April 30

• Tuesday about 30 citizen lobbyists from Orange County, known as the "orange shirts," the presidents of the two town councils and several lawmakers attended the ceremony as Gov. Frank O'Bannon signed the bill authorizing a riverboat.  Supporters hope that casino with its slot machines, blackjack and poker will help resurrect past glory and help French Lick distinguish itself as more than just the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird.  The bill would allow a riverboat on a yet-to-be-constructed waterway between French Lick and West Baden Springs, which are about a mile apart, if voters approve one in a countywide referendum.  Rep. Jerry Denbo, the bill's longtime sponsor, thanked the governor, lawmakers and other supporters of the plan.  In the first half of the 20th century, French Lick and West Baden Springs were regular vacation haunts for U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars, and in its heyday the area had as many as 17 casinos.  However, the illegal gambling ended in 1949, when Gov. Henry F. Schricker ordered state police to crack down.  Currently, Orange County's unemployment rate is nearly 9 percent, the worst among Indiana's 92 counties. About 1,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the past two years.  According to estimates, the casino would take in about $44 million each year in wagering revenue and pay about $10.5 million a year in wagering and admissions taxes.  Orange County would be required to share admissions tax and wagering tax revenue with the towns of Orleans and Paoli, as well as with Crawford and Dubois counties, and some tax money would be used to restore and preserve the two historic hotels.  Denbo said supporters are working to hold the referendum this fall, but he did not know how soon a riverboat could open.

• U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh proposed Friday that the bomb production line at Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center might be reactivated wince the nation needs to prepare for a possible surge in demand for military munitions.  He said that reactivating the line could help protect the base from future military cuts.  However, Crane's Commander Wise believes that the demand likely will never grow enough to justify the cost of reactivating it.  However, higher-ranking military officials will actually decide the issue.  Precision weapons such as those used in the war in Iraq are currently manufactured at an ammunition plant in McAlester, Okla.  Bayh's proposal also has the support of current and former military officials, as well as southern Indiana business leaders, he said.  Crane's bomb production line, called the Army Ammunition Activity, has not been used since 1991.  Bayh wrote the head of the Joint Munitions Command to urge that the Army reactivate the line "on short notice as a second, complementary source for this incredibly important war ingredient."  Crane spokeswoman Sue Webster said Wise's comments did not reflect the Defense Department's position on the issue.  A decision on whether to restart bomb production will be made by Army officials.  In addition to serving as a storage site for some 650,000 tons of munitions, the base currently manufactures night-vision goggles and guidance systems for aircraft.

• Looking for money!  A second Democratic presidential candidate will be making a swing through Indiana.  U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts is expected to attend a fund-raising event Tuesday at the Carmel home of Indiana Pacers co-owner Mel Simon and his wife, Bren.  One of Kerry's rivals for his party's 2004 nomination for the presidency, U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, came to Indianapolis for a fund-raising luncheon on March 17.  About 40 people paid $2,000 each to hear Edwards.  Mike Harmless, a former Greencastle mayor and state director of Kerry's campaign in Indiana, said he expects about 30 to 35 people to attend the event.  Each attendee has been asked to give $2,000, the maximum contribution an individual can give a presidential candidate.

• More displacements from airport expansion.  Endangered Indiana bats returning to their summer home near Plainfield are discovering that many trees on 350 acres of their habitat are gone.  The area has been prepared for construction of a new interchange on I-70, part of the Indianapolis International Airport expansion.  Some of the trees were removed so that four streams, around which the bats typically hunt for insects, can be rerouted.  Transportation officials, regulators and environmentalists hope that compromise and careful planning eventually will improve the quality of the streams and offer bats a more secure, permanent habitat.  The state plans to plant about 170,000 hardwood tree seedlings on 700 acres just west of the airport to create habitat for the bats in decades to come, officials said.  Once the waterways are rerouted, trees also will be replaced along the stream banks.  State transportation officials said moving the streams, including the east fork of White Lick Creek, saves millions of dollars because they otherwise would have to build several bridges. The creeks eventually will flow into one new channel.  The Fish and Wildlife Service will closely watch the stream project.  The manager of INDOT's environmental assessment section said care is being taken to make the streams look natural, with shallow areas, rocks and pools. Felled trees also will be lodged in the creek to help create habitat.  Environmental officials know that some of the estimated 150 bats that spend the summer in the area will die, though it is hoped that it will be fewer than a dozen. The nocturnal mammals began returning this month and will be monitored by researchers from Indiana State University.  The bats hibernate in caves in the southern part of the state and in Monroe County during the winter, then return to their maternity colony during warmer months, where they roost during the day under the bark of dead or dying trees and hunt for insects at night. The colony, discovered in the early 1990s during an airport expansion, includes about 75 female bats and their offspring who roost in a single large tree for warmth.  There are fewer than 380,000 Indiana bats in the state, down from about a million in the 1960s. The new highway and interchange are expected to be done by fall 2004, allowing construction of a midfield terminal building to proceed. The terminal is due to open by 2007.

• With Derby Festival activities this week, the Louisville Metro Police have announced that certain roads will be closed for Friday's Kentucky Oaks and Saturday's Kentucky Derby.  Road information, maps, security procedures, and a list of prohibited items, as well as other related links are available on the website of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
• Recalled!  White Wave has expanded a recall of soy milk in Indiana and eight other states. The milk may be contaminated with a caustic sodium hydroxide-based material used to clean manufacturing equipment.  The company says it is recalling 360 more packages of Vanilla Silk that was sold in three-pack cases in Sam's Clubs in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. White Wave earlier voluntarily recalled 25,000 cases of half-gallon Vanilla Silk brand soy milk sold throughout the country.

April 29

• The Monroe County Airport will auction off nine houses for a starting price of $500 each.  Is that a bargain or not?!  Note that they buyer is purchasing only the house--not the land--so the house will have to be moved.  Anyone buying a home will be required to post a $5,000 performance bond (to be refunded after the property is cleared) and must move the house to a new site, as well as clear the old site of trees, bushes, foundations, and all other improvements within a period of 90 days.  County officials have ordered the houses to be sold or demolished.  The airport bought the homes to make room for expansion.

• A trucker lost control of his rig on an Indiana toll road ramp, causing it to spill about 10 tons of candy bars.  The guard rail tore open the trailer, allowing about 20,000 pounds of KitKat and Reese Cup candy packages to spill onto the ramp and rain down on the highway below.  The trucker was speeding.  Wonder what they did with the candy bars?!

• Teaching jobs are scarce throughout Indiana, but if students are willing to relocate, schools in others states are eager to hire them, experts say.  The projected Indiana job openings which were to be created by teachers retiring have not happened, perhaps because school districts of all sizes are  having budget problems, cutting back on expenses, and eliminating some positions.  Also some school districts have laid off many teachers and those who were riffed would have the first chance at any openings created by retirement.

