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(04/12/06 5:46am)
IU police officers saved an IU employee whose pulse and breathing had stopped Monday, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger in a press release.\nMinger said officers were dispatched to the west side of Wylie Hall at about 6:45 p.m. after Paul Doughman, a 53-year-old hourly employee for the Kelley School of Business, stopped breathing. Minger said Doughman also had no pulse.\nAccording to the press release, IUPD Officer Rebecca Lucas connected Doughman to an automated external defibrillator. Lucas and IUPD Officer Dan Keeler and Monroe County Reserve Deputy Jon Barefoot revived Doughman's pulse with one shock from the AED.\nMinger said that although Doughman's pulse had returned, he was still not breathing, so Barefoot performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until Doughman could breathe on his own.\nBloomington Fire Rescue personnel then arrived, Minger said, and an ambulance transported him to the Bloomington Hospital Emergency Department.\n"At last report, they told us he was in the cardiac section of the hospital," Minger said.\nA spokeswoman for Bloomington Hospital said Tuesday afternoon the hospital could not comment on Doughman's condition.
(04/11/06 8:43pm)
IU police officers saved an IU employee whose pulse and breathing had stopped Monday, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger in a press release.\nMinger said officers were dispatched to the west side of Wylie Hall at about 6:45 p.m. after Paul Doughman, a 53-year-old hourly employee for the Kelley School of Business stopped breathing. Minger said Doughman also had no pulse.\nAccording to the press release, IUPD Officer Rebecca Lucas connected Doughman to an Automated External Defibrillator. Lucas and IUPD Officer Dan Keeler and Monroe County Reserve Deputy Jon Barefoot revived Doughman's pulse with one shock from the AED.\nMinger said that although Doughman's pulse had returned, he was still not breathing, so Barefoot performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until Doughman could breathe on his own.\nBloomington Fire Rescue personnel then arrived, Minger said, and an ambulance transported him to the Bloomington Hospital Emergency Department.\n"At last report, they told us he was in the cardiac section of the hospital," Minger said.\nA spokeswoman for Bloomington Hospital said Tuesday afternoon the hospital could not comment on Doughman's condition.
(04/11/06 12:09pm)
Junior Christine Wampler, 21, died at the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Ky., Sunday morning, said Robert Fraction, a deputy coroner from the Louisville coroner's office.\nLouisville Metro Police Officer Dwight Mitchell, who is investigating the death, said the cause of Wampler's death is still unknown. Fraction said an autopsy has been performed, but that officers will wait for the results of a toxicology test to determine the cause of death, which could take six to eight weeks.\nIU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said he had been made aware of the situation and that Wampler had been in Louisville on Saturday night for a formal event Phi Kappa Sigma, the fraternity commonly known as Skulls, was holding.\nMitchell said Louisville officers were dispatched to the hospital Sunday morning. He said officers were told that Wampler and her date had been staying in the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville after the formal event.\n"Apparently she must have had several drinks throughout the night, and when she returned to her room, she complained of being sick," Mitchell said. "Her friend said that when he woke up, he found her in the bathroom, unresponsive."\nMitchell said an ambulance transported Wampler to the University of Louisville Hospital. Fraction said Wampler died at about 9:30 a.m.\nPhi Kappa Sigma President Evan Hareras said the fraternity is providing grief counselors for brothers who are mourning, and that they plan to hold a private vigil for close friends of Wampler and fraternity members.\n"The brothers of Phi Kappa Sigma are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragic event," he said in an e-mail. "Our prayers and sympathies go out to the Christine Wampler family as they mourn for the loss of their daughter."