Regional Summary, Monday 11/12

Indiana Summary: Westside Indianapolis Home Destroyed By Fire (Indianapolis) -- A fire over the weekend destroyed a home on the Indianapolis westside. Investigators say the fire happened early Sunday morning in the 66-hundred block of Bertha Street. Four people inside called for help. One person tried to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. Firefighters contained the blaze to one side of the house. Lightening is also blamed for a fire at a home in Brownsburg that left no injuries. --- Indianapolis Downtown Post Office Experiences Weekend Fire (Indianapolis) -- There was a fire Saturday afternoon in the basement of the Indianapolis downtown post office. Fire investigators say the fire started after an electrical malfunction. Indianapolis Power and Light workers had to cut off services to the building and the northwest quadrant while crew evaluated what damage was done. The power outage resulted in a three-car accident at an intersection that left no injuries. The fire also left no injuries. --- Monument Circle Closer To Christmas Lighting (Indianapolis) -- Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis is closer to brightening the city as it becomes the worlds tallest Christmas tree. Local electricians again are volunteering their time to help install lights on the monument. On Saturday, hundreds of them worked to install thousands of lights. Not just the monument, but trees and other sites around the circle are also to be bright for holiday cheer. More than 50 strands of garland will also adorn the area. The actual lighting of the monument will be held the day after Thanksgiving and will be on display into the new year. --- Man Sentenced To Die For Murder Of State Trooper Dies In Cell (Michigan City) -- Norman Timberlake was sentenced to die for the murder of an Indiana State Trooper, but he died over the weekend in his cell at Michigan City Prison of natural causes according to prison officials today. he was found by guards on Saturday morning. The 60-year-old was sitting in a chair with the TV on. Timberlake had been convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of Indiana State Master Trooper Michael Greene on February 5th, 1993 during a traffic stop along I 65. Greene was in the process of arresting another man when Timberlake pulled a gun and shot Greene before fleeing the scene. --- Bank In Munster, Indiana Robbed (Munster) -- The FBI is investigating the robbery of a northwest Indiana bank. Police tell the "Northwest Indiana Times" that the Citizens Bank located in the 17-hundred block of 45th Street in Munster was robbed around 11:15 Friday morning. No injuries were reported. --- Here Are Sundays Winning Numbers From the Hoosier Lottery Daily Three-Evening: 3-9-4; Daily Four-Evening: 8-8-0-6; Lucky Five-Evening: 2-7-20-23-28. Kentucky Summary: (Harlan, KY) -- Kentucky State Police report the bodies of a man and his son have been discovered in side an abandoned coal mine. Lisa Dixon got worried when her husband Rickey and son Kevin didnt return to their Cornettsville home on Saturday evening. Their vehicle near an abandoned mine at Big Laurel, inside troopers discovered the bodies of the 41 and 19-year-old men in an area of the mine with too little oxygen to sustain life. The mine has been abandoned since 2004. The cause of death has not been released. (Cynthiana, KY) -- A woman has died of gunshot wounds, her body discovered in a residence on Waits Road in Harrison County. Kentucky State Police say they believe the un-identified womans death was accidental, not the result of foul play. (Georgetown, KY) -- A highway widening project is being modified so the graves of thirty people wont have to be moved. Over thirty graves in the Crestlawn Cemetery in southern Scott County will remain untouched. State Transportation Cabinet plans to widen Lexington Road are being modified so the graves can remain undisturbed. The state wants to improve this highway link between Georgetown and Lexington before the 2010 World Equestrian Games (Frankfort, KY) -- The Kentucky Board of Education will interview the four finalists for state commissioner of education this week. How they will proceed after the interviews remains to be seen. Governor-Elect Steve Beshear met with the board last week and urged them to delay selecting a new commissioner and to re-open and expand their nationwide search. In a statement the Board of Education says it conduct the interviews of the four finalists, then decide how to proceed, that might include gathering more information on the finalists or extending the search. (Frankfort, KY) -- The Kentucky Public Service Commission is putting the new area code for western Kentucky on hold for awhile. Area code 364 will cover the western portion of the current 270 area code area. The PSC has moved the optional start date to January 1, 2009. The mandatory start date has not been determined. The new area code was created out of necessity as the 270 runs out of new numbers. (Lexington, KY) -- Kentucky American Water Company now has