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(10/30/06 3:51am)
Authorities are investigating the death of an 81-year-old Monroe County man this weekend as a homicide, although his exact cause of death has not been released.\nThe Monroe County Sheriff's Department received a call early Saturday morning from a person who discovered Sidney Cowden dead in his pickup truck several miles away from his home, said Detective Sgt. Brad Swain. The truck, a gray GMC in "rough" condition, was parked on the street in a housing edition about two miles south of Bloomington, Swain said.\nDeputies went to Cowden's home in Ellettsville and found "indication of violence occurring inside his home."\nSwain said authorities have served three search warrants in connection to the crime but are still looking for more information.\n"At this point, we're trying to learn things," Swain said. "There are some things we know, but what we're trying to do now is establish a timeline of when people in the neighborhood left and when the body was left (there)."\nSwain said anyone with any information on the case or who might have seen Cowden driving Friday or early Saturday should call him at 349-2727.
(10/26/06 2:36am)
Police say an armed man robbed a Bloomington motel early Wednesday morning.\nThe clerk at Super 8 Motel, 1000 W. Rappel Ave., told police that a man walked into the building and displayed a semi-automatic handgun, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report. He pointed it at the clerk and demanded money.\nThe clerk gave the robber an undisclosed amount of money from the cash drawer, Drake said. The clerk said he left in a tan or beige car heading toward the 45/46 Bypass.\nThe clerk told police that the motel does have a video camera, but it hasn't been working lately.
(10/25/06 4:23am)
MARTINSVILLE -- An Indiana State Police detective testified Tuesday afternoon that John R. Myers II's answers seemed "rehearsed" when police questioned him in May 2005 about the murder of IU student Jill Behrman.\nTom Arvin, who began work on the case about three years ago, said Myers seemed "nonchalant" and "cavalier" when questioned and did not become upset.\n"He never appeared nervous, upset or distraught," Arvin said. "It was almost as if he had been rehearsing his part for several years, and when it came time, he was ready."\nAs an interviewing technique, Arvin said he drew a "murder pie" and asked Myers how much he wanted to take responsibility for.\n"His response was that he did not like pie -- he liked cheesecake," Arvin said.\nDefense attorney Hugh Baker questioned the interviewing techniques Arvin and Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang used. Arvin told the jury he lied to Myers in the interview in an attempt to elicit information from him. \nArvin said in Myers' interrogation, he held up an envelope, suggesting it had a letter in it, and told Myers that "possibly his father had not taken the secret to the grave with him."\nMyers' grandmother, Betty Swaffard, testified Saturday that Myers once told her: "Grandma, if you just knew the things on my mind ... if the authorities knew, I'd spend the rest of my life in prison. My dad knew, and he took it to the grave with him."\nArvin said he used the same interviewing techniques on Brian Hollars, a Bloomington firefighter whom the defense suggested could have had something to do with Behrman's murder. Arvin also testified that Hollars had originally become a person of interest because of a tip from a psychic in Michigan. He said he investigated the psychic and did not find her to be credible.\nLater, a former Monroe County corrections officer, John M. Kinser, said in March 2002 that Myers, who was an inmate at the time, pulled him aside and gave him a list of places he thought law enforcement officials should look for Behrman's body. He said he had found some letters written by suspects who were being detained for the murder at the time and had some ideas.\n"He said he felt bad that this happened to that young lady, and he said he'd like to help them find her," Kinser told the jury.\nBaker confirmed that Myers wrote the list, which was submitted into evidence. State police Detective James D. Miton said he searched all the sites on the list. Most of the sites were in southern Morgan County, but one was only a few miles away from where Behrman's remains were eventually found, in northern Morgan County.\nJohn Roell, a man who shared a cell with Myers when he was being held for questioning for the murder, testified that Myers spoke to him about the case, saying angrily that "if nothing would have been said, this probably wouldn't have happened." Roell said he was certain Myers was referring to Behrman at the time.\nMichelle Lang, who lived next door to Myers at the time he was arrested, said Myers acted "paranoid" around the time leading up to his arrest and once told her that "the police would never find her killer because there's no evidence"
(10/24/06 3:10am)
A man wandering around a parking garage on North Walnut Street early Friday morning was impersonating a police officer and searching people for drugs, police say.\nKawanie Masai Jefferson, 34, now faces preliminary charges of public intoxication, impersonating a police officer and possession of marijuana.\nTwo Bloomington Police Department officers were on call in front of Kilroy's Sports Bar, 319. N. Walnut St., when they witnessed an altercation on the first level of the parking garage across the street. When they went to check on the situation, a 30-year-old man told them he was walking down the stairs when Jefferson approached him and said he was a police officer and was going to search him for drugs, according to the report.\nThe victim told police that Jefferson searched his pockets and then grabbed his arm, forcing him up the stairwell.\nDrake said the officers found a bag of marijuana in each of Jefferson's socks.\nJefferson told officers he was only joking, Drake said.