\nDean of Students Dick McKaig said his staff had to help respond to the death because he had been out of town Monday attending the funeral of Nichole Birky, a junior who had died not even a week earlier.\n"We're trying to provide support through counseling for her friends and associates that we were able to identify," he said.\nMcKaig urged anyone who is grieving to visit the Counseling and Psychological Services at the Health Center. He said the counseling staff is available on a walk-in basis.\n"They are available if you have a strong need to talk to someone now," he said. "Also, we always encourage friends to provide support for each other."\nMcKaig also urged anyone to let administration officials or counselors know if they have friends who they believe need help coping with their grief.\nMcKaig said the University will talk to members of Phi Kappa Sigma in an attempt to find out exactly what happened.\n"We'll certainly be talking to representatives of the organization to see if they could provide any additional information," he said. "I'm sure they have been \ncooperative with the coroner's office down in Louisville."\nIn addition, MacIntyre said the University is waiting for the outcome of the police investigation and said, depending on the results it receives, could open its own investigation.\n"We don't know what happened yet, so it's really too early to speculate," he said. "Once we know what happened, there may be other University actions, but it's way too early to speculate."\nHamilton Smith, executive director for the Phi Kappa Sigma International Fraternity, said the national chapter has opened its own investigation but is currently focusing on providing support for Wampler's family and any members of Phi Kappa Sigma who might be experiencing grief.\n"We've been in discussion with the chapter to make sure that the family is being cared for during their time of grief and also to support our brothers," Smith said.\nSmith said he did not know when the investigation would be complete and that it would be dependent on written statements.\n"Our main concern at the moment is for the girl's family and our brother," he said.\nHareras said, so far, he had not been informed that an investigation was taking place.\n"I am unaware of any immediate investigations," he said. "Regardless, my focus remains on helping my brothers deal with this sudden and tragic loss."\nAssistant Dean of Students Steve Veldkamp did not return calls by press time.
(04/10/06 7:12pm)
Bloomington police arrested Chad A. Luck on preliminary charges of attempted murder and armed robbery resulting in serious body injury early Sunday Morning, according to a press release BPD Captain Joe Qualters issued.\nAt about 5:30 a.m., a 32-year-old clerk at the Ramada Limited Motel on North Walnut Street who had just returned from a break was attacked from behind with a knife, said Qualters, citing the victim's police report. In the report, the victim said the suspect slashed at his neck with a knife until he fell to the ground.\nQualters said the victim reported that he then heard the suspect attempting to open the cash drawer. He said when the suspect returned, he told him he could not trust him not to reveal his identity. The victim reported that he was struck with an unknown object and passed out.\nQualters said BPD received a tip from a member of Luck's family later that morning, indicating that he wanted to turn himself in. He said Luck met with Bloomington police and confessed, saying he "was familiar with" the clerk and had visited him earlier that morning to try to convince him to give him money from the drawer. Qualters said Luck told police he needed the money to pay bills that could not be paid because of drug purchases. \nQualters said Luck told police the clerk had refused to give him any money, so he returned later to take the \nmoney, thinking he would be gone. He said Luck admitted to "confronting" the clerk with a knife, and said he later returned with a gun and shot at him, fearing his identity would be revealed.\nLuck is being held in the Monroe County Jail without bond, Qualters said.\nQualters said the clerk was transported to Bloomington Hospital and later moved to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis and received treatment for the knife wounds on his neck and treatment for a gunshot wound, as well. He said he is listed in stable condition at Wishard.
