Post-Tribune

Boy Scouts vote to allow openly gay boys; conservative groups opposed change

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:14:34 -0500

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.

Obama defends drone strikes but says no cure-all

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:46:24 -0500

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday defended America’s controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary linchpin in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no “cure-all” and said he is haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed.

Crashes rekindle debate about seat belts on Indiana buses

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:07:37 -0500

SOUTH BEND (AP) — A state lawmaker hopes two high-profile collisions involving school buses in a week that left more than 60 people injured will spur parents to urge Indiana lawmakers to make seat belts on buses mandatory. State Rep. John Bartlett of Indianapolis introduced a bill requiring seat belts on buses that was referred to the Committee on Education during the legislative session earlier this year, but no action was taken. Legislative leaders said Thursday that lawmakers would review the use of seat belts on school buses during the summer in a committee looking at a broad range of …

Statehouse memorial honors late Indiana Gov. Bowen

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:50:01 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Top Indiana officials praised Otis Bowen’s humble nature and political legacy as a tax reformer Thursday during a Statehouse memorial for the popular two-term governor who began his career as a small-town physician. Republican Gov. Mike Pence and three former governors — Democrats Evan Bayh and Joe Kernan and Republican Edgar Whitcomb — attended the service in the Statehouse Rotunda, along with some of Bowen’s relatives and former staffers from his years in politics. House Speaker Brian Bosma addressed the gathering assembled before Bowen’s official state portrait and bronze bust. He said Bowen’s years as a physician …

2 Indiana hospital systems cutting jobs, other costs

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:10:01 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Indiana hospital systems say they’re both cutting an undisclosed number of jobs by June 30 because of increasing economic and competitive pressure on the health care industry. Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health and Evansville-based St. Mary Health announced Thursday that restructurings of their workforces will result in cuts to employed and contracted workers. Both are affiliated with St. Louis-based Catholic hospital group Allegiant Health and say they’re faced with budget shortfalls, decreasing reimbursement, and the national health care overhaul’s mandated reduction in payments. St. Vincent’s 22-hospital network website employs more than 3,000 physicians and 18,000 other employees. …

FBI: Man fatally shot in Boston bombing probe had knife

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:25:33 -0500

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Chechen immigrant was shot to death by authorities while being questioned in the Boston Marathon bombing case early Wednesday after he lunged at an FBI agent with a knife, officials said. Ibragim Todashev, a 27-year-old mixed martial arts fighter, was gunned down at his home during a meeting with the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers, authorities said. The agent was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. The FBI gave no details on why they were interested in Todashev. But acquaintances said Todashev knew one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Tamerlan …

Pence urges Congress to vote on media shield law

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:16 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is urging congressional leaders to bring a revived federal media shield law to a vote on the floors of the U.S. House and Senate. Pence was the author of a 2009 media shield bill that cleared the House but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. He wrote House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the two chambers’ minority leaders urging them to bring the new measure to a vote. The controversy over the government’s secret subpoena of Associated Press telephone records has led to the reintroduction …

17-pound bone found during Vigo County flood cleanup

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:16 -0500

TERRE HAUTE (AP) — Crews cleaning up from Wabash River flooding in western Indiana came across a 17-pound bone that they believe might have come from an ancient mastodon. The Vigo County highway department is keeping the bone that’s a couple feet long in an office for now and has informed researchers from the Indiana State Museum. Assistant highway superintendent Dan Bennett tells WTHI-TV the bone was found amid a washed-out section of a county road about 10 miles south of Terre Haute. Most of the road’s pavement was washed away during April flooding that broke through a nearby levee. …

Most students released after Wawasee school bus crash

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:16 -0500

NORTH WEBSTER (AP) — A northern Indiana school superintendent says most of the several dozen students hurt in a chain-reaction crash involving four buses have been released from hospitals. Superintendent Tom Edington says a Wawasee High School sophomore was transferred to a Fort Wayne hospital for further assessment, but her injuries weren’t believed to be serious. He says most students suffered bumps and bruises in Wednesday’s crash near North Webster, while one student had a broken hand and another broke a collarbone. The most serious injury was to bus driver John Wagoner, who was flown by helicopter to Parkview Hospital …

