Regional Summary, Tuesday 10/30

Indiana Summary: IPS Facing Major Changes (Indianapolis) -- Indianapolis Public Schools are again looking at changes. The administration says that major changes are on the way. IPS of 2009 is to look much different if the superintendents reorganization plan is okayed by the IPS Board. Superintendent Eugne White is offering three kinds of high schools. They include thematic citywide magnet schools with Grades Seven through 12, high schools with Grades Seven through 12 that offer programs that link them more closely with the community, and traditional schools. Few so far have criticized the plan by White, at least publicly. Many parents in fact are expressing excitement about the idea. --- Indianapolis Marion County Republicans Go After Council President Grey (Indianapolis) -- Indianapolis Marion County Republicans are attacking County Council President Monroe Grey saying he is committing ethics violations. Last night the item was of prime concern as council members and others attended the weekly meeting at the City County Building. The call for an inquiry comes a week away from Election Day. Critics say that Gray holds jobs that present a conflict of interest. Republicans also have unveiled a new website that criticizes Democrats for their past votes and they have singled out four candidates who they see as vulnerable. Among those on the council being targeted, Democrat Sherron Franklin. She says she did not vote for the controversial income tax increase wanted by Mayor Peterson that recently passed, nor did she vote for the police merger which also has been finalized creating what is now known as the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. --- Body Of 44-Year-Old Woman Found In Her Broad Ripple Apartment (Broad Ripple) -- Indianapolis Metropolitan Police today are investigating the death of a 44-year-old woman whose body was found inside her Broad Ripple apartment yesterday. Investigators say that Jane Pepper had been stabbed to death. Coworkers and friends became concerned after not hearing from her since Thursday. Police were called, and her body was found. Neighbors say she was quiet, took care of her cats and flowers. Her coworkers at Methodist Hospital where she worked in administration say she was well-liked. --- College Students Death Believed Accidental (Crawfordsville) -- Crawfordsville Police are handling the death of a Wabash College student as an accident. Patrick Woehnker fell from the rooftop of Goodrich Hall early Sunday morning. An autopsy was completed Monday in Terre Haute, and police say there is no indication of foul play. A toxicology report is expected back within two-weeks. Woehnker 1/81/8 won-KER 3/83/8 was a freshman swimmer at the school. Visitation will be held Wednesday afternoon at Hite Funeral Home in Kendalville. The funeral is also at the Funeral Home on Thursday. --- Police Find Bomb Making Materials, Marijuana Plants At Home In Carroll County (Carroll County) -- Police yesterday raided a home in Carroll County and made quite a find. Investigators say they responded to a call of shots fired. When they arrived, they found materials for making a bomb and quite a number of marijuana plants. Automatic weapons including an AR 15 that could be switched to automatic fire were also located. Twenty-seven-year-old Jessie Snider was arrested. He faces five felony charges that include drug possession and dealing, possession of a destructive device and possession of a machine gun. --- Blue Tuesday Returns To Indianapolis (Indianapolis) -- If you are feeling blue today, it could be because you are a Colts fan. A lot of people are blue despite the Colts win, win, win season, and they are going to show it today as Blue Tuesday returns to Monument Circle in Indianapolis. People are encouraged to dress up in blue for all the festivities downtown. A special announcement from Colts owner Jim Irsay is to be among the highlights of the event. Its being touted as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Colts fans across Indiana. All the fun starts at 11:30 this morning. The Colts play New England in their next contest November 4th. Kentucky Summary: (Owensboro, KY) -- An Army reservist from Owensboro has died in Afghanistan. According to the Governors Office, 50-year-old Master Sergeant Thomas L. Bruner died of non-combat injuries in Kabul. He served with an Army Reserve unit based in Owensboro. Funeral arrangements are incomplete, the governor has directed flags fly at half-staff in honor of Sergeant Bruner. (Louisville, KY) -- Sixty-seven-year-old Randy Wells, chief of police in Forest Hill, was fatally injured when a truck struck his car. Chief Wells was working