598 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(02/07/08 5:00am)
FARMbloomington took Kirkwood Avenue by storm in January, when it opened its doors to the city's epicurious connoisseurs. The former Oddfellows Building, which used to house Athena, Material Plane and Cowboys & Indians antique store, was converted into a dining complex that included a restaurant, a bar, a marketplace and the basement blues-and-jazz club Root Cellar.\nWalking through the front doors, FARMbloomington reminded me of an old general store with a postmodern mood, with its hardwood floors and huge china cabinets accented by track lighting and warm-colored walls. Glass countertops and a soda fountain supplemented the antiquated atmosphere. \nThe best part was the easy-to-find bathrooms: Just look for the old-fashioned bedpans hanging on the walls.\nWith a Hoosier twist, FARMbloomington Head Chef Daniel Orr incorporated his years of experience in New York, France and the Caribbean to create a menu offering dishes never seen before in Bloomington.\nFARMbar, the tapas side of the FARMbloomington family, offers dozens of appetizers, drinks, desserts and dishes crafted entirely from local groceries. Although less pricey than FARMrestaurant, FARMbar also includes a dinner menu, in case you change your mind and want a bigger meal.\nBeing on a strict food budget this week, I opted to get only appetizers, which turned out to be much more filling than I expected. I ordered white-bean hummus and toast, as well as the garlic-and-chili fries with saffron aioli. Not the traditional chickpea hummus, the white-beans-and-toast concoction came garnished with red pepper and tarragon, adding a spicy, herbaceous aftertaste. But the chili fries were my favorite part: Even if you're one of those people who can't handle spicy dishes, these had the perfect amount to ensure you wouldn't be spending the rest of the meal guzzling water. I wasn't familiar with "aioli" when I ordered the dish, but the French sauce made from garlic, olive oil and saffron was the perfect mellow complement to the zest of the fries.\nMy table also ordered the roasted tandoori salmon with five-grain pilaf, to try out the restaurant part of the FARM establishment. I was more than impressed with the consistency of the fish, but I definitely could have used more flavor from the seasonings. The meal was followed by a chocolate-dipped shortbread cookie, bringing my experience at FARMbar to a delectable close.\nIf you are under 21, you can sit in the FARMmarket area, which serves as a deli-style restaurant during the day. The bar itself offers an impressive wine-and-beer list, expanding past Bloomington city limits and venturing into the rest of the world. In addition to selections from the Bloomington Brewing Company and Upland Brewery, FARMbar boasts beers from Hammond, Ind., Brooklyn, N.Y., the United Kingdom and Ireland.\nIn the end, FARMbar makes up an affordable but scrumptious piece of the FARMbloomington complex.
(02/07/08 5:00am)
Kissers, everywhere, take note: This weekend is your chance to lock lips for a good cause.\nIU's student group Revitalizing Animal Well-Being will host its first annual "Sealed with a Kiss" Kissing Marathon at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at The Lodge (formerly known as Space 101), at 101 E. Sixth St. Through its marathon, RAW hopes to raise awareness about the fur industry's slaughtering of Canadian seals. \nCouples of all sexual orientations are welcome to compete in the kissing durability competition, while others can listen to live music and participate in various booths. Entrance to the event is free, and a raffle ticket for the competition is $2. Three tickets are $5. \n"Sealed with a Kiss" will give people a chance to learn about the cruelty of the seal hunt, said Deborah Strickland, RAW co-president and co-founder, in an e-mail. IU's OUT and the Monroe County Humane Society are co-hosting the event, and will provide informational booths. All proceeds will go to seal-saving organizations such as the Humane Society.\nRAW attempts to fight for the better treatment of animals while giving animal advocacy "a sexy makeover," Strickland said. \nShe, along with friend and colleague Courtney Wennerstrom, founded RAW when the two of them realized IU didn't have an animal advocacy group.\n"(RAW is) trying to show people that anyone who loves animals can help create positive changes," Strickland said. "At a school with such talented and passionate students, we knew that (not having an animal-rights group) was a major oversight."\nWith Valentine's Day just around the corner, "Sealed with a Kiss" is a way for the group to combine its interest in the fair treatment of animals with its mission of making animal advocacy fun and sexy, Strickland said.\nPotential guests shouldn't be scared away by the kissing theme, Strickland said. There will be activities for single people and friends as well as couples. The marathon lineup includes kissing booths, bobbing for Hershey's kisses, free refreshments and live music from bands Fatted Calf String Band, Either Or and Busman's Holiday. Attendees will also have the chance to buy tickets for a host of raffle prizes, including gift certificates to Mother Bear's Pizza, Upland Brewery and Sage Advice Skin Care. \n"Sealed with a Kiss" will also feature a table where guests can sign letters to Indiana Sens. Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar to encourage government intervention to stop the seal slaughter.\nAlthough the event is off-campus, it will still be accessible to students who live on campus and is an ideal first stop for groups making their way to downtown bars or restaurants, Strickland said. \n"People should attend if they want to start out their Saturday night having a blast and contributing to a wonderful cause," she said.
