Tristate Regional News, Tuesday 2/19

Indianapolis Summary: 2012 Super Bowl Bid To be Announced Today By Ballard (Indianapolis) -- Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will announce the citys 2012 Super Bowl bid today. Ballard and other leaders will make the announcement at 3:30 p.m. Indianapolis lost the 2011 Super Bowl to Dallas by just two votes. It appears that Indianapolis is up against Phoenix and Houston this time around. Those cities stadiums have been described as comparable to the new Lucas Oil Stadium, that replaces the RCA Dome. Phoenix just finished hosting Super Bowl 42 at Glendales University of Phoenix Stadium. --- Bill On Illegal Immigration Approved By House Committee (Indianapolis) -- A bill aiming to curb illegal immigration in Indiana has passed one state House committee and appears destined for another one. Senate Bill 335 was amended by the House Public Policy Committee to include financial resources to support its enforcement. That means the proposal will have to be approved by the Ways and Means Committee. Employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants could eventually face the loss of their business license for repeated offenses. The legislation now affects all employees in a company. Committee chairman Trent Van Haaften worried last week about a provision that appeared to exempt most seasonal workers. House and Senate return to their desks at 1:30 this afternoon. --- Hill Files For Ninth District Race (Indianapolis) -- Indiana Ninth District Representative Baron Hill has filed to run for re-election. Hill could meet familiar foe Mike Sodrel in the general election this fall. The pair have faced off in the last three elections, with Hill winning in 2002 and 2006. Hill faces three other candidates in the Democratic primary this May. Sodrel is unopposed in the Republican primary. --- Deadline Today for Indiana Do-Not Call List (Indianapolis) -- Today is the deadline to register for Indianas Do Not Call List. Residents that place their numbers on the list by 11:59 p.m. tonight will be covered by the law beginning on April 1st. Officials say if youve registered in the past, its not necessary to register again unless your telephone number has changed. The "courier journal" reports that you can sign up for the list by visiting attorneygeneral.IN.gov or by calling 1-888-834-9969. --- Family Wants Answers For Water-Logged Graves (Madison) -- Some family members continue asking for answers after finding out that their loved ones were buried in waterlogged graves at a southern Indiana cemetery. Officials say last year allegations surfaced concerning missing money and water-logged graves at the Grandview Memorial Gardens. Many family members say their loved ones are still buried in subpar conditions. A class-action lawsuit has been filed limiting the flow of information. A public meeting will be held on February 27th to discuss the issue with the Jefferson County, Indiana prosecutor. --- House Fire In Indianapolis Leaves Couple Homeless (Indianapolis) -- A house fire this morning has left a couple homeless. The scene was on Coffey Street close to the GM plant. There were no injuries. The residents were not home at the time. The causes of the fire remains under investigation. --- Carmel Student Killed In Crash (Carmel) -- A Carmel High School students was killed in a crash yesterday. Investigators say that 16-year-old Michael Schenkel died after his car and two other vehicles, including a cement mixer, collided. The crash happened at 146th Street. Police say the teen pulled out in front of the mixer from Stephanie Street and was hit. His car then was knocked across the median and into another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle was injured. The driver of the cement mixer was not injured. --- Woman Dies After Falling Through Ice (Greenfield) -- A woman died yesterday after she fell through the ice. Fifty-seven-year-old Mei Dunn died from the effects of exposure and hypothermia. Rescuers say Dunn was trying to get her dog on an ice-covered pond when she went through the middle of the pond near Meridian Road and U S 40. Tow responders fell into the water during the rescue. They were treated for exposure and hypothermia. The womans dog was not found. Kentucky Summary: (Frankfort, KY) -- A California companys recall of 143-million pounds of beef is reaching Kentucky. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture says a small portion of beef has been distributed to at least 17 Kentucky school districts. Several Kentucky districts have confirmed they have received the beef and are not going to serve it. (Grayson, KY) -- A Carter Circuit Court Judge is moving the trial of Robert Lee Drown. Drown is charged with the murder of Jennifer Ison and her two-daughters. Judge Rebecca Phillips says "It is going to be difficult, in our county, to find people who would be indifferent." The judge has not set a new location for the trial, but the judge has been researching the possibility of moving the trial to Johnson County. (Frankfort, KY) -- Kentucky State Police report that eight of thirteen-people who lost their lives in fatal accidents in Kentucky last week were not wearing seat belts. So far this year there have been 74 motor vehicle fatalities and 52 victims were not wearing seat belts. (Mt. Sterling, KY) -- A worker was injured at the Nestle Plant in Mt. Sterling. The unidentified womans arm became trapped in an assembly line. Paramedics say they had to use saws to free her. She was flown to the UK Medical Center for treatment. (Hindman, KY) -- Transportation officials say a rapid change in temperature may have caused several-cars of a coal train to derail. 