a reverse 911 Customer Emergency Notification System in place. In the event of a water emergency , the company using computer s can now almost instantly dial its customers and relay via a recorded message news of outages, boil water advisories and other issues. Kentucky American Water Company provides water to almost 500-thousand people. (Radcliff, KY) -- Western Kentucky University and local officials are taking part in special ceremonies in Radcliff today. WKU is announcing the creation of the Center for Regional Development. The new center will enable Western Kentucky University to make its education programs more accessible to area residents. (Frankfort, KY) -- Candidates are beginning to talk about the mayors race in Frankfort. The first candidate filed late last week. 78-year-old Gippy Graham is a former state representative. Other possible candidates are considering the race Commissioner Lynn Bowers, a Kentucky State professor says she intends to file her candidacy papers in January. Illinois Summary Closures Planned In Observance Of Veterans Day (Chicago) -- Most schools, banks and courts are closed today to observe the Veterans Day holiday. Government offices are also likely shut down. That includes the U.S. Post Office, so there will be no mail delivery. Some services are running as normal. Many libraries will keep their normal operating hours, as will mass transit in the Chicago area. If you have questions about closings in your area, be sure to call before leaving home. --- Security Job Cuts Rile Quinn As Blagojevich Blames Feds (Chicago) -- Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn wants to know why Governor Rod Blagojevich didnt stop the firing of 20 people from security jobs at the states National Guard armories. Seventeen of those who lost their jobs are veterans, and Quinn said yesterday the Governor should have stepped in. Blagojevich, in turn, is blaming the federal government for funding cuts and rule changes. His administration also says the displaced veterans were offered other state jobs. The state says twelve accepted the positions. But at least one of the veterans who did not take another job says the move would have meant 600 dollars a month less in pay. --- Peterson Searches To Continue This Week (Bolingbrook) -- The volunteer group leading the search for a missing Bolingbrook woman will turn its attention to bodies of water today. Twenty-three-year-old Stacy Peterson hasnt been heard from in more than two weeks. EquuSearch 1/81/8ECK-wuh-serch3/83/8 founder Tim Miller says his groups searchers are headed for waterways now before a cold snap makes it impossible to search there. Miller himself is headed south, to help search for missing teenagers in Alabama and Georgia. He plans to return to Bolingbrook later this week. Illinois State Police are calling the Peterson case a "potential homicide." Her husband, 53-year-old Bolingbrook Police Sergeant Drew Peterson, is officially being considered a suspect. He says Stacy left him for someone else. --- Massive Explosion Causes Millions Of Dollars In Damage (Springfield) -- Its going to take months, and millions of dollars, to fix the damage from a massive weekend explosion at the power plant in Springfield. No one was hurt in the blast Saturday night, but the explosion did temporarily knock out power to some people in the capital city. Engineers are still trying to figure what touched off the blast at the municipally owned power company. City Water Light and Power officials say the explosion destroyed part of the generation station. Springfield is getting power from backup facilities and other generators. --- One-Time Representatives Campaign Fines, Current Job Scrutinized (Chicago) -- The campaign fund for a former Illinois State Representative reportedly owes the state about as much money as the ex-politician now makes in a year working for the state. Democrat Calvin Giles served seven terms in the state House, but lost his 2006 re-election bid. In June, the Governor gave Giles a job with the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The "Chicago Sun-Times" reports Giles makes about 85-thousand dollars a year, which is just five-thousand dollars more than his defunct political fund owes in election fines. Illinois Board of Elections head Dan White says his agency has tried to collect the money, but the Illinois Revenue Department wont help. White has asked the Attorney General for an opinion. --- Airline Menu Exhibit Posted Online (Chicago) -- If you remember the days when airline passengers got more than a bag of peanuts for their cross-country trip, then youll enjoy a new exhibit on the website of the Northwestern University Library. More than 400 airline, cruise ship and railroad menus are now available for viewing online. The late Northwestern alumnus George Foster saved menus from his extensive travels as an anthropologist. Some menus date back to 1929. To see the menus, go to digital-dot-library-dot-northwestern-dot-edu. (Copyright 2007 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-11-12-07 0603CST