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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- An Indiana man accused of burning an American flag behind his home has been arrested, despite rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court that said flag-burning is an exercise of free speech.\nDavid H. Stout, 49, of Noblesville was charged Monday with flag desecration and resisting law enforcement. He was being held Tuesday at the Hamilton County Jail on a $9,000 bond.\nStout was arrested Sunday after police found him lying beside a burning flag in an alley behind his home.\nIndiana is among 48 states that still have a law against flag desecration on the books, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has twice said flag-burning is a constitutionally protected form of expression.\n"I assume she's aware that the U.S. Constitution trumps (a state law)," said John Krull, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. "Since we're seeing flags everywhere right now, including places I'm sure even Betsy Ross never intended, it would be hard to desecrate a flag."\nStout told a neighbor who tried to stop the burning that he could burn his flag if he wanted. The neighbor called police.\nStout is accused of throwing a lighted firecracker at a police officer and struggling with police when they took him into custody.\nHamilton County Deputy Prosecutor Wendy Petersen filed the charges against Stout.\n"Our particular statute has not been challenged," Petersen told The Indianapolis Star. "We still have flag desecration on the books, although we may certainly come up against that (constitutional) argument if we continue to prosecute Mr. Stout."\nBoth charges against Stout are misdemeanors, each carrying maximum penalties of one year in prison and a $5,000 fine upon conviction.\nPetersen agreed that the surge of flag-waving since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have created a new sensitivity to flag desecration.\n"I can't comment on what the officers were thinking at the time, but probably a report of flag burning would be taken more seriously because of the environment," she said. "I don't know what we would have done before Sept. 11."\nIndiana's law states that "a person who knowingly or intentionally mutilates, defaces, burns or tramples any United States flag, standard or ensign commits flag desecration." \nThe statute does not apply to proper disposal of flags by burning.\n"There are laws on the books in 48 states, but the Supreme Court decision in 1989, which the court reiterated in 1990, has invalidated all those laws," said Marty Justis, executive director of The Citizens Flag Alliance.\nThe organization was founded in 1994 by the American Legion and is based in Indianapolis. It represents 142 organizations with collective membership of about 20 million.\nJustis said the sole purpose of the alliance is to pass a constitutional amendment to protect the American flag from desecration.\n"An amendment has gone through the House four times in the past four congresses, the most recent being last July," he said. "We've been unable to get it through the Senate."\nStout remained in jail where he was being held Monday in lieu of $9,000 bond.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LONDON -- Director Chris Columbus got rave reviews from the kids who saw "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which is a change from the reaction he's gotten in the past from adult film critics. \n"The critics have never been kind to me," said Columbus, whose past films include "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Bicentennial Man," as well as more successful movies like "Home Alone." \nBut "this film feels different," he said. "I do know that I love the picture, and that's really important -- though in the end, who knows?" \nAfter attending the premiere in London on Sunday, 12-year-old Alex Roberts wrote in Monday's Guardian newspaper, "I don't think I'll watch it nine times, but it will certainly be one of my favorite films." \nThe Times of London handed over its review to Barney Macintyre, age 6 and three-quarters: "This is great, the best film I've ever seen, way better than any of the Disney cartoons." \nAnd 9-year-old Jessica Hatrick's enthusiasm made a front-page headline in the Sunday Telegraph on Sunday. Calling the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's novel "the best movie I have ever seen," Jessica offered a few minor caveats -- 12-year-old Daniel Radcliffe in the title role was "a good actor, but he looks like the woman on 'The Weakest Link,' which is a bit off-putting." \nThe movie is being released in the United States as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." It opens on both sides of the Atlantic Nov. 16.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
GENEVA -- An outbreak of fever in the west African nation of Gabon has been confirmed as the deadly disease Ebola, the World Health Organization said Sunday.\nIt is the world's first documented outbreak of Ebola since last year in Uganda, where 224 people -- including health workers -- died from the virus. Ebola is one of the most virulent viral diseases known to humankind, causing death in 50 to 90 percent of all clinically ill cases.\n"It's been confirmed by a laboratory in Gabon," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told The Associated Press. "We've had reports that seven people have died."\nHartl said WHO has already sent a team to help the coastal nation and that a second team of four specialists would leave Geneva for Gabon Monday.\nThe outbreak is in remote Ogooue Ivindo province in northeastern Gabon, he said. Gabon was last afflicted in an outbreak in 1996-97 that killed 45 of the 60 people infected.\nFriday, Hartl said there were unconfirmed reports of a possible outbreak in Congo, which is near Gabon although the two countries have no common borders.\nEbola is passed through contact with bodily fluids, such as mucus, saliva and blood, but is not airborne. The virus incubates for four to 10 days before flu-like symptoms set in. Eventually, the virus causes severe internal bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea.\nThere is no cure, but patients treated early for dehydration have a good chance of survival.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