(04/06/06 5:05am)
Junior Nichole Birky, 21, died Wednesday morning in her Delta Zeta bedroom from causes unknown at this time, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger.\nMinger said Birky's roommate discovered her dead at about 10:30 a.m. after she went to wake her up before leaving for class. Members of Delta Zeta told police they had last spoken with her at about 2 a.m.\nMinger said the cause of death has not yet been identified, but it is under investigation by the IU Police Department and the Monroe County coroner.\n"They did say she had been feeling ill for the last few days," Minger said. "There was no evidence or indication of foul play at all."\nMinger said EMTs arrived at the Delta Zeta house shortly after 10:30 a.m. and when they found Birky in her bed "it appeared that she had died sometime earlier."\nDean of Students Dick McKaig said representatives from the University's Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of Greek Affairs and the Campus Ministry were at the house throughout Wednesday, trying to respond to the needs of Birky's family and friends.\n"We're still in the process of trying to be sure everyone is notified and providing what support we can," he said.\nMinger said officers notified Birky's family, and McKaig said IU is extending its counseling services to the family, as well.\n"At this point in time, we're trying to respond to any of the needs of the family," McKaig said. "I talked to (Birky's) grandmother, but I haven't talked to her parents yet."\nMcKaig said IU offers a variety of services for grieving students and urged friends and family members of Birky to take advantage of them. He said students can visit CAPS, which is located on the fourth floor of the health center, without an appointment. He also said representatives from the Student Activities Office and the campus religious groups have said they are "eager to help."\n"Those are some of the first resources people would turn to," McKaig said. "Obviously, they would also want to turn to their friends and family."\nIU Health Center director Hugh Jessop said that although the cause of death is unknown at this time, officials have been given no reason so far to believe there is an issue of public health at stake.\n"What we've asked is that the coroner let us know if there is a public health connection," he said. "There's nothing right now that suggests there is a public health communicable problem."\nMinger said Monroe County Coroner David Toumey indicated that an autopsy would be performed, but Toumey was not available for comment by press time. Jessop said the health center will wait for autopsy results. If the results indicated that the cause of death were a result of a communicable disease, he said, the center would take action from there.\n"There won't be a whole lot more to guide the investigation until we hear from the coroner," Minger said.
(04/06/06 4:31am)
IU and Bloomington Police departments and the Bloomington Fire Department responded to three simultaneous incidents of what they believe to be arson early Wednesday morning, said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report.\nMinger said two small fires had been set to fences within blocks of each other, on Fourth and Third streets, as well as one to the insulation in the new law building that is being constructed on Fourth Street and Indiana Avenue.\n"All the fires were discovered quickly and extinguished, but they were all in relatively adjacent blocks," Minger said.\nPolice suspect the fires were intentional because the three fires were in such close proximity and started at about the same time, but Minger said it does not appear as if accelerant was used.\n"It does appear that someone had maliciously set the fires, but we currently don't know for what reasons," he said.\nPolice are pursuing the identity of a suspect, Minger said. According to the report, the suspect was described as a white male in his 50s with blonde hair that is graying. The report said he was wearing light-colored jeans and a denim jacket, possibly with a sweater underneath.\n"If anybody were to happen to have information on it or think they might have information, we would like for them to call," Minger said.\nMinger urged anyone with information to call the IUPD dispatch at 855-4111 and ask to speak with a detective.
(04/05/06 11:58pm)
Junior Nichole Birky, 21, died Wednesday morning in her Delta Zeta bedroom due to causes unknown at this time, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger.\nMinger said Birky's roommate discovered her dead at about 10:30 a.m. after she went to wake her up before leaving for class. Members of Delta Zeta told police they had last spoken with her at about 2 a.m.\nMinger said the cause of death has not yet been identified, but it is under investigation by the IU Police Department and the Monroe County Coroner.\n"They did say she had been feeling ill for the last few days," Minger said. "There was no evidence or indication of foul play at all."\nMinger said EMTs arrived at the Delta Zeta house shortly after 10:30 a.m., and when they found her in her bed "it appeared that she had died sometime earlier."\nDean of Students Dick McKaig said representatives from the University's Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of Greek Affairs and the Campus Ministry were available at the house throughout Wednesday morning and afternoon, trying to respond to the needs of Birky's family and friends.\n"We're still in the process of trying to be sure everyone is notified and providing what support we can," he said.\nMinger said officers notified Birky's family, and McKaig said IU is extending its counseling services to the family, as well.\n"At this point in time, we're trying to respond to any of the needs of the family," McKaig said. "I talked to (Birky's) grandmother, but I haven't talked to her parents yet."\nMcKaig said IU offers a variety of services for grieving students, and urged friends and family members of Birky to take advantage of them. He said students can visit CaPS, which is located on the fourth floor of the Health Center, without an appointment. He also said representatives from the Student Activities Office and the campus religious groups have said they are "eager to help."\n"Those are some of the first resources people would turn to," McKaig said. "Obviously, they would also want to turn to their friends and family."\nMinger said Monroe County Coroner David Toumey indicated that an autopsy would be performed, but Toumey was not available for comment by press time.\n"There won't be a whole lot more to guide the investigation until we hear from the coroner," Minger said.