(10/24/06 3:09am)
A victim of a strong-armed robbery over the weekend told police that two men he did not know drove to his house and attacked and robbed him.\nThe 24-year-old man called police at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday and said that a blue Chevy Lumina pulled into his front yard in the 700 block of West Allen Street, and two men and a woman jumped out of the car, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report. \nThe men told him that he had taken their money, and they wanted it back. \nHe told them he didn't know what they were talking about and so they hit him, knocked him to the ground and kicked him, the victim said in the report. Then, they pulled his sweatshirt over his head, took his wallet out of his pocket and stole $12, he said. He told them he was going to call the police, but they said they "didn't care."\nThe victim said the female stood next to the car the entire time, holding a baseball bat.\nPolice found the vehicle near the 7-Eleven on West 11th Street shortly after and arrested Tyler S. Johnson, 48, of Spencer, Ind., on preliminary charges of robbery, a class B felony, and battery, Drake said. There was one other male and two females in the vehicle, but they did not match the descriptions given by the victim.\nThe victim identified Johnson as one of the robbers, Drake said. \nJohnson told police he and the other man believe the victim stole money from their house.\nDrake said police are still looking for the second suspect.
(10/23/06 4:31am)
The last time Monroe County had an non-presidential national election only 17 people from the Bloomington Five precinct showed up to vote.\nThe precinct, which had 1,281 registered voters at the time, is entirely on-campus -- it includes any land between Fee Lane, Jordan Avenue, 17th and 10th streets. The precinct includes Foster Quad and seven greek houses. Only 1.4 percent of Bloomington Five residents actually voted in the 2002 congressional election. \nBut the low turnout numbers that appear every year in student housing precincts in elections are misrepresentative, said Jessica White, elections supervisor for Monroe County. Many of the voters who registered to vote in Monroe County don't actually live in the county anymore -- they moved away after they graduated from IU but never transferred their registration. According to a 2005 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Monroe County has a population of 87,000 people ages 18 and older, but there are currently more than 102,000 registered voters in the county. \n"Our percentages, they're not even close to being accurate," she said.\nIn order to come up with more accurate numbers, Monroe County will begin eliminating names of "inactive voters" — registered voters who have not voted in the previous two general elections — from the registered voters list.\nVoters become inactive when they do not vote in a general election, meaning a registered Monroe County voter who did not vote in the 2004 election and this year's election will become unregistered this year.\nRight now, about 46,000 of Monroe County's registered voters are inactive, White said.\nThe low turnout rates from 2002 in predominantly student-populated areas are nothing new, White said. White is in the process of planning this year's election, which is of similar caliber to the 2002 election and even includes a race between the same two Congressional candidates. \nWhite said it's important to note that voters who are taken off the registration list can register again whenever they choose. The county attempted to send postcards to inactive voters to warn them they would be taken off the list, but many of the postcards came back because the voters had moved away.\n"This isn't like a permanent you-can-never-vote-again type of thing," White said.\nIn the Bloomington Five district, more than 75 percent of registered voters are inactive. In the Bloomington Nine district, which includes Forest Quad, Read Center and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, 1,400 of the 2,000 registered voters are inactive. This year, the combined polling sites will serve about 900 active registered voters.\nEven though the numbers are skewed, White said, they still give some accurate facts at surface value. Many of the 46,000 registered voters may no longer live in Monroe County, but the numbers still indicate that they're not voting, at least not in Indiana. Indiana law only allows voters to be registered in one county at a time.\nTo avoid overstaffing the polls this year for a low turnout, the county is combining several precincts with high student populations. This year, Bloomington Five will vote at Read Center with Bloomington Nine's precinct, which had a 4.66 percent turnout for the 2002 election.\n"Instead of paying 10 poll workers, we'll pay seven," White said. "There's no point in having five people out there (at each precinct)."\nWhite said combining predominantly student precincts will save the county money. Monroe County spends about $40,000 for each election to pay poll workers.\nElection Day is Nov. 7. Voter registration ended Oct. 10. Registered voters can now vote early in the Monroe County Clerk's Office Annex in the Curry Building, 238 W. Seventh St.