NEW ORLEANS -- The New England Patriots made this a Super Bowl to remember, for all the right reasons.\nAdam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired, capping a thrilling final two minutes and giving the Patriots a 20-17 upset over the St. Louis Rams on a red, white and blue Sunday.\n"We shocked the world," New England safety Lawyer Milloy said.\nThe winning kick came after the Patriots had lost a 17-3 lead in the final 10 minutes. The game appeared headed for the first Super Bowl overtime after St. Louis tied it on a 26-yard pass from Kurt Warner to Ricky Proehl with 1:30 left.\nBut MVP Tom Brady, whose status as the starter was in doubt until midweek, drove the Patriots 53 yards with no timeouts to set up the deciding kick.\n"No one gave us a chance to win this game," said running back Antowain Smith, who gained 92 yards in 18 carries.\nNew England won on a day filled with patriotic themes inside the Superdome and high security outside. Fans were urged to show up five hours before kickoff to get through a perimeter that looked more like a military compound than a football stadium.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld indicated Sunday he probably will scale back the continuous fighter jet patrols over U.S. cities.\nHe raised the possibility of tying the intensity of the patrols to different levels of threats against the U.S., as assessed by the government. \n"My personal view has been that what we need to do is what we have always done historically, and that's to have different threat levels. And as we see changes in the threat condition, adjust up or down," Rumsfeld said. \n"We have been at a relatively high threat level for some period of time, which has been appropriate given the threat information that I read every day," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press." \nThe Air Force's civilian leader told The Associated Press last week that he wants to end the post-Sept. 11 the current 24-hour, 7-day-a-week patrols and instead leave fighters on "strip alert" at airfields, ready to launch in case of emergency. \n"What we need to do is get gradations of threat conditions and be able to move them up and down, depending on our best judgment and hope we're right." \nThe patrols are tying up about 265 airplanes -- mostly fighters, refuelers and radar planes -- and about 12,000 airmen, Air Force Secretary James Roche said in the Associated Press interview. \nThat compares with 14,000 Air Force personnel committed to the war in Afghanistan, he said, making the Air Force the only service with a large-scale commitment to both fronts in the war on terrorism. \nRumsfeld said it was his hope "that the threat condition will be such that we will not need to maintain that level of combat air patrols…and we will be able to reduce the stress that's been put on the force and reduce the cost to the American taxpayer"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
GOSHEN, Ind. -- The widow of a factory manager killed in a workplace shooting spree has filed a $2 million claim against the estate of the man who killed her husband.\nMichelle Oswald's husband, Greg, was shot by Robert Wissman Dec. 6, 2001, at Nu-Wood Decorative Millwork. Authorities say Wissman was upset about a "love triangle" at work when he opened fire and wounded six others before killing himself.\n"I don't hold the Wissman family responsible. I do, obviously, hold Robert responsible," Oswald told The Truth of Elkhart for a story published Saturday.\nThe value of Wissman's estate is unknown, but he did own three houses near downtown Goshen, two of which he rented out.\nSouth Bend attorney Michael Murphy, who represents Wissman's estate, was unavailable for comment Friday.\nOswald's claim was filed this week in Elkhart Circuit Court.\nShe is also considering a lawsuit against the northern Indiana city, claiming that Goshen police did not act quickly enough.\nOswald has filed a tort claim notice with the city, which is the first step in pursuing a lawsuit.\nCity attorney Larry Barkes said the city plans to respond to Oswald's claim by the end of next week. Barkes said the city could be held liable for no more than $300,000 if Oswald's claims are true.\nOswald has criticized police for ignoring a phone call from her husband a couple of hours before the shooting, waiting two hours to enter the scene of the shooting, waiting too long to remove her husband's body and not telling her about his death until the evening of Dec. 6.\nOswald said if Goshen officials deny her earlier tort claim, which said police mishandled their response to the shootings, she will file a lawsuit against them before the end of the month.\n"If they deny anything, we will go 100 percent full steam," she said.\nCity police have finished their investigation into the day's events, but the city's insurance carrier is also conducting an investigation.\nOswald said she has filed similar tort claims against other agencies involved in responding to the shootings, but not against Nu-Wood.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATA adds more flights from Indianapolis\nINDIANAPOLIS -- American Trans Air plans to add 20 weekly flights from Indianapolis beginning in June, including nonstop service to Los Angeles.