit the community for many years to come,” Wade Shanower, president of Big Red Liquors, said in a statement. Upland also said it was prepared to increase its $3 million investment to beautify the building and the surrounding area. The brewery is seeking the city’s financial assistance to do so, and most city funds used would go to improving the aesthetics of the building. Mayor Kruzan said he is excited about Upland’s plans and how they could accelerate the city’s vision for a new park in the area. “It’s never easy for the trailblazer, but their success will be the community’s success and so I am thrilled to be working with this homegrown local business to see how the city can help in its growth,” Kruzan said.
(07/25/11 12:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the Aug. 2 deadline to increase the national debt ceiling approaches, more than 120 student body presidents, including the IU Student Association president, are weighing in on the debate. Student leaders submitted a letter directed to President Barack Obama and members of Congress on July 20, asking them to cast aside partisanship and personal and party persuasions to focus on creating a solution to the nation’s impending debt default. The purpose of the letter is not to offer specific solutions to fix the country’s problem. “What we’re asking is to have the debt ceiling raised immediately, along with long term spending cuts,” IUSA President Justin Kingsolver said of the general plan suggested in the letter.The debt ceiling is the legal amount of money the federal government can borrow to pay its debts, and the U.S. will likely reach that limit sometime in the beginning of August, many analysts have predicted. At that point, millions of dollars in scheduled payments from the federal government will have to stop, potentially including student loan aid, Social Security payments, and Medicaid and Medicare payments.The Bipartisan Policy Center estimated the federal government would be unable to pay between 40 and 45 percent of the more than 80 million payments it needs to make every month.By signing the letter, student government leaders are giving a voice to more than 2 million students they represent, Kingsolver said.The letter reads, in part, “While you may disagree over which party shoulders more blame for our current situation, one thing is certain — young people will shoulder the consequences of gridlock during a time that requires bold action.”The movement to write the letter began just a week before it was sent. Mike Meaney, student body president at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., originally contacted Kingsolver when only a few names had been added to the letter. Kingsolver said he was eager to add his support, as well as rally other student body presidents in the Big Ten conference to do the same.“Leaders of this generation are not going to bear the burden of the bad decisions,” he said. “We are.”Kingsolver soon contacted the student body presidents at schools like Purdue and the University of Nebraska and was able to get their support. But, in Washington, a solution to the debt ceiling problem does not appear to be easily found. Republicans and Democrats in Congress and President Obama have been engaging in intense discussion over a potential deal to raise the debt ceiling, but neither side seems willing to cave to the demands of the other. Democrats want to raise new revenue and cut from programs, while most Republicans want to only cut from programs without raising taxes. The Republican-backed Cut, Cap and Balance Act was passed July 19 to try to remedy the situation in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans. The bill would have raised the debt ceiling but also cut large amounts of money from many federal programs without raising any taxes. The bill was killed when it reached the Senate — controlled by the Democrats — in a party-line vote July 22. All of Indiana’s Republican members of Congress voted for the bill and Indiana Democrats voted against it. A self-described “Gang of Six” senators has formed a bipartisan group to broker a potential deal between the two sides. The stakes in the battle are huge with millions of Americans’ financial situations hanging in the balance. A default on the U.S. debt would likely send shockwaves throughout the U.S. economy and even send it back into a recession, analysts predict.If U.S. leaders cannot reach a deal before the deadline for raising the debt ceiling, many Americans will likely not receive Social Security and other payments until they do. Students would also be affected. Federal student loans could be on the chopping block if the debt ceiling is not raised, several analysts have predicted. This means millions of students across the country could suddenly find that they can’t afford to go to college this fall. Though Kingsolver is a self-proclaimed “proud Republican,” he said that was irrelevant to his involvement in the letter. He does not believe the letter expresses a Democratic or Republican agenda, but rather disapproval on the part of his generation.“This was our way to say directly to members of Congress that our generation has ideas and we deserve to be heard,” he said. “This was a good first step.”