(10/20/06 2:16am)
Police are still looking for two men who robbed a Monroe County convenience store with a gun late Wednesday night.\nJust before 11:30 p.m., two men entered the Circle S Food Mart near the intersection of Old Ind. 37 and Fairfax Road, said Monroe County Sheriff's Department Detective Sgt. Brad Swain. He said one of the men pointed a semiautomatic pistol at the clerk, demanding money. The clerk gave him the entire cash drawer.\nSwain said both of the men were probably 25 years or younger and about 5-foot-6. He said one of the men had dark, curly hair and "jaundiced-looking" skin. The other man wore a dark jacket and a knit cap.\nThe men fled on foot, Swain said.
(10/19/06 3:03am)
The Bloomington Common Council gave Jill's House the green light to begin construction at Wednesday night's meeting.\nBuilding plans for the 60-bed temporary housing facility went under scrutiny recently because the proposed site is on part of the Griffy Lake watershed, and the area is environmentally sensitive. Bloomington has a "general policy to discourage development in the Griffy watershed," said Planning Director Tom Micuda during a presentation of the Plan Commission's findings. Both the Plan Commission and the Common Council voted in previous weeks to recommend an amendment to the zoning designations for this specific project.\nThe Council made it official Wednesday, voting 9-0 in favor of the ordinance.\nDave Rollo, vice-president of the Council, said part of the reason he was in favor of the ordinance was that the development plans showed a "significant effort to soften the impact of this facility." He said 50 percent of the site will be open, undisturbed space.\nThe area, 2520 N. Dunn Street, will also be home to a two-building expansion of Meadowood Retirement Community. Members of the Council said the location was necessary for Jill's House because of the close proximity to the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute. Meadowood needed the location so it could be close to its existing establishment.\n"I enjoyed hearing about this, and I think it will be an exceptional facility," Rollo said.\nCouncil members said they considered the environmental concerns but ultimately felt the community needed Jill's House and the expansion of Meadowood, which would also benefit the community.\n"If there was a dispute here, it wasn't about the worthiness of Jill's House or the worthiness of Meadowood," Councilman Stephen Volan said.\nJill's House is being built in honor of Jill Behrman, an IU student abducted and murdered in 2000. The trial of her suspected killer, John R. Myers II, began Monday in Martinsville.\n"As we sit and read the newspaper, Eric and Marilyn (Behrman) are in Martinsville," Councilman David Sabbagh said. "(As we) sit through this trial about this terrible thing that happened to their daughter Jill, let this be a symbol of hope for people, perhaps Jill's age, who are being treated at MPRI and can be cured."\nCouncilman Tim Mayer agreed.\n"This will probably serve as a living memory for Jill," Mayer said. "And that, I think, is so very important"
(10/17/06 2:50am)
A 23-year-old woman told police her ex-boyfriend climbed into the window of her apartment while she was sleeping early Friday morning and threatened to kill her.\nTimothy E. Miller, 26, of Chicago, now faces preliminary charges of criminal confinement, battery, residential entry and interfering with the reporting of a crime.\nThe woman was asleep in her bed in the 2600 block of East Second Street when she woke up to find Miller, sitting straddled across her, holding a knife to her throat, according to a police report. Miller and the woman had broken up several months before, the woman said. She estimated that this happened at about 2:30 a.m., Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake said, reading from the report.