\nThe expansion will boost weekly departures from Indianapolis by 18 percent, from 109 flights to 129 flights.\nJust two weeks ago, ATA restored the 20 percent of flights it had eliminated after the Sept. 11 attacks. The airline also has recalled 800 of 1,200 workers furloughed since the attacks.\nThe new flights include seven more flights each week to Orlando with continuing service to San Juan, Puerto Rico; seven new flights to Seattle via Chicago Midway Airport; and six nonstop flights to Los Angeles. Current flights to Los Angeles go through Chicago.\nATA, the nation's 10th-largest passenger carrier, focused on Los Angeles because it is the third-largest market, behind Orlando and Las Vegas, for travelers at Indianapolis International Airport, company officials said Friday.\nMore than half of ATA's flights now originate at Chicago Midway, where the airline operates six gates and plans to have more than twice that number by 2004.\nATA still maintains headquarters and a maintenance base in Indianapolis, but it is constructing a $110 million training and operations center in Chicago.\nMeanwhile, ATA's private charter club airline, Ambassadair, said Friday that bookings rose 19.5 percent during the first two months of this year, when it added 900 members.\nMiss District of Columbia is crowned Miss USA\nGARY -- Shauntay Hinton, a broadcast communications major at Howard University, was crowned Miss USA on Friday night, becoming the first winner from the District of Columbia in 38 years.\nHinton, 23, began crying and her knees buckled when she realized she had won after it was announced that Miss Kansas, Lindsay Douglas, was the first runner-up.\nLast year's winner, former Miss Texas Kandace Krueger, quickly placed the winner's sash and crown on Hinton, who walked down the catwalk, then returned to the stage and was besieged by the other contestants.\nThe 5-foot-7 Hinton, who is black, is only the second Miss District of Columbia to win the Miss USA pageant in its 50-year history. She is majoring in broadcast communications at Howard University and minoring in business administration.\nHinton will compete in the Miss Universe Pageant in May in Puerto Rico.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's plan to drill for oil in a remote Alaska wildlife refuge is all but dead for now, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Sunday. \nDebate on the administration's energy plan is expected to begin in the Senate this week. \nAn amendment that would expand domestic production of fuel -- principally by drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- is opposed by most Senate Democrats and about a half-dozen GOP senators. Republicans have acknowledged they lack the 60 votes needed to break an expected Democratic filibuster on the bill. \nDaschle, D-S.D., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that opponents still had not rounded up the required votes. When asked, "So it's dead?" Daschle said, "Well, at least right now it is, correct." \nDaschle and others have said raising federal mileage standards for automobiles would save more oil than drilling in the refuge could produce. \n"We can do so much more -- 15 times more -- by passing the fuel-efficiency standards," he said. "That's the way to deal with energy policy, not going into the most pristine part" of the refuge, he said. \nAppearing with Daschle, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said, "I'm willing to try to do things on the conservation side and on alternative fuels -- which I really don't think would work or will produce very much -- but I also think you need to have the production side." \nEnvironmentalists long have argued that development of oil in the refuge would jeopardize the coastal plain's wildlife. \nThe GOP-led House has passed a bill that would open up the plain, an area of 1.5 million acres where the oil and gas are believed to be located. \nLott said the refuge, "while it might be pristine, is pretty barren"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- As Arthur Andersen struggles to survive the Enron scandal and a federal indictment, two of Indiana's most highly scrutinized industries must decide whether to continue using the troubled accounting firm.\nAt stake for northwest Indiana's energy giant, NiSource, and three riverboat casinos are public trust and credibility.\nNone has said publicly that it will fire Andersen, but analysts say it's a possibility. Financial observers agree that highly regulated industries such as utilities and casinos must preserve confidence in their accounting practices.\n"If (a casino's) auditor is under criminal indictment, it creates a negative perception from the public," Cory Aronovitz of the Casino Law Group in Chicago told the Post-Tribune for a story published Sunday.\nBill Keegan, spokesman for NiSource, the parent company of Northern Indiana Public Service Co., declined to elaborate on the corporation's relationship with Andersen.\nState utility regulators say they are unlikely to intervene in NiSource's choice of auditors.\n"I really doubt it's something we would get in the middle of," said Mary Beth Fisher, an Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission spokeswoman. "We don't micromanage these people."\nAndersen is accused of shredding tons of documents and deleting computer files related to bankrupt Enron. The firm pleaded innocent to those charges last week.\nAndersen is the dominant auditor for the gambling industry and serves three casinos in northern Indiana: Harrah's, Trump and Horseshoe.\nHarrah's operates a casino in East Chicago. Company spokesman Gary Thompson declined to comment on whether the casino is seeking another auditor.\nAt Trump, which runs a casino in Gary, Ind., corporate treasurer John P. Burke said the company plans for Andersen to complete the casino's audit for the year, but executives are prepared to change accountants if needed.