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(09/03/07 3:35am)
The Bloomington man charged with burglarizing several Varsity Villas apartments faces an additional preliminary charge of possession of stolen property. \nJustin Franklin, 23, was arrested Aug. 26 after the Bloomington Police Department investigated multiple burglaries in the Varsity Villas, located at 2015 N. Dunn St., BPD Sgt. Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report.\nA Bloomington resident living in the 300 block of E. 19th Street told police Aug. 31 that he had property stolen from him, Canada said. According to a police report, the resident notified officers of the burglary after realizing his laptop had been stolen. He told officers he may have left his door unlocked.\nBPD discovered the laptop while investigating Franklin for the other burglaries. Franklin, who was already in jail, received an additional preliminary charge of possession of stolen property, Canada said.
(09/02/07 5:24pm)
In 2005, IU lecturer Darryl Neher got a chance to learn, hands on, the full operations of the Bloomington Police Department. Two years later, he still feels the Citizen’s Police Academy is an eye-opening experience.\n“What most people think of the police department is the officers riding in the car,” he said. “There’s so much more. The very special part is you really get to experience firsthand and go through the thought process law enforcement has to deal with.”\nBPD is currently taking applications for its fourth Citizen’s Police Academy. The academy, designed to provide citizens with a better understanding of the relationship between citizens and the law enforcement community, will start on Sept. 11 and run through Nov. 27. Classes will be held once a week from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m and are free of charge, according to a BPD press release. \nBPD Capt. Michael Diekhoff said the program will teach citizens how the police department goes about the day-to-day business of protecting the community. Classes throughout the 11-week program will involve patrol issues, crash investigations, case reporting, firearms, defensive tactics and an emergency vehicle operators course. The program will be taught by BPD staff members.\nNeher said the officers who taught the law enforcement classes were honest and helped the citizens understand the types of protocol they go through. Neher said they put the program members through various scenarios, such as a school bus hostage, and walked them through the rescue.\n“It made me respect the level of work law enforcement does on a day-to-day basis,” he said.\nAfter Neher completed the course, he got to go on a ride-along with Diekhoff. \nDiekhoff said the program requires participants to be at least 21 years old. However, Diekhoff said if someone is under 21 and wants to apply, they could get parental consent for the program. \n“We’re kind of flexible,” he said.\nBPD Sgt. Faron Lake said most of the applicants are a mix between city employees and citizens.\nDiekhoff said the police department limits the class to approximately 20 people so students will be more involved in the classes. \nBloomington resident Ebony Moore said the program sounds interesting and thinks it would be beneficial for anyone looking to go into the law enforcement field. Moore, who is majoring in criminal justice at IU but currently taking time off from school, said she could probably learn more about law enforcement through the program.\n“It could help them better understand cases if they’re giving them first-hand situations,” she said.\nUnlike Moore, IU senior Jill Smallman said she would not be interested in taking the course. She said she thinks it is interesting but not necessarily useful to the community.\nSmallman, who is also majoring in criminal justice, said the program would be teaching information with which she is already familiar. \n“I think it’s helpful (to learn about law enforcement),” she said, “(but) it’s not like you could make a change.”\nApplications are available online at www.bloomington.in.gov/police and at the Bloomington Police Department, located at 220 E. Third St. The deadline for applications is Sept. 5.
(08/31/07 1:27am)
A Bloomington resident was arrested Wednesday night after falsely informing officers he witnessed a robbery.\nKevin G. New, 19, faces preliminary charges of dealing a schedule-IV controlled substance, two counts of possession of a schedule-IV controlled substance, false informing, possession of a handgun without a license and prohibited sale transfer of a handgun, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report.\nAccording to the report, BPD Officer Scott Myers was dispatched at about 11 p.m. Wednesday to the 4000 block of West Vernal Pike, where he met New and a woman. New told officers he witnessed a robbery at Kingston Manor, 3200 E. Longview Ave, Canada said. Myers said in the report that New appeared to be intoxicated.\nNew told officers he was in the area when he noticed two men at a stop sign. He said he saw one man give the other a handgun, and the man who’d received the gun ran off with it.\nMyers said New changed his story several times and began to get nervous while talking to him, Canada said. \nMyers questioned the woman, who told Myers that she drove New to Kingston Manor to sell drugs. She told Myers that New met up with a black man and went behind a building to sell the drugs, Canada said. She told Myers that she then saw the black man running across the parking lot. When New returned, he told her the man stole his drugs at gunpoint, Canada said.\nMyers questioned New again and he admitted to being robbed while selling drugs, Canada said. Myers searched New’s truck, where he found prescription Lortab and Klonopin. Myers did not locate the handgun but did find a holster and ammunition in the car, Canada said.\nNew was transported to the Monroe County Jail and is being held on a 20,000 surety bond and $500 cash.