\nThe victim reported that she reached over to try to grab her cell phone, and he grabbed it and threw it across the room. \nDrake said he threatened to kill her and himself, and he took various objects and shoved them into her mouth to keep her quiet. At one point, the report said, he covered her face with a pillow, and she nearly lost consciousness because she could not breathe.\nThe victim reported that he told her that he'd only leave if she "laid down with him and went to sleep," Drake said.\nThe victim said Miller fell asleep and then left at about 6 a.m., saying he would kill her if she called the police, according to the report.\nPolice believe Miller climbed in through a sliding window in her apartment that does not lock properly. According to the report, the woman said Miller knew about the broken lock.\nDrake said Miller called the Bloomington Police Station at about 8 a.m. saying he wanted to report a battery. He told police he was assaulted, and they told him to come into the station.\nShortly before 10 a.m., the woman called the station to report the incident.\nAccording to the report, Miller had cuts on his chest when he came into the station. Miller told police the woman attacked him, but the woman told police he had made those cuts himself during the night.
(10/10/06 3:56am)
The Olcott Center for Cancer Education at Bloomington Hospital is offering to help women solve one of life's greatest health mysteries: whether or not they have the gene mutation for breast or ovarian cancer.\nInterested women can schedule one free assessment consultation at the center to determine whether genetic testing is necessary for them. However, the genetic risk assessment itself is less affordable — it runs at $2,995.\n"We're sitting down, and we're doing genetic breast cancer risk assessment," said Janice Ross, manager of the Olcott Center. "We're reviewing with women their own personal medical history, their cancer history and their family medical history."\nSo far, 13 women have gone through the assessment consultation, Ross said, but only a few of them chose to go through with the genetic testing.\nRoss said women are first advised to contact their insurance companies before signing up for the genetic testing. According to a news release from the Olcott Center, insurance companies usually cover 80 percent to 90 percent of the costs of the procedure.\nHospital workers draw one tube of blood for the test, then send it to a lab. Results come back in about three weeks, Ross said.\nThose who do go through the genetic testing and discover they have the specific identified genetic mutation have several options, she said. They can do self-examinations more often, and they can also talk to their doctors about having their breasts or ovaries removed. Removal of the organs does not completely eliminate the risk for development of the cancer, she said.\nRoss said that so far, the youngest woman to go through the free consultation has been in her early 30s. At-risk college students would usually not be the first ones in their families to be tested, so they would likely already know if the gene was present.\nRegardless, Ross said the Olcott Center still wants to offer the testing to college students.\n"Honestly, younger women are often very likely to have a gene for breast cancer," she said. \nFor more information on the free consultations or genetic risk assessments, call the Olcott Center at 812-353-5669.
(10/10/06 2:19am)
Bloomington police say a 57-year-old man reported that he was the victim of an unprovoked assault Sunday morning on West Kirkwood Avenue.\nThe man said he was walking along Kirkwood when he saw a silver Jeep Cherokee headed eastbound go left of center and pull over and park next to him. He said two young white men in the vehicle in their late teens or early 20s asked him for directions, Drake said.\nThe man reported that they got out of the vehicle and punched him in the mouth, knocked him down and kicked him while he was on the ground. He said they went through his pockets and stole the $2 to $5 he had, as well as his credit cards.\nA witness confirmed the report and said he followed the men until they ran a red light at Third and Dunn streets.