(04/05/06 4:43am)
Bloomington Police Department officer Brandon Lopossa arrested junior Lauren Yoder on preliminary charges of public intoxication after she locked herself inside a marked squad car, said BPD Det. Sgt. David Drake, reading from the police report.\nAccording to the report, Lopossa was working at the station at about 2 a.m. Friday when two men approached him after he walked out the back door. The two men reported they had just seen a woman crawl into the backseat of a marked police car.\nIn the report, Lopossa said as he went to check the cars, he observed a woman sitting inside the back seat of a marked car, pressing her face and hands up to the rear side window and looking at him.\n"Apparently the door had been unlocked and she was able to get in, but once you get in, you can't get out," Drake said.\nDrake said since the back doors of police cars cannot be opened from the inside and a partition prevents passengers from crawling into the front seat, Lopossa had to let her out himself.\nAccording to the report, the female, who was later identified as Yoder, smelled strongly of alcohol and had slurred speech.\nDrake said Lopossa escorted her over to his own police car, and transported her to the hospital, and then the Monroe County Jail.\nYoder did not return attempts to contact her by e-mail or instant messenger by press time.
(04/04/06 5:31am)
Bloomington police arrested Bloomington resident Randy D. Butcher Saturday evening on preliminary charges of aggravated battery and possession of a controlled substance after he allegedly stabbed a man in the stomach.\nBloomington Police Department officers met with a 24-year-old man in the Bloomington Hospital emergency room Saturday afternoon who was being treated for stab wounds, said BPD Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from the police report. The man reported that he had visited a residence on South Rockport Road earlier that day, where he got into an argument with a woman in the apartment.\nDrake said he reported that Butcher and another man then assaulted him, and Butcher pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the stomach. In the report, he said he was able to retreat to his car and drive to his mother's house, who took him to the emergency room.\nAccording to the report, the man had two black eyes, a chipped front tooth, a large cut to the back of his head and a two-inch deep stab wound to his abdomen. Drake said the victim's condition was not life-threatening.\nAccording to the report, officers visited the address the man described, and arrested Jeremy Dalton and Julie Dugger, who both had outstanding warrants. \nOfficers tracked down Butcher later that evening, who had a knife that appeared to have blood on it in his pocket, Drake said. He said his pocket also contained four Lortab pills, which require a prescription. Police arrested Butcher in connection with the stabbing and for possessing the drugs.
(03/30/06 5:15am)
Bloomington police are looking for a man who they believe entered a woman's apartment late Tuesday night and attempted to rape her at knife-point.\nThe 21-year-old woman said in a police report that she returned to her apartment south of downtown Bloomington, at about 11 p.m. Tuesday and unlocked her front door while she waited for her boyfriend, said BPD Captain Joe Qualters. She said she then went to take a shower.\nWhile in the shower, a man came into the bathroom with a knife and ordered her to exit the shower, according to the report. The woman said he threw her onto the bed and began to fondle her.\nQualters said the woman's boyfriend arrived and the suspect began to threaten him with the knife. The boyfriend grabbed another knife and the suspect fled, police said.\nIn the report, the woman and her boyfriend described the suspect as a white, heavy-set male wearing a brown \njacket and a camouflage hat.