(02/06/08 2:06am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Oral arguments are set for next month in the appeal of a man convicted of murdering a 19-year-old IU student.\nThe three-member Indiana Court of Appeals has set the case for March 20 in Indianapolis.\nJohn Myers II was convicted in 2006 of murdering Jill Behrman, who disappeared in 2000 while cycling. Her remains were found in April 2003.\nThe appeal filed in September argues that jurors misbehaved and that pretrial publicity tainted the trial.\nIt also questions whether a forensic pathologist’s opinion that Behrman had been raped, even though there was no evidence of sexual assault, should have been admitted.\nMyers is serving a 65-\nyear sentence.
(02/06/08 2:02am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana is among a group of states considered the worst contributors to a nearly 8,000 square mile patch in the Gulf of Mexico that is inhospitable to marine life, according to research by the U.S. Geological Survey.\nAnimal manure and fertilizer flowing from Indiana and nine other states into the Mississippi River has significantly contributed to a seasonal “dead zone” – an area that is so depleted of oxygen that most aquatic life cannot survive.\nAlong with Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi were the worst contributors to the dead zone.\nThe nine states represented one–third of the 31-state Mississippi River drainage basin, but were responsible for more than 75 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorous that deplete oxygen from the Gulf, killing fish, crabs, clams and shrimp, according to the study.\nThe excessive amount of nitrogen in the Gulf was mainly caused by corn and soybean farming, and the overabundance of phosphorous was primarily caused by animal manure on pasture and rangelands, the survey said.\n“Conventional thinking has been that the pasture and rangelands don’t contribute as much as the cultivated cropland,” said Richard Alexander, a research hydrologist and lead investigator on the study. “The thinking has been that the row crops would contribute more phosphorous.”\nThe study found 37 percent of phosphorous delivered into the Gulf comes from animal manure on pasture and rangelands.\nCorn and soybean farming accounts for 52 percent of nitrogen contributions.\nIndiana was the third worst contributor of nitrogen at 10.1 percent and sixth worst contributor of phosphorous at 8.4 percent among the states in the basin. Illinois was the worst offender for contributions of both substances.\n“This is one more piece of strong evidence about the source of nutrients and about the serious action that should be taken to reduce the nutrients,” said Nancy Rabalais, who serves as executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and researches the dead zone.\nShe said regulation may be difficult because the nitrogen and phosphorous are coming from the land and atmosphere rather than from pipelines.\nBruno Pigott, an assistant commissioner with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Office of Water, said the agency was reviewing the report but had been working on nutrient issues for years.\nHe said the sources of nutrients in groundwater were diverse, including wastewater treatment plants and lawn fertilization as well as runoff from farming and other activities.\n“We think there has to be a broad-based approach to reducing nutrients,” he said.\nMeanwhile, Pigott said Indiana Department of Environmental Management is using public funds to reduce pollutants to waterways and developing statewide criteria for nutrients.\nThe agency also has phosphorous limitations in place for wastewater treatment plants upstream of lakes, especially in the Great Lakes region, he said.
(02/01/08 2:51am)
MUNCIE — The implosion of a 190-foot smokestack emblazoned with the name Chevrolet marked the end of a chapter in the city’s automotive industry.\nThe Chevrolet plant opened in Muncie in 1935, employing 1,100 people. As many as 3,400 people worked at the plant at its peak in the late 1970s, although only 380 remained when it closed in March 2006.\nThe last remnant of the razed plant came down Thursday in front of crowds.\n“This is the last hurrah,” said Jerry Friend, the city building commissioner. “It’s too bad.”\nOver the years that plant operated as Detroit Diesel Allison Muncie Transmission Plant and New Venture Gear, a General Motors/DaimlerChrysler joint venture. Demolition of the complex has taken several months.\n“It is the end of an era,” said Mike Jones, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 499. “It’s sad to see it go, that’s for sure, but more importantly, what it represented is going away. That’s even sadder.”\nThe city’s other big auto parts maker, BorgWarner, will close its plant in early 2009. As many as 6,000 worked there in its heyday.