(08/30/07 4:00am)
All I wanted to do was soar with Bloomington's high-flying trapeze artists The Flying Haggertys. Unfortunately, trapeze flying isn't for the weak.\nI sat down in a lawn chair and waited for members of The Flying Haggertys to arrive for their daily practice. Larry, the stray dog that hangs around outside, was perched underneath a truck and barked until team member Chris Lemmon calmed him down. Lemmon looked at me and suggested I spritz bug spray on me, warning me the bugs are ridiculous outside.\nThe 35-foot-tall trapeze rig stretched across the entirety of an otherwise normal Bloomington backyard. Two swinging bars rested approximately 20 feet above a black safety net surrounded by a thicket of trees.\nLemmon and Holly Faulk, another member of The Flying Haggertys, wrapped their hands with tape and began to stretch. Marc Haggerty, founder of the team, sat down and watched them swing.\n"You're releasing too early," he said to his team members.\nAfter several minutes of performing aerial flips, Cogi Haggerty, a team member and Marc Haggerty's son, pulled up in his car and got ready to practice. Marc Haggerty, while still hollering suggestions at the three people flying over his head, pulled a pair of black spandex over his gray shorts and removed his shirt.\nHe quickly climbed the hanging ladder and placed himself on the second trapeze bar. After swinging himself back and forth for a bit, the team began flying. Each member would attempt to soar from the first bar to be caught by Marc Haggerty, then back. \nEvery time a team member would fly, my stomach would twist into knots. The pinging of the safety net against the rig made my stomach churn. "I can't do this," I thought. I kicked off my sandals and attempted to climb the ladder. Faulk said the hardest part for her is climbing the ladder. She said it exhausts her every time she does it. "She wasn't kidding," I thought.\nMy feet did not get much further than the second rung on the ladder before my arms started to feel numb from exhaustion. I attempted one more time before my arms completely gave out. I let go of the ladder and fell back to the ground.\nWhat Marc Haggerty has been doing for 20 years, I couldn't even do for one second.\nThe team's founder said his love for flying started when he separated from his wife and was looking for something to do with his son Cogi. They began climbing mountains, white-water canoeing and going to the circus. After building rapport with flying acts in the circus, Marc Haggerty was asked to go on tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus. \nThree or four years ago, Hollywood made Marc Haggerty an offer to train actors. He said he didn't say "no," but he would need to have certain living conditions in California. Hollywood has not yet returned an offer to him.\nThe Flying Haggertys have occasionally gone on tour but haven't had any recent shows. Marc Haggerty said they might start going on tour again but doesn't know when. \nFor now, they fly for fun.\nThroughout the practice, I thought to myself how cool it would be to become a \nhigh-flying trapeze artist. My lack of physical strength was not the only thing holding me back, though. I was scared. The fear of flying is something a trapeze artist has to learn to get over, Marc Haggerty said, claiming he has not feared flying in a long time. Cogi Haggerty, on the other hand, said he gets scared every time he gets up on the platform.\n"All students are afraid," Marc Haggerty said. "(You need to) build up confidence."\nLearning to fly is a process, he said. If somebody has an ambition to fly, he said he will do everything he can to get them up to the platform. And with a new wave of IU students back in town, he hopes people will join and take an interest in The Flying Haggertys.\nAfter the practice ended, I was dismayed about my unsuccessful attempt to fly, to even get up the ladder. I grabbed my backpack and made my way out of the backyard. \nFinally I returned home exhausted from not being able to fly. I quickly fell asleep, my head filled with the day's events. I woke up the next morning with about 20-something bug bites. Despite my willingness to fly, the thought of making it to the platform still scares the living bejesus out of me. And with every itch, I'm reminded of my failed attempt to fly and the fear that I never got to conquer.