(10/03/06 3:48am)
Members of the local Bloomington law enforcement dive team were called early Saturday morning to retrieve a car that a man drove into Lake Monroe in an apparent suicide attempt, police said.\nOfficers at the Monroe County Sheriff's Department called the Bloomington Police Department at about 4 a.m. Saturday to ask for assistance at Fairfax Beach.\nFour officers responded to the incident and retrieved the vehicle. It was unoccupied when they found it, Drake said.\nAccording to the report, they also retrieved a watch and some keys and took them to Bloomington Hospital, where the victim had been transported.
(10/03/06 3:47am)
An IU student told officers he was beaten, robbed and transport. An IU student told officers he was beaten, robbed and transported to a local Steak n Shake this weekend but does not know who did it or how it happened, police said.\nAccording to a Bloomington Police Department report, a 19-year-old student told police he went to a party at about 11 p.m. Friday in the 400 block of Varsity Lane. He said he consumed two beers and the next thing he knew, he was inside the Steak n Shake on North College Avenue, unable to pay for his meal.\nBPD Detective Sgt. David Drake said the student reported that he realized his money, credit cards, student ID, keys, cell phone and two rings had been stolen. The only item left in his pocket was the cap to his lib balm, he said. He also noticed he had some blood on him and a cut on his forehead.\nThe student said the employees at Steak n Shake allowed him to leave and come back later to pay for his meal.\nWhen he called to report the incident at about 10 a.m. the next day, officers noted that he did have an abrasion on his forehead and a bump on the back of his head.\nThey went to the address the victim described and found what they believed to be the "site of a large party," Drake said. They interviewed the tenant of the apartment, who said he did know the victim and that he was at the party but did not know what happened to him.
(10/03/06 3:45am)
Police tried to track down a bank robber this the weekend, but their search turned up nothing other than a baseball cap, a jacket and a $20 bill.\nOfficers from the Bloomington Police Department received a call at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday reporting that a dark-skinned male with a "round face" had just robbed a female teller at Key Bank, 418 S. College Mall Road. Police say the suspect, who was wearing a black hooded jacket, blue jeans and a baseball cap, presented the teller a note demanding money.\nThe teller gave him an undisclosed amount of cash, and the suspect left, said BPD Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report.\nDrake said officers later found a black hooded jacket and a Colts baseball cap, as well as a $20 bill, lying outside an apartment building in the 2600 block of East Second Street, which is directly behind the bank.\nAs of press time, officers still had not located the suspect, Drake said.
(09/28/06 4:00am)
It wasn't an everyday baby shower. Rather than giving her a three-tiered "cake" made out of diapers, Sharon Wailes' friend painted a ceremonial henna peacock on her stomach while she was pregnant with her second child.\nHer doctor was slightly alarmed at the sight of the bird, Wailes says, but the experience is what inspired her to find out more about the art of henna. Fifteen years later, as an IU doctoral student in the department of Germanic studies, Wailes does several how-to shows every year to help other people have their own unique first experiences with henna.\nHenna powder is made from a finely sifted plant. When applied to the skin as a paste, it can leave a light brown mark that lasts about two weeks. Many cultures in Africa and Asia have traditionally used the plant to paint designs in the form of a "tattoo" on the skin.\nMany college students have already had their first experience with henna on spring break trips or at King's Island, but Wailes explained that the history of henna is deeper than "tattoos" of butterflies or hearts on teenage girls' hips.\n"It's kind of a spiritual thing, and it's a way for women to get together," Wailes says.