(03/29/06 4:25am)
Faculty and staff members in five different buildings across campus reported projectors missing from classrooms Monday and Tuesday, totaling an estimated loss of about $15,000 or more, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from a police report.\nAs of press time Tuesday, five projectors had been reported stolen from Swain Hall West, the School of Law, Ballantine Hall, the Fine Arts building and the Kelley School of Business. Minger said complainants who reported the thefts each said the projectors could have been stolen anytime between Friday and the day they discovered them missing, either Monday or Tuesday. Although the projectors were hooked up to alarm systems, no alarms went off, Minger said. \n"They all have similarities," Minger said. "It's the same type of equipment, and in each case, the alarm systems were compromised in that (the thief) would have had to have damaged the equipment trying to detach it from the alarm system."\nMinger said technicians are in the process of securing other electronic equipment to make sure it cannot be stolen again without setting the alarms off. He said the case is currently under investigation.\nMinger urged anyone with information on the case to contact IUPD at 855-4111 and ask to speak to a detective.
(03/28/06 5:14am)
Bloomington police arrested a woman whom they believe robbed a Bloomington CVS last week.\nOfficers arrested Amber R. Ratliff, 33, on preliminary charges of armed robbery after they contacted Yellow Cab to see if anyone had taken a cab near the CVS at the time of the robbery, according to a press release issued by Bloomington Police Department Captain Joe Qualters. He said an officer was told that Yellow Cab had picked up a female matching the description of the suspect at a Marsh supermarket a few blocks away from the convenience store.\nAccording to the release, the officer visited the addresses the transportation service provided and met with Ratliff. Qualters said she agreed to appear at BPD for an interview and was arrested after she admitted to her involvement.\nAs of press time, officers had not yet recovered any money or a weapon from the crime.
(03/28/06 5:11am)
IU Police Department officers discovered Friday that boards on the windows of the abandoned Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, which sustained fire damage in February, had been removed and a lock on the side door of the house had been partially pried away, said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report.\nMinger said officers found the south patio door of the building open, boards removed from three windows and the windows' glass broken. Part of a lock on one of the other doors had been partially pried away, but the padlock remained, and the door was still locked from the inside.\nMinger said officers are unsure when the damage occurred and said IUPD does not know why it happened.\nThe fraternity's national organization shut down the IU chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 2002 after IUPD busted a party in the house, according to a May 3, 2002, Indiana Daily Student article. The house has been empty since then.\nIn early February, an early-morning fire inflicted what police estimated to be about $200,000 worth of damage on the house, according to a Feb. 10 IDS article.\nMinger said, as of press time, IUPD was making attempts to find out who was responsible for boarding the house back up.
(03/27/06 7:07pm)
Bloomington police arrested Chad Luck on preliminary charges of attempted murder and armed robbery resulting in serious body injury early Sunday Morning, according to a press release issued by BPD Captain Joe Qualters. \nAt about 5:30 a.m., a 32-year-old clerk at the Ramada Limited Motel on N. Walnut Street who had just returned from a break was attacked from behind with a knife, said Qualters, citing the victim's police report. In the report, the victim said the suspect slashed at his neck with a knife until he fell to the ground. \nQualters said the victim reported that he then heard the suspect attempting to open the cash drawer. He said when the suspect returned, he told him he could not trust him not to reveal his identity. The victim reported that he was struck by an unknown object and passed out. \nQualters said BPD received a tip from Luck's family member later that morning, indicating that he wanted to turn himself in. He said Luck met with Bloomington police and confessed, saying he "was familiar with" the clerk and had visited him earlier that morning to try to convince him to give him money from the drawer. Qualters said Luck told police he needed the money to pay bills that could not be paid because of drug purchases. \nQualters said Luck told them the clerk had refused to give him any money, so he returned later to take the money, thinking he would be gone. He said Luck admitted to "confronting" the clerk with a knife, and said he later returned with a gun and shot at him, fearing his identity would be revealed. He also said Luck said he tried to burn the hotel's surveillance tape. \nLuck is being held in the Monroe County Jail without bond, Qualters said.\nQualters said the clerk was transported to Bloomington Hospital and later moved to Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis and received treatment for the knife wounds on his neck and treatment for a gunshot wound, as well. He said he is listed in stable condition at Wishard.