(08/29/07 5:44am)
The Bloomington Police Department arrested a Bloomington resident after learning he had burglarized several units in an area apartment complex. \nJustin Franklin, 23, was arrested after allegedly stealing items from three apartments in the Varsity Villas , located at 2015 N. Dunn St. \nOfficers received a call regarding a burglary in the 400 block of Varsity Lane Saturday night. Officer Amy Romoser was told that two residents and a friend were asleep in the apartment when a man entered the apartment and asked the friend, who was sleeping on the couch, if everyone else was asleep. He left through the front door quickly afterwards. \nThe witness said the man was about 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, wearing a baseball cap and an Indianapolis Colts jersey. \nWhen the residents of the apartment woke up, they noticed their computers, cell phones, DVDs, sunglasses, video games and wallets were missing and contacted BPD. While Romoser was investigating the matter, she heard a light tapping on the sliding glass door. \nWhen Romoser opened the blinds, she saw Franklin in his boxer shorts. According to the police report, Romoser said Franklin was “shocked” to see a police officer in the apartment. \nFranklin told Romoser that three white males broke into his apartment and stole his guitar and amplifier, worth $7,000. When Romoser asked him more questions, he became nervous, she said. He told her he had walked his dog and came back to see the three men taking his guitar. \nHe told Romoser that one of the people that burglarized his apartment had been wearing an Indianapolis Colts jersey. He then told Romoser that he was wearing an Indianapolis Colts jersey that night. \nRomoser noticed Franklin met the description of the suspect. She asked him if she could investigate his apartment, but he would not let her in because he did not want to bother his roommate, police said. \nRomoser contacted Officer John Coleman, who took over the investigation. Coleman contacted the prosecutor’s office and received a search warrant to search Franklin’s residence. \nWhen Coleman searched the residence, he found the stolen items reported from the Varsity Villas. After placing Franklin under arrest, Det. Kevin Hill interviewed him. Franklin said he has an alcohol problem and “thinks he steals things when he’s drunk.” \nFranklin’s arrest cleared up several burglaries that took place throughout the Varsity Villas over the weekend.
(08/29/07 4:16am)
A Bloomington man was seriously injured Monday night after his motorcycle collided with a van. \nBloomington Police Department officers received a call at about 11:40 p.m. Monday regarding an accident that occurred in the 3000 block of South Walnut Street, said BPD Sgt. Jeff Canada. When officers arrived, a man was in the middle of the road. After searching the scene, officers noticed a motorcycle off to the side, Canada said.\nRickie Clarke, 50, was found unconscious at the scene and had visible head injuries. Several witnesses stated Clarke was leaving the Southern Winds Inn, located at 3000 S. Old State Road 37, and did not come to a complete stop before turning onto South Walnut Street, according to the police report. \nA witness told Officer Jeff Rodgers that Clarke had been drinking, but the witness did not believe Clarke was intoxicated, Canada said. A 17-year-old was driving the van, and officers said she had not been drinking, Canada said. Alcohol might have been a factor in the accident.\nClarke was transported to Bloomington Hospital, where he was in critical condition. Officers said they did not believe he was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
(08/28/07 2:57am)
A Bloomington man was arrested Saturday night after officers received a complaint that he was going to vandalize a car. \nWilliam Ford, 60, faces preliminary charges of intimidation, resisting law enforcement and disorderly conduct, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report. \nAt approximately 5 p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to the 1200 block of W. 11th Street after the complainant called police and said Ford had threatened to vandalize her car, Canada said. When officers arrived, they saw Ford walking toward the complainant’s house with a gun. \nOfficers confronted Ford and learned the weapon was actually a BB gun, Canada said. Ford initially resisted arrest but was taken into custody. \nFord was transported to the Monroe County Jail.
(08/27/07 3:36am)
A Bloomington man was shot and killed Thursday night after a reported \ndomestic dispute.\nLocal businessman John Hood, 63, was shot once in the chest in his Bloomington home, located at the 6100 block of South Empire Road, Monroe County Det. Brad Swain said. Hood and his wife owned Putter’s Park and Johnny Joe’s Pub, both located at 4747 W. State Road 46 in Bloomington. The business is \nnow closed. \nPolice believe Hood’s wife, Juanita, 52, \nshot him.\nAt about 11:30 p.m. the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call from John and Juanita Hoods’ daughter saying her mother had shot her father, Swain said.\nMonroe County dispatched state troopers to their house, where emergency personnel declared John Hood dead at the scene, Swain said. After interviewing Juanita Hood, officers arrested her. She now faces preliminary charges of murder.\nSwain said the sheriff’s department will try to get a clearer picture of \nwhat happened.\nJuanita Hood was transported to the Monroe County Jail and is being held without bond.
