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(04/05/07 4:00am)
Sometimes it's difficult to figure out where to look if you're interested in exploring new musical styles. Maybe you'd like a glimpse into something that's full of turntable tricks, samples and great production that pays its respects to the relaxed sounds of France. Well, dear reader, Wax Tailor is for you. Aside from having one of the best pseudonyms imaginable, Wax Tailor (JC Le Saoût) has pieced together a series of slick albums, EPs and singles after breaking away from the French rap group La Formule.\nOn Hope & Sorrow there exists a fearless flow and abundance of great beats that are likely to entice hungry hip-hop fans or anyone who has an appreciation for interesting music in general. Wax Tailor creates intricate musical pieces comprising obscure audio clips, guest vocalists, scratching and downright funky drums. Whereas Wax Tailor's previous album, Tales of the Forgotten Melodies, was an interesting exercise in stretching samples as far as they could go, Hope & Sorrow is an example of when an already appealing artist breaks through and creates something that is undeniably great. \nThe songs on the album have much more focus than Wax Tailor's previous efforts. Development of the tunes is critical, as Tailor doesn't give everything away immediately. Instead, he allows the songs to become familiar and draws the listener into a foot-tapping or head-nodding frenzy while new elements are injected subtly and precisely to complement the mood being evoked. Wax Tailor also manages to make the songs more accessible to the average ear with this effort.\nSharon Jones, Voice, Charlotte Savary, ASM & Marina Quaisse and Ursula Rucker all contribute their unique vocal timbres to the album with outstanding results. Though each of the vocalists provides the album with something special, the wonderful Sharon Jones shines the brightest in "The Way We Lived." The track not only contains some soulful vocals from Jones, but it sounds almost like the soundtrack to a carnival played in slow-motion on a broken Victrola with a soggy drum set providing the beat.\nMost of the album contains a dark vibe that contrasts well with lively percussion, smooth vocals and various other well-placed accents. The album's title, Hope & Sorrow, is certainly fitting based on the morose accompaniments highlighted by the bright vocals and other embellishments. However, Hope & Sorrow doesn't leave you feeling anything except satisfied.
(04/05/07 4:00am)
Well, if anyone was wondering if Good Charlotte still sucks, take one guess. \nKarma's a bitch, because we're still forced to be subjected to this trash disguised as legitimate music. This is their fourth release in their 11-year existence and it seems like an eternity of headaches.\nFrom the get-go, we find the boys trading in pseudo-punk-rock guitars for dance beats that seemed to have been vomited out by a sleazy executive who works at Epic. Well, the pop-punk thing didn't work, so let's try something even worse. The new sound doesn't help their cause. It's the same old manufactured defecation.\nIt seems a little ironic when Joel Madden sings about plastic, shallow and empty people on "Misery." And if things couldn't get worse, the single off Good Morning Revival, titled "The River" (where I'll drown to stay away from listening to this), features none other than the pussified lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold, M. Shadows. Please don't make me listen to City Of Evil again.\n"Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" sounds like The Faint, if they sucked. Madden's voice sounds like a guy who got kicked in the nuts and they overdubbed it to sound natural. \nThere's very little variety in these 13 tracks. Every song sounds like the anthem to Hot Topic and Target. And with lyrics like, "Take a look at my life, all black. Take a look at my clothes, all black," you'd think you were listening to something a gothic, DDR-playing teenage outcast would write in her diary. But these guys are damn near 30!\nThis is the worst thing I've heard so far this year. I'd recommend it to 12-year-olds who want to get made fun of and people who can't think for themselves. Even the most masochistic of people will find themselves bashing their heads against the wall until they're out like a light bulb.