(03/27/06 7:01am)
Bloomington police are looking for a woman who robbed a CVS convenience store Friday morning, possibly with a gun.\nFour employees who were in the store reported that a woman wearing a ski cap walked into the store at about 6 a.m. and went directly back to a cooler and picked up a soft drink, said BPD Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from the police report. The employees said she brought the bottle to the register.\nIn the report, one of the employees said that as she rang up the woman's sale, the woman put her hand under her sweatshirt and "had an object that she was pushing forward underneath her sweatshirt that left an indentation that looked like the hole at the end of a barrel of a gun." Drake said no weapon was ever actually displayed.\nDrake said the woman then told the clerk to give her all the money in the drawer and threatened to shoot her if she did not hurry. According to the report, the woman walked out of the store with an undisclosed amount of money.\nThe employees described the suspect as a white female, about 5-foot-5. They said she had a "stocky" build and light brown hair.
(03/27/06 6:59am)
Former IU student Igor Zharovsky pleaded guilty last week to the charge of maintaining a common nuisance, a class D felony, receiving 30 days in jail with credit for one day he already served, according to the chronological case summary.\nAccording to the summary, Zharovsky had also been formally charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana, but the charges were dropped after a plea bargain.\nThe charges stemmed from a November IU Police Department arrest, involving four separate locations on Lincoln Street and the arrest of five different people, said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report. The other people involved have not been sentenced yet.\n"It was an extensive investigation," Minger said. "It involved the sale of marijuana and other narcotics."\nZharovsky himself was not formally charged with intent to deliver.\nMinger said officers arrested Zharovsky, obtained a search warrant for his residence and that drugs were in plain view when officers walked into the room. Minger said they searched Zharovsky's room, where they found psilocybin mushrooms and photographs depicting Zharovsky using drug paraphernalia.\nAccording to the summary, Zharovsky must serve "14 real days" in jail and can submit a written request to have his conviction reduced to a misdemeanor upon the completion of his sentence.
(03/24/06 5:18am)
Two weeks ago, members of the IU pom squad received e-mails notifying them that their 40-year-old organization would cease to exist at the end of the year, but Thursday night, the women said they plan to fight the decision.\nEight of the 14 members of the squad gathered in the Alpha Omicron Pi living room Thursday night, piecing together a plan of action.\n"Right now, we're just trying to rally support from students and fans and alumni," sophomore Devon Goudge said.\nMembers of the squad have spent the last two weeks talking to administrators, alumni, student organizations and other Big Ten schools seeking support and advice on how to get their squad back. Their petition, at www.petitiononline.com/IUPoms/petition.html, had garnered 1,461 signatures as of press time, including students, alumni and faculty members. After doing their research and rallying support, the women said they plan to request a meeting with IU President Adam Herbert, rather than going to Athletics Director Rick Greenspan.\n"With all of the issues of hiring the new men's basketball coach, we feel like we would have a better chance by going to the president," said captain \nLauren Dickey, a senior.\nSome of the supporters who signed the petition left comments, saying the pom squad, which dances at halftime and competes regularly, is an important part of the basketball experience.\n"I stay in the stands at basketball games through halftime for the sole purpose of watching the Indiana pom team perform and would hate to see the tradition and spirit of this team end," said IU student Michelle Anderson, next to her signature on the petition.\nGoudge said she has spent the last couple of weeks calling other schools that have pom squads, trying to find out how their teams are financed and if the pom and cheerleading squads are separate or the same team. At the meeting, members divided up a list of student organizations, assigning each member a few groups to approach and ask for their support. Goudge said members of the team have collected letters of support from alumni, and if granted a meeting with Herbert, plan to prepare a presentation to plead their case.\n"Some people come to this University specifically for poms without even knowing their majors," Dickey said at the meeting, while others nodded their heads in agreement.