\nKirk Saylor, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Horseshoe Gaming Corp., which runs a casino in Hammond, Ind., said the company may begin searching for a new accountant, depending on developments.\n"More than likely I would assume we're going to have to change because they're going to not be in business anymore," Saylor said.\nThe casinos might not have a choice. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement last week filed a motion with its regulating board that would prohibit New Jersey casinos, their parent companies and their affiliates from using Andersen as an auditor.\nJack Thar, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, said he will honor such an order, meaning Harrah's, Horseshoe and Trump would be forced to find new auditors.\nIn the meantime, Thar has ordered all Indiana casinos to submit a written report detailing their relationships with their auditors, even if they do not use Andersen.\nState gambling regulators have the authority to ban casinos from using Andersen, but they plan to wait before issuing any order.\n"We're dealing with an issue that could cause tens of thousands of people to be unemployed, so we'll go slowly with that," Thar said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
TERRE HAUTE -- The federal government's decision to seek the death penalty against the only person charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could lead to Zacarias Moussaoui's imprisonment here at the U.S. Penitentiary.\nThe prison is home to the nation's only federal death row, and was the site of last June's execution of Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City.\nThe Justice Department announced Thursday it will seek the death penalty against Moussaoui, a French flight student of Moroccan descent who goes on trial in the fall in federal court in Alexandria, Va.\nThe 33-year-old is accused of participating in a conspiracy before the attacks and prosecutors will try to show ties to other accused terrorists.\nTo win a death sentence, prosecutors must convince jurors that Moussaoui is just as guilty of the crimes as the 19 hijackers aboard three U.S. jetliners.\nFour of the six counts brought against Moussaoui carry a maximum sentence of death.\nIn Terre Haute, officials already are considering the possibility of housing Moussaoui at the penitentiary.\n"We have thought about it and talked about it," said 1st Sgt. Jeff Nicoson of the Indiana State Police Post in Terre Haute.\nSince McVeigh's execution by lethal injection, "those things do catch our attention more than they used to," Nicoson said, referring to rare federal death penalty cases.\nThe experience officials in Terre Haute gained through the heightened security and media scrutiny surrounding McVeigh's execution could come in handy if Moussaoui is convicted and sentenced to death.\n"We did it once," Nicoson told the Tribune-Star. "We can do it again."\nThe city's assistant police chief, Jerry Arney, agreed.\n"I don't think it would be detrimental to this city," Arney said of the possibility of Moussaoui being executed in Terre Haute.\nLeanna Turner, spokeswoman for the U.S. Penitentiary, said security procedures already in place would be sufficient for any inmate -- including one labeled as a terrorist.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration, which expressed no regret when the Venezuelan military ousted the country's elected president last week, advised Hugo Chavez on Sunday to make good use of a second chance to govern. \n"We do hope that Chavez recognizes that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time," said Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser. \nShe said Chavez "needs to respect constitutional processes" during this tumultuous period in Venezuela, the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States and the world's fourth biggest exporter. \nChavez returned Sunday to the presidential palace in Caracas, the capital, after he was freed by his military captors. Two days earlier, army commanders had forced him from office. \n"I hope that Hugo Chavez takes the message that his people sent him, that his own policies are not working for the Venezuela people, that he's dealt with him in a high-handed fashion," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press." \nRice said she hopes Chavez "understands this is a time for national reflection, that he recognizes it's time for him to reflect on how Venezuela got to where it is." \nAt the time Chavez was ousted, the White House put the blame on Chavez because of attempts to violently put down a demonstration. Bush's spokesman said the Venezuelan government "suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people…It led very quickly to a combustible situation in which Chavez resigned." \nBut Chavez's family, supporters and former government officials insisted he never resigned as president, as the interim president, Pedro Carmona, and Venezuela's high command claimed. \nChavez had befriended Cuban President Fidel Castro and turned up in Iraq and Libya -- all countries on the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. In February, Secretary of State Colin Powell said it was "strange" that Chavez would see fit to visit such countries. \nChavez also angered Washington with his strong opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. \n"This is no time for a witch hunt," Rice said. "This is a time for national reconciliation in Venezuela"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