(08/24/07 4:03am)
In April 2006, a female IU student was raped in McNutt Quad. Since Wednesday, Eva Feldman, the mother of the rape victim, has been standing outside of TIS Bookstore on Third Street with one hope: To promote sexual assault awareness so these incidents will become less frequent.\nFeldman, who goes by her maiden name to protect her daughter, said the University has not done enough to prevent sexual assault on campus. \nFeldman said she feels IU has to do a few things to bring sexual awareness to the entire University. She said she feels an extensive sexual assault prevention program should be mandatory for all incoming freshmen. She said the program would be able to warn female students about the possibilities of rape on campus.\nFeldman said the University should not allow students to live on co-ed floors. She said her daughter lived on a co-ed floor and was raped by a male student living on the same floor. She added that dorms should have panic buttons and locked women’s bathrooms to further prevent the possibility of an assault.\nThe Middle Way House has been present on campus this week as well, distributing fliers at various locations to inform students and parents of prevention techniques and safety precautions. Middle Way House is a center seeking to end domestic violence and sexual assault in the lives of women and children by sponsoring activities and programs to achieve individual and social change. \nFeldman stood outside TIS not only for her daughter, but also as a volunteer for Security on Campus. \nAccording to the American Association of University Women Web site, 20 to 25 percent of women are raped during their college career. Only five percent of rape incidents are reported to the police, and 75 percent of the time, the offender, the victim or both have been drinking.\nAccording to the clery report on the IU Police Department’s Web site, there were 13 reported rapes in 2005 and nine in 2006. \nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said he feels the University has done as much as they can to promote sexual assault awareness on campus.\n“We feel by educating incoming freshman and students already here we can prevent (these occurrences) from happening,” he said. “If (the crime) is predictable, it’s preventable.”\nMinger said if anyone has ideas about sexual awareness prevention, IUPD is always open to discuss.\nFeldman said she’s not trying to harm the University, she’s just trying to spread awareness. \n“I will be back every year as long as my legs bring me back here,” she said.\nShe said she feels next year her campaign will be much stronger. Feldman said she will be outside of TIS Bookstore again from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday.
(08/24/07 3:12am)
Biking sex offender nabbed by police
(08/23/07 3:38am)
A Rural Transit bus driver was arrested Tuesday after he reportedly struck two children with his hand.\nCharles D. Glass, 72, pulled over the Rural Transit bus because the children were being “too loud.” According to the probable cause affidavit, Monroe County Deputy Roger Watkins was dispatched to the bus to see if it had broken down. When Watkins entered the bus, he noted the children were “extremely upset and crying.”\nWatkins was told by 10 witnesses on the bus that the driver slapped two 9-year-old children, one on the face and one on the back.\nGlass admitted to authorities that he struck one victim in the face, but denied striking anyone on the back, according to the affidavit. He said he had to pull the bus over five times to get the children to stay in their seats.\nAnother bus was called to transfer the children from the Rural Transit bus. The children were on their way from school to the Boys & Girls Club . \nAccording to the affidavit, Glass was placed under arrest and interviewed at the Monroe County Sheriff’s office. Glass was booked into the Monroe County Jail after he admitted to striking the child. \nGlass has since been released from jail on bail.\nJewel Echelbarger, executive director of Area 10 Agency on Aging, which runs Rural Transit, said she feels everybody deserves a trial. Rural Transit has not yet reprimanded Glass for his action. Echelbarger said Glass has had an “absolutely perfect record” with Rural Transit and said he has the right to defend himself.\nShe said she was unsure if Glass would still be driving for the bus system. \n“I have known this man for a very long time, and I can only speak very highly (of him),” Echelbarger said. “I have the utmost respect.”