(04/05/07 4:00am)
If there's one Bloomington tradition that I've grown to enjoy as much as any, it might have to be Live from Bloomington's yearly compilation album and Club Night. Each year, songs from the best artists that Bloomington's music scene has to offer are compiled on an album and they perform at events that benefit the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. This year a staggering 19 tracks fill this CD to the brim and provide a way for fans of Bloomington music to flex their charitable muscles while purchasing a quality compilation.\nThe compilation contains a wide variety of musical styles to choose from. If you're looking for hip-hop, 2 Mics and a Kit and Butterfly Toungz have you covered. In the mood for jazz? (X)-tet's smooth "A New Place" is for you. Perhaps you're in the mood to dance to a song about cheerleaders. Yes, Totally Michael made the cut this year as well.\nThe diversity of the compilation is its biggest selling point. Part of what I love about Bloomington is the volume of great music that exists in our area. The compilation captures the variety and personality contained within the Bloomington scene perfectly. \nHowever, listeners may notice that the compilation tips a bit in the favor of rock music. Whether it's the driving "Telephone Thought Support" by Trio in Stereo, the frantic saxophone and keyboard frenzy provided by Prizzy Prizzy Please, or Husband & Wife's subdued "Down with Political Monkey Business" to close the compilation, there is no arguing the representation of rock music on the compilation -- though this is not a shortcoming, as all of the bands are interesting and Bloomington seems to cater more to the rock crowd anyway. The volume of rock music just makes the doses of other styles all the more refreshing when they appear on the compilation.\nThe CD is retailing at various locations in town for $5 and the money goes toward a good cause. If you're new to Bloomington's music scene or are interested in hearing some of the B-hive's best, this is a great purchase. Live from Bloomington 2007 helps continue the long-standing tradition of bringing together philanthropy and music in our town.
(04/04/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – A proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage failed to pass a key House committee Tuesday, and some lawmakers said the proposal is dead for this year.\nThe House Rules Committee voted 5-5 on a resolution supporting the amendment, with five Democrats voting against it and four Republicans and one Democrat voting for it. Since there was not a majority of votes for the resolution, the measure failed to pass.\nCommittee Chairman Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, said the emotional issue is over for this legislative session.\n“I consider the matter dispensed with,” Pelath said. “We took a vote and the matter is dispensed with.”\nResolution sponsor Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, agreed that the proposal appeared dead.\n“I think the voters of the state of Indiana should have a right to express their views on the issue,” Hershman said, “but I have never criticized anyone for their stance either for or against this, and I’m not going to start now.”\nHowever, the issue could come up again next year.\nAmending Indiana’s constitution requires a resolution to pass consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then be approved in a statewide vote. The Legislature passed the proposal in 2005, so if it is approved either this year or in 2008, it could appear on the November 2008 ballot.\nSeveral lawmakers who voted against the proposal worried about the second section of the amendment, which states that says state law “may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.”\nSome Indiana companies and university employees have lobbied lawmakers, saying that part of the amendment could stop domestic partner benefits. \nPelath said the state should not change the constitution without knowing all the consequences of the amendment.\n“Once the constitution’s amended, you don’t get a second shot,” he said.\nBut supporters of the constitutional amendment say the proposal would simply stop courts from forcing the government to provide same-sex benefits. They say it does not prohibit the government, public employers or anyone else from voluntarily offering such benefits, and that domestic violence statutes would not be affected.\nRep. Eric Turner, R-Marion, said concerns over domestic violence laws and domestic partner benefits are unfounded. He said that argument was an effort by opponents to delay the implementation of the proposed amendment.\n“I don’t buy the argument,” he said.\nLawmakers have been heavily lobbied on the issue by supporters and opponents. They have heard from gay rights organizations and conservative family associations. They have been bombarded with e-mails and phone calls. They have seen hundreds come to Statehouse rallies – more than 1,000 people supporting the amendment last week and more than 200 opposing the amendment in February.