(07/07/11 12:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Don’t drink and drive.” We’ve all heard it countless times, and many students often take advantage of designated drivers. But a recent Indiana Supreme Court decision said even if you’re not driving, you can be charged with public intoxication if you are in a vehicle. The decision involved an Indianapolis woman, Brenda Moore, who let a sober person drive her car after she had been drinking. The car was pulled over because its license plate light was out. Moore was charged with public intoxication even though she was not driving the vehicle. The decision has been criticized by public officials not because it is legally wrong, but because they think it’s bad public policy. State Senator Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, said he doesn’t think there was anything technically wrong with the decision. “I think it just shows that until we change the law, more innocent people are going to be made into criminals,” he said.Last session, Young sponsored legislation that would have changed the law, so someone would have to be disruptive or dangerous to be charged with public intoxication. The bill died in the House, but he said he has plans to sponsor legislation again during the next session. Randall Frykberg, director of IU Student Legal Services, also said he thinks the decision creates bad public policy. “It punishes what, to me, is a safe choice when you have been drinking too much,” Frykberg said. Frykberg said he thinks the ruling was justified legally, but would like to see the law changed. Frykberg said the decision could be particularly tough on IU students, especially when it comes to transportation options after drinking. It is illegal to walk down the street drunk, so intoxicated students can’t walk home. It’s also illegal to be on a bus drunk, although that is rarely enforced, Frykberg said. Because of this new decision, it’s now also illegal to designate a driver or use a service like a fraternity’s sober driver system. “So we’re kind of running out of options,” Frykberg said. Frykberg said students should have a sober person drive the car and obey all traffic laws. Police need a reason to stop you. If they don’t pull you over, they can’t charge a passenger with public intoxication.Frykberg also gave this advice to students to avoid problems with the police after this decision: Don’t talk. Police often like to have passengers get out of the car or will ask them if they’ve been drinking. The driver has to respond, Frykberg said, but passengers do not have to comply. Frykberg said that students are often intimidated by the police and think they have to answer their questions, he said. But passengers do not have to answer questions from the police unless they have a court order. Politely declining to speak to the officer about drinking until the officer has a warrant will normally work, Frykberg said. It’s important to treat police officers with respect at all times, he said, but he offered this advice to any future drunk passengers: “Do not make their job easier than you have to.”
(07/01/11 1:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Christian community banded together to offer emotional prayers of support to the family of missing IU student Lauren Spierer Thursday.Ministers from multiple Bloomington-area churches lead prayers at a vigil at the Evangelical Community Church. Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan also spoke, and IU Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith was also in attendance. The event was organized by Spirit 95, a Bloomington based Christian radio station. In his opening prayer at the vigil, Robert Whitaker, senior pastor of the ECC, asked for God to give comfort to the Spierer family and all those who grieve after the disappearance of Lauren Spierer. “The world you created perfect is now marred by violence and decay,” Whitaker said. Whitaker also prayed that all in the Bloomington community remain vigilant for information that could be pertinent to the case. He asked that God “trouble the conscience of those who know something about Lauren’s disappearance.”“We pray that if anyone — anyone — has any information, to step out of the shadows of darkness,” Dennis Abrams, a member of Kairos Ministry, said. Mayor Kruzan spoke after Abrams. “The right words literally don’t exist,” Kruzan said about Lauren’s disappearance. “We are at a loss to understand how this could happen in Bloomington.” He described the event as a surreal experience for the family and friends of Lauren Spierer.Mayor Kruzan also offered some insight into the character of the Spierer family. Kruzan explained that Robert and Charlene Spierer, Lauren’s parents, have been involved in daily meetings with the police and the mayor since their daughter’s disappearance. The first weekend after Lauren’s disappearance, Mayor Kruzan said that Lauren’s parents and the police were discussing what time to hold the meeting on Saturday. Robert wanted the meeting to be at 9:30 a.m., Kruzan said, because it would give the officers time to eat breakfast with their families in the morning. On Father’s Day, Robert and Charlene insisted that the officers spend time with their children and their families. They even offered not to meet with police that day to give officers extra time to do so because they felt it was so important. “That is the quality of the people we are praying for,” Kruzan said as he ended his segment of the vigil. John Mangram, senior associate pastor of the ECC, said that even though most people in this community do not know the Spierers and never met Lauren, their prayers and support are still powerful. "Our prayers are the most powerful, they mean the most, when we are praying for someone who is not known to us.”After the vigil was over, Robert and Charlene Spierer embraced members of the public in attendance at the vigil. “You can often know the true fabric of a community by how it responds in difficult times. We are forever grateful for what everyone has done. The people of Bloomington should feel very proud,” Robert told members of the press after the vigil.
