Articles

Madison Co. child welfare worker charged with neglect

A caseworker for Indiana’s child welfare agency faces criminal charges stemming from the alleged neglect of a 4-year-old boy under his supervision. An arrest warrant was issued Monday for 26-year-old Spencer Day Osborn after prosecutors charged him with four felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury on the recommendation of a Madison County grand jury.

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Munster bans public vaping, smoking

A northwestern Indiana town has banned all tobacco and vaping products from public spaces and facilities in what a backer hails as one of the most comprehensive in the state. The Munster council this month approved the ordinance that bans the smoking of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, within 15 feet of a public space or entrance to a public facility in Munster.

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Indiana residents speak out on proposed BMV gender rule

Indiana residents spoke out at a hearing about a proposed rule regarding a policy that allows residents who do not identify as male or female to choose a nonbinary option on driver’s licenses. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ new rule would require nonbinary applicants to go through the Indiana State Department of Health to change gender on licenses and identification cards.

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Probe of police shooting could revive scrutiny of Buttigieg

The deadly shooting of an African-American man by a white police officer this summer in South Bend highlighted Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s struggle to win black support for his presidential campaign. The issue could resurface as the prosecutor leading an investigation into the matter says his work likely won’t be finished before February, just as voters begin deciding whether Buttigieg should be the Democratic nominee.

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DOJ would take halted executions to high court

Attorney General William Barr told The Associated Press on Thursday that he would take the Trump administration’s bid to restart federal executions after a 16-year hiatus to the Supreme Court if necessary. Barr’s comments came hours after a district court judge temporarily blocked the administration’s plans to start executions next month.

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Man gets 5 years for threatening to bomb Lafayette courthouse

A man who threatened to bomb a northwestern Indiana courthouse, prompting the building’s evacuation, has been sentenced to five years in prison. A special judge sentenced 48-year-old Michael Battering on Friday after detailing the lengthy criminal history he had amassed before he threatened to bomb the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette.

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