(04/04/07 4:00am)
TIPTON, Ind. – A 9-year-old boy escaped serious injury despite being submerged in a gravel bin Monday for nearly an hour at a plant that makes concrete.\nJustin Harshman of Tipton, Ind., was sore but had no broken bones and was recovering at home Tuesday, Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said in a news release.\nJustin and two of his friends were playing near the stone hopper Monday afternoon. Justin either fell or climbed into the 20-inch opening of the hopper and became trapped in the coarse stone, which is stored in the bin, Tipton police said.\nFriend Andrew Smith, 12, jumped in after him, while Andrew’s brother, Dakota, 10, went to find help, the boys said. When Dakota couldn’t find anyone, the boys traded places and Andrew located Irving Materials Inc. manager Butch May.\nEmployees heard the boys’ screams and shut the conveyor off, police said.\nOnly Justin’s hand was visible, said May, who tried to remove gravel from the boy’s face so he could breathe.\n“The more I threw out the more came back in. ... The longer he was in there, the further down he went,” May said. “I didn’t know what to do.”\nRescuers from several departments used buckets to remove the gravel, which gravity causes to be funneled onto the conveyor that feeds stones and sand into the plant to make concrete.\nAs the stones, which are a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch in diameter, were funneling out of the bottom, they pulled the boy along with them, May said.\nCrews went underneath the bin to stabilize the flow of gravel and hold up Justin, who was able to breathe and talk, said Tipton Fire Chief Jeff Ogden. \n“We had communication with the kid the moment we rolled up,” Ogden said. “He was covered up but in the position to talk.”\nRescuers continued to remove the stones with buckets until a sewer vacuum was brought in to suck out enough gravel to allow crews to pull him out about 50 minutes after they arrived, Ogden said.\nMay said he didn’t realize the boys were on the property, 35 miles north of Indianapolis.\nHe tells children to stay out, even putting “Keep Out” signs up, which are taken down by kids or others, he said.\nBillie and Donnie Smith said they are proud of their sons’ actions.\n“They weren’t supposed to be over there, but when Justin fell into the bin, they did the right thing and got help immediately,” Billie Smith said. “It scares me to think about what could have happened.”
(04/03/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Design plans for Indiana’s new license plates would center on a state flag theme and drop the decades-old numbering system that identifies the car’s home county.\nThe public can begin voting Tuesday for its pick among four designs for the new standard license plate that would be given out to motorists next year. The new plates will replace those issued in 2003 that are green-blue pastel with a farm landscape.\nAll four designs offered by the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles center around the state’s flag. They include two with close-ups on portions of the flag and another with state seal to one side and a state flag image in the background.\nBMV Commissioner Ronald Stiver said Monday the four finalists were picked from more than 40 proposals submitted by schools, design agencies and state departments.\nVoting on the new designs will be conducted on the BMV’s Web site and at license branches through April 18. More than 150,000 votes were cast in 2002 to select the current plate design.\nThe BMV plans to have stickers with county names across the plate’s top, replacing the one- or two-digit code identifying the county where the vehicle was registered. The new plates would have a mix of letters and numbers.\nThe Indiana House, however, approved a bill last week containing a provision that would require the BMV to keep the county codes on the plates.\nTruck plates and the more than 60 specialty tags offered by the BMV, however, do not include any county identification.
(04/03/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS - A man who police said hogtied and fatally beat his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son for sucking his thumb is being held on a charge of murder.\nChristopher Montgomery was arrested Saturday, a day after the death of Elijah Simpson. The child’s mother, Courtney Simpson, who initially told police the boy’s 5-year-old brother had tied him with a shoelace, was arrested on a charge of neglect of a dependent.\nMontgomery and Simpson were arrested after an autopsy showed 4-year-old Elijah Simpson died from a fractured skull. Both were being held Saturday night in the Marion County Jail.\nThe boy was already dead when his mother took him to an Indianapolis hospital Friday, police said. Doctors contacted police after finding marks on Elijahs wrists and ankles that indicated he had been restrained.\nFollowing the autopsy, Simpson told police Montgomery had injured the boy earlier Friday while disciplining him for sucking his thumb. She said Montgomery struck the child in the head and then used a drawstring from a hooded sweat shirt to restrain him.\nChild Protective Services took the other boy into protective custody.