EVANSVILLE -- Two groups critical of the proposal to extend Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville are denouncing the state's payment of more than $750,000 to a consulting firm.\nBecause of the consulting fees, the cost of the Indiana Department of Transportation's study of five routes for the highway has jumped more than 15 percent to $9.1 million.\n"It's outrageous," said Andy Knott, air and energy policy director for the Hoosier Environmental Council. "It's hard to find the words. At a time when state agencies are cutting services to the bone, INDOT is going out and spending more money on a boondoggle project."\nThe money was paid to Bernardin, Lochmueller & Associates, the Evansville consulting firm preparing an environmental-impact study that is expected to be complete sometime this year.\nINDOT Commissioner Bryan Nicol said new federal regulations made it necessary to spend additional money.\nMost of the money paid for deeper studies of historic buildings and archaeological sites, required by federal regulations, said Mike Grovak, I-69 project manager for the consulting firm.\nGrovak said the regulations require an extensive outreach to "consulting parties," including groups as diverse as local government officials and out-of-state American Indian tribes with interests in archaeological resources.\n"It seems to me, if we skirt environmental rules and regulations, we'd be criticized for that," Nicol told the Evansville Courier and Press for a story published Friday. "It's unfair for those groups that have their own particular route they're promoting to attack us for complying with federal rules and regulations."\nEnvironmental groups advocate an I-69 route that uses U.S. 41 and Interstate 70 through Terre Haute because they say it would be less expensive and do less harm to farmland and wildlife.\n"Of course they should comply with historic preservation laws, if that's part of the (environmental-impact) statement," Knott said. "The question still remains: Is the taxpayer getting their money's worth out of these studies? I believe (the) answer is no."\nSandra Tokarski, a founding member of the Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads, was also critical.\n"I say 'Too bad. Figure it out, guys,'" Tokarski said. "Who do you know that can just say, 'Whoops! We're practically $2 million over budget and not even finished yet.'"\nNicol said INDOT has done its share in cutting government spending.\n"Nobody's offering to do all this work for free," Nicol said of the environmental study. "And to preserve the integrity of the project, we need a top-notch work product"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Bar association lobbies for prisoner's release\nGARY -- The James C. Kimbrough Bar Association is lobbying the Indiana Parole Board for the release of a Kokomo man serving a life sentence for murder.\nThe group, the largest and oldest black bar association in Indiana, says Charles Lockert, who is black, has been treated unfairly by the state's criminal justice system.\nLockert's last attempt for parole was denied in fall 2001. His next scheduled parole hearing is in five years.\nVeteran Lake County defense attorney Darnail Lyles, a member of the Kimbrough Bar Association, has been representing Lockert before the parole board since 1989.\n"I committed myself and services to him because in my legal opinion, Charles did not and has not gotten a fair shake from the criminal justice system," Lyles told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville for a story Sunday.\nLockert was one of three people charged in the kidnapping and murder of 33-year-old Connie Jo Fivecoate of Kokomo and her 8-year-old son in July 1974. He pleaded guilty to felony murder and received a life sentence in February 1975.\nOne of the other defendants, 35-year-old Ralph Edward Murphy, was convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence. At a parole hearing for Lockert in 1992, Murphy testified that Lockert did not shoot the victims or have a gun that night.\nBut the parole board has denied Lockert's parole request because a provision in his plea agreement allowed prosecutors to charge him with a pending murder charge if he sought post-conviction relief.\nThat charge eventually was dropped, but Lockert remains behind bars.\nValarie Parker, vice chairwoman of the Indiana Parole Board, said Lockert has not been released because of the nature and circumstances of the case.\nPolice still seeking escaped Orange County inmates\nPAOLI, Ind. -- Police were searching for a car Saturday they suspect was stolen the previous night by three inmates who escaped from the Orange County Jail.\nThe car, a dark blue 1988 Oldsmobile four-door with a damaged grille, was stolen sometime after 10 p.m. Friday night near Livonia in southern Indiana, police said.\nThe car, which has a license plate number 88B2375, was taken from within a mile of where the men ditched a van they fled in following the jail break Thursday night, an Orange County dispatcher told The Associated Press.\nAuthorities said Jeffrey Hayden, 19; Kerry Silvers, 28; and Larry Holden, 21, used a fake gun made of toilet paper and a hand-made knife to overpower two officers and escape from the Orange County Jail in Paoli. Paoli is about 45 miles northwest of Louisville, Ky., on the eastern edge of the Hoosier National Forest.\nSilvers, of Springville, also had escaped from the Lawrence County Jail in 2000. He was later caught in Orange County.\nAuthorities said the men were considered armed and dangerous and urged area residents to lock their homes and vehicles.\n"People are kind of scared right now," said the dispatcher, who identified himself as Doug but declined to give his last name.\nTwo of the men have ties in southern Indiana, while one has links to Texas and another has a girlfriend who lives in Indianapolis, he said.