(08/23/07 3:37am)
Two months after two men robbed the Monroe Bank, the Bloomington Police Department issued a warrant for the arrest of suspect Malik Malik in connection to the crime.\nAccording to a June 7 police report June 7, a man later identified as Matthew L. Martin entered the Monroe Bank, located at 4191 W. Third St. in Highland Village, pepper-sprayed a patron and a bank teller before demanding that the teller empty the drawer. The suspect fled the bank with an unspecified amount of money.\nAuthorities said they assumed the suspect was assisted by another male.\nMartin was initially identified when a Monroe County Jail inmate contacted BPD Det. Richard Crussen, saying Martin confessed to him that he had committed the crime, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Crussen. Based on a conversation with an inmate who had spoken to Martin, Malik was the getaway driver for the robbery. The inmate said Martin was upset that Malik had left him at the scene of the crime. \nOn July 2, Martin was interviewed in the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and was advised of the bank robbery investigation Crussen was conducting. Martin told officers he was in Chicago at the time of robbery. \nMartin provided Crussen with his cell phone number. A review of the cell-phone records proved that Martin was in the Monroe County area during the robbery, according to the \naffidavit.\nMartin has been in custody since a June 21 hearing for previous probation violations, BPD Capt. Joe Qualters said. \nCrussen issued a warrant Aug. 10 for Malik for assisting with the robbery, according to the affidavit.\nQualters said he would like to warn those who may be harboring a known fugitive that they can be charged with assisting a criminal.\nMalik has not been located. BPD encourages anybody who has information regarding his whereabouts, they are encouraged to contact BPD at \n339-4477.
(08/23/07 1:38am)
Strokes of bright blue and red watercolors paint the story of Bloomington artist Layla Caplinger’s life. They show her past, her struggles, her journey to artistic freedom. And now, they’ve won her a spot as the featured artist in the Rhythms of the Soul exhibit, now at Bellevue Art Gallery. \nThe exhibit is a loose representation of letting go, freeing spirits and cleansing the soul, said Johnnie Belinda, board member of the Bellevue Art Gallery, housed in the lobby of the Bloomington Playwrights Project.\nFor Caplinger, it was a chance to artistically portray her life after a car accident left her with uncontrollable seizures.\nCaplinger said she painted the portraits as a way of reflecting on how she dealt with her injury. Without art, she said, she never would’ve made it through the last couple of years.\n“I can put my feelings into this art,” she said. “Painting is a whole new world.”\nThe Aug. 17 opening reception brought a group of local artists to discuss Caplinger’s artwork. Despite the emotional background of her portraits, Caplinger welcomed questions throughout the night. Explaining to other artists the experiences that led her to where she is, Caplinger never forgot to mention the importance art played in her recovery.\nBloomington artist Joanne Shank, a gallery member, said she enjoyed viewing Caplinger’s artwork in the gallery. Piecing together Caplinger’s accident, Shank said it was nice to see all of Caplinger’s portraits as a whole.\nThe exhibit will be on display at the gallery, 107 W. Ninth St., until Sept. 28.\nBelinda said the shows usually last for two months and involve different styles of art. The next exhibit, Memoirs, will begin Oct. 5 on The Gallery Walk downtown and feature a different artist. \nCaplinger, who recently became a member of the gallery, is currently in the process of writing a book that focuses on art and visual writing. For her, writing, like her art, is created best when she allows her thoughts to flow without hesitation. She said art is more than a hobby, it’s therapy.\n“It’s just something I have to do, like breathing,” she said. “(It’s) not something I think about, just something I do.”