(04/02/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana lost more jobs in February than any other state except Ohio as its struggling manufacturing sector helped fuel the loss of 7,400 non-farm-related paychecks.\nFigures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that only Ohio lost more jobs, about 9,700, in February. New Jersey was third with about 6,200 job losses.\nIndiana was one of only three states to report a decline in employment for the past year, shedding about 12,700 jobs. Most of those losses came from the state’s struggling manufacturing and construction sectors.\nDespite a wave of announcements about companies moving to and expanding in the state, Indiana’s manufacturing-heavy economy continues to hemorrhage jobs, said Philip Powell, faculty chairman of the evening MBA program at IU’s Kelley School of Business.\n \n“Our economy is a dinosaur. It’s based on manufacturing, and a lot of Hoosiers refuse to recognize the fact that we have to modernize,” he said.\nPowell predicts that Indiana will continue to lose jobs. Like Ohio, he said Indiana is in a tough position because it still relies on the U.S. auto industry for jobs.\nHowever, he said it’s better to have Toyota and Honda, which Indiana is getting, than a dying General Motors and Ford.\nDemocrats were quick to hold up the figures as evidence that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels’ economic revitalization plan isn’t working.\n“Every month, it seems like these numbers paint a more desperate picture,” Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker said in a statement.\nBut Nathan Feltman, chief executive officer of Indiana Economic Development Corp., \nsaid it’s not that simple. He said month-to-month statistics do not give an accurate picture of employment in the state because that window of time is too short.\nIn addition, the statistics from February and even January don’t take into account all the jobs that companies such as Honda, Cummins and Rolls-Royce have promised to bring to Indiana, Feltman said. Together, 37,000 jobs are on the way from deals made in 2005 and 2006.\n“It takes two to three years before we see all these hires, and these Hoosiers go to work in all these great new facilities that we are landing,” Feltman said.\nBill Witte, co-director of the Center for Econometric Model Research at IU, calls the latest labor report “discouraging.”\nIn terms of employment, Indiana’s economy has been trailing the nation’s for months, and Witte said he doubts that will change anytime soon.\nWitte said Indiana’s work force is aging, and younger workers aren’t moving to the state or remaining here to pick up the slack. Indiana also isn’t adding jobs in the service sector as quickly as other states and it remains too reliant on manufacturing.\nHe said he’s been encouraged by Daniels’ efforts to shake up the economy but discouraged to see many of those efforts get shot down. He cited the Indiana Commerce Connector toll road – a proposal the governor abandoned after considerable public opposition.\n“Indiana is a state that likes to do things the way they’ve always been done,” Witte said. “Pursuing the status quo is not going to change the trends.”
(03/29/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – A motorist who police say fell asleep at the wheel struck two Somali siblings who had been in the U.S. a week, killing one of them.\nShukri Mohamed Ibrahim, 9, was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday. Her brother, Hassan Mohamed Ibrahim, 14, was in critical condition Wednesday at Methodist Hospital.\nThe boy was riding a bicycle and his sister was on foot behind him along a city street, police said.\nThe children’s family – a father, mother and five children – had moved to Indianapolis last week. They came through a refugee program called the Exodus Project that relocates people out of Somalia, which has been wracked by nearly two decades of civil strife, and other areas around the world.\n“The mother was wailing in the street,” said Lori Wells, who stopped at the accident scene.\nIndianapolis Metropolitan Police said Margaret Graves, 42, apparently fell asleep before her car crossed two lanes of traffic, striking the children.\nLt. Douglas Scheffel said investigators do not anticipate that Graves, who was driving with her two children, will be charged because there were no signs of criminal intent. A spokesman for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said his office had not received the police report.\nScheffel said the children’s parents heard the sound of the crash from their nearby home and ran outside to find their children and the smashed pink bike, which was thrown by the impact into the grass outside a school playground.\nThe family had been living for a week in a house owned by First Meridian Heights Presbyterian Church, said the Rev. Curtis Page. The church of about 400 members makes houses available to families in the Exodus Project for six months at a time until adults get jobs and children are enrolled in school, he said.\nMark Cassini, executive director of the Exodus Project, said the family had just arrived from Kenya, where they had been in a refugee camp for 14 years.\nThe project, supported by community groups, universities and churches, has been active since 1980. The group brings about 200 to 250 people a year from across the world to central Indiana, he said. He said about 100 Somali families live in Indianapolis.