\nWhile those at the meeting all agreed they wanted to fight to keep the squad, Dickey said they are not even sure why the program is being cut in the first place.\n"The confusion comes from the different answers people get when they ask why," she said. "It goes from financial reasons to our appearances at games, but it's never been a straight answer."\nAt the meeting, Goudge said the squad's main goal is to convince the University that it needs a dance team, and that the pom squad is different from cheerleading. Currently, Dickey said, the pom squad, the Cream squad and the Crimson squad all make up one team.\n"What we would like to do is bring the team back, but maybe have it as a separate team," Dickey said.\nDickey stressed her belief that both a dance team and a cheerleading squad are necessary, saying nearly every other Division I school has both.\n"This team is very unique," she said. "We cheer, we dance and we do a lot for this University behind the scenes. A lot of girls aren't coming to IU next year because this team isn't going to be around"
(03/23/06 5:50am)
Gene Kelley's interest in the homeless began when he was eating in a restaurant in San Diego.\n"He was at an outdoor restaurant, and a homeless man wandered up to the crowd," Kelley's widow, Linda said. "The people knew he was homeless, but nobody helped him."\nKelley said her husband walked over to the man and gave him food. Just minutes later, a dog wandered past the restaurant. The people at the restaurant fed the dog.\n"Really, that's when the seed for Backstreet Missions was sewn into his heart," Kelley said.\nIn 1995, Linda and Gene Kelley started Backstreet Missions, a Bloomington shelter for homeless men to spend the night and participate in programs that lead them to professional skills necessary for finding a job, as well as religion. Gene passed away in 2002 but Linda continues to run the mission, which is located in Westplex Park.\nKelley said the mission houses about 25 men a night but has the capacity to house 50. The shelter does not have enough beds for 50 men, though.\n"I think we're down to our last bunk bed," she said. "We'll be going out and buying more beds soon."\nAbout 15 people help Kelley run the mission. It receives no federal funding, but relies on donations from 18 churches of different denominations, as well as individuals and businesses.\nThe mission also helps support itself with a thrift store, which not only supports the mission, but also offers low-income Bloomington residents merchandise at lower prices. The thrift store is located on Arlington Road in Bloomington, along with a food pantry, which gives food and clothing to people who need it. Families are allowed to use it every 30 days. \nThe organization also runs Geno's Cafeteria, named after Kelley's late husband.\n"We serve the public, anyone who's hungry," Kelley said.\nWhile several other shelters are located in Bloomington, Kelley said Backstreet Mission's Christian-based mission sets it apart from all the rest. Men who choose to stay at the mission are offered a variety of programs to participate in, including classes and Bible-based programs.\n"There are shelters in Bloomington which are doing a good job of meeting people's physical needs, but we are a ministry," she said. "We focus on the whole person."\nKelley said more than 70 percent of the men who come to the mission have drug or alcohol abuse problems, which she identified as one of the main causes of homelessness. Kelley said she can relate.\n"The mission actually started as a result of my husband and I coming out of a background of alcohol and drugs," she said. "He lost his job after ten and a half years."\nCurrently, Backstreet Missions is working to build another shelter for women and children. Kelley said they have raised $133,000 for what she said is at least a $400,000 project. She said they have also received a land donation.\nOther Bloomington residents have joined in the fight to help the homeless. Bloomington's fourth annual walk for the homeless, "Homeward Bound," will take place April 2. Money raised will benefit 13 different organizations devoted to aiding the homeless, including shelters and food banks. Participants can form teams, raise money and participate in the walk.\n"It's really an important issue that I think is sometimes overlooked," said Event Coordinator Corinne Reynolds, who is also a graduate student at IU. "Monroe County has one of the highest housing costs in the state and also has one of the lowest median incomes in the state."\nMore information, as well as an opportunity to register for the walk, is available at www.homelesswalks.org. To donate money, food or items, or to find out other ways to help Backstreet Missions, visit \nwww.backstreet.org.