(08/22/07 4:07am)
The IU student accused of battery and confinement while performing an “exorcism” pleaded not guilty during his initial hearing on Aug. 10.\nEddie Uyesugi, of Paoli, Ind., could face up to nine years in prison and $10,000 in fines if convicted, his attorney Matt Blanton said. Blanton said Uyesugi could be sentenced to probation. \nUyesugi was arrested Aug. 1 after turning himself into authorities, saying he performed an unauthorized “exorcism” on a 14-year-old autistic boy in late May.\nUyesugi, 22, told the boy’s mother that he could cure her son’s autism by performing an “exorcism,” according to a probable cause affidavit. The boy’s mother said she assumed the “exorcism” was authorized by the church.\nDuring the “exorcism,” Uyesugi punched the boy 20 times in the face and stuck his fingers down the boy’s throat in an attempt to “cast out the demons,” according to the affidavit. The “exorcism” lasted 11 hours, leaving the boy’s face bruised and swollen.\nUyesugi told police the “exorcism” was the victim’s mother’s idea, which the mother denied. He told Monroe County Sheriff’s Det. Brad Swain that she had asked him to pray over her son. \nWhen he began praying, the boy became upset and violent. Uyesugi restrained the boy and admitted to striking him “once or twice.” Uyesugi said the boy gagged, but it was not because of his attempt to cast out the boy’s demons, according to the affidavit. \nUyesugi was a pastor-in-training at Cherry Hill Church Ministries, located at 417 E. 16th St. On Aug. 1, the church issued a press release denouncing Uyesugi for his behavior and the harm it caused the boy. \nUyesugi was asked to cancel his membership in the church. His pre-trial conference is scheduled for late September.
(08/22/07 4:06am)
A Bloomington man was arrested early Sunday after two women told police officers that he groped them.\nTrevor L. Richardson, 21, faces preliminary charges of sexual battery, Bloomington Police Department Det. Sgt. Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report.\nThe victims told officers they were walking on Eighth Street and Indiana Avenue when they were inappropriately touched by the man. The two women called the police and described the suspect to officers. An officer in the area located a suspect that matched the description at Eighth and Lincoln streets, Canada said. \nThe suspect said he accidentally bumped into the two women and said he may have touched one of them. The victims confirmed to officers that the suspect in custody was the man who grabbed them, Canada said.\nRichardson was taken to the Monroe County Jail. \nBeating with blunt object lands local man in hospital\nA Bloomington resident was arrested Monday morning after he allegedly struck a man several times in the head.\nMichael Jones , 46, was found in an alley between Fifth and Sixth streets after fleeing from a fight that started in front of the Shalom Community Center, located at 219 E. 4th St. , Canada said.\nBPD Sgt. Scott Oldham found the victim of the assault unconscious when he arrived at the scene. After BPD Det. Robert Shrake arrived, the victim was conscious but vomiting, Canada said. Because of the injuries the victim sustained, officers said they suspected a weapon was used.\nThe victim told officers that he could not remember anything about the fight.\nWhen officers located Jones, he told them he hit the victim three times but denied using a weapon. Witnesses told officers that Jones struck the victim in the head with an object resembling a bat or an axe handle, Canada said.\nThe victim was taken to the Bloomington Hospital for \ninjuries.\nJones was transported to the Monroe County Jail and is being held on a $5,000 bond.\nLawrence County man faces drug, fraud charges\nA Bedford man was arrested Monday afternoon after trying to obtain prescription pain killers from the Bloomington Hospital.\nNathan Baker, 25, was arrested on multiple charges after he gave a fake name in an attempt to get prescription drugs for his alleged back pain, BPD Sgt. Jeff Canada said. \nAccording to police reports, Baker went to Bloomington Hospital and requested pain killers. He told hospital employees that his name was Randy Baker but accidentally signed his real name on the paperwork.\nWhen BPD Officer John Colemen arrived, he reviewed the hospital security tape and ran the license plates from Baker’s car.\nAfter Coleman ran the plates and learned the car was stolen, Baker told him a girl had dropped him off at the hospital and he didn’t know the car was stolen.\nBaker was arrested for possession of stolen property, attempting to obtain a prescription drug by fraud and for an outstanding warrant from Martin County for resisting law enforcement. He had allegedly also attempted to obtain painkillers from an unspecified Bedford hospital in the past, Canada said.