(06/24/11 4:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Friday’s press conference was the last in the Lauren Spierer case unless there is a break in the case, BPD Capt. Joe Qualters said on the day that marks third week since Lauren’s disappearance.“We still have a missing persons case involving Lauren Spierer,” Qualters said. When asked if the police had a better idea of what happened to Lauren than they did three weeks ago, he said “No, no ... Unfortunately not.” Qualters said the investigation was still in the information gathering stage.He also confirmed what Lauren’s mother, Charlene, said on Wednesday, that only one of Lauren’s friends has talked to the police. He also added that the police had to track this person down to talk to them. Qualters called this, “curious, perplexing, disturbing and unfortunate.”However, the police remain open minded and that they are trying to convince Lauren’s friends that the police and Lauren’s family need their help, Qualters said. Robert Spierer, Lauren’s father, thanked the volunteers and organizations that have helped with the volunteer searches to find Lauren, saying that they had done far more “than what you would expect a stranger to do.”He also said that Saturday would be “Find Lauren Day” with expanded searches starting at 8 a.m. Saturday leaving from McNutt Quad. The searches will be focusing on areas outside of Bloomington.Charlene Spierer, Lauren’s mother, offered a little bit of information about Lauren: She loves music. Charlene said that when the family is on road trips, Robert often quizzes everyone about music history and that Lauren had a knack for memorizing lyrics.She broke into tears as she recalled hearing a song on the radio the other day that reminded her of Lauren. “I miss everything about you” were the lyrics.“We’re really ready to go home,” Charlene finished, “we just need Lauren.”For full audio of this press briefing, click here.
(06/20/11 4:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The white truck that police released footage of last week has been eliminated from consideration in the case of the missing 20 year-old IU student, Lauren Spierer, BPD Capt. Joe Qualters informed the press Monday. After receiving numerous tips on the vehicle, including pictures of the same truck taken by members of the public, the white truck was able to be identified as belonging to a local business owner who the police will not identify. The business owner told the police that he was picking up an employee in the footage that was released. The police originally identified that truck as potentially suspect when video footage seemed to show the vehicle passing twice through the area where Lauren disappeared. When the footage was released, the police stressed that the time on the cameras could be incorrect, which ended up being the case. The white truck could be seen on two different cameras, each of which was connected to a separate computer system that had different times, making it seem as though the vehicle passed through twice when it only passed through once. Police have talked to the business owner and corroborated everything that he said on video surveillance. A police officer accompanied the business owner in the white truck along the route that the business owner claimed to have taken the night Lauren disappeared, and video surveillance supported his claim. The business owner has been fully cooperative with the police. Capt. Qualters also said that a bag of clothing was retrieved from behind a dumpster at Smallwood Plaza, but that it turned out to have “no significance to this case,” Qualters said.Qualters said it was possible that someone tried to throw the bag into the dumpster and missed, which explains why it seemed to be hidden behind it. The search that took place yesterday afternoon in a wooded area south of Martinsville turned up no information. Police had received a tip at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday that there was a body in the area. BPD followed up with the person who made the tip who then clarified that there was a suspicious odor but they had not seen a body. The police then searched the area where the odor was reported and found what appeared to be a suspicious mound of about two feet by four feet that appeared to be fresh. Police dug up the mound but found “absolutely nothing,” Qualters said. Police are not in a position to give more consideration to one statement and less to another, Qualters said. He also characterized the investigation as still in the information-gathering stage.When asked if he found the investigation’s progress frustrating, Qualters said “I think, from a personal perspective, the only frustration is the we are not able to provide an answer. We will not be satisfied until we can provide an answer to what happened to Lauren.”Lauren’s father, Robert Spierer, then thanked the media for their coverage of the story, adding that when they have contacted the Spierers, the media has “given us space when we’ve needed space. The questions have been respectful, and we appreciate that.” Robert also thanked volunteers and encouraged anyone who is able to help with the search today to go to the search headquarters at McNutt Quad. As the search has now expanded to many of the large, rural areas around Bloomington, Robert asked landowners to allow volunteers to have access to their property for searches. Gloves, ponchos, bug spray and food are being provided to volunteers, Robert added. Lauren’s mother, Charlene Spierer, then made a statement. She said that she wanted to “say to the person who has that info: We all come to a crossroads in our life where we can take the high road or the low road. I’m begging and pleading with you to define yourself as a person that’s going to help with this. Our only goal is to find Lauren. Please take the high road.”BPD press conferences on the Lauren Spierer case will continue this week on Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. The volunteer headquarters for the search has been moved to McNutt Quad. Searches will now depart from there and start at 8 a.m. with searches going until 5:30 p.m.