• Ring-a-ding!  Former President Bill Clinton is expected to make an appearance at this year's Indianapolis 500. He will spend the weekend as a guest of shopping mall magnate and pacers co-owner Mel Simon and his wife.  He'll stay at their Carmel home.  Bren Simon has been a Clinton supporter for years. She serves on the financial advisory board for the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library Foundation.  Clinton will be the second former president to attend the event. In 1979, former President Gerald Ford attended the race as grand marshal of the 500 Festival parade. 
• Not jumping at the chance.  The Legislature voted in favor of expanding the hours Indiana casinos may be open from 21 hours/day to 24 hours/day.  However, some of Indiana's riverboat casinos say they don't know whether they will stay open 24 hours a day.  The only casino that expects to be open 24 hours eventually is the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. Officials at Argosy Casino in Lawrenceburg and Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth said they need more information.

• Derby 129!  This is Derby Week and the Festival is in full swing.  Check out the full schedule of events.

April 28

• The weather yesterday certainly contradicted the old adage that "if it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain for the next seven Sundays"!  However, it looks like thunderstorms are on the way for most of the week starting with a chance of thunderstorms late today and lasting through Thursday.
• Advertising managers beware!  It is reported that scams that have fooled two Bedford companies recently.  They believed they had bought advertising on a race car owned by Jasper Engines and Transmissions and that their ads would be seen during a Nascar race.  The two businesses signed a contract ad paid money to the scam artists.  It was discovered that Jasper Engines and Transmissions had no connection with the promotion.
• They did it!  State lawmakers completed the 2003 session of the Indiana General Assembly early Sunday morning by passing the state budget, one that avoids a tax increase but still provides new money to schools.   The lawmakers applauded the end of the 2003 general assembly, but  reviews of their work will be mixed at best.  The Governor says he will sign the new budget into law. He reportedly likes the economic development package, the fact that there is no tax increase, and the fact that school funding has increased at an average of about two percent.  What he does not like is that there is no new money for prisons or a growing Medicaid program. However, he says he won't fight it.   The two-year budget, spending over $22 billion, passed in the House with a vote of 61-37 and in the State Senate 34-16.  At the end of the two-year budget period, it's projected that the state deficit will be reduced from $800 million to $500 million.
• Bedford's astronaut Kenneth Bowersox and two other crew members were greeted by a two-man crew after the Soyuz capsule carrying the US-Russian duo successfully docked with the International Space Station. The American and Russian duo were to give Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin a refresher course on how to operate the Soyuz capsule, which they will use to return to Earth on May 3.  The three returning crew members will be taking back an older Soyuz already docked to the station, while the one carrying American Edward Lu and Russian Yuri Malenchenko will stay up there with them as an "emergency lifeboat" in case they need to quickly evacuate.  The trio's return on the Soyuz will mark the first time that US astronauts have come home on a Russian space vessel. Originally they had planned to return on a US shuttle but the Columbia disaster forced the grounding of the US fleet.   Lu and Malenchenko are scheduled to remain onboard until October.
• The Lazarus department stores at College Mall in Bloomington and at the Lafayette Square Mall in Indy have been holding liquidation sales in preparation for their closing because the stores weren't performing well.  Federated Department Stores reports the two stores will close their doors for good Sunday.  The Lazarus stores at Greenwood and Castleton Square Mall will remain open.

April 25

• NOTICE!! The Lawrence County Community Concert featuring Elisabeth von Trapp, will be Saturday night, April 26th.  The performance will be at 7:30 PM Saturday, April 26th, at the BJHS Schafer Auditorium on 16th Street instead of the PAC at BNL.  The concert will be free and open to the public.

• Drive down to Orleans to enjoy the Dogwood Festival tomorrow.  Have breakfast Saturday morning at the American Legion home from 6:30-9:30 a.m.  The cooler temperatures this week have saved many of the Dogwood blossoms.

• Lawmakers have until midnight Tuesday to end the regular session, but they wanted to finish their work by Thursday night. However, the House and Senate adjourned shortly after 9 p.m. last night, still talking about details of how billions of dollars would be doled out to public school districts.  Fiscal leaders continued private negotiation late into the night, and the Senate and House planned to reconvene Friday.  Senate Republicans offered a proposal late Thursday that would increase overall funding for public schools by more than 2 percent, but Democrats who control the House were still reviewing it.  Sen. Robert Meeks, a top budget negotiator for the Senate Republicans claimed the the Republicans presented what they considered as good an offer as they could with the money that is available and reported that would probably be their last proposal.  House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said it was possible lawmakers could reach a budget compromise and pass it in both chambers by Friday night, "but you never know what's going to happen."

• There is tentative budget agreement in certain areas, such as economic development.   The proposal has not been finalized or voted on by the General Assembly.  Although lawmakers hope some of the initiatives and appropriations would continue for 10 years, only funding amounts for the next two years are included.  The package likely would be rolled into the budget bill, and included $75 million over the next two years to foster research-and-development ventures between businesses and universities and move their products to market.  There also would be money for technology parks (high-tech versions of industrial parks), targeted tax breaks designed to create jobs, and $15 million to expand high-speed Internet service.  "If this is adopted, this will be the strongest economic package adopted in Indiana in the past two decades," Bosma said.  Specifically, the proposed program would:

  *Provide $75 million for the 21st Century Fund to help foster research-and-development ventures, including those between businesses and universities, and move resulting products to market.
  *Provide $9 million for technology parks, which are essentially high-tech versions of industrial parks.
  *In July 2005, move some economic-development functions and programs from the state Department of Commerce to a public-private partnership group to be chaired by the next lieutenant governor.
  *Spend $15 million to extend fiber-optic lines for high-speed communications to more cities and universities. They now link Indiana University at Bloomington, IUPUI and Purdue University.
  *Authorize construction of university research facilities.
  *Extend the tax credit for research-and-development equipment for 10 years.

• The $750,000 federal grant from the U.S. Labor Department which was designed to help 32 counties counties hard hit by tornadoes last September has been canceled almost a year earlier than expected.  It was supposed to enable the counties to hire workers to help in the cleanup/reconstruction efforts resulting from the storm which included five tornadoes, the most sever of which followed a 112 mile path from Ellettsville to Harford City, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses along the way.  Damage is still quite evident along SR 37 in Morgan County.  Although Morgan County had already started its recovery program, The Martinsville Recovery Committee Chairman pointed out that many counties had been waiting until after the winter to do some of the recovery work, had not begun to spend the money in the grant and suggested that perhaps someone at the Labor Department reached the conclusion that the money was not needed.

• Students attending the Jay County High School prom Saturday night will be required to pass a breath test for alcohol.  Students will be tested for alcohol before the post-prom trip to Kings Island on Sunday.  The principal says that although the school does not have any greater alcohol problem than any other school, the people in charge of the prom and the after-prom activities have a zero tolerance for alcohol and this is the only way to ensure that the prom is actually alcohol-free.  Some of the students think it is ridiculous and the School Board President questioned the necessity for the tests, believes the prom should be treated like any other school-related activity, and that it invades the rights of the ones that don't drink?  Could he be a little naive about the high school scene?

• What a sight!  A sheriff's deputy in Noble County pulled over a 1996 Toyota Camry Wednesday evening and found that the driver was wanted on some outstanding warrants. But the officer then had to figure out what to do with the five calves stuffed into the compact car.  That's right, five calves stuffed into a Toyota Camry!  What an ad for Toyota!  It seems that the driver, Michael Grieshop, apparently had just come from a livestock auction where he had purchased the five animals, and of course, he had to take them with him.  Wonder how he got them all into the vehicle.  And it would have been interesting to see them get the calves out of the car as well!  Grieshop was taken off to jail, so the sheriff's department had to take the calves to the local Humane Society.  A veterinarian was called in to check on the animals, which appeared to be in good health, and the calves were then taken to a farm while police determine their fate.