(03/28/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – More than 1,000 people packed the Statehouse on Tuesday to support a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. Advance America founder Eric Miller urged lawmakers to repeal property taxes and support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.\n“It’s not a Republican or Democrat issue,” he said. “It’s right versus wrong.”\nAmending Indiana’s constitution requires a resolution to pass consecutive, separately elected General Assemblies and then be approved in a statewide vote. The Legislature passed the proposal in 2005, so if it is approved this year or in 2008, it could appear on the November 2008 ballot.\nRepublican Rep. Jackie Walorski urged House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, to allow a vote on the resolution so the decision will be left up to voters.\n“Mr. Speaker, we want to vote on this issue,” the Lakeville, Ind. lawmaker told the crowd.\nThe House Rules Committee has heard from both supporters and opponents about the proposed resolution but has not taken a vote. Committee Chairman Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, said Tuesday that he has not scheduled a meeting to vote on the matter.\nAmong the committee’s options are voting on the amendment without changes, or voting first to remove a provision that critics say could have unintended consequences. Proponents have said that if any of the language is changed, it would restart the lengthy amendment process. Pelath has said it may be possible to remove a part of the proposed amendment and still have another part continue on course, but said the question needed more analysis.\nThe proposed amendment has two sections. The first section states that marriage in Indiana is the union of one man and one woman. The second includes a phrase that says state law “may not be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents of marriage be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.”\nSome opponents say the second provision is vague and could be used to nullify domestic violence laws that apply to married and unmarried couples. They also fear it could eliminate domestic partner benefits offered by some companies, universities and other employers.\nSupporters of the amendment say the second provision simply means courts cannot force the government to provide same-sex benefits. They say it does not prohibit the government, public employers or anyone else from voluntarily offering such benefits.\nResolution sponsor Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Monticello, told those at the rally that opponents have tried to obfuscate the proposed amendment by saying the second part is vague or hard to understand.\n“They’re wrong,” Hershman said.
(03/28/07 4:00am)
FORT WAYNE – A Florida man who said he did not pay more than $200,000 in child support because he doesn’t live in Indiana and because of his religious beliefs has been sentenced to two years in prison.\nJames S. Andrews, 53, also was ordered Monday to pay $218,028 in back child support and to serve a year of probation.\nAndrews, who has been living in Lantana, Fla., the past two years, pleaded guilty in November as part of a deal with prosecutors, who agreed to recommend a prison sentence near the low end of the guidelines because of Andrews’ cooperation. As part of the agreement, Andrews agreed to pay the amount of child support owed by the time he was sentenced.\nAndrews, who is Catholic, wrote in a letter that although the court determined him to be divorced, his “religious and belief system says I’m married.” Andrews had since remarried after seeking an annulment of his previous marriage, according to court documents.\nAndrews was married to a Fort Wayne woman for 17 years and has six children with her.\nHe was court-ordered to pay about $500 a week in child support beginning in June 1999 when the couple separated. The only money his ex-wife had received was a check for $35, an intercepted tax return and one garnishing of his wages, according to prosecutors.\nAndrews was indicted by a federal grand jury in July. He had been working as a full-time substitute teacher in West Palm Beach, Fla.