(06/16/11 5:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monroe County Circuit Judge Teresa Harper accepted former IU student Hai “Howie” Yu’s guilty plea and will decide on a sentence Friday, after an emotional three hours in court Thursday. Yu pleaded guilty to sexual battery and criminal confinement of a female IU student in an incident that occurred in the spring of 2010. Video surveillance shows Yu dragging a heavily intoxicated and mostly naked female into and out of the laundry room at Foster Magee and outside of the building. Witnesses asked if Yu needed help and he responded by saying “no” and that she was a friend of his. The witnesses called the police, and an ambulance arrived shortly after. The female victim spoke during the hearing in an un-sworn victim impact statement. “I know I drank far too much. But me drinking far too much does not constitute me waking up with police officers and nurses around me and me not knowing what had happened,” she said. According to hospital records, the victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.4 the night of the incident.She said that she woke up with bruises all over her body — including her genitalia, thumb marks on her thighs and shoulders and bite marks on her back.The victim said that the incident had changed her relationship with her friends and caused significant problems with her parents. “Honestly, they think it’s my fault because I drank. The fact that I had drank should never give someone the power to make a decision for me,” she said as she fought back tears. Her parents did not attend the hearing. She asked for the maximum sentence possible for Yu. Yu has been under home surveillance for 448 days since his 2010 arrest. IU Police Department Sgt. Leslie Slone gave a minute-by-minute run-down of the video surveillance as the judge watched it on the prosecution’s laptop. While Sgt. Slone was showing the video footage to Judge Harper, Harper at one point gasped at the images being depicted on the tape. This was when Sgt. Slone indicated that the victim was being dragged outside mostly naked. Only the judge, the prosecuting attorneys, the defense attorney and Sgt. Slone could see the video. She also gave her version of what happened during her investigation. She said Yu gave her three different versions of what had happened with the female victim during a one to two hour interview. Yu’s mother spoke at the hearing. In an emotional plea, she said that she and her husband, who are Chinese, immigrated to the United States to give a better life to their only son. She offered her apologies to the victim of the crime and to the victim’s family. Yu’s mother said that she had given up a job as a pediatrician in China to come to the United States. Yu’s father could not attend the hearing as we was in China on business, but he did send a letter to the court. Yu’s mother brought numerous certificates that Yu had earned from school and volunteering and talked about all of the organizations that he was involved in, from sports to student government. After giving her testimony, Yu’s mother sat in a corner of the courtroom, crying softly. During Howie Yu’s testimony, he said “I have to be held accountable for what I did. I dug myself into this hole, and now I have to fill it up.” He also offered an apology to his parents. “My parents have sacrificed so much for me. I can’t believe how much I have let them down,” Yu said.He gave a direct apology to the victim.While looking directly at her, he said, “I hope you can get over this and move on and live your life to the fullest. I sincerely apologize. I can’t believe you’re going through this because of me.”He said that he has been working at Wendy’s since a few weeks after he was put on home detention, and the management had to take him off of the cash register because of how many complaints they were getting. He is currently attending Ivy Tech Community College. Yu told his attorney, Joseph Lozano, before the hearing that he was nervous. He appeared calm throughout the hearing. He must wear an ankle bracelet and GPS tracking device at all times and must give probation officers a weekly schedule to be approved by them each week. He was subject to daily checks from the police during the first 365 days of his home surveillance and now is subject to weekly random checks. Ted Barry, the officer in charge of him, said that Yu has had only minor violations and Yu would be fine on probation. Regardless of his sentence, Yu will automatically be placed on the sexual offenders registry for 10 years. The prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney will continue arguing mitigating and aggravating circumstances in a hearing Friday, which will reconvene at 10:15 a.m. A decision on the sentence is expected to be given at that time.