(03/22/06 4:39am)
IU police are looking for a man who they say offered a 16-year-old boy $4,500 to work for a gay escort service and asked him to engage in sexual activity with him, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report.\nMinger said the boy and his mother met with an officer Monday night. According to the report, the boy told officers that he met a man who was about 50 years old late in the morning and saw him again in the afternoon. He said that when he saw him the second time, the man asked him to accompany him to a School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building computer lab.\nIn the report, the boy said the man pulled up a Web site titled "Gay Men's Escort Service" and told him he could make $4,500 dollars as an escort. The boy told police that the man also mentioned him engaging in sexual activity as part of the service, and even proposed he engage in sexual activity with him.\nAccording to the report, the boy described the man as white, in his 50s with gray hair balding on top and a beard. He said the man was about 5-foot-10 and wore glasses. He described him as "chubby," and said he had two large scars on the right side of his face.\nMinger said the case is actively being investigated. Anyone with information is urged to call 855-4111 and ask to speak with a detective.
(03/21/06 5:02am)
IU researchers might have stumbled upon an incentive to move away from the city.\nRepresentatives from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs discovered a correlation between certain types of cancer and industrial areas, specifically those most exposed to volatile organic compounds, or pollutants known as VOCs, which are found in gasoline, solvents and paint. \nWhile the determination of a correlation does not necessarily signal a causation relationship, Michael Boeglin, who worked on the study with SPEA associate professor Diane Henshel and former graduate student Denise Wessels, said the results do show a need for more attention to the matter.\n"More researchers in basic toxicology need to devote more resources to investigating the fundamental link between VOCs in the air and some of the cancers that people don't normally associate with them," said Boeglin, who currently works in the Region 7 office for the Environmental Protection Agency.\nSpecifically, the researchers found cancers to the brain, thyroid, nervous system, skin and endocrine system to be more prevalent in counties in Indiana that are exposed more to VOCs, usually industrial areas. Boeglin said these kinds of cancers are not usually thought to be linked to air-borne pollutants.\nThe study used regression analysis to compare the Indiana State Department of Health's cancer statistics for all counties in Indiana that had enough data available with the VOC emission data from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory. Boeglin said they found all this information online.\n"We found that there is a pretty tight association between the release of VOCs from stationary sources of emission and the occurrence of cancer," Boeglin said.\nAlthough all the information was available online, Henshel said they used modern and expensive technology, called landscape-scale analysis, to compound the data.\n"There aren't that many people that are using these tools at this point," she said. "It's a very expensive project, but it will give you much more definitive results."\nHenshel said the technology does suffer when proper monitoring and data-collecting has not been done. \n"If data is questionable or if the monitoring isn't being done, that's a problem," she said. "That's a problem with Indiana."\nBoeglin said there were several counties that did not have enough data to use in the study.\nHenshel said she feels this issue deserves further attention, so once she assigns research to her students, she will give the option of researching this correlation further.\n"I think that this is a chronic problem," Henshel said. "We need to look and see whether or not things we're being exposed to are having an impact on our health."\nBoeglin said the study proves a specific correlation between cancer rates and the emission of non-chlorinated VOCs, a type of VOC he said had been previously under-researched.\n"People at the public policy decision making level need to commit more resources to more support for that kind of research, supporting it financially and being more observant of the sources of VOCs, especially non-chlorinated VOCs," Boeglin said. "A lot of times people focus on the chlorinated ones because of the specific pathways."\nBoeglin said the correlation between VOC emissions and cancer rates has been, up until now, relatively unresearched.\n"We didn't really know what we would find," he said. "We feel justified in having done the study"