(03/28/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Some Indiana Senate Republicans said Monday they want to crack down on illegal video gambling machines statewide by stepping up enforcement and enacting stricter penalties.\nSen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said they want to amend a charity gaming bill to include new provisions against the machines, sometimes called “Cherry Masters.”\nTheir proposal would set aside money to hire 25 more state excise enforcement officers to investigate illegal gambling. It would also increase penalties to include the possible revocation of licenses for selling tobacco, alcohol or lottery products.\n“This is a different approach,” Long said. “It’s worth talking about.”\nCherry Masters look like slot machines but are unfair to players, said James Maida, president of Gaming Laboratories International, a New Jersey company that tests gambling devices for many states. Maida told the Senate Rules Committee that the machines can be programmed to pay far less than a typical slot machine and give players a disadvantage.\n“It’s worse than chance because it’s not even random,” he said.\nIndiana State Excise Police Superintendent Alex Huskey said the provision tying the machines to tobacco and lottery sales could be a benefit, especially when trying to get the machines out of places like truck stops.\n“That would certainly help us,” he said.\nThe committee, chaired by Long, discussed the provisions Monday but did not vote on them. Long said the committee could meet again later this week or next week to decide whether to move forward with the proposal.\nSeveral bar owners and the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association support legalizing electronic gaming machines at bars and taverns, and some lawmakers support efforts to regulate and tax the machines instead of cracking down on them.\nLong and Merritt’s proposal could be inserted into a charity gambling bill that would make several changes for nonprofit organizations. The bill would create an annual charity game night license so that organizations could hold up to three gaming events per week with some restrictions. The bill would also allow nonprofit organizations to sell pull tabs and some other gambling devices year round.\nMeanwhile, the Senate on Monday approved several amendments to a bill that would allow slot machines at Indiana’s two horse-racing tracks. That bill would allow each track to pay a $400 million licensing fee to install up to 1,500 slot machines.\nThe $800 million raised by the fees would have been put into various funds, including an Indiana Life Sciences Fund to promote university research. But one of the changes the Senate approved Monday would instead funnel the money to the state’s general fund, where lawmakers would allocate the money through the typical budgeting process.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
PORTLAND, Ind. – A judge approved money for an expert to aid the defense of a truck driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel and causing a collision that killed four Taylor University students and a university employee.\nTrucker Robert F. Spencer’s attorney will have $4,350 to hire a crash analyst to study the circumstances surrounding the April 2006 collision, which happened when Spencer’s semitrailer crossed the Interstate 69 median and struck a university van.\nDefense attorney Joe Keith Lewis argued during a hearing Friday in Jay Circuit Court that the review was necessary.\n“We need to reinvestigate this accident,” Lewis said. “The investigation is key to good criminal defense.”\nSpencer, of Canton Township, Mich., near Detroit, was charged in September with five counts of reckless homicide and four counts of criminal recklessness. Authorities say he had driven at least nine hours more than allowed under federal rules and had fallen asleep behind the wheel.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
AUSTIN, Ind. – A homeowner pulled two people from the wreckage of a small plane after it crashed into his southern Indiana home Sunday, police said.\nMoments after Don Satterwhite pulled Danny Burns and Barbara Burns from the wreckage of the plane Sunday afternoon, it burst into flames, Indiana State Police said.\nThe Burnses were taken to University Hospital in Louisville, Ky., where Danny Burns was in serious but stable condition and Barbara Burns was in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said Monday morning.\nThe Burnses’ Cessna 150M was taking off from a private airstrip in the Scott County community of Austin, Ind., about 35 miles north of Louisville, a little before 5:30 p.m. Sunday, police said.\nWitnesses said the plane had trouble gaining altitude. The plane clipped the top of some trees, then crashed in the yard of the home, police said.\nOne of the plane’s wings hit a porch post on the house, damaging it, the roof and siding, said Scott County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Guarneri.\nGuarneri said the house was not damaged by the fire.\nThe Federal Aviation Administration was scheduled to arrive at the site Monday morning to continue the investigation, Guarneri said.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
OGDEN DUNES, Ind. - An archaeological team is trying to determine if a Lake Michigan shipwreck might have had ties to the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from the South during the 1800s.\nA member of the Briggs Project Team said the group has begun analyzing the shipwreck off Ogden Dunes beach and has combed through historical records in LaPorte and Porter counties for information about the role the area played in providing fugitive slaves with an exit route to freedom in Canada.\n“There’s a good possibility you have a big piece of history here in your backyard,” Roger Barski told guests of the Ogden Dunes Historical Society during a presentation on the team’s research Sunday.\nThe team began studying the ship, designated the Alpha Wreck, in summer 2005.