(06/16/11 12:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The city of Bloomington is getting closer to approving a $13.7 million project to purchase and redevelop a downtown neighborhood. The city’s Department of Economic and Sustainable Development has proposed purchasing slightly more than 12 acres of downtown property currently owned by IU. The area currently houses the Indiana University Press and other buildings originally intended to be used as a university research center. The property is located near the intersection of 11th and Morton Streets. The project will be developed to accommodate downtown employees, Danise Alano-Martin, director of the Dept. of Economic and Sustainable Development, said in a phone interview. “We’d like to see that property redeveloped in a mixed-use way,” Alano-Martin said. This shouldn’t include just usual office space, she said, but also high-tech business offices, restaurants, retail, affordable housing, senior housing, workforce housing – for people who want to live and work in the same place – and greenspace.Part of the project includes greenspace that could potentially be turned into a new city park, she said. The property runs immediately adjacent to the B-Line Trail and Alano-Martin said the master plan might include some additions and connections to the trail. The redevelopment project will be financed with a $13.7 million bond from the city, with about $10 million of that going to purchase the property and about $3 million going to renovate the infrastructure. Financing the project will not raise property taxes or create new tax rates, Alano-Martin said. Funding will come from the Tax Increment Finance District the project is located in. “It will all be on revenue that’s generated already into the area or revenue that’s generated by this project itself,” she said. The city does not intend to retain ownership of the property in the long term. Instead, the city plans to sell the property to a developer who shares the city’s vision for it. “We want to improve the infrastructure. We want to ready the properties for sale into the private sector so the private sector can redevelop the properties along that vision,” Alano-Martin said. The goal of owning the property and then reselling to a private company ensures that the city has more control over what happens there in the future. “I think it puts us in a better position to make sure that development happens that would be of the best benefit to the community,” she said. The project will also include investments in green infrastructure and sustainable development. Alano-Martin would like to use the project to become a model for other cities. “We really want this redevelopment to be kind of a signature project for Bloomington. We want other communities to look at this project … and say, you know, this was something that was done the right way.”
(06/07/11 11:20pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The official count of those who signed in to help aid in the search for missing IU student, Lauren Spierer at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday was 431. The search today was more organized than previous searches. Organizers divided Bloomington into segments where volunteers were sent. The evening search focused on areas within the Bloomington city limits. Earlier searches in the day focuses on Bloomington’s Cascade Park on the north side of Bloomington and the Bloomington Rail Trail on the south side of town. Bloomington resident John Summerlot said he had been there all day helping. He divided volunteers into two different kinds of groups. The majority of the volunteers helped by searching for Lauren while a smaller number of groups helped pass out fliers. Volunteers who wanted to search then filed through one long line to get assigned their area to search by Summerlot. Soldiers in uniform helped hand out the fliers to volunteers to post in public places. Organizers asked volunteers to not speak to the press, and to direct media questions to the police or to organizers. Lauren’s parents, Charlene and Robert Spierer, jumped on top of a car at about 6 p.m. to shout thanks to the hundreds of people that had shown up. “Thank you, everyone, for continuing the search. Your efforts are greatly appreciated,” Robert said. Charlene encouraged everyone to report any information that they might have about Lauren to the police, “no matter how insignificant the information you have is,” she said. She ended by saying that “somebody knows where Lauren is. Please, I’m begging. Bring Lauren home safely.” Both of Lauren’s parents had been searching all day and looked worn from the 90 plus degree heat. Robert had mud stains on his pants from previous searches but he and Charlene seemed energized. Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hansen and Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith were also in attendance, although they did not go on any of the searches. They had just met with Lauren’s parents, Hansen said, to discuss ways in which the University could help in the effort to find Lauren. They discussed having some of the campus service learning groups visit homeless shelters and other groups that might have seen something. There will be more searches 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, leaving from Smallwood Plaza, 455 N. College Avenue. During a press conference Tuesday, Robert Spierer, Lauren’s father, said that there will be searches every day.