April 24

• NOTICE!! The Lawrence County Community Concert featuring Elisabeth von Trapp, originally scheduled for tonight, has been postponed to Saturday night, April 26th.  The performance will be at 7:30 PM Saturday, April 26th, at Schafer Auditorium on 16th Street instead of the PAC at BNL.  The concert will be free and open to the public.

• 14,889 students will be eligible to receive IU degrees during commencement.  This year, the university's commencement week will run from May 10th to May 16th.  Commencement at IU Bloomington will begin the celebration of academic success and achievement on Saturday, May 10th.  It will be held in Assembly Hall and will be split into two ceremonies, 10 AM and 3 PM.  Senator Richard Lugar will address the graduates at both ceremonies.

• Indiana legislative leaders reported yesterday that they were nearing a compromise on a two-year state budget and actually hope to adjourn by the end of this week--at least before the date set for the ending of the regular session on Tuesday.  Top priorities are how money should be divided among public schools, a strong economic development package, funding for higher education, Medicaid, and prisons.  "We've still got lots of details to work out," said Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville.

• Signs of good weather ahead!  Actually those signs are highway construction signs, so here come more delays!   The northbound lanes of Ind. 37 will be rebuilt from Smith Valley Road to Waverly Road in Morgan County. Traffic will be diverted into the southbound lanes beginning today.  The first half of the project is expected to last until August. Then the second half -- repaving from Smith Valley Road to Wicker Road in Marion County -- will begin.  Later this week, three Ind. 37 intersections will have partial closures: the west side of Travis Road, the west side of Whiteland Road and the east side of Bluff Acres.  Highway 67 looks like the road of choice to get to Indy from the south!

• Shelby County Master Gardeners are coordinating the county's first Garden Clinic. It will take place in several buildings as well as outdoors at the county fairgrounds in Shelbyville from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.  Those interested can learn the right way to plant trees, fight Japanese beetles and grow better fruits and vegetables.  "One of the purposes of the event is to educate the public on the care of plants," said Scott Gabbard, Shelby County Extension educator. "We also want to introduce people to the local vendors and merchants and let them know what's available in their own county."  There will be about 20 booths offering information and demonstrations on things such as composting, solar energy, maintaining fruit orchards, home and business landscaping, beekeeping, floral arrangement and cooking with herbs. Planned are programs on lawn care, ornamental grasses, bare root and ball root tree planting, and trapping moles.  Retired Extension educator Dick Crum will talk and answer questions at noon.  The Shelby County Homemakers will serve refreshments. Various raffles and door prizes will be offered.

• No longer a laughing matter!  A few weeks ago Karen Sweeney saw the newspaper obituary for a woman with a similar name and joked about it with friends who called wondering whether she was alive. However, the humor vanished when she opened a letter telling her that she was dead and her food stamps and Medicaid benefits had been canceled.  Apparently there were two "Karen Sweeneys".  The obituary for the "other Karen Sweeney appeared with a photograph on April 13 in the Evansville Courier & Press. The deceased woman was married and two years older than the 49-year-old Sweeney. Both had long brown hair, but their middle names were different and the surviving Sweeney is a widow.  Sweeney's caseworker at Vanderburgh County Division of Family and Children canceled the benefits after a co-worker saw the obituary, and her Medicaid prescription coverage was gone and her disability payments frozen.  The family support division director for the Vanderburgh County Divison of Family and Children reports that benefits have since been restored and no delay in payment is expected.

• A dilemma!  Which is more important--growth or preservation?  That's the question facing Our Lady of Providence Catholic Church in Brownstown.   They need to expand and are considering doing so by replacing a rare 50-year-old steel house, which is one of 2,500 steel houses produced during a two-year span by the now defunct Lustron Corp.  The house is currently the parish house for the church.  Many Lustron homes have been torn down over the years, leading to movements across the nation to preserve them. A Lustron home in Chesterton is a registered landmark, with tours held year-round.  These houses featured steel beams and porcelain-enameled walls and siding and were designed to be built in factories and assembled onsite.

• New life in the form of twin tiger cubs born last Friday at the Indianapolis Zoo!  Zoo officials announced Wednesday the birth of tiger cubs, but their elation was tempered by the sudden death of the cubs' father.  The cubs weigh about six pounds each and are believed to be females.  The cubs are viewable on closed-circuit television at the zoo and won't be on exhibit until the summer.  Amur tigers are "fairly robust" in captivity, with a life span of 12 to 26 years.

April 23

• May 16th there will be close to 125 Mustangs on display in front of Bedford's Antique Auto and Race Car Museum.  The event will be free.  At noon, Mayor John Williams will present a "Mayor's Choice Award" to his favorite car in the show.  Eddie Evans will also be on hand to make a special award.  The editor of the Mustang Monthly will travel to Bedford to gather stories on the May 16th event.
• An elevated train connecting Methodist, Riley and Indiana University hospitals is expected to carry its first public passengers in about six weeks. Its route, however, may eventually be much broader, with links to the airport and across downtown. With testing nearly complete on the electric-powered, wheel-less train cars that slide along a double rail, interest is mounting. Few are more interested than Indianapolis officials commissioned with planning for future transportation needs.  Clarian officials built their $40 million people mover, the only privately funded such system nationwide built over city streets, with expansion in mind, and said city officials aren't the only ones showing interest.  The corporate interest, local leaders said, could open the door for public-private partnerships in funding a citywide system. Eli Lilly and Co., Anthem Inc., other large corporations and landowners downtown, for instance, could be interested.  City officials have recently embarked on an 18- to 24-month study on regional transportation needs, and an elevated rail system will likely be central to the discussions.  Five public meetings this month and next are already set to discuss the city's Rapid Transit Study.  Downtown is definitely a possibility for something like the people mover, and it also could be helpful in hooking up other modes of transportation.   Connections to Indianapolis International Airport, IndyGo hubs and a light rail system being studied for northeastern Marion County and Hamilton County are all possible, local officials said.  "The new midfield terminal at the airport is being designed with a rail terminal in mind," said Dennis Rosebrough, public affairs director for BAA Indianapolis, which operates the airport. "There's a lot of business, convention and tourism, and other reasons why a rail line from the airport to downtown might make sense."  These types of transportation systems are growing in popularity, and the Clarian line will give local transportation and planning officials a rare look at an upclose field test.  To gain right-of-way access over city streets, Clarian had to agree to provide the service free to the public. Two fully automated trains will transport an estimated 500,000 passengers annually between the three hospitals. The trains require no on-board crew, but will be operated and maintained by a staff of 13.  Clarian has chosen a three-car unit that travels no faster than 30 miles per hour, but cars can easily be added to add capacity, and the operations capability can vary greatly, meaning they could attain higher speeds.  It's more efficient and doesn't add congestion like street-level transit options.  City officials said they'll be watching Clarian's train closely to determine if the system harms property values or detracts from the city by blocking views and annoying pedestrians, motorists, business owners and residents as it hovers overhead in full operation.
• Recently two Hoosier women destroyed goose eggs near their condo and were warned by the state.  Now Indiana has received federal approval to destroy hundreds of Canadian goose nests and may seek permission to have the birds themselves killed.  The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has requested more nest-destruction permits in recent weeks as requests flooded in. There are an estimated 100,000 geese throughout Indiana.  The birds have found their way to urban and suburban areas offering water and grass. That means close proximity to people and resulting conflicts, since the geese are highly defensive and aggressive around their nests.  Federal authorities initially allowed state officials to grant up to 1,300 nest-destruction permits this year. But that number was increased to 1,800 late last week after the state asked for more.  That may help control the problem with geese, but now are they willing to do something about the deer who cause so many auto accidents, carry and spread disease via deer ticks, and decimate crops, gardens, and trees???!!!
• The Indiana House narrowly passed a bill Tuesday that would require students entering kindergarten to be immunized against chicken pox.  The requirement would begin in 2004. The bill passed the House 51-43, but only after Democrats who control the chamber delayed tallying the vote for 15 minutes until they had enough votes to pass it.  The bill now goes to the governor for his signature.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 20 states already require the chicken pox vaccine.
• As part of a state program known as the "brownfields program", a total of $327,000 in grants will go to eleven communities to be used to evaluate abandoned industrial sites for redevelopment.    Those eleven communities receiving the grants and the grant amounts are: Auburn, $44,600; Carlisle, $14,977; Edinburgh, $29,956; Evansville, $37,075; Greencastle, $42,165; Indianapolis, $25,000; Mount Vernon, $6,350; Salem, $16,131; Scottsburg, $43,648; South Bend, $48,270.

