INDIANAPOLIS — A massive explosion sparked a huge fire and killed two people in an Indianapolis neighborhood where about three dozen homes were damaged or destroyed, authorities said Sunday.
City and fire officials said Sunday afternoon that about two dozen homes were uninhabitable and would have to be torn down....
Residents described a loud boom that shook their homes, blew out windows and collapsed ceilings. They rushed outside to find a chaotic scene with flames rising against the Indianapolis skyline to the north....
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Furnace may have caused deadly Indiana blast
"Indianapolis Homeland Security director Gary Coons said, ‘‘We are turning this into a criminal homicide investigation.’’ Officials have said they believe natural gas was involved in the explosion, ‘There is a search for truth and there is a search for justice,’’ said the mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard."
"3 held without bond in fatal Ind. house explosion" Associated Press, December 25, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS — The explosion killed Monserrate Shirley’s next-door neighbors, John Dion Longworth, a 34-year-old electronics expert, and his 36-year-old wife, second-grade teacher Jennifer Longworth. Shirley and Mark Leonard told investigators that they were at a southern Indiana casino at the time of the blast.
John Dion Longworth’s aunt, Pam Mosser, a psychiatric nurse who attended the hearing after a 16-hour shift at work, said it is important for people to know how her family suffered while the suspects apparently gave no thought for their neighbors’ lives.
‘‘Dion and Jennifer died suffering and screaming. It is unbelievable to me that someone could be gambling and drinking while their house blows up and people are dying,’’ Mosser told reporters after the hearing....
INDIANAPOLIS — A car collided with an ambulance early Saturday morning in downtown Indianapolis, leaving one of the medics inside dead and the other severely injured. Police said the ambulance was not on an emergency run when the accident happened, shortly after 3:30 a.m. at an intersection near the Indiana Statehouse. Police said the ambulance had the right of way."
Related:
"A second medic died early Sunday from injuries sustained when a car collided with an ambulance that was not on an emergency run and had the right of way in downtown Indianapolis, authorities said. The car’s 21-year-old driver was released after a routine blood-alcohol test, police said."
"A second medic died early Sunday from injuries sustained when a car collided with an ambulance that was not on an emergency run and had the right of way in downtown Indianapolis, authorities said. The car’s 21-year-old driver was released after a routine blood-alcohol test, police said."
Also see:
US-born Taliban inmate seeks group prayer
"Two inmates housed at different Indiana prisons used cellphones smuggled in by guards to run a drug ring that distributed methamphetamine and heroin, according to a federal indictment that charges 40 people in connection with the scheme."
"Man guilty of ‘sextortion’ of teens" by CHARLES WILSON | Associated Press, February 01, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana man has agreed to plead guilty to charges he tricked more than a dozen teenagers into stripping or performing sexual acts for him via webcam and then used recordings of those sessions to coerce them into making even more explicit videos.
Richard Finkbiner, of Brazil, Ind., signed an agreement filed Wednesday in federal court in Terre Haute to plead guilty to child exploitation, extortion, and possession of child pornography in exchange for a recommended sentence of 30 to 50 years in prison....
According to prosecutors, Finkbiner met most or all of his victims on a video chat website, omegle.com, which offers users random, anonymous one-on-one chats with strangers.
Printed matter that the web cut:
Prosecutors say the case is an example of "sextortion," a crime that authorities are seeing with greater frequency in which predators catch victims in embarrassing situations on-line and threaten to expose them unless they create sexually explicit photos or videos.
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"Indiana school to apologize over black masks" Associated Press, February 20, 2013
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Administrators at a southern Indiana school district planned to apologize for costumes students at a predominantly white middle school wore to a basketball game, sparking allegations of racism.
Three New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. officials told members of an NAACP’ branch Monday that they intend to write a letter of apology to Parkview Middle School over the costumes worn by Highland Hill Middle School students.
A handful of Highland students wore black masks — one with the face of a gorilla and another featuring President Obama’s likeness — to a Feb. 7 eighth-grade basketball game between the schools. Highland Hills students were encouraged to dress for the home game in all black to show their school spirit. Students were asked to wear other colors at earlier games.
But some parents questioned whether racism was involved considering the masks that were worn during the game against Parkview — a Jeffersonville school with several black basketball players.
Lisa Barnett, whose son played on Parkview’s team, said she thought the district has downplayed the issue.
‘‘It seemed like a whole cheering section right in back of our basketball team that either had on black nylon masks, they had on Obama masks, and a bunch of gorillas and monkeys,’’ Barnett told the News and Tribune.
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"Indiana public schools try to stem impact of vouchers" by Tom Coyne | Associated Press, August 21, 2012
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Struggling Indiana public school districts are buying billboard space, airing radio ads, and even sending principals door to door in an unusual marketing campaign aimed at persuading parents not to move their children to private schools as the nation’s largest voucher program doubles in size.
The promotional efforts are an attempt to prevent the kind of student exodus that administrators have long feared might result from allowing students to attend private schools using public money.
If a large number of families abandon local districts, millions of dollars could be drained from the state’s public education system.
‘‘If we don’t tell people the great things that are happening in our schools, no one else will, especially not now,’’ said Renee Albright, a teacher in Fort Wayne. ‘‘There are private enterprises that stand to benefit if they can portray us as failed schools.’’
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School officials worry about the potential loss of thousands of students, especially those from the middle class, and the state money that comes with them....
Leaders of poor urban schools, which suffered the most defections last year, are especially worried. A district loses $5,300 to $8,400 for each student who leaves....
Time for me to leave this post.
Time for me to leave this post.
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UPDATE:
"Ind. woman sentenced to die at 16 to be released" Associated Press, June 17, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman put on death row at age 16 for killing an elderly Bible school teacher is scheduled to be released Monday after serving a prison term that was shortened after the state Supreme Court intervened.
Paula Cooper’s death sentence at such a young age sparked international protests and a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II.
Now 43 years old, Cooper is being given a second chance at her life.
Cooper was 15 when she and three other teenage girls showed up at Ruth Pelke’s house on May 14, 1985, with plans of robbing the 78-year-old Bible school teacher....
Cooper stabbed Pelke 33 times with a butcher knife. Then she and the other girls ransacked the house. The four girls fled with Pelke’s car and $10....
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UPDATE:
"Ind. woman sentenced to die at 16 to be released" Associated Press, June 17, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman put on death row at age 16 for killing an elderly Bible school teacher is scheduled to be released Monday after serving a prison term that was shortened after the state Supreme Court intervened.
Paula Cooper’s death sentence at such a young age sparked international protests and a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II.
Now 43 years old, Cooper is being given a second chance at her life.
Cooper was 15 when she and three other teenage girls showed up at Ruth Pelke’s house on May 14, 1985, with plans of robbing the 78-year-old Bible school teacher....
Cooper stabbed Pelke 33 times with a butcher knife. Then she and the other girls ransacked the house. The four girls fled with Pelke’s car and $10....
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