\nSome traditional African and Asian cultures use henna the night before a wedding, Wailes says, or when women become pregnant or even on sad occasions when people die. In some cultures, other women paint elaborate designs on a bride's body the night before her wedding and hide her and the groom's names somewhere in the design. On the wedding night, the groom is supposed to find his name. These days, grooms often are painted with henna as well, she says.\nWailes taught a two-hour class about using henna at the Asian Culture Center Friday. Babita Upadhyay, program and administrative assistant for the center, says they asked Wailes to come and emphasize to students the spiritual importance of henna.\n"We just want to make people aware that it has a spiritual, religious value," Upadhyay says. \nUpadhyay said henna art has an important place in Hindu and Islam. She, like "every other bride in South Asia," was painted with henna for her wedding in Nepal.\nAs Upadhyay described her early henna experiences after the demonstration, her daughter ran up to show that she had accidentally smeared the design that Upadhyay had just finished painting on her hand not even a minute earlier. As a henna newbie, she learned a lesson -- the ink needs about 15 to 20 minutes to dry. Wailes says small children often have trouble staying still long enough for the ink to dry, but that parents often like to give their children henna tattoos because it "keeps them out of mischief."\nAbout 20 students tried their hands at henna for the first time in the center Friday. Since they were inexperienced, Wailes showed them an easier, safer way of putting designs on their bodies. Using eucalyptus oil, the students transferred designs from pieces of paper onto their skin and then traced what was left. Junior Lacy Padgett used a transfer of a sun design on her right foot to help with accuracy. This was Padgett's first time with henna -- she simply saw the program advertised and wanted to learn more.\nPadgett says she doesn't see herself picking the art up as a hobby, though.\n"It's a fun thing to do, but it's more of a one-off occasion," she says. "It's not something I'll do a lot."\nFreshman Randy Crader was a little braver for his first time. Crader decided the transfers available weren't for him, so he vowed to come up with his own design.\n"Those are all pretty girly," Crader says, pointing to the table full of transfers. "I'll do something free hand, but nothing too hard."\nLater on, "R-A-N-D-Y" was spelled out in henna on each of the fingers of his hand. He also says he planned to draw a mustache on one of his fingers so he could hold it up to his upper lip.\nFreshman Bianca Lang was much more timid for her first henna experience. She waited in line for someone more experienced to just paint the design for her.\n"I don't have steady hands," she says.\nLang placed a transfer of a flower on her inner wrist. She says she would be willing to try henna again, on one condition:\n"If someone else will do it for me," she says.\nLang and Crader went to the demonstration as an activity for their Freshman Interest Group, America and the World Beyond. Senior Liz Oates, an instructor for the one-credit class, says the group is for students taking an international studies class. Oates is required to come up with one outing for the group every month. She tried henna once before when she was in Key West, but Friday was her first time doing it herself. She used one of Wailes' transfers to paint a square design on her ankle.\n"It's not perfect by any means," she says.\nWailes has several tips for inexperienced henna users who might not be ready to paint peacocks on the bellies of pregnant women. She says it's a good idea to paint the design from the center outward so as not to smear what has already been done, and it's important to try not to touch the tip of the applicator directly to the skin. Henna spreads slightly after it is applied, so it is helpful to make the lines thinner than desired, she says.\nFor those brave enough to try a freehand design, she says drawing guide dots will help with the construction of even shapes.\nHenna kits are available at Athena, 108 E. Kirkwood Ave., and at the Lakaye Studio online at www.earthhenna.com. Depending on the size, the kits usually sell for $10 to $20 or more.