April 22

• The Lawrence County Community Concert Association is conducting its membership drive for the 2003-2004 season.  The new season will feature four concerts offering a wide variety of musical styles, including classical, blue grass, and gospel, as well as a comedy artist.  All performances are held at the BNL Performing Arts Center.  Join the association by April 24th and attend a performance by Elizabeth von Trapp as a bonus!!  See the LCCCA website for a complete description of the season and for a print and mail order for your season tickets!  Don't delay!!
• It would be wise to slow down and move over into an adjacent lane if possible when approaching a stopped emergency, recovery, or highway maintenance vehicle.  State Police will carry out the "move over" enforcement program.  The traffic safety program is not about writing tickets but saving lives.  Five State Police employees have been struck and killed while working along the Indiana roadways since 1995.  You may be ticketed if you fail to slow down.
• Indiana University has chosen a law professor to oversee a new IU center that will research computer and Internet security issues.  The center will encourage University partnerships with businesses, as well as federal and state government agencies, to study cybersecurity issues.
• Steel mills near Merrillville want emission rules relaxed.  US Steel spokesman Mike Dixon claims state rules restricting what pollutants may be released make the industrial-permit process difficult.  By streamlining the process, environmentally friendly technology could be introduced more quickly.

• Chances of the General Assembly adjourning early by Thursday seem to be dwindling.  Republican Sen. Robert Meeks of LaGrange, a top budget negotiator for Republicans who control the Senate, indicated they are not even close to a compromise.  And, the absence of two House Democrats because of health reason and questions about their return in the final crucial days are complicating considerations. Democrats control the House by just a 51-49 margin, and would need GOP help to pass any bill, including a budget, if any Democrat is not present to provide a 51st vote.  The Democrats are facing the possibility that if the two can't come back, the party will have to deal more with the Republican caucus than they otherwise would have to.  House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis,  said that House Republicans would use "every bit of leverage we can"  (including possible votes for a budget bill) to win passage of a strong economic development package.  Lawmakers have until midnight April 29 to adjourn the regular session, and, although legislative leaders have set midnight Thursday as their goal for passing a two-year budget and going home, most are not optimistic.  It seems they disagree on more things than they agree on.  School funding is a major issue, as well as differences of opinion on a homestead cap, funding for Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation. 

• With the Republicans in Statehouse talking about the possibility of reducing the funding for the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, the agency held a news conference Monday claiming its programs were paying off, in part by more people quitting smoking.  They claim that for a state with the fifth highest rate of smoking in the country (27.7%), there were more than 193,000 adult Hoosiers who quite smoking last year, and overall cigarette consumption is down 18 percent.  Perhaps the 40 cent/pack increase contributed to the decision to quit?  The ITPC survey was designed to gauge attitudes about smoking, however, and did not try to determine the reason the people stopped.   The ITPC is concerned that its current $32.5 million budget will be reduced to $10, which they claim is simply not enough to make their program work.

• Is there a problem here?  Indiana's riverboat casinos brought in record profits in March, but the state's share of the winnings -- $52.5 million -- still didn't meet projections.  The state's 10 casinos earned nearly $200 million in March, topping the last monthly high of $197 million in August, posted after the floating casinos were first allowed to remain docked.  But the state's share of the gambling revenue fell $1.5 million short of fiscal projections in March, said Bob Lain, assistant director for the tax and revenue division of the State Budget Agency. In April, the budget officials expect riverboat revenues to grow an additional $10 million, bringing the state's portion to $62 million.

• A further breath of Spring!  Rosegate, a senior apartment and garden home retirement community in Greenwood, will host a Spring Blossom Celebration from 2-6 p.m. Wednesday at its facilities, 7525 Rosegate Drive, just north of St. Francis Hospital South.  Visitors may enjoy refreshments, tours, and prizes.  Live entertainment will be provided by the Jim Alkire Band.  And our favorite Dick Crum will be available to give gardening tips and advice.  The first 50 seniors to attend will receive free potted plants!

• And yet another one from the always "reliable" Microsoft!  Microsoft warned users of Windows NT, NT Terminal Server Edition, 2000, and XP of an unchecked buffer vulnerability that attackers could exploit to gain control of machines, then delete files, reconfigure the system, or add accounts with administrative privileges.  Administrators should apply the patch -- available via Windows Update -- at the earliest opportunity, said Microsoft.  It rated the vulnerability as "important", the second-highest ranking on the four-level scale it unveiled last year.  This is the 14th security bulletin released by Microsoft since the beginning of 2003, and the fifth rated "important".  Microsoft has also posted six "critical" security alerts, the highest ranking in its system, in that same length of time!  For further details of the security flaw, users should refer to the alert posted on Microsoft's TechNet Web site.  And, of course, stay tuned for further warnings.  Does this report make you feel good about using Microsoft Windows??!!!

April 21

• Sunny, windy, and sometimes stormy.   Storms interrupted or rearranged some family activities on Easter Sunday, but some Easter egg hunts were sandwiched between the storms that swept across Indiana and Kentucky yesterday, producing hail and a noticeable drop in temperature.  Power lines and trees were toppled  in Martinsville,  Indianapolis.  Huntingburg reported 70 mph winds along with 1/4 inch hail.  The cooler temperatures will hold over the next few days, and tonight the lows will reach into the upper 30's, with highs tomorrow in the upper 50's.