\nPossible cases of cheating could derail graduations\nMERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Seniors at two high schools in northwest Indiana may be ruled ineligible to graduate if investigators determine they cheated on a state-mandated test.\nOfficials at the Indiana Department of Education say they will decide by the end of the school year whether students cheated on the ISTEP exam at Lew Wallace and West Side high schools in Gary.\nIf cheating is found, seniors who just passed the test would not be able to graduate unless they won an appeal or fulfilled the state's 40 core requirements, a mix of academic credits, attendance and grades.\nThe district would also be forced to correct the problem, which could include firing employees. Otherwise, the two schools will not receive next year's ISTEP materials, said Mary Tiede Wilhelmus, a spokeswoman for the department.\nQuestions about the tests arose after graders noticed strong similarities in ISTEP essay sections. Many of the essays were nearly exact replicas, aside from adjective changes.\nWes Bruce, state director of assessment, said the similarities could indicate that tests were opened too soon, that teachers coaxed students improperly or that students used prior tests as practice.\nThe school district's spokeswoman, Chelsea Stalling, said West Side and Wallace officials began collecting ISTEP prep materials, manuals and other test-related items for the investigation.\nIf the state finds an appropriate explanation, "that would be the end of it," Wilhemus said. If not, state officials could seek revocation of licenses for some teachers and administrators. The schools could also lose their accreditation.\nStudents insisted there had been no cheating.\n"I understand that the percentage of students that passed ISTEP went from 19 to 51 in (a year)," Wallace student Kia Sease told the Post-Tribune for a story published Saturday. "Couldn't it possibly mean that we have worked very hard to improve our education"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
INDIANAPOLIS -- As next week's primary draws closer, some lawmakers and minority advocates are expressing renewed concern that the Indiana General Assembly does not accurately represent the state's varied demographics.\nRetired, college-educated white men dominate the 150-member Legislature. Most are in their 50s and have helped shape state laws for more than a decade.\nWomen, who outnumber men in the state, are a distinct minority.\nThere's just one Hispanic to represent that booming population. And Indiana's mostly blue-collar work force is under-represented in an institution mostly made up of retirees, attorneys and educators.\n"It's about what life experiences you bring to the table. I could not effectively represent rural Indiana because I don't have those experiences, just as someone from rural Indiana may not understand the needs of the inner-city or African-Americans," said Rep. Bill Crawford, a black Democrat from Indianapolis.\nBut the makeup of the Legislature is unlikely to change much after this year's elections. Lawmakers acknowledge that the new districts they drew last year were designed in part to protect incumbents.\nThere are some opportunities. Because of retirements, voters will elect at least 13 new lawmakers in November. That, some advocates hope, will mean more opportunities for women.\n"We definitely need to see more women in the Legislature -- we need a Legislature that's more representative of women's voices and concerns," Tracy Horn, legislative coordinator for the Indiana National Organization for Women, told The Indianapolis Star for a story published Sunday.\nThere are just 26 female lawmakers out of 150 -- or 17 percent. That's far lower than the 52 percent of voting-age Hoosiers who are women.\nRep. Mary Kay Budak, R-LaPorte, was the only woman in her freshmen legislative class of 1980, making her one of the longest-serving females in the General Assembly. Only Rep. Phyllis Pond, R-New Haven, has served longer -- for 24 years.\nBudak saw the number of women lawmakers dive in 1996, when five female legislators lost their seats.\n"We just haven't seen the numbers pick up since then," Budak said. "They need to, because women bring a different perspective."\nShe said the time commitment also keeps women away.\nAnd that's keeping average working folks away from politics too, laments Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus. A lawmaker's most common occupation used to be attorney -- now it's retirement.\n"That's a concern because you want a cross-section of the public, and we're losing that," said Garton, who works as a dean for Ivy Tech State College.\nThe percentage of Hispanic lawmakers also is lopsided. Nearly four percent of Indiana's population is Hispanic -- and that number is growing. Yet Rep. John Aguilera, D-East Chicago, is the only Hispanic in the Legislature.\nThe General Assembly does a better job of mirroring the number of black Hoosiers. About eight percent of Indiana residents are black -- about the same percentage that serve in the General Assembly.\nStill, Crawford hopes there will be improvement.\n"Every segment of the population ought to have a seat at the table," Crawford said, "and that isn't always happening"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