(09/28/06 3:09am)
It wasn't an everyday baby shower. Rather than giving her a three-tiered "cake" made out of diapers, Sharon Wailes' friend painted a ceremonial henna peacock on her stomach while she was pregnant with her second child.\nHer doctor was slightly alarmed at the sight of the bird, Wailes says, but the experience is what inspired her to find out more about the art of henna. Fifteen years later, as an IU doctoral student in the department of Germanic studies, Wailes does several how-to shows every year to help other people have their own unique first experiences with henna.\nHenna powder is made from a finely sifted plant. When applied to the skin as a paste, it can leave a light brown mark that lasts about two weeks. Many cultures in Africa and Asia have traditionally used the plant to paint designs in the form of a "tattoo" on the skin.\nMany college students have already had their first experience with henna on spring break trips or at King's Island, but Wailes explained that the history of henna is deeper than "tattoos" of butterflies or hearts on teenage girls' hips.\n"It's kind of a spiritual thing, and it's a way for women to get together," Wailes says.\nSome traditional African and Asian cultures use henna the night before a wedding, Wailes says, or when women become pregnant or even on sad occasions when people die. In some cultures, other women paint elaborate designs on a bride's body the night before her wedding and hide her and the groom's names somewhere in the design. On the wedding night, the groom is supposed to find his name. These days, grooms often are painted with henna as well, she says.\nWailes taught a two-hour class about using henna at the Asian Culture Center Friday. Babita Upadhyay, program and administrative assistant for the center, says they asked Wailes to come and emphasize to students the spiritual importance of henna.\n"We just want to make people aware that it has a spiritual, religious value," Upadhyay says. \nUpadhyay said henna art has an important place in Hindu and Islam. She, like "every other bride in South Asia," was painted with henna for her wedding in Nepal.\nAs Upadhyay described her early henna experiences after the demonstration, her daughter ran up to show that she had accidentally smeared the design that Upadhyay had just finished painting on her hand not even a minute earlier. As a henna newbie, she learned a lesson -- the ink needs about 15 to 20 minutes to dry. Wailes says small children often have trouble staying still long enough for the ink to dry, but that parents often like to give their children henna tattoos because it "keeps them out of mischief."\nAbout 20 students tried their hands at henna for the first time in the center Friday. Since they were inexperienced, Wailes showed them an easier, safer way of putting designs on their bodies. Using eucalyptus oil, the students transferred designs from pieces of paper onto their skin and then traced what was left. Junior Lacy Padgett used a transfer of a sun design on her right foot to help with accuracy. This was Padgett's first time with henna -- she simply saw the program advertised and wanted to learn more.\nPadgett says she doesn't see herself picking the art up as a hobby, though.\n"It's a fun thing to do, but it's more of a one-off occasion," she says. "It's not something I'll do a lot."\nFreshman Randy Crader was a little braver for his first time. Crader decided the transfers available weren't for him, so he vowed to come up with his own design.\n"Those are all pretty girly," Crader says, pointing to the table full of transfers. "I'll do something free hand, but nothing too hard."\nLater on, "R-A-N-D-Y" was spelled out in henna on each of the fingers of his hand. He also says he planned to draw a mustache on one of his fingers so he could hold it up to his upper lip.\nFreshman Bianca Lang was much more timid for her first henna experience. She waited in line for someone more experienced to just paint the design for her.\n"I don't have steady hands," she says.\nLang placed a transfer of a flower on her inner wrist. She says she would be willing to try henna again, on one condition:\n"If someone else will do it for me," she says.\nLang and Crader went to the demonstration as an activity for their Freshman Interest Group, America and the World Beyond. Senior Liz Oates, an instructor for the one-credit class, says the group is for students taking an international studies class. Oates is required to come up with one outing for the group every month. She tried henna once before when she was in Key West, but Friday was her first time doing it herself. She used one of Wailes' transfers to paint a square design on her ankle.\n"It's not perfect by any means," she says.\nWailes has several tips for inexperienced henna users who might not be ready to paint peacocks on the bellies of pregnant women. She says it's a good idea to paint the design from the center outward so as not to smear what has already been done, and it's important to try not to touch the tip of the applicator directly to the skin. Henna spreads slightly after it is applied, so it is helpful to make the lines thinner than desired, she says.\nFor those brave enough to try a freehand design, she says drawing guide dots will help with the construction of even shapes.\nHenna kits are available at Athena, 108 E. Kirkwood Ave., and at the Lakaye Studio online at www.earthhenna.com. Depending on the size, the kits usually sell for $10 to $20 or more.