• Meanwhile, with the wet spring we have had, we are reminded of the risk of West Nile virus and that vigilance can help cut that risk.  West Nile is a virus transmitted by birds to mosquitoes, who can pass it on to humans and horses. Most people who become infected have mild symptoms or none at all, but some can develop the dangerous conditions of encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain, or meningitis, inflammation of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord.  The virus has been steadily moving west from New York since 1999. According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 4,156 human cases of West Nile last year in 40 states, 284 deaths in 26 states.  In 2002 there were 12 deaths in Indiana attributed to West Nile virus in 2002.  The virus-carrying mosquitoes favor stagnant water and can make use of small containers, so health officials urge  people to clean gutters, change the water in bird baths and overturn buckets.  Get rid of anything that catches or holds water. 

• Ticks are also a health threat with the warmer weather and they are out in number this year.  After a family walk on the farm over the weekend, many ticks were removed from the participants.  According to the Indiana State Department of Health, Indiana saw 21 confirmed cases of Lyme disease last year, five cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and one case of another tick-borne disease, ehrlichiosis.  Again, keep in mind to wear long-sleeved shirts and light-colored pants, with the shirt tucked in at the waist and the pants tucked into socks. Use repellants on exposed skin and check clothing for ticks after leaving a grassy or wooded area.  Symptoms of Lyme disease include a persistent, slowly expanding, blotchy red rash that is paler at the center than at the edges; joint pain or swelling, especially in the knees; fatigue; difficulty concentrating; headache, stiff neck or weakness of the facial muscles; dizziness; and irregular heartbeat.  Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis have similar symptoms: moderate to high fever with fatigue and muscle aches; severe headaches; and chills. A rash also can develop, beginning on the arms, legs, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.  All three diseases can be successfully treated if diagnosed early, health officials say.

• Commencement at Indiana University will be May 10th.  U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, the longest-serving U.S. senator in Indiana history, will deliver the commencement address at both the morning and afternoon commencement sessions at Assembly Hall.

• One card at a time!  Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaydi, who played a key role in the brutal suppression of the Shiite Muslim uprising of 1991, was arrested Monday in Iraq, the U.S. Central Command said.  Al-Zubaydi, a former member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council and central Euphrates regional commander, was no. 18 on a list of the 55 most-wanted figures from Saddam Hussein's regime.  With Monday's capture, eight of the most-wanted members of Saddam's inner circle are now in custody, though none of them are from the very top of the list.  A ninth figure, Ali "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid -- a top adviser to Saddam -- is believed to have been killed in a coalition air strike in Basra.

• A quiet birthday (with a 21-gun salute) for the Queen.  Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 77th birthday quietly Monday, riding on the grounds of Windsor Castle and spending time with her family.

April 18

• The Lawrence County Community Concert Association is conducting its membership drive for the 2003-2004 season.  The new season will feature four concerts offering a wide variety of musical styles, including classical, blue grass, and gospel, as well as a comedy artist.  All performances are held at the BNL Performing Arts Center.  Join the association by April 24th and attend a performance by Elizabeth von Trapp as a bonus!!  See the LCCCA website for a complete description of the season and for a print and mail order for your season tickets!  Don't delay!!
  
  
• As the weather warms, you may encounter disease-carrying ticks.  Ticks become active as soon as the days begin to warm up.  The best way to prevent bites if you plan to enter a grassy or wooded area is to wear a long-sleeved shirt and light-colored pants, with the shirt tucked in at the waist and the pants tucked into your socks.  Repellants are most effective in keeping ticks away from any exposed skin if you spray them on your clothes.  Remove any ticks you find with tweezers. 
  
  
• Strict new federal air quality standards that go into effect next year could leave industries in more than thirty Indiana counties facing tightened development restrictions.  The standards could subject millions of residents and major industries that rely on coal-fired power plants to new pollution control measures in our state.  At a time when our industries are competing with nations that have no environmental standards, these EPA restrictions help to strangle the expansion of our industries.
  
  
• Lawmakers in the Indiana House have put an end to a proposal that would have required booster seats for youngsters.  House Bill 1434 came under intense fire from parents who objected to the government telling them how to care for their children.  The bill would have required children ages 4-7 to ride in booster seats unless they weigh more than eighty pounds or stand at least 4 feet nine inches tall.  Current law says children through age 3 must ride in car seats and children up to age 12 must wear seat belts.
  
  
• U.S. Senator Dick Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will deliver Indiana University's May 10 commencement address at Assembly Hall.  Lugar, R-IN, is the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history, winning his first election to the Senate in 1976.  He is widely regarded for his expertise in foreign affairs and agricultural issues.  The Senator will address both the morning and the afternoon commencement sessions.
  
  
• It is a sign of these economically troubled times.  Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corp., the state's third-largest school district, plans to drop its all-day kindergarten program next year because there is not enough money to continue offering the classes.  The decision will not be official until the school board votes on Monday.
  

April 17

• The grand opening of the John H. and Thomas W. Conner Museum of Antique Printing will be at 11:00 a.m. on April 30 on the grounds of the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts at 2001 N. Ewing St.  The museum will feature working antique printing presses and will describe the history of paper and printing throughout the centuries.  Visitors of all ages are welcome, and the opening is free.  A reception will follow.  For more information, call (888) 524-1914 or email sica@compuage.com.
  
  
• The Jackson County Library will be closed on Easter Sunday.  No materials are due that day, but items may be returned to the book and video/audio returns at the Seymour, Crothersville, and Medora sites that day.
  
  
• Addressing IU law student members of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy, former Congressman and current forerunner candidate for Indiana governor, David McIntosh, commented on the IU Law School's admissions policy.  "Racial quotas are illegal and unfair.  I.U. Law School, however, appears to have an admissions process that is, at its essence, quota-driven and out of line with other comparable public universities."  He went on to say that out of state minority applicants are given preference to better qualified non-minority applicants from Indiana.  He thinks taxpayers expect IU to educate qualified Hoosiers first and foremost.
  
  
• Small business manufacturers in Indiana are hurting.  Global competition, an over-valued dollar and higher costs have made it rough in the manufacturing sector.  They have not been able to raise prices due to stiff global competition.  Also, rising health care and other costs have eaten into the bottom line.  These days manufacturing is a high-technology field.  The wages are often a third higher than other jobs.  Currently, the manufacturing sector produces approximately twenty percent of the nation's gross domestic product and accounts for 16.5 million jobs.
  
  
• An  intensive manhunt was underway Wednesday in Indianapolis after a clerk's error set violent felon free.  Currie O'Bryant was to begin serving a 115-year sentence after being convicted of five counts of attempted murder.  O'Bryant has been free for eight days before the error was discovered.  The clerk was immediately fired upon discovery of the mistake.
  
  
• Indiana's cities and towns with overflow-prone sewers are bracing for a new rule requiring them to alert residents when human waste fouls area waterways.  The rule takes effect May 9, after which each community will have six months to submit a plan to the state spelling out how it intends to warn the public.  After a city submits a plan to IDEM, they must implement it within ninety days.  The rule affects 105  Indiana cities and towns that have combined sanitary and storm sewers that become overloaded during wet weather and release sewage into waterways.  The cost of upgrading all those sewers is expected to be at least $9.1 million during the next twenty years.
  