(08/22/07 3:38am)
Pamela Keech hasn’t moved from New York yet and she already has goals for Bloomington’s art community.\nAfter a nationwide search, the Bloomington Area Arts Council announced in a press release that Keech will take the helm of executive director beginning Sept. 4.\nKeech replaces Miah Michaelsen, who left in July to take a job with the City of Bloomington as assistant director of economic development for the arts. Ed Vande Sande, BAAC development and marketing director served as interim executive director throughout the summer and will continue until Keech begins in September.\n“Pamela Keech has every skill that we need at this point, not only for the arts council but for the arts community and arts economy,” Vande Sande said.\nKeech has been the curator of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in Manhattan for the last 15 years. She is also the President Emerita of the Society of Fellows at the American Academy in Rome.\nKeech said she feels those two positions will help influence her plans for Bloomington. \n“I think what we want to do is to organize everything,” she said. “There’s so much going on – it’s overwhelming I think.”\nShe said she wants to bring new ideas to Bloomington as well as new ways of doing them. She added that her ultimate goal is to bring a little bit of art to everyone in the five-county area.\nKeech said one of her first goals is to get the arts in Bloomington under better financial footing. Once she feels out the community she will then implement plans to make the arts more accessible \nto residents.\nAccording to a BAAC press release, the BAAC Board President Gerald Sousa said Keech is passionate about the role of the arts in local communities.\n“She has demonstrated success in building non-profit organizations by fostering collaboration, garnering support and inspiring others with her vision,” Sousa said in the release.\nVande Sande said Keech has the training, experience and passion that the BAAC needs to lead the arts community. He said because she is an artist she understands what the community needs at a very fundamental level. \nHe said he suspects people might be concerned about Keech’s appointment. He said he feels she’ll combine some of her Midwest sensibility with the flair she attained from the east coast.\n“She’s going to blow some people away,” Vande Sande said.\nKeech said she is currently in the process of moving to Bloomington and said she couldn’t be more excited to start her new job.\n“I think Bloomington is poised to become a major arts force in the Midwest and I’m looking forward to becoming a part of that,” Keech said.\nKeech will be speaking at the BAAC annual meeting at 5 p.m. Sept. 11 in the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium.The meeting will cover plans for the upcoming year and the new Board of Trustees will be elected, according to the BAAC Web site. It will be free and open to the public.
(08/06/07 4:00am)
Sara Amato
(08/06/07 12:55am)
Police are warning students and Bloomington residents that burglaries could be on the rise as students return to campus. Both the Bloomington and IU police departments stress that taking simple preventative measures, such as locking doors and being aware of suspicious activity, can easily deter theft. \nA residential home on the 600 block of East Maxwell Lane was burglarized early in the morning July 30. The owner of the residence came home to find his basement door pried open, Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said, reading from a police report. Two bottles of vodka, kitchen utensils and personal papers were missing. \nQualters said residents in the 100 to 600 blocks of First Street, Second Street, Maxwell Lane and University Street should be aware of burglaries in the area. He said there have been a string of recent burglaries in which families have come home to find missing DVDs, cologne and change. \nQualters said given the time of the year, when people are moving in and out of their rented houses and apartments for the upcoming semester, break-ins are more likely to occur. He said burglars will likely be looking for doors to pry open at the back of residences. \n“People should make sure they secure their residences as well as look for suspicious behavior and individuals,” Qualters said. \nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said the police department usually deals with larcenies and burglaries in the dormitories or public IU buildings. Minger said IUPD gets one or two robberies, in which possessions are actually taken, during the school year. In 2006, they had 69 burglaries, which are forced entries. He said larceny is probably the largest criminal problem on college campuses.\nMinger said students will leave their books, clothing, bookbags and other small items around, and people see this as a prime opportunity to steal them. \nMinger said people should be less worried about theft during move-in, when more people are around and campus is congested.\n“It does come down to being aware of your surroundings and being responsible for your property,” Minger said.\nMinger added that if anyone has anything taken, they should call IUPD.