MCCORDSVILLE, Ind. -- Farmers will be keeping a wary eye on Indiana skies this week as they wait for fields to dry out after a soaking string of storms that have delayed planting.\nCorn planting often begins in the third week of April. By this time of the month about seven percent of the crop is typically in the ground, according to data kept by the Indiana Agricultural Statistics Service.\nThis year, only two percent of the crop has been planted.\nRay Helms knows the frustration of waiting.\nFor weeks, Helms' fields in western Hancock County in central Indiana had been too wet to till. Then, more rain fell.\n"I'm feeling nervous," Helms said as he repaired an implement last week. "If we're out another week, we'll really get behind."\nProduction should not suffer as long as seeds are in the ground by May 10, state agricultural statistician Ralph Gann told The Indianapolis Star. But given the heavier-than-usual rain this month, that date could be in jeopardy.\nIt could take up to a week for wet fields to dry enough to allow planting. Additional rainfall will cause more delays and could force farmers into a race to give corn and soybean plants a chance to beat summer heat.\n"You only get one chance to plant," Helms said.\nVirtually no fieldwork has happened from Fort Wayne to Cincinnati, said Stan Hicks, chief operating officer at Harvest Land Cooperative in Richmond. The co-op has 21 stores between the cities selling herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer.\nPurdue University extension corn specialist Bob Nielsen said Indiana farmers are capable of planting nearly all their corn in two weeks, so there's still hope of nearly finishing before May 10.\nLarge operators are most likely to be slowed by the weather. While they have bigger equipment, they also are encumbered by logistics of moving equipment among fields sometimes dozens of miles apart.\nUntil the weather improves, farmers are fixing equipment and puttering with odd jobs.\nDoyne Lowder, who also farms near McCordsville, is fixing up an old sprayer for applying herbicides to fence rows. He found time to joke about meteorologists.\n"Right now they can pick rain and just about be right," he quipped. "It can be dry, and they can predict rain and be wrong"
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FORT WAYNE -- Kroger Co. and the union that represents more than 2,000 of its workers in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Decatur, Ill., have reached tentative contract agreements.\nThe three agreements with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 700, were reached hours before a midnight deadline Saturday. They are scheduled to be put to a ratification vote by Tuesday.\nUnion and company officials declined to discuss specifics of the agreements, except to say that the agreements include wage increases.\nCincinnati-based Kroger is a Fortune 500 company with fiscal 2001 sales of about $50.1 billion. The company is ranked No. 1 in its industry, according to Fortune magazine.\nThe two sides had been battling over health plan contributions until the company took the issue off the table Saturday morning.\nKroger had wanted union employees to begin making monthly contributions to the health plan, which company officials said was necessary for Kroger to remain competitive.\nKroger spokesman Jeff Golc, though, said Saturday that other issues in the agreements allowed Kroger to remain competitive without demanding that workers pay into the health plan.\n"We think the negotiations were successful," union spokesman Rian Wathen said. "We believe the employees will be pleased that this is a package that not only preserves that health insurance but additionally offers them wage increases and addresses some other outstanding issues that we had on the table"
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State education officials said more than 230 Indiana schools have failed to meet national standards for improving the academic achievement of low-income students.\nAs a result of those schools' failings, parents whose children attend one of the schools will be allowed to transfer to higher-performing ones beginning this fall under a new federal mandate.\nStill, officials do not think large numbers of parents will seek to have their children transferred under the new mandate, which builds on the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act.\n"With this new law ... there's a huge consequence that didn't exist before," said Linda Miller, assistant superintendent of special populations for the Indiana Department of Education.\nThe mandate, passed by Congress last year as part of President Bush's "No Child Left Behind Act," makes major changes in state testing, school accountability and teacher quality.\nIt also authorizes allocating grant money to 45 Grade K-12 education programs, the largest of which is Title 1 -- a program intended to help keep at-risk children from failing.\nOf the state's 824 Title 1 schools, 237 have been flagged for their failure to improve based on student scores on the ISTEP-Plus exam.\nThe mandate places all schools under tougher accountability measures tied to federal funding. While some educators believe those aims may be worthy, they believe the sweeping reform law is flawed.\n"That every single child will meet the standards they've established is exactly as likely as George Bush eradicating every terrorist from the earth," said H. Douglas Williams, superintendent of Perry Township Schools in Marion County.\nSchools receive federal education grants based on the percentage of low-income children enrolled. Indiana will receive $834 million in 2003, including $170.2 million for Title I grants for 287 eligible school districts serving 110,434 children.\nDuncan Pat Pritchett, superintendent of one of those districts -- Indianapolis Public Schools -- worries that the new law will create inequities.\n"We need to make all schools better, not just the schools receiving Title I funds," he said.\nOther school districts are struggling to comply, including South Bend Community Schools, which has eight of its 24 elementary schools labeled for improvement. The 21,603-student St. Joseph County district is under a federal desegregation order and needs to close two schools.\n"That has really complicated the issue," said district official Janet Carey, adding that parental school choices are limited.