Hoosier lawmakers to review ISTEP test troubles

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:48:16 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana lawmakers will spend the coming months reviewing computer troubles with ISTEP test, the use of land banks to sell vacant property and other problems uncovered around the state. Legislative leaders say they would like more answers from McGraw-Hill and the Department of Education about troubles schools faced this month while administering the online ISTEP exam. Other committees will review how land is sold following a series of criminal charges filed against Indianapolis officials. A committee reviewing the state’s tax code is also expected to review problems with distribution of casino money. The Indiana Legislative Council met …

Fort Wayne schools want 3rd party to review ISTEP

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:14:01 -0500

FORT WAYNE (AP) — Indiana’s largest school district says it won’t accept results of this year’s standardized testing until an independent third party validates the scores. Fort Wayne Community Schools announced its position Wednesday in response to computer crashes and delays that frustrated many students during the testing period that began in late April, The Journal Gazette reported. School officials across the state have voiced concerns about the validity of this year’s scores, which assess student knowledge and help determine school rankings and teacher merit pay. A message left with a spokesman for test administrator CTB/McGraw Hill wasn’t immediately returned. …

45 Wawasee students hurt in chain-reaction Ind. bus crash

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:29:04 -0500

NORTH WEBSTER (AP) — Kosciusko County authorities say more than 45 middle and high school students were injured and a bus driver was seriously hurt in a chain-reaction crash involving four school buses. Kosciusko Community Hospital spokeswoman Joy Lohse says 43 people injured in the accident were being treated there. She says none are in serious or critical condition. She says she didn’t have any further information on how many of them were students or their exact conditions. A nursing supervisor at IU Health Goshen Hospital says four students being treated there are in good condition. Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Chad …

Indy mayor suspends land bank after indictments

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:06:00 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard suspended a city program that sells vacant and tax-delinquent properties a day after federal prosecutors indicted two of its top officials for allegedly accepting bribes and kickbacks. Ballard said Wednesday that FBI officials informed him only days prior to a raid to seize recrods of the Indianapolis Land Bank run by a former aide to the mayor, Reginald Walton. The raid occurred Tuesday just hours before federal prosecutors outlined charges against Walton and four others, including John Hawkins, a senior project manager for the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development. Ballard says his administration …

Indiana accepting nominations for service awards

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:22:41 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is seeking nominations for the Governor’s Service Awards. The award honors residents and volunteer groups for their work in a series of categories including corporate service, youth service and national service. Nominations are due by July 19. The winners will be recognized in October at the Governor’s Conference on Service and Nonprofit Capacity Building. More information is available at www.ofbci.in.gov/awards.htm . …

92-year-old woman found in house during meth raid

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:23:38 -0500

MUNCIE (AP) — State police say troopers found a 92-year-old woman inside a home where methamphetamine was being produced. An agency meth squad went to the home on Muncie’s south side on Tuesday, and officers report that they encountered overwhelming fumes from an active meth lab when the door was opened. State police Sgt. John Bowling says the 92-year-old woman on oxygen was among the people who were removed from the house. Bowling says an ambulance was called to the house, but the woman refused treatment. Police arrested a 46-year-old man on several felony charges, including meth manufacturing. A 46-year-old …

Henryville tornado survivors planning Oklahoma aid

Wed, 22 May 2013 15:23:06 -0500

HENRYVILLE (AP) — Some survivors of a deadly tornado that hit a southern Indiana town last year are making plans to help the Oklahoma community torn apart by a monstrous storm this week. Seeing video and pictures of the widespread damage in Moore, Okla., has brought back many memories in Henryville about the March 2012 tornado that raked across southern Indiana, killing 14 people. The Henryville school complex was badly damaged in the storm and was closed for months. Henryville Elementary Principal Glenn Riggs said the images from Oklahoma had many reliving last year’s storm. “I can hear my father, …