  
• The Indiana Senate has given final approval to a bill that would place state regulations on cigarettes sold over the Internet or through direct mail.  It would require merchants who sell cigarettes by those means to verify that Indiana customers are at least eighteen years old.  They would have to get written statements of the buyer's address and age and verify the information.  They could do that by checking government or private databases.  The bill also requires merchants to either pay state sales tax on the cigarettes or provide statements to both the customer and the Indiana Department of Revenue that state the customer's tax liability.  This bill is now ready for Governor O'Bannon's signature.
  
  
• Another bill ready for Governor O'Bannon's signature is the smallpox bill.  Under this bill, Indiana's hospitals and healthcare workers would be shielded from lawsuits over adverse reactions to the smallpox vaccine.
  
  
• The diet-guru Dr. Robert C. Atkins has died.  Atkins died at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center after suffering a head injury April 8.  He fell on an icy sidewalk and hit his head while on his way to work.  Atkins, famous for his low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, first advocated his unorthodox weight-loss plan in his 1972 book, "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution".  The medical establishment rejected his diet as folly until it was recently validated by some research.  Dr. Atkins was even summoned to testify before Congress to defend his plan in the '70's.  Dr. Atkins was 72.
  

April 16

• The Senate in Indianapolis has approved the Casino Bill for Orange County.  A county-wide referendum could reverse the bill.  Senator Becky Skillman was one of sixteen Republicans who did not vote for the measure.
  
  
• Virginia Turner of Heltonville has designed a new doll for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  Nineteen years ago, Virginia had surgery for cancer.  Two days after she got out of the hospital, her mother died of cancer at the age of 67.  This is the first time she has designed a doll for a particular cause.
  
  
• Everyday, the news department receives reports from southern Indiana of city police and county law enforcement discovering labs where drugs are being manufactured.  It is widespread.  In Owensburg, Jeff Chandler, age 35, was charged with manufacturing Methcathinone, possession of marijuana, and neglect of his seven year-old son.  The boy was asleep when a Green County officer entered the residence.  The overwhelming fumes coming from the lab prompted the officer to take the child outside for air.  The child was home alone at the time.
  
  
• Just a reminder from the Indiana Department of Transportation.  Do slow down when you see workers who are cleaning up litter on state highways and roads.
  
  
• On Tuesday,  the Indiana Senate passed legislation that would protect Indiana National Guard members called to duty by the governor for longer than thirty days from losing their jobs.  THe bill would extend protections of the federal Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act to Guard members called to duty by the federal government.  This bill is now ready for Governor O'Bannon's signature.
  
  
• The Indiana House on Tuesday approved a bill that would require hospitals and doctors to report fireworks-related injuries to the Indiana Department of Health within five business days.  The information would remain confidential.  The bill will also require the state health department to compile the information collected and submit a report to the legislative council by December 31, 2004.  This bill is also ready for Governor O'Bannon's signature.
  
  
• Eli Lilly's successful drug Zyprexa, used to treat schizophrenia, now stands accused in a lawsuit of triggering diabetes in some patients.  At least five lawsuits accuse Lilly of failing to warn patients about the dangerous side-effect.  Plaintiffs seek damages of up to thirty-five million dollars.  To confront these charges, Lilly has sponsored two patient trials to investigate the diabetes link and the company has also opened its files of Zyprexa patients to an outside researcher to study the issue.  Adding to the complexity of the issue in the lawsuits is the strong connection between diabetes and schizophrenia.  Sufferers of the debilitating brain disorder develop diabetes at a rate up to four time higher than the general population, even without taking antipsychotics, such as Zyprexa.  This is due to the fact that these people often lead a sendentary lifestyle, lack good medical care and have poor diets and high rates of obesity.
  
  
• The Federal Highway Administration plans to build two new Ohio River bridges linking Indiana and Kentucky at a cost of $1.9 billion.  One bridge will be in downtown Louisville, the other upriver will include reconfiguring Spaghetti Junction - where I-64, I-65, and I-71 meet.  The decision endorses a recommendation made last summer by the governors of Indiana and Kentucky.  The federal government will pay for eighty percent of the project's costs, with the remaining twenty percent paid by Kentucky and Indiana.  Just because the announcement to build has been made does not mean that the government will allocate funds for the project.  The cost of building the bridges will be spread out over the fourteen or fifteen years of construction.
  
  
• Today, the Bush administration lowered the national terror alert level to "yellow" from "orange", suggesting the threat of terrorism linked to the war in Iraq as subsided.  Many of the extra security measures imposed by the department's "Liberty Shield" operation will also end.
  
  
• It seems that the comments made by President Bush and his administration about Syria have gottent the attention of some Mideast powers, including some friends of the United States.  They are expressing alarm over possible U.S. action against Syria for allegedly sheltering ousted Iraqi leaders and sponsoring terrorism.  The six nation Gulf Cooperation Council rejected U.S. threats against Syria and called on the U.S. and Britain to carry out a dialogue with Damascus.  The Syrians flatly deny the allegations as misinformation inspired by its archenemy Israel.  Relations between Syria and the United States have always been uneasy, complicated by Syria's close ties with the Soviet Union during the COld War and its hard-line stance on the Mideast peace process.  In November, Syria stunned the Arab world by voting for the U.N. resolution against Iraq.
  
  
• The identity of the virus that causes the lethal new disease known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has been confirmed.  The illness is caused by a new coronavirus.  Hong Kong researchers theorize that a new genetic sequencing, caused by nature, is what has caused this virus to "jump" from animals to humans, becoming more lethal in the process.  The scientist responsible for confirming coronavirus as the cause of SARS says that the possibility of this virus being man-made was impossible.
  

April 15

• Today is the last day to file your tax returns without a penalty!  You must make sure that your return will have a postmark of April 15, in order to not be late.
  
  
• The Lawrence County Community Concert Association is conducting its membership drive for the 2003-2004 season.  The new season will feature four concerts offering a wide variety of musical styles, including classical, blue grass, and gospel, as well as a comedy artist.  All performances are held at the BNL Performing Arts Center.  Join the association by April 24th and attend a performance by Elizabeth von Trapp as a bonus!!  See the LCCCA website for a complete description of the deason and for a print and mail order for your season tickets!  Don't delay!!
  
  
• Orange County resident have one more tiny hurdle to jump in the statehouse.  On Monday, the Senate approved a bill that could give the county the state's 11th riverboat casino.  The bill must now go back to the House, where passage is practically guaranteed.  After that, resident of the southern Indiana town will have to vote on a referendum, but with the unemployment rate of the county being the highest in the state at 9.9 percent, it would be surprising if voters did not approve it.  Residents of Orange County have fought for a casino for ten years.  A casino could open about eighteen months after the referendum, or maybe sooner, according to Rep. Jerry Denbo, D-French Lick.
  
  
• A retired Indiana University professor says he needs a kidney transplant in the next four months to avoid dialysis.  He is in the beginning stages of renal failure.  Former English professor Jim Jensen, who now lives in Rhode Island, turns seventy in June and is not eligible for a kidney from the live donor list.  His wife, Susan, says Jensen must find a kidney donor on his own.  Doctors believe Jensen will be too old and too ill to qualify for a transplant from a cadaver after he completes five years on dialysis.  Jensen came to IU in 1966 and retired in 1998.  Anyone wishing to donate a kidney to Jensen must have Type A or Type O blood and be in good health.  If a donor is found, all expenses would be paid be Jensen's health insurance.
  