6 cars of a CSX train went off the tracks near the Floyd - Knott line. There were no injuries and the cars did not overturn. Officials say the tracks may have not been able to keep up with the rapid transition from warm temperatures Sunday to cold temperatures on Monday. (Stanford, KY) -- Coach Billy Gillispie steps up to help a woman in the Lincoln County area. A woman called a Stanford radio station trying to sell her car on the "General Store" show. She said she needed to sell the car to get money to pay for a trip to her fathers funeral in Cleveland. Apparently Coach Gillispie was listening and called the station "off the air" offering to help, the station says he sent a check. (Lexington, KY) -- Kentucky Educational Television has announced a new host for "Comment on Kentucky." Ferrell Wellman will fill the seat left vacant by Al Smith who hosted the public affairs program for several-decades. The "Courier Journal" reports Wellman has taught at Eastern Kentucky University for the past 15-years after a career at Kentucky television and radio stations. Chicago Summary: Services For NIU Shooting Victims Continue Today (DeKalb) -- Hundreds of mourners bid farewell to 20-year-old Catalina Garcia in Cicero yesterday. Hers was the first of five funerals this week for victims of last Thursdays NIU school shootings. Private services were held in St. Charles for 19-year-old Ryanne Mace of Carpentersville. Today, 20-year-old Dan Parmenter of Westchester will be laid to rest in Oakbrook. Visitations are also planned today for 20-year-old Gayle Dubowski and 32-year-old military veteran Julianna Gehant. Funeral services for the two are Wednesday. --- Northern Illinois Faculty Returns To Work Today (DeKalb) -- Professors and other staff members will return to Northern Illinois University today. Theyll begin a week of training designed to help them aid students when classes resume next week. NIUs counseling department suggests faculty members urge students to share their emotional responses to last Thursdays shooting that killed five-students and injured eighteen more. But counselors also say instructors will need time to reflect, and should give themselves a chance to grieve. NIU has been shut down since the attacks. A memorial service will take place at the schools Convocation Center on Sunday night. Classes resume the next day. --- DeKalb Hospital Releases Last Surviving Victim Of NIU Shooting (DeKalb) -- Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb has discharged its final wounded victim from last Thursdays attack at Northern Illinois University. Twenty-year-old Samantha Dehner suffered gunshot wounds to the arm and leg which will take months of rehab to heal. She is also suffering from emotional trauma. Dehners friend Dan Parmenter of Westchester was among those killed. Other shooting victims remain hospitalized elsewhere. --- Man Arrested After Allegedly Showing Gun On Loyola Campus (Chicago) -- A man has been arrested after allegedly displaying a gun on Loyola Universitys campus on Chicagos Far North Side. Police say a Loyola graduate was seen around 2:20 p.m. with a disabled gun at the student union on the schools Rogers Park campus. The gun was apparently used as a prop in theatrical productions, and the man had signed the gun out of the schools theatre department. Police arrested the man in his vehicle in the eleven-hundred block of West Albion Avenue, near campus. The prop gun was a disabled 38-caliber Smith and Wesson. The man has not been charged. The incident happened just four-days after a gunman killed six-people including himself in an attack at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. --- Two Cops Shot In Suburban Gunfight (Burbank) -- One-person was killed and three others injured in a shootout at a Burbank motel last night. Two of the injured men were Burbank police officers. Authorities say they were shot in the hands and legs. All three injured men were hospitalized at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Officials have not released any of the victims names, including the man who died at the scene. The gunfight happened about 9 p.m. near the intersection of West 84th Place and South Cicero Avenue. Police have not released details of what led up to the shootings. --- Tinley Park Authorities Appeal To Clergy In Shooter Search (Tinley Park) -- Clergy members have joined with Tinley Park police to hunt for leads in this months Lane Bryant store shootings. Five-women were shot and killed during the botched robbery, and religious leaders like Ron Wilson are convinced someone knows who their killer is. They say anyone with information needs to come forward to help detectives. Police maintain their investigation is not stalled. They say a phone line set up specifically for the case has generated more than five-hundred tips, though some have been false leads. One-woman survived the February 2nd attacks and has helped police come up with two composite sketches of the gunman. --- Cop Passes Wrong Drug Test (Cicero) -- The Cicero police commander arrested in Chicago for marijuana possession passed a drug test, but it was apparently the wrong one. The "Chicago Tribune" reports Wesley Scott took and passed a urine test. Cicero officials say he should have been given a hair follicle test instead. They dont know why Scott was improperly tested, but say he will be given the hair test soon. Scott was pulled over for running a stop sign late last month. Chicago officers said they found a small amount of marijuana and a burned cigarette in his car. Scott is on administrative leave and could lose his job if he tests positive for drugs. --- Infant Dies After Alleged Shaking By Father (Woodstock) -- Bail is set at 500-thousand-dollars for a Woodstock teen accused of shaking his baby daughter to death. 18-year-old Salvador Avila of the 300 block of McHenry Avenue is charged with aggravated domestic battery and aggravated battery of a child. The infant was just over two-months-old. Prosecutors say the alleged shaking happened at a home in Harvard. Police say Avila then brought the girl to Mercy Harvard Hospital around noon Saturday. The baby was transferred to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where she died Monday. Authorities say the babys mother was not home when the incident took place. Upgraded charges against Avila are possible. Autopsy results are pending. --- County Health Care Funding Picket Held (Chicago) -- Health care advocates who want more money for the Cook County Bureau of Health Services held another in a series of pickets yesterday. About 350 health care workers, patients and doctors rallied at the Chicago Temple. Speakers at the picket said a ten-percent slash in the countys most recent budget caused clinic and staff cutbacks. They say those cuts endangered the lives of some low-income residents. County Board President Todd Stroger is pushing a sales-tax hike to fund health services, but commissioners have so far refused to go along. --- ACLU Sides With Teen In Shirt Battle (Naperville) -- The American Civil Liberties Union is backing a Naperville teenager who is suing for the opportunity to wear an anti-gay T-shirt to school. Last April, several-students at a school in the Indian Prairie School District 204 took part in the "Day of Silence" to support homosexual teens. The next day, the student says she tried to wear a shirt that said "Be Happy, Not Gay" to class but was stopped. ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka says there are free speech and freedom from discrimination issues at stake. (Copyright 2008 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-02-19-08 0433CST