(02/01/08 2:50am)
INDIANAPOLIS – News that nine flood-stricken northern Indiana counties qualify for federal disaster aid was tempered Thursday by the forecast of a winter storm that threatened to complicate Gordon Cochran’s life anew.\n“This whole weather thing has us about killed,” the White County emergency management director said with a nervous chuckle Thursday as he stared at a forecast of up to 15 inches of snow that could begin melting by Monday.\nGov. Mitch Daniels’ office announced Thursday that Daniels had received a letter from President Bush declaring a major disaster and making federal funding available in Carroll, Cass, Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Marshall, Pulaski, Tippecanoe and White counties.\nFlooding that began Jan. 7 along the Tippecanoe River and other streams killed three people, including two children, and caused more than $33 million in damage throughout the nine counties. More than 800 homes were damaged, half either destroyed or heavily marred, Daniels said in his Jan. 23 aid request to Bush.\nCochran, who works out of an office in Monticello, about 75 miles northwest of Indianapolis, said five different areas of White County alone still have residents displaced by the flooding. Many are bunking with friends or family. The Red Cross closed its last emergency shelter about a week ago.\nThe availability of federal aid will speed the cleanup, Cochran explained. However, some areas of White County, including the community of Buffalo along the Tippecanoe River, still have flooded areas, he said.\nThe prospect of another large snow melt early next week, when the forecast calls for temperatures in the 40s and a chance of rain, left Cochran troubled Thursday. Melting snow and heavy rains preceded the January flooding.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
Just as people don't need any complicated plot coming in and mucking up their porn, I didn't need some sappy, convoluted plot unraveling during my step movie. For those who don't know, step-dancing is the energetic footwork-intensive style of dance coming out of Chicago that has taken the nation by storm. \nWhat looked like a high-energy step-fest from the previews turned out to be a poorly written movie that was sending a moral message at every turn -- remember where you come from, don't do drugs, education is the way to move up in the world, etc. \nFor those who actually care about the plot of this one -- the recycled yarn used in "How She Move" is that Raya is a smart, hard-working student who must quit private school and come home when her older sister dies from a drug overdose. Somehow, the dead sister is to blame for the fact that the family lacks the money to pay for Raya's schooling, but this was never completely explained. \nAs Raya tries to find her place among old friends she left behind, she must also find a way to make enough money to go back to private school in steps, or more accurately, through step. Raya hears of the Stepmonster competition. With prize money of $50,000 looming, she will do anything to get to the contest and win, no matter whom she has to step on -- pardon the pun -- to get there.\nThe plot is innocuous enough, but the movie spends way too much time getting to the dancing. By the time Raya has gone through her problems at school, at home and in her personal life, there's precious little time to showcase the Stepmonster acts. Plus, the man in charge of filming obviously had no idea how to effectively shoot stepping. And as if the bad writing, so-so acting and soft-core step weren't terrible enough, the film quality and lighting are sub-par too.\nA movie about step should provide ooo's and aaa's, not Z's.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
After a rocky period that almost saw the band's breakup -- and resulted in the departure of guitarist and co-songwriter Jason Isabell -- Drive-By Truckers is back in surprisingly strong form with its latest album Brighter Than Creation's Dark. \nThat said, though, it's a slightly different form. Creation's Dark has a quieter, sadder feel than much of the band's past work -- rather than rollicking Skynyrd-influenced Southern rock, the album is closer to the alt-country of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky or of Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins. It's less about drinking your Jack Daniels from the bottle and raising hell and more about sitting at the bar wondering what went wrong.\nStill, it brings to bear the Truckers' greatest weapon -- its talent for songs with compelling stories and vivid characters. Among the best of these are "Self Destructive Zones," a tale of the death of hair metal and mourning for its loss; "Bob," about the loneliness of a closeted gay man in a small town; "The Opening Act," a gig-in-the-life of a once-huge band fallen on hard times; and "Checkout Time In Vegas," a hardboiled story about the aftermath of an illegal arms deal gone wrong.