off-duty blocking traffic on the Gene Snyder Freeway for a crew installing reflectors in the roadway. Wells had served as Forest Hills chief for 16 years. (Frankfort, KY) -- Nine people died on Kentucky roadways last week. Kentucky State Police report the nine people died in eight separate accidents, all in motor vehicles. KSP investigators say five of the people killed were not wearing seat belts. (Lexington, KY) -- Negotiators for striking nurses and representatives of Appalachian Regional Healthcare are to meet again this week at the bargaining table. Both sides met with a federal mediator on Monday. Over 600 nurses went on strike on October 1st at ARH facilities in Kentucky and West Virginia. (Morehead, KY) -- Morehead Police are searching for two men who broke into a house in Morehead. The men locked the senior citizen living there in a room and ransacked the house. The woman is now safe, but remains frightened by the incident. The thieves escaped with money and other items. (Taylorsville, KY) -- Investigators say remains discovered in Spencer County near Taylorsville Lake are a murder victim. WLEX-TV reports the man had been dead for over six months. The unidentified man is six foot tall, with sandy blonde hair, in his mid 50s. He wore glasses or contacts and size 13 shoes. Investigators believe he was shot to death. (Frankfort, KY) -- Now there are four finalists for state Education commissioners. The state Board of Education selected five finalists, but on Monday one finalist opted out of the running. The name of the finalist has not been released. The board hopes to have a new Education commissioner selected by the end of November. (Louisville, KY) -- Peabody Energy is focusing on five Western Kentucky counties for a possible three-billion-dollar coal-to-natural gas facility. The new facility would mean hundreds of jobs. Peabody executives dont know for sure if the plant will be built, they must first conduct an extensive feasibility study. Illinois Summary: Jerome Finnigan Reportedly Cooperates With Authorities (Chicago) -- An allegedly corrupt Chicago Police officer facing charges of home invasion, kidnapping, robbery and plotting to kill fellow officers is cooperating with federal authorities. The "Chicago Sun-Times" reports Jerome Finnigan is working to try and shave years off potential prison time. Federal authorities want his testimony to try and get someone higher up in the Chicago Police Department. Finnigan was a member of the Special Operations Section, a once-elite unit that was disbanded earlier this month. Finnigan reportedly had the third most complaints in the Chicago Police department between 2001 and 2005. --- Lawmakers To Again Try Regional Sales Tax For Mass Transit (Chicago) -- Just five-days remain before the CTAs doomsday plan of fare hikes, layoffs and service cuts is scheduled to go into effect. Mayor Daley yesterday called it "do or die" time for state lawmakers to find a funding solution for mass transit. House Speaker Michael Madigan says he will call for a vote Friday to raise the regional sales tax by one-quarter-of-one-percent, a plan that failed earlier this year. And if it doesnt pass Friday, he says hell call yet another vote next Monday, a day after the CTAs cuts would take effect. Madigan also claims there is significant state Senate support for the plan. The Senate is scheduled to convene Friday in case a bill is passed. Governor Blagojevich is strongly opposed to such a tax hike, but it would take the same number of legislative votes to override a veto as it would to send the bill to the Governor in the first place. The CTA says it will cut 39-bus routes, lay off hundreds of workers, and raise fares on Sunday without a mass transit funding solution. --- Broader Moment Of Silence Lawsuit Suggested As Judge Refuses Injunction (Chicago) -- The lawyer for an atheist and his daughter suing over the states new "moment of silence" requirement for schools says he will amend their lawsuit to target different defendants. Rob Sherman and his 14-year-old daughter Dawn sought a temporary restraining order blocking Buffalo Grove High School from holding the moment of silence. They claim the law is an attempt to endorse religion in public schools. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman yesterday declined to impose the order after hearing a promise from the school district that the observance would not be religious in nature. He also told the plaintiffs that individuals such as Dawn Shermans homeroom teacher should be removed from the lawsuit. Instead, Gettleman indicated a suit against the State Board of Education and governors office might be more appropriate. Lawyer Gregory Kulis says he will make the required changes. --- Shoplifting Romanian Boxers Kicked Out Of Amateur Boxing Agency (Chicago) -- Three-Romanian boxers caught shoplifting in a downtown Chicago store have been kicked out of the World Boxing Championships, the International Boxing Association, and the country. A-I-B-A officials say the three-fighters and a team manager took items from Nordstrom Rack on State Street. Charges were not filed, and the value of the items they took would make the crimes a misdemeanor. The boxers had already been eliminated in the tournament. --- Chicago Heights Woman Hasnt Been Heard From Since Sunday Jog (Chicago) -- Police will search again today for a missing Chicago Heights woman last heard from during a jog in the Sauk Trail Woods Forest Preserve. Thirty-nine-year-old Alma Mendez called her sister as she began her Sunday afternoon jog in South Chicago Heights. Police say family members then found her SUV in a forest preserve parking lot several hours later, when she did not return phone calls. South Chicago Heights Public Safety Director Bill Joyce says more than 50-police officers searched the forest Monday, using dogs, a helicopter, and GPS technology. Authorities say there is currently no sign of foul play. Detectives have interviewed Mendez family, including an estranged husband she separated from just weeks ago after 19-years of marriage. --- Bolingbrook Police Sergeants Wife Missing (Bolingbrook) -- A Bolingbrook woman who did not show up to help a friend paint is now considered a missing person. The State Police is handling the disappearance of Stacy Ann Peterson, whose husband is a Bolingbrook Police Sergeant. The 23-year-old hasnt been heard from since 10 a.m. Sunday. Shes described as five-foot-two, 100-pounds with brown hair and eyes. --- Oswego High Threats Called Unfounded (Oswego) -- School officials are encouraging Oswego High students to ignore rumored threats and head to school this morning. Administrators and Oswego Police officers say the alleged threats against students and staff are unfounded. In a statement posted on the schools website, authorities say they have turned up no credible threat to anyone. They also say rumors will be thoroughly investigated. --- Detective Hired To Investigate Winfrey School Abuse Claims (Chicago) -- Oprah Winfrey is asking a former Cook County Sheriffs Detective to investigate claims of abuse at her South Africa school. The "Chicago Sun-Times" reports Robert Farley will join a team of investigators looking into allegations of physical and sexual abuse at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. The school opened earlier this year, with Oprah footing most of the bill. Winfrey and school officials have not said much about the case. But CEO John Samuel has said the inquiry was launched based on "one serious claim of misconduct". --- Authorities End Evergreen Park Standoff With Tear Gas (Evergreen Park) -- A standoff that began as a domestic disturbance ended almost four-hours later with authorities using tear gas to apprehend an Evergreen Park man. Authorities say a 36-year-old man barricaded himself inside his home in the 27-hundred block of West 99th Street about 8:15 p.m. yesterday. He threatened to shoot any officers who tried to approach the house. After evacuating nearby houses, negotiators tried to get the man to come out. When those talks broke down, SWAT teams fired tear gas into the home, went inside, and arrested the man without incident. Its reportedly not the unidentified mans first run-in with the law. A neighbor tells the "Chicago Tribune" the man ran into her house about five-years ago and barricaded himself inside. That incident also ended peacefully. The man has not been identified, and charges are pending. --- Protesters Disrupt U.S. House Mass Transit Hearing (Chicago) -- A U.S. House hearing on mass transit in Chicago yesterday was disrupted by protesters upset about the current state of the CTA. The dozen protesters only agreed to quiet down after Congressman Bobby Rush agreed to meet with them afterward. The hearing focused on transportation needs for Chicagos possible 2016 Summer Olympics. But the activists, and those at a rally outside the Dirksen Federal Building yesterday, were upset because mass transit has more immediate needs. Fares will go up and bus routes cut under the CTAs "doomsday" plan, scheduled to take effect Sunday, unless more funding is found at the state level. At the hearing itself, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon said Illinois is in "full crisis mode", and that the "whole country" would be watching what lawmakers did to assist mass transit. (Copyright 2007 by Newsroom Solutions) RNS-10-30-07 0629CDT