  
• State officials are breathing a little easier.  Philip Morris USA met today's deadline to make this year's $52 million payment to Indiana under the landmark 1998 national tobacco settlement.  Indiana relies on payment from four major cigarette-makers to fund health programs ranging from Hoosier Healthwise insurance coverage for children to HoosierRx prescription drug subsidies for low-income seniors.  The tobacco settlement money is also spent on ant-smoking programs and campaigns to promote healthy behavior, community health centers, newborn screenings, providing in-home care to people with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation,  construction of regional health centers, and aiding tobacco farmers.
  
  
• Indiana has made it to second place on yet another list.  The 2000 census count of Indiana's population was one of the least accurate in the country, leaving the state with the second-highest error rate in the country, behind Minnesota.  The census is conducted every ten years.  Estimates released Monday will not affect official population counts for the country or the state and will not change how the federal government distributes at least $185 billion to states for social services, such as Medicare.
  
  
• U.S. Senator Evan Bayh has told troops preparing for deployment to the Middle East that Syria should learn from Saddam Hussein's example.  His Monday remarks at Camp Atterbury echoed those of Bush administration officials who have accused Syria of harboring members of Saddam's government and supporting terrorism.  Bayh said he was troubled by reports that Syria allowed mercenary soldiers to cross its borders to fight against the U.S. in Iraq.
  
  
• A program designed by the IRS to get eighty percent of all tax returns filed electronically by 2007, the IRS reports that more than 2.4 million people have used the free tax preparation software provided through the Internal Revenue Service Website to file their 2002 tax returns.  The free  tax preparation program encourages electronic filing by giving taxpayers access to the computer tools they need to send their returns over the Internet.  A tax payer can expect a refund within two weeks if filing electronically, but it can take up to eight weeks if the IRS receives the return by mail during the last weeks of the filing season.  The free service is provided by seventeen companies that allow qualified taxpayers to prepare their returns free of charge.  The companies transmit the returns electronically to the IRS.
  
  
• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that U.S. forces have shut down a pipeline for illegal oil shipments from Iraq to Syria, but he cannot assure that oil is not still flowing between those two countries.  There were allegations that, in violation of U.N. sanctions, Syria has received 150,000 to 200,000 barrels of oil daily through the pipeline, which opened in 2000.
  
  
• United Airlines was just one of many airlines having financial problems since the September 11 attacks.  Now, the future of American Airlines hangs in the balance after pilots and transport workers ratified concessions aimed at staving off bankruptcy, but flight attendants have yet to report voting results.  Paperwork for a bankruptcy filing in the New York courts is ready to go, pending the outcome of the voting.  The company will file for bankruptcy if the flight attendants fail to ratify the concession deals.
  

April 14

• The arrival of spring means not only the return of leaves and flowers, but also the return of falcons to downtown Indy.  This year, falcon-watchers have been able to confirm the identity of a female falcon that appeared in Indy last summer to raise four chicks in a nest box atop Market Tower off Monument Circle.  The female is a Wisconsin bird and arrived in mid-breeding cycle last year.  This year she has moved her nest a few blocks south to the old L.S. Ayres building.  Her identification bands indicate that she is a female falcon hatched in a nest box atop a malt company in a Milwaukee suburb in 1998.  She is the latest in a string of Wisconsin peregrines to take up nesting sites across Indiana, south and east across Lake Michigan from their native state.  There is no apparent reason for it.  Unfortunately, for FalconCam fans, the switch in nesting locations means that the IndyStar.com project will not be operating.  The web cam was all set up at the Market Tower nesting box.
  
  
• The state of Indiana, in a fiscal crisis, is causing school boards across the state to carefully review their budgets and determin the options available for cutting costs for the next school years.  In many cases, the only option available to or chosen by a school board is to reduce staff, including teachers.  Under the Indiana Teacher Tenure Law, one of the reasons given for cancelling a semi-permanent or a permanent teacher's contract is a justifiable decrease in the number of teaching positions, commonly known as riffing.  Many school corporations in the state have not had to go through such a reduction in force for a number of years.
  
  
• Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson said United Airlines is poised to close its Indianapolis Maintenance Center, calling it "inconceivable" that the struggling airline would resume operations at the complex.  The news spread quickly to the roughly one thousand United mechanics laid off in recent weeks.
  
  
• The Department of Justice has begun cracking down on corporations that have relocated their headquarters offshore on paper only in order to claim they are not subject to U.S. taxes.
  
  
• In what appears to be a winding-down of the U.S. air campaign in Iraq, the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation are returning to their home ports.  The USS Kitty Hawk will return to its base at Yokosuka, Japan, and the USS Constellation will return to San Diego.  The ground campaign seems to be just as intense as ever with the Pentagon sending more ground forces to Kuwait and Iraq.  With combat becoming less intense, the hunt for chemical and biological weapons or nuclear material is rising on the list of priorities for American troops.  At this time, there are more potential nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons sites in Iraq than U.S. military teams to check them.
  
  
• Another country has come under suspicion.  The U.S. accuses Syria has having weapons of mass destruction and of sheltering Iraqi leaders.  Volunteers from Syria were among the foreigners helping Iraqis put up resistance against American troops in Baghdad.  President Bush has warned Syria to not harbor the Iraqi fugitives, and that full co-operation from Syria is expected in regards to locating these people and in answering questions about Syria's possession of chemican, biological, or nuclear weapons.
  

April 11

• Orange County residents have been given even more hope about lifting up their sagging economy.  Members of the Indiana Senate voted on Thursday to make the casino bill eligible for a vote by the full chamber next week.  Even if the bill becomes law, Orange County voters would have to approve a casino referendum before one could be established.  The bill wold allow a casino to be built on a yet-to-be-constructed waterway between two historic hotels in French Lick and West Baden Springs.  The Indiana Gamin Commission would take bids and select a casino operator, then regulate the casino as it does the others.  If successful, the bill will go to Governor O'Bannon, who favors a casino near French Lick and West Baden.
  
  
• Only four more days until the deadline to file your tax returns!  If you cannot make the deadline, you should file for an extension.  Forms for the extension can be filed over the telephone.  Having trouble paying?  IRS spokeswoman Pat Brummer in Indianapolis says you can charge your taxes to a credit card or make an installment agreement with the IRS, which costs $43.  Need forms or to e-file?  Visit the IRS website to download forms.  The IRS also has a link to companies that prepare your taxes and e-file them.  Some people may even qualify for this service for free.
  
  
• The Indiana Sheriffs Association is accepting applications for its Youth Leadership Camps this summer.  Any eighth-grade student interested in attending can contact the local sheriff's department or a school counselor for applications or more information.  The three-day camps offer students a look at careers in law enforcement.  The first session will be June 12-14 in Claypool.  A second camp will be July 10-12 near Trafalgar.  Financial aid may be available for those who need it.
  
  
• The name and business address of every licensed Indiana attorney is now available online.  It takes only an attorney's last name to check on the attorney's license status, address, or attorney number.  Adding a city will help narrow the search, but it is not required.
  