(08/06/07 12:53am)
IU student Edward Uyesugi II, of Paoli, Ind., the man who performed an unauthorized exorcism on a 14-year-old autistic boy in May, will have his initial hearing Friday, Aug. 10. \nUyesugi, 22, was arrested Aug. 1 after turning himself in to authorities, police said. Uyesugi was charged with battery and confinement after he reportedly punched the boy approximately 20 times in his face and stuck his fingers down the boy’s throat, causing him to vomit.\nThe exorcism was denounced by Cherry Hill Church Ministries, the church where Uyesugi was a pastor-in-training. Uyesugi was asked to resign his membership in the church. \nUyesugi’s bond was set at $5,000 surety plus $500 cash. Monroe County Jail staff said Uyesugi was booked at 12:30 p.m., Aug. 1, and released at 1:48 p.m. the same day.\nMatt Blanton, Uyesugi’s attorney, said he will plead not guilty to the charges.\nBlanton said Uyesugi is still an IU student and is expected to graduate in December.\nBloomington is not the only city that has been in the news recently for a controversial exorcism.\nPhoenix police officer Sgt. Joel Tranter said he received a phone call July 28 about a possible exorcism in a residential home. When officers arrived on the scene, they heard a 3-year-old girl crying in a bedroom of the house. The door to the room was barricaded by a bed, Tranter said.\nAfter officers pried the door open, they witnessed Ronald Marquez, 49, choking the girl on a bed. The girl’s 19-year-old mother was standing alongside the bed chanting, naked and covered in blood, Tranter said.\nOfficers had to use a stun gun to force Marquez, the girl’s \ngrandfather, off of her. Marquez had to be stunned two additional times before officers were able to take him into custody. Shortly after being taken in, Marquez stopped breathing and died later that night at the hospital. \nTranter said the family believed there were demons inside the home. He said the family was “very religious” and superstitious.\nThe girl was taken to a children’s hospital and then transported to Child Protective Services. The girl’s mother was taken to the hospital for facial injuries, Tranter said.\nPolice are still investigating the matter, and no arrests have been made.\nCandy Brown, an IU associate professor in the department of religious studies, said the idea of exorcism stems from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament and as way to cast out demons from the sick or insane. She said the technical term is “deliverance.”\nBrown said a true exorcism is never violent. One must love the possessed person and figure out how the demon entered them in the first place, she said. \nShe said the instances in Bloomington and Phoenix are atypical of authorized exorcism.\nBrown said true exorcisms consist of prayer, oil and maybe a single hand on the possessed person’s head or shoulder, but nothing forceful. However, she said some exorcisms stray from such procedures. \n“(People) do all sorts of things out of the name of religion,” Brown said.
(08/05/07 11:52pm)
For more than 30 years, the Fourth Street Festival of Arts and Crafts has been a Bloomington tradition.\nThe John Waldron Arts Center kicked off the festival Friday, Aug. 3, with an open reception that previewed local artists’ work.\nApproximately 100 artists gathered at the Rosemary P. Miller and Flashlight galleries in the center to celebrate one thing: local art. \nBloomington artists created the Fourth Street Festival in 1976, and it has since grown to include artists from all over the country, according to the event Web site.\nEd Vande Sande, interim executive director of the Bloomington Area Arts Council, said the works of nine Bloomington artists are on display in the center, and approximately 55 to 60 more are being displayed throughout the neighborhood.\n“It’s such an eclectic sample of everything in the neighborhood,” he said.\nThe purpose of the event was to provide a social atmosphere where artists and patrons \ncould mingle.\nJohnnie Belinda, Bloomington artist and board member of the Bellevue Art Gallery, 107 W. Ninth St., said she has been an artist her entire life but has only become serious about it in the last seven years.\nBelinda said she feels the BAAC helps the arts community because of all the classes and workshops it has to offer.\n“I think everybody is creative,” she said. “They just have to come out of their box.”\nBelinda describes her work as experimental and said a lot of it comes from her psyche and meditation. She said she writes down what she sees so she can paint it later, and she has recently been painting nude body forms and \npet portraits.\nShe said the one thing she loves most about being an artist is being able to create what’s on her mind.\nBloomington artist Carol Miller said most of her work is abstract or expressionist, but she doesn’t like to give her work a title.\n“(I love) painting experiences with color,” she said.\nMiller explained that she lived in California earlier in her life and, while there, she noticed art that was on trash cans, buses and buildings. She said that even though there is a lot of art in Bloomington, the city needs more public art.\nMiller was showing two pieces of artwork in the Flashlight Gallery.\nVande Sande said Bloomington’s art economy is very small, totaling approximately $45 million.\n“We’re not even at half our potential,” he said, “and the city recognizes that ... to try and help those things \n(move) forward.”\nHe explained that the arts community needs to focus on cultural tourism because, to him, some of the best artwork happens through collaboration. \nVande Sande said he hopes to increase the arts economy in Bloomington. He is confident it will happen, especially with Miah Michaelsen, former executive director of the BAAC, now working as the director of economic development for the arts with the City of Bloomington.\nAlthough the doors to the reception closed at 7 p.m., the rest of the Fourth Street Festival will be held Sept. 1 and Sept. 2 at Fourth and Grant Streets and is open to the public.