\nThat's not to say Creation's Dark is perfect. Drive-By Truckers' storytelling sometimes veers into after-school special over-earnestness, with the anti-war song "The Home Front" and drug sob story "You And Your Crystal Meth," inviting eye-rolls despite their good intentions. (The album's other anti-war song, "That Man I Shot" is, however, much better.) Also, at 19 tracks and roughly one hour and 15 minutes of mostly downcast songs, Creation's Dark gets to be a drag when listened to in one sitting -- even if it feels a little perverse to say that the band should have cut the thing in half and charged the fans for two albums -- you certainly can't fault their generosity.\nIf you want to rock with an R-A-W-K, you'd be better served by the Truckers' past releases (if you're new to the band, invest in a copy of its 2001 masterpiece Southern Rock Opera). But if you want something that'll put tears in your beer, give Creation's Dark a spin.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
With its debut Controversy Loves Company, The Audition garnered mild success as a simple, carbon copy of emo-scene brethren such as Fall Out Boy. \nBut now, armed with its aptly titled second record Champion and a whole lot of online buzz, the band is attempting to knock out some of its peers and become kings of the emo ring. To do so, The Audition has decided to draw inspiration from pop-oriented acts such as Maroon 5. It's a risky move that could alienate fans, especially considering the results are mixed. \nThe obvious improvement on Champion is the guitar work. On Controversy it was average, but on like tracks such as "Basbhat" and "Hell To Sell," the guitars are like a bouncy-ball thumping fast from wall to wall in a closed room. This new element reinforces the band's new sound and definitely makes you want to get up and move.\nControversy's best quality was the catchiness of its songs, and Champion has more of the same. "Edinboro," Champion's strongest track, is another foot-tapping jam with a soaring chorus. Vocalist Danny Stevens doesn't have much range, but he delivers somewhat laughable lines such as "Carry me like jet planes crossing the sea / Cabin pressure's high from body heat" with raw emotion.\nStevens' lack of vocal diversity combines with terribly corny lyrics and repetitive melodies to bog down Champion in the worst part: the chorus. The band sticks to a formula throughout -- aside from the surprisingly decent ballad "What Gets You Through The Night" -- and most of the album's songs have solid verses that turn into clunky choruses. The worst perpetrator is "Make It Rain," which includes the aforementioned guitar work until wannabe-Lothario lyrics such as "I'm moving in for the kill so sit still / You will be loving me until the morning" kick in.\nThe Audition should be commended for trying some new moves on Champion, but its inability to mold a new identity for itself doesn't allow it to deliver a punch to the scene. Until it figures it out, it'll be left on the mat as a challenger looking for a rematch.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
Mission Control includes Arcade Fire, The Rapture, Modest Mouse, Interpol, The Shins, Coldplay and My Morning Jacket songs. Unfortunately, this is not a compilation, but The Whigs' sophomore album. This group is bewildering in that its influences seem to consist entirely of white rock acts from the year 2000 forward. All in all, it's like much of today's fashionable non-radio rock music, but without the surprises, idiosyncrasies and inspiration. As such, being essentially a diluted form of seemingly all-current music, it's a nice barometer for the "sound" of our particular moment in time but isn't much for listening. \nNothing goes at all awry for this album's entire 40 minutes, and that's the problem. There seems to have been little thought given to this project as a coherent album: The songs could be played in any order, with no thematic arc to move things along. The Whigs beats along in absolutely perfect 4/4 time, mindlessly, heartlessly and without nuance. Though its lead singer has some panache, his words can only drift awkwardly when placed above such polished, unaccommodating backing. The first and only moment that really feels sincere begins, as an afterthought, in the final measure of the final song "Mission Control." \nThis album is the sound of technology -- in the form of pitch-shifting, error-correcting, over-compressing studio technicians -- swallowing up what humans really sound like when they play instruments together. Heavy compression strips the dynamics so much that the sonic atmosphere from song to song is nearly identical. One gets no sense of physical space, of air, of a room populated by living, breathing things. Though The Whigs are mediocre lyricists, melodists and songwriters, no justice was done to its music through such tasteless engineering. When the band titles a track "Production City," it isn't kidding.\nThe Whigs have an OK shot at being a tight live act and touring for a few years. It also has a bright future in making big royalty money by schlepping these tracks to commercials for intermediate-level sedans. By then, we will have forgotten all about this album. Pop it in if you'd like something loud in the background to go in one ear and out the other.