(03/26/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mitch Daniels withdrew virtually all of his highway bypass toll-road proposals Saturday, telling legislative leaders they had proven too unpopular with the public.\nDaniels, however, asked lawmakers to still consider an approximately 10-mile section of the proposed Illiana Expressway in northwest Indiana, between Interstate 65 and the Illinois state line.\n“It is clear to me that we are far from the degree of consensus that is necessary before the embarking on major public works projects of high local impact,” he said in letters to House Transportation Committee Chairwoman Terri Austin, D-Anderson, and Sen. Thomas Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.\nThe unusual Saturday announcement from the governor’s office signaled he was conceding defeat on his two toll-road proposals in the face of opposition that he initially had acknowledged March 15. A series of public meetings since then on the proposed 75-mile Indiana Commerce Connector around part of Indianapolis showed the opposition remained as strong as ever.\n“The overwhelming sentiment was opposition to this proposal or a complete and thorough study,” Austin said Saturday. “Additional information was needed before it moved forward.”\nEven the portion of the Illiana Expressway that Daniels still wants considered might be relegated to a legislative study committee, she said.\nAustin said the governor’s retreat on the toll-road proposals gives lawmakers “an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at mass transit in Indiana,” such as commuter trains. She is sponsoring a bill that would require the Indiana Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of mass transit in six different regions of the state.\nThe GOP-led Indiana Senate had approved a bill to give Daniels the authority to seek private funding to build the toll-roadway projects, but the legislation faced a rocky road to passage in the Democratically controlled House of Representatives.\nAt a House hearing on mass transit that Austin helped organize last week, some lawmakers said privately that the meeting was only intended to divert attention away from Daniels’ toll-road proposals.\nTwo state representatives from northwest Indiana said earlier this month that residents of that area opposed the Illiana Expressway, which would stretch 50 miles from the Illinois state line to Interstate 94 in Porter County. A legislative forum sponsored by Citizens Against the Privatized Illiana Toll Road drew a crowd of about 1,000 people.\n“The people of the affected areas have spoken clearly enough to persuade me that these ideas are, at best, premature,” Daniels said in his letters Saturday.\n“By contrast, an Illiana bypass from I-65 west seems to be broadly supported and can, I hope, be given the chance to move forward,” the letters said.\nThe Associated Press left telephone messages Saturday seeking comment from Wyss and the House Democratic leadership.\nWhen Daniels announced the Commerce Connector proposal in November, he said the state could collect about $1 billion by allowing a private entity to pay to build and operate it as a toll road looping east and south of Indianapolis. That money could help the state pay for the I-69 extension from Indianapolis to Evansville, he said at the time.\nDaniels’ press secretary, Jane Jankowski, said Saturday’s announcement will not affect the I-69 project, construction of which is due to begin in fall 2008.\nThe state has $700 million in the bank from the Indiana Toll Road lease to pay for its share of I-69 construction from Evansville to the Crane area west of Bedford, she said, adding the Daniels administration will have to find new ways to come up with additional funding.
(03/23/07 4:00am)
A man who threatened to kill two people with a rifle was arrested early Wednesday morning.\nJames C. Sandifer, 34, was arrested after Bloomington police were called to the 2400 block of Brittany Lane, said BPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada, reading from the police report. \nPolice were called to the scene after a man and a woman told police Sandifer had pointed a rifle at them. The complainants said they were there visiting a friend when Sandifer came out of an apartment and yelled to them about a dog, Canada said. The argument was part of an ongoing dispute over the dog, Canada said. \nAccording to the complainants, Sandifer then allegedly raised an “assault-style rifle” and said he was going to kill them, Canada said. Officers located the owner of the apartment, who identified that Sandifer was staying there. Sandifer did not admit to pointing the rifle. He was arrested on charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm, possession of marijuana and being a felon in possession of a firearm due to past criminal history, Canada said.\nPolice recovered the assault rifle, which was of an unknown brand, Canada said.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Public transportation systems need to be explored further as Indiana deals with traffic, pollution and energy challenges in the near future, lawmakers said during a hearing on the subject Wednesday.\n“It’s all a matter of priorities,” said Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington. “We control our own destiny.”