(06/06/11 9:52pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Bloomington resident plead guilty today to producing and distributing child pornography to subjects all over the world, Joe Hogsett, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said during a press conference Monday. “A federal search warrant was executed here in Bloomington at the residence of Mr. Bostic, and it was discovered that David Bostic had produced child pornography on multiple occasions over the previous two year period,” Hogsett said. David Ryan Bostic admitted to producing child pornography showing four children ranging in age from two months to five years old. The prosecutors have identified 36 separate instances in which the children were exploited. All of the films were produced in Bloomington. Bostic befriended the parents of the children to get access to their children, usually by offering to baby-sit for them. The parents were unaware of what was going on. Bostic plead guilty to charges of sexual exploitation and conspiracy to distribute and receive child pornography. He faces a sentence ranging between 15 years and more than one thousand years in prison. The investigation was “the most significant and extensive investigation” in the history of the Indiana F.B.I., according to Mike Welch, a Federal Bureau of Investigation officer who assisted in the investigation. The investigation spanned seven years.The case involved “the most graphic and brutal type of child pornography that most would have ever encountered,” Welch said. Child pornography “is a significant problem in the state of Indiana,” he added. Bostic was charged in federal court alongside five other individuals. Approximately twenty other people have been arrested in other jurisdictions in the United States and individuals in Serbia, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom were also apprehended. Bostic distributed the pornographic materials via email messages. Several of the email chains had as many as 77 recipients. The indictment against Bostic and the five others provided the subject lines and the names of the files attached to them, providing a graphic idea of the gruesome nature of the materials being sent. Bostic was arrested on November 17, 2010 and has remained in custody since that time. The arrests involved the collaboration of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Indiana State Police, the Bloomington Police Department, the Kokomo Police Department and the Brownsburg Police Department.
(06/02/11 1:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last week’s powerful storms that downed hundreds of trees and spawned a tornado have left the City of Bloomington and IU facing high cleanup costs.The City of Bloomington may pay “tens of thousands of dollars, at least,” Jared Schlemmer, the city’s communications director, said. Approximately 150 trees are down on city property, which includes trees in parks and along city roads. Most of them will likely be replaced, Schlemmer said, and the city will do its best to replace them with trees of equivalent size and species. Most of the costs associated with the cleanup effort can be attributed to the price of the trees that will eventually be replaced, the cost of gas from having to run so many city trucks, and the wear and tear on the equipment being used. To give some perspective, Schlemmer said the city parks department usually replaces approximately 200 to 250 trees each year, which means that the storms last week caused almost a year’s worth of damage in a matter of days. The money to pay for the unexpected costs of storm cleanup will come from the city’s rainy day fund, Schlemmer said.The city’s approved 2011 budget states the projected amount in the fund for 2011 is more than $6 million. On campus, at least 300 trees were lost during the storm, Tom Morrison, IU vice president for Capital Projects and Facilities, said. “Our goal is to replace all of them, if not more,” Morrison said.Depending on the size of the trees, and factoring in long-term maintenance, the total cost of the project could be as much as $500,000, he said. Morrison said there already is a tree program in place, and the funding would likely come from private sources, like IU alumni. He said it was the worst storm damage the campus has seen in at least 30 years.“On an annual basis, we always have a few trees go down, but never to this scale,” he said. “This was unique.”Campus Division has been handling the removal of downed trees since last Monday, May 23, when, as a precursor to last Wednesday’s storms, dangerous weather toppled as many as 80 trees.“It’s going slow but steady,” Campus Division manager Mike Girvin said. “But we’re making progress.”Workers have been transporting the trees and branches to a parking lot near 13th Street and Fee Lane. When the lot is full, Girvin said they plan to rent a large tub grinder and turning the debris into mulch. Campus Division is stockpiling large logs and will later sell any marketable timber, he said. “We’re anticipating heavy cleanup over the next 30 days, but we’ll really be working with this all summer,” Girvin said. Morrison said the cleanup will be hard, expensive work, but that it gives the University a chance to make the campus look even better.“The storm was devastating to the landscape,” Morrison said. “But we look at it also as an opportunity.”