(01/29/08 4:10am)
TERRE HAUTE – The cleanup from a fire in an Indiana State University residence hall will force dozens of students to move elsewhere for the rest of the school year, a school spokeswoman said Monday.\nThe fire broke out Sunday night on the 11th floor of the 12-story Blumberg Hall. A student resident assistant and two school public safety officers were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and another student suffered an asthma attack.\nAbout 80 students who live on the 10th and 11th floors of the building are being moved to other campus housing, ISU spokeswoman Teresa Exline said.\n“They will be able to keep their same roommates,” she said.\nThe building’s eighth, ninth and 12th floors were being closed until Wednesday for cleaning, while other students were being allowed back to their rooms Monday.\nThe 10th and 11th floors will be recarpeted and repainted because of smoke damage, Exline said. She had no estimate on the dollar amount of the damages. School officials hoped to have the damage repaired before the semester ends in early May, she said.\nStudents will also get assistance cleaning their personal belongings.\n“We are unlocking our laundry facility so they can do laundry without charge,” Exline said.\nThe fire on the 11th floor of Blumberg Hall was reported at 9:35 p.m. Sunday. Students were evacuated and the fire was out within an hour.\nSchool officials said a candle left unattended in a residential room caused the fire. That room and two adjoining rooms were damaged by fire. The building, which was dedicated in 1964, houses about 420 students.
(01/29/08 4:07am)
INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana schools stand to lose more than $150 million in 2010 because of proposed caps on property taxes, with urban school districts being hit the hardest, leading Senate Democrats said Monday as they called for the state to make up for the shortfall.\nSen. John Broden, D-South Bend, wants to amend a bill so that a school district losing revenue because of the caps would get state general fund money to make up for the reduction. \n“While we are all for property tax relief, we do not want that property tax relief to come at the expense of a quality education for our school children,” Broden said.\nThe Senate is considering a bill that would phase in property tax caps called “circuit breakers.” By 2010, property tax bills would be limited for homeowners to 1 percent of their home’s assessed value, with a 2 percent cap for rental property and a 3 percent limit for businesses.\nThe caps are projected to reduce property taxes by about $600 million in 2010 — but that is $600 million less in what local governments and schools otherwise would be able to collect.\nLocal governments can increase local income taxes to help raise additional money, but senators said schools don’t collect any of that revenue, leaving them with no way to make up for the shortfall.\nSome large urban school districts stand to lose millions under the caps. Indianapolis Public Schools would lose $14.7 million in 2010, while Hammond Public Schools would lose $13.6 million and East Chicago Public Schools $11.7 million, according to estimates by the Legislative Services Agency.\nSome school leaders said the lost revenue could mean larger class sizes or cuts to programs for students.\n“Students are in line to suffer, especially poor and disadvantaged students in urban areas,” Indianapolis Superintendent Eugene White said.\nSen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said students in poor areas need educational programs to help them succeed and break the link between poverty and low achievement.\n“If we’re going to take away some of the money that’s needed in order for us to have special programs for these young people, then you’re going to see a drop in the achievement rate, which I don’t think anyone in this state wants to see,” Rogers said.
(01/24/08 5:00am)
Bloomington's Pride Film Festival has boomed in popularity since its first incarnation five years ago. The event started as a venue that brought in approximately 300 movie watchers. This year, it is predicted to catch the eye of 2,000, said Mary Gray, chair of the festival's steering committee. It is also a place for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Bloomington to be comfortable in its surroundings. \n"It's an incredibly important personal experience for a person who's spent most of their lives trying to hide things about themselves. To be in a huge room with hundreds of people who are saying 'It's OK; in fact it's great' is a very transformative experience," said Danielle McClelland, executive director of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, where many of the screenings will be, and a member of the Pride Film Festival's steering committee.