(09/27/06 2:51am)
Method Man, a member of the former hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, will be in Bloomington on Thursday to sign autographs and perform.\nHis performance at the Bluebird Nightclub, 216 N. Walnut St., with former Wu-Tang members Inspectah Deck and Masta Killa, begins at 9 p.m. The nightclub has hosted former members GZA/Genius and Ghostface Killah in the past, and owner Dave Kubiak said they produced good turnouts.\n"The band's awfully popular," Kubiak said. "(Method Man) is the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan — why wouldn't you (want him to come)?"\nMethod Man will be at Tracks Music and Videos, 415 E. Kirkwood Ave., in the afternoon for autographs. Manager Brett Hayden said he expects him to arrive sometime between 4 and 5 p.m. Depending on how many people show up, Hayden said Method Man will probably stay for two or three hours. \nGZA/Genius came and signed autographs with DJ Muggs at Tracks in the spring, and Hayden said between 100 and 150 people showed up for the event. The turnout for Thursday's autograph session probably depends on publicity, he said.\n"If a lot of people find out, we'll have a pretty large turnout," Hayden said. "He's one of the most prolific of the Wu-Tang."\nHayden said hip-hop is a popular music genre at Tracks, which carries a variety of rap, rock, R&B, jazz and soul music.\nHe said the store plans to have albums out for purchase so people can have them signed. Posters will also be available, but Hayden was unsure whether the posters would be free.\nTracks often invites artists who are scheduled to play at the Bluebird to come do a signing, he said.
(09/26/06 3:01am)
A Bloomington woman robbed an IU student of her purse after she became upset because the student was talking too loudly on her cell phone, police said.\nBloomington police arrested Rachel Artis, 23, on preliminary charges of robbery, a class C felony.\nSarah Moravec, a 21-year-old IU student, reported to police that at about 3 a.m. Sunday, she was walking on the sidewalk of the 500 block of South Fess Avenue behind three women. She said Artis tried to trip her, and when Moravec said something about it, Artis turned around and grabbed her wristlet purse, pulled on it, broke the strap and ran away, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from the police report.\nPolice found Artis in an alley nearby, Drake said. According to the report, Artis had the contents of Moravec's purse inside her own purse, and the broken wristlet was lying on the ground nearby. \nArtis told police she became angry because Moravec was talking loudly on her cell phone, so she tried to trip her, the report said. Artis said when Moravec called her a "bitch," she stole her purse.
(09/26/06 2:56am)
A Bloomington man is now facing preliminary charges of sexual battery and criminal confinement after he allegedly attacked two women outside a local strip club.\nPolice say Jason S. Prince, 26, sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman and a 20-year-old woman as they got out of their car in the parking lot of Night Moves, 1730 S. Walnut St. The incident occurred at about midnight Saturday.\nOne of the women reported that Prince tried to put his hands down the front of her pants, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from the police report. Prince then grabbed the other woman from behind in a bear hug and grabbed in the area of her genitals, according to the report. The second woman reported that Prince then threw her to the ground and held her down by her throat, Drake said.\nTwo uninvolved people witnessed the event, according to the report. Drake said the bouncer of the club held Prince until police came.\nWhen interviewed, Prince said he remembered being thrown out of the club because he was too drunk but did not remember anything else until he realized he was in the police station, according to the report.
(09/21/06 3:10am)
Police seized more than 33 grams of cocaine Tuesday night during a drug arrest made after a traffic stop.\nThe driver, Jessica N. Figueiredo, 23, now faces preliminary charges of dealing cocaine, a class B felony, and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, a class A felony.\n"Figueiredo is the target of an ongoing drug investigation," said Bloomington Police Department Captain Joe Qualters. Officers were originally looking to take her into custody because she had dealt drugs to a confidential informant during a prior investigation, he said.\nQualters said officers located Figueiredo in her car on the 200 block of N. Smith Road, driving Clarence Patterson, 21, and Reginall Perry, 19, and performed the traffic stop.\nA police report described Patterson as "fidgety." Qualters said a canine on the scene indicated the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. A detective observed a bag containing a substance believed to be crack cocaine in plain sight, Qualters said.\nOfficers found more than $800 on Figueiredo, as well as plant material believed to be marijuana and a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine.\nPatterson had a total of 33 grams of cocaine on his person and more than $1,000 in cash. Officers arrested Patterson on a preliminary charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.\nPerry was arrested on a preliminary charge of visiting a common nuisance, a class B misdemeanor.\n"The investigation will continue, due to information and evidence that was seized at the time of this arrest, including cell phones and information obtained from the individuals," Qualters said.