\nRep. Terri Austin, D-Anderson, who helped organize the meeting, said much attention has been focused on Gov. Mitch Daniels’ latest roads proposals, but not much time had been devoted to the topic of public transportation.\nDaniels had proposed seeking private developers to build and operate two tollway bypasses: the 75-mile Indiana Commerce Connector, which would loop around part of Indianapolis, and the Illiana Expressway, which would span 50 miles of northwestern Indiana. But some lawmakers criticized the plans, and Daniels has since said that he would back off the proposals if they prove unpopular with the public.\nAustin said new roads aren’t the only answer to Indiana’s transportation problems.\n“Mass transit must play a part in any future plans,” she said.\nOn Wednesday, lawmakers heard from national, state and local transportation advocates.\nWilliam Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association, said mass-transit systems such as light rail have become more popular as service improves and gas prices increase.\n“While we all love our cars, it gets expensive to operate them,” Millar said.\nThe South Shore commuter railroad in northern Indiana had more than 4 million passengers last year, the largest number since 1957, said Gerald Hanas, general manager of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Hanas said many employees take the commuter railroad to work in Chicago.\n“It’s an important part of the regional economy,” he said.\nBut the Indiana Department of Transportation cautioned that rail services and other mass transit options can be expensive. INDOT Chief of Staff Gil Viets said the department’s job is to find the best solutions to transportation while considering costs. Sometimes, he said, roads are the best option.\n“The capital costs of other modes of transportation can be very high,” he said.\nThe General Assembly is considering several bills dealing with mass transit this year, including one that would require INDOT to conduct a feasibility study of a commuter rail system from Muncie to Indianapolis. Another bill would require INDOT to commission six regional studies on mass transit and would establish a mass-transit legislative study committee.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. – Three students and their families have settled a civil-rights lawsuit over the students’ expulsions for making a movie in which evil teddy bears attack a teacher.\nThe settlement with the Charles A. Beard School Corp. was approved by the school board on a 5-2 vote Tuesday.\nThe lawsuit resulted from a dispute over a movie titled “The Teddy Bear Master” made by four students and distributed on DVD. School officials saw the movie as a threat to Knightstown Intermediate School teacher Dan Clevenger and expelled the four.\nTwo of the students, Isaac Imel and Cody Overbay, sued the school corporation, which is 35 miles east of Indianapolis, on grounds it had violated their First Amendment rights. A third student, Charlie Ours, later joined the lawsuit. The fourth student did not challenge the school’s expulsion.\nThe boys, who are sophomores, completed the movie last summer. In it, the “teddy bear master” orders stuffed animals to kill a teacher who had embarrassed him, but students battle the toy beasts, according to documents filed in court.\nSuperintendent David McGuire said the school district’s insurance company will cover the cost of the $69,000 settlement that will be split among the plaintiffs.\nSchool Board President Mike Fruth cast one of the dissenting votes.\n“I don’t agree with our justice system,” Fruth said.\nThe settlement terms also require the students’ suspensions and expulsions be expunged from their records, that the students be allowed to make up missed work, and that Imel and Ours write a letter of apology to Clevenger and his wife.\nU.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker in December had granted a preliminary injunction against the expulsions of Imel and Overbay, saying school officials had not proved the movie disrupted school. Barker in her ruling described the movie as “humiliating” and “obscene.”
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A man threatening to kill two people with a rifle was arrested early Wednesday morning.\nJames C. Sandifer, 34, was arrested after Bloomington Police were called to the 2400 block of Brittany Lane, said BPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada, reading from the police report. \nPolice were called to the scene after a male and a female told police that Sandifer had pointed a rifle at them. The complainants said they were there visiting a friend when Sandifer came out of an apartment and yelled to them about a dog, Canada said. The argument was part of an ongoing dispute over the dog, Canada said. \nAccording to the complainants, Sandifer then allegedly raised an “assault-style rifle” and said he was going to kill them, Canada said. Officers located the owner of the apartment who identified that Sandifer was staying there. Sandifer did not admit to pointing the rifle. He was arrested on charges for intimidation with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm, possession of marijuana and being a felon in possession of a firearm due to past criminal history, Canada said.\nPolice recovered the assault rifle, which was of an unknown brand, Canada said.