(01/24/08 3:12am)
INDIANAPOLIS – A Senate panel advanced a proposal that could revoke business licenses for companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, but bill opponents warned the measure could have unintended consequences.\nThe Senate Pensions and Labor Committee voted 10-1 Wednesday for the proposal, which would only affect workers hired after Sept. 30, 2009. The bill would set up a three-tier punishment system for employers who knowingly hired illegal workers after that date. With three violations in 10 years, a company could lose its business license.\nCommittee members heard nearly four hours of testimony about the bill last week and listened to two more hours on Wednesday, with many speaking against the measure.\nGeorge Raymond, vice president of human resources and labor relations at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, told the committee that the bill could hurt legal workers. If a mining company, for example, had three supervisors at three different mine sites hire illegal immigrants within a span of 10 years, the entire company could lose licenses needed to do business, leaving all its employees out of a job.\n“There is a potential for hundreds if not thousands of innocent people to be put out of work because of the misactions of a handful of people,” he said
(01/24/08 3:12am)
INDIANAPOLIS – A bill that would impose a statewide smoking ban in most public places in Indiana has died.\nThe House Public Policy Committee heard only brief testimony on the bill Wednesday before its chairman, Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, said there was no more time to consider it.\nThe deadline for House bills clearing that chamber’s committees is Thursday, and the time consumed considering the session’s top issue – property tax relief and reform – has caused a backlog of committee action.\nThe bill would have banned smoking in most public places, with exceptions for bars, bowling alleys and casinos. \nThe bill’s author, Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, pledged to push the legislation again next session.
(01/23/08 3:25am)
INDIANAPOLIS – The wrongful death lawsuit against a former Ball State University police officer who fatally shot a student in 2003 was set to go to trial Tuesday.\nThe trial in the case against Robert Duplain will be held in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.\nMichael McKinney, 21, of Bedford, was shot four times by Duplain, who was responding to a report of a stranger pounding on the door of a house in Muncie early on Nov. 8, 2003. Tests later showed that McKinney had a blood-alcohol content of 0.34.\nThe lawsuit filed by Timothy McKinney, Michael’s father, alleges that Duplain first shot the student twice in the back and side while he was facing away from him, then ran up and shot him twice more after he turned around.\nThe defense contends that Duplain fired only after McKinney charged at him.\nJudge Richard Young has ruled that the key issues in the trial will include whether McKinney charged Duplain, whether Duplain sufficiently alerted McKinney to his presence and whether Duplain acted reasonably in shooting McKinney four times.\nThere was no telephone number for Duplain in published listings and he could not be reached for comment.
(01/23/08 3:23am)
INDIANAPOLIS – Connie Heermann was thrilled when she saw some of her 11th-grade English students reading with rapt attention for the first time when they took up a book of diary entries by students who inspired the movie “Freedom Writers.”\nShe had a problem, though: Her administrators say they didn’t approve, and they’re now trying to terminate her for insubordination.\nHeermann, who’s been suspended, is fighting for her job at Perry Meridian High School.\n“This is not about my own self-justification or my union rights or my retirement. That is not what I’m fighting for,” said Heermann, who has been a teacher for 27 years. “I want the public to know what has happened because I don’t want the students at Perry Township to continue to be disserviced.”\nThe book contains racial slurs and some sexual content. It has been taught in other schools around the country, but at least one other district, in Howell, Mich., has encountered controversy over use of the book.\nThe book’s approach encourages students to write about their experiences, to reach out to students of different backgrounds and to work toward attending college and taking active roles in their communities.\nHeermann collected parental permission slips before introducing the book, but officials for the south suburban district said Heermann never got permission from administrators.\nShe said that when she told the students to turn in the books, 19 of the 22 students in the class initially refused.\nJon Bailey, the school district’s lawyer, said not only did Heermann disobey an order from her supervisors not to teach the book, she used a book that hadn’t been through the district’s approval process.\n“Anything that gets kids to write is good, but these are kids’ journals written in some very explicit language,” Bailey said. “The core issue here is, does a school district have a right to decide its curriculum content or do individual teachers have a right to take it in whatever direction they wish?”\nPrincipal Joan Ellis made it clear to Heermann that she could not pass out the books or use them for lessons, he said.\n“It was made very clear to her not to move forward,” Bailey said.
(01/21/08 8:42am)
General Electric said Thursday it plans to close its Bloomington refrigeration plant by the fourth quarter of 2009 due to losses of about $45 million last year and an expectation of similar losses this year.\nGE “can no longer effectively compete” because of declining sales of side-by-side refrigerators and rising costs of materials and labor, plant manager Kent Suiters said in a news release.\nThe plant employs about 900 people, who were notified Thursday. GE said about 60 percent of the employees would retire with retirement and pension benefits.\n“This announcement is particularly difficult because our employees have done everything we have asked of them,” Suiters said in the release. “The hard fact is that even with investment and great effort by our employees, the plant has continued to lose money. It does not make good business sense to continue down this path.”\nThe 837 hourly employees are represented by IBEW Local 2249, which may request a 60-day bargaining period in which alternatives to the closing may be presented, according to the release.\nLocal President Bill Mitchell said he plans to open negotiations to try to save the plant, but acknowledged the union would have to be “very creative” to come up with a solution.\n“We’ll give it our best shot,” he said.