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Nine indicted in alleged drug ring\nBLOOMINGTON -- Nine people have been accused in a federal indictment of taking part in a drug trafficking ring that authorities say moved crack cocaine from Detroit to Bloomington.\nFour of the nine people have been arrested. However, U.S. Attorney Melanie Conour declined to identify them Friday and would not say whether they were still in custody.\nThe indictments were issued in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis Jan. 24 against a mix of Detroit and Bloomington residents, but were only recently made public.\nAll nine individuals are accused of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute powder cocaine and 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base, commonly known as crack.\nThey are accused of conspiring to operate an illegal drug operation from November 1999 to Feb. 19, 2001, according to the indictment.\nAt least two of the defendants from Bloomington have been arrested in the past by local authorities on drug-related or other charges.\nAuthorities previously have said that a tightly structured group of dealers from Detroit had become a major source of the crack cocaine supply in Bloomington.\nProsecutors said the organization consisted of friends and family members who operated the drug ring like a franchise.\nPoultry truck explosion deliberate\nBLOOMINGTON -- An explosion that damaged a truck at a poultry plant was deliberate, authorities said.\nNo one was injured in the explosion Friday at the Sims Poultry Plant.\nThe refrigerated truck was apparently rigged to explode and connected by a trail of gasoline to other trucks in the plant parking lot, said Jeff Groh, an agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The other trucks did not catch fire, however.\nCompany owner Richard Dunbar was baffled by the event. "I'm just at a loss to say as to who would want to do this to us," he said. "It's kind of scary. When you think what could have been, we're very lucky."\nATF agent Groh declined to speculate on a motive but said the company had been the target of animal rights activists in the past.\nThe plant, which employs five people, packages chicken for distribution for area retailers. No slaughtering takes place at the site.\nIndiana businesses receiving tax bills\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Tax bills sent out last week to more than 100,000 Indiana businesses have prompted thousands of complaints from business owners caught off guard by the billings.\nThe little-known tax, which state lawmakers quietly approved last year to fund worker-training programs, is due at month's end. Over the next three years, businesses will pay about $59 million into the programs.\n"It has generated a lot of questions and concerns, but some people are calling because they're interested in accessing the training money," said department spokesman Patrick Murphy.\nReport: Indiana guard ranks near bottom\nINDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Army National Guard ranks near the bottom in the nation in preparedness, with more than a third of its soldiers ill-prepared for military duty, a report concludes.\nThirty-five percent of Indiana Army Guard soldiers do not meet the individual training requirements outlined in their military job titles, according to a report by federal Guard officials.\nThe report was prepared for The Indianapolis Star at the newspaper's request and detailed in Sunday's edition.\nThe Star reported that not only is Indiana 43rd among the 54 national guards, so many soldiers have left the Indiana Army Guard in recent years that it now has one of the largest manpower shortages among state guards.\nDuring the past four years, Indiana's Army Guard has shrunk by more than 10 percent. \nIndiana's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. George A. Buskirk Jr., acknowledges the problems, but believes the situation is not dire.\n"We are not going to hell in a handbasket," Buskirk said.
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Sarcastic comic Jack Black and comely "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star Sarah Michelle Gellar have been tapped to host the MTV Movie Awards show. \nMTV President Van Toffler said Friday he hoped teaming the outrageous comic rocker with the attractive vampire slayer "will make for an explosive and unpredictable show." \nThe music network encourages outrageousness during the program, with 2000 host Sarah Jessica Parker appearing clad only in a towel at one point, and Hugh Jackman and John Travolta accepting a dare last year to flash their bellies onstage. \nBlack, star of "Shallow Hal" and singer with the folk-rock duo Tenacious D, was nominated for an MTV movie award for playing a persnickety music lover in 2000's "High Fidelity." \nGellar played the part of an oversexed, conniving teenager in 1999's "Cruel Intentions," winning MTV Movie Awards for best female performance and best kiss (with actress Selma Blair).
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FRANKLIN -- A gun enthusiast is challenging a 21-year-old county ordinance, claiming that it violates his constitutional right to bear arms.\nThe ordinance prohibits anyone except a police officer from carrying a loaded gun within 500 feet of a plated subdivision in unincorporated Johnson County.\nJohn Lowe claims the ordinance is too broad and could prohibit a resident near a subdivision from displaying an assembled gun in a case hanging on the wall of his home.\n"Do I really think they'll enforce it that way? No," Lowe told The Daily Journal for a story Wednesday. "But they could. They could enforce it that way."\nA lack of clear intent of the central Indiana county's ordinance is one of the reasons Lowe filed a complaint this month asking a judge to rule that the ordinance is unconstitutional.\nLowe's suit claims that the ordinance violates his right to liberty and property provided in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and his right to bear arms for self-defense provided in the preamble to the Indiana Constitution.\nThe suit also cites a state law passed in 1994 that says local governments "may not regulate in any manner the ownership, possession, sale, transfer or transportation of firearms."\nCounty attorney Tom Jones said he had not yet had much time to review Lowe's suit. He planned to search for legal precedent stating that the reasonable regulation of firearms is constitutional, he said.\n"Either I'll find a law or I won't," Jones said. "If I do, we'll win it. If I don't, we won't."\nLowe wasn't aware of the local ordinance until Johnson County sheriff's deputies arrived at his home west of Greenwood in May 2001 after a neighbor complained that he was shooting in his back yard.