(01/18/08 3:34am)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – All charges have been dismissed against the final four nursing home employees who were being tried for felony neglect in the 2005 death of an 86-year-old resident.\nCheers erupted inside and outside Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Thursday when Magistrate David Kiely announced his decision to drop the neglect charges.\nKiely said he felt prosecutors had failed to prove that the four did anything criminal. The trial had started Monday for Teresa Williams, Ron Gillenwater, Connie Burris and Elizabeth McCabe. The four cried and hugged each other, their supporters and defense attorneys after Kiely gave his decision.\nDozens who awaited the ruling in the lobby outside the courtroom cheered loudly, surrounding each of the former defendants as they emerged.\nThe defendants declined comment after the ruling, but as she hugged a friend McCabe said, “It’s finally over. It’s been more than a year.”\nIn August 2006, a grand jury indicted nine employees of the Brentwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on felony charges of neglect of a dependent in the death of Morline Allen.\nCharges were dropped earlier against the other five employees named in the indictment.\nProsecutors left court without commenting and had not issued a statement.\nThe defense was prepared to begin calling up to 25 witnesses Thursday if Kiely had not dismissed the charges, said attorney Michael Keating.\n“What happened here is that the state failed to show any personal guilt,” he said.\nKeating said there were still actions pending against the licenses of the employees, so it was unlikely they would be able to return to work right away.\n“I assume that with this outcome, those actions will go away, too,” he said.\nThe case began after the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office determined that Allen’s Oct. 1, 2005, death was the result of physical neglect. She died from an infection three hours after being transferred from the nursing home to St. Mary’s Medical Center.\nThe coroner’s office said Allen had developed bronchopneumonia after not being moved for about 10 days. A catheter line had become embedded in her leg and ulcerated bed sores on her feet and ankles had not been treated.\nGolden Living, which runs the facility, said in a statement that the magistrate found that Allen’s skin condition actually improved during her last stay in Brentwood. Golden Living was pleased that the charges were dismissed and said it stood behind its employees.\n“We knew that these vicious allegations were baseless,” the statement said. “When it came time to prove the allegations in a court of law, the claims evaporated in light of the facts.”
(01/11/08 2:28am)
Fourteen Indiana businesses were denied requests for renewal of accreditation from the Better Business Bureau of Indiana and 41 weren’t admitted at all in 2006.\nThe BBB is a not-for-profit, nationwide organization that offers accreditation to business and provides information on those and other companies to consumers. \n“The Better Business Bureau is comprised of companies that have to maintain our standards,” said Jennifer Kirchhofer, coordinator of advertising review for the Indiana bureau. “It’s important for credibility and trust.”\nThose standards vary, but include requiring a business to clearly define the services it provides and that it practices fair business.\nTwo businesses denied accreditation were Land FX and Certified Budget Restoration & Remodelers, both in Indianapolis. Land FX declared in its paperwork with the BBB that it was a leaf, snow and grass removal service, but advertisements for the company declared it provided foreclosure prevention.\nCertified Budget Restoration & Remodelers operated a Web site, myroof.com, that promised free roofing quotes from at least four different businesses. In every case investigated by the BBB, those businesses were owned by Certified Budget Restoration & Remodelers.\nKirchhofer stressed that in every rejection, a certified letter was sent to the businesses to notify them of the threat of action by the BBB. If those letters received no response, then the rejection went before the BBB’s board of directors.\nBusinesses from which the BBB revoked accreditation are Bear Creek Coffee and Kwallity Brick Masonry in Avon, Crete Dawgs in Anderson, Maintenance One in Carmel, Nigh’s Construction in Manila, and Blue Haven Pools, Waterscape by Landesign, Bob John Roofing & Siding, Comfort Inn & Suites West, Credit Bureau of Indianapolis, Economy Fence Company, Employment One and Land FX, all in \nIndianapolis.