  
• The Indiana Senate narrowly passed legislation that will significantly expand the state's child restraint law.  House Bill 1434 would require the 400,000 children in Indiana ages 4 through 7 to ride in federally approved booster seats unless they weigh more than eighty pounds or are taller than 4 feet 9 inches.  The legislation now goes back to the House, which passed a similar version last month.  Current law only requires seats for children through age 3 and seat belts for other children up to age 12.  If House Bill 1434 is approved by the House and signed by Governor O'Bannon, the new law would go into effect July 1.
  
  
• U.S. Representative Julia Carson, D-Indiana, has had her initial effort to bring Indiana to daylight-saving time rejected.  She had proposed an amendment to the House energy bill that would have changed Indiana to daylight-saving time unless the state Legislature specifically voted against it.  She has vowed to continue the fight.
  

April 10

• Registration has started for the April computer classes in the Computer Lab at the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.  Free classes are offered every Monday evening and Wednesday morning when the the Computer Lab is closed to the public.  Interested persons may call 812-522-3412 ext 252 to register for classes.  The April class schedule is: Introduction to Publisher at 9 a.m. on Wednesday; Advanced Excel at 6:30 p.m. on Monday; online Auctions with eBay at 9 a.m. on April 16th; Introduction to PC's and Windows at 6:30 p.m. on April 21; Introduction to Publisher at 9 a.m. on April 23; Online Auctions with eBay at 6:30 p.m. on April 28; and Introduction to PC's and Windows at 9 a.m. on April 30.  All classes will last 60-90 minutes and require experience using a mouse.  The Computer Lab is open for Internet searching, tutorials, multimedia use and productivity software use on Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.  The lab closes 15 minutes before the library closing to allow time for completing print jobs and lab cleanup.
  
  
• The Jackson County Public Library has added a rotating collection of books on CD to the Seymour Library collection.  This new service began statewide on March 15th.  The library is a member of the Indiana Video & Audio Network, a statewide cooperative.  Jackson County Public Library receives rotating collections of DVD every two months through the program.  This particular selection of books on CD will remain at the Seymour Library until the second week of June.  Persons can check out books on CD for two weeks and are limited to two titles at a time.  For more information call the Seymour Library at 812-522-3412.
  

• The next round of military base closings is in 2004.  To prevent the potential closing of Crane Naval Surface Warfar Center, U.S. Senator Evan Bayh and U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, have sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with a possible solution.  They propose that the Department of Defense widen the potential list for base-closings to include military bases outside the country.  Southern Indiana's Crane Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Army Ammunition Activity are among military bases across the nation facing the next round of closings.  Crane is involved in preparing and repairing a wide variety of electronic equipment used in high-tech warfare.  The Army unit stockpiles and provides the first month of ammunition and ordnance for U.S. troops in any war.  Crane's closure would cost south-central Indiana as many as four thousand high-paying military and civilian jobs.
  
  
• Are straw bale houses the wave of the future?  Maybe.  At any rate, Habitat for Humanity plans to build the city's first straw bale house in Bloomington.  The $47,500 project is co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Living, Bloomingtonfoods, and Harmony School.  Organizers have already started a fund-raising campaign.  They hope to have the money raised by the end of May, with construction beginning in early June, and completion of the home in August.  The house will be located on the city's west side.  Although straw bales can provide structural support, the Bloomington house will use bales as infill in a post and beam structure to provide the exterior walls.  With regular maintenance, the straw bal houses are durable with sime being up for over one hundred years.
  
  
• Is it the end of an era?  It is for Concorde.  The chic, needle-nosed jet that has flown stars and tycoons across the Atlantic at supersonic speeds and amazing cost for twenty-seven years will be retired this year.  British Airways and Air France, the only two airlines to operate Concorde, will take the hugely expensive jets out of service by the end of October because of falling passenger demand and rising maintenance costs.  A spokesman for British Airways, owner of seven of the unique aircrafts, syas people were no longer willing the pay the $9,300 regular fare for a round trip across the Atlantic.  The companies are not planning to sell the planes at this time.
  

April 9

• The return of mild weather also means the return of West Nile virus.  County Health Departments in southern Indiana are preparing for the start of mosquito season -- and the return of the virus.  It's important to treat drainage catch basins and storm-water sewers to prevent insects from breeding.
  
  
• It was just a matter of time. Indiana has reported its first suspected case of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).  The ill person reported symptoms of the illness on Monday and was placed in isolation at home.  Although no personal information about the person will be released, officials do say that the person had just returned from the Far East, where the virus originated.  The patient will be quarantined until ten days after the last symptom disappears.  Indiana became the 31st state to reported a suspected SARS case, with California and New York leading the pack.  Although Indiana officials say the public is at no risk from the illness, it is a contagious disease that CDC officials believe is similar to the common cold.  The CDC has also determined that only about four percent of those who contract SARS die.  This is a lower mortality rate than was initially thought.
  
  
• The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is testing the site of a former dry cleaner to determine if harmful material found in the area could pose a threat to neighboring homes and an elementary school.  Soil samples were taken from the former site of Crescent Cleaners and indoor air quality was tested in home surrounding the area.  The elementary school was expected to be tested Wednesday.  Right now, officials say there is no immediate health risk, but the potential for long-term risk exists.  Crescent Cleaners operated in the area from the 1930's until the late 1980's.
  
  
• In a time that finds Indiana strapped for money, one of the state's computers gave freely.  Some Indiana taxpayers accidentally received thousands of dollars more than expected in interest from amended tax returns.  The taxpayers were due interest from amended 1999 state income tax returns.  Four taxpayers received a total of 494 extra checks that totaled $73,229.76.  Each tax payers was entitled to only one check.  Officials have fixed the problem of sending out too many checks.  Now they are working on collecting all the extra checks from everyone.  So far,  all but one taxpayer has returned the extra checks.
  
  
• On Tuesday, the Indiana General Assembly forwarded twenty bills to Governor Frank O'Bannon to be signed into law.  At this point, the governor has seven days to sign the bills.  If the governor fails to sign a bill after seven days, it becomes law without his signature.  Last week, the governor signed five bills into law. At this point, the state's two-year budget has not been resolved.
  
  
• The way was cleared Tuesday for Congress to approve legislation to create a national Amber Alert child kidnapping network and to strengthen child pornography laws.  The legislation would provide matching grants to states and communities for equipment and training for the Amber Alert network.  Both the House and the Senate want to send a bill to President Bush to sign before Easter.
  
  
• In another bill en route to President Bush, Americans will be spared another rise in the price of stamps for three years.  The legislation takes advantage of the discovery that the money-losing post office was paying far too much into the Civil Service Reirement System, a program that covers employees who joined the force before 1984.  The bill allows the Postal Service to correct its payment formula, but requires that the savings be used to pay off the agency's debts and to stop any further rate increases until at least 2006.  The Postal Service has raised its rates five times since 1991.
  
  
• Today, U.S. officials announce that they w ill move the main military base of the United States out of Seoul, South Korea.  The headquarters has become a source of friction in recent years, with some South Koreans complaining that U.S. forces occupy valuable real estate and sometime cause trouble in nearby neighborhoods.  At this time, no time table has been released and it has not yet been decided where the troops stationed there will be sent.  They could be shifted further south, sent to other countries, or just brought home.  South Korea is concerned that any redeployment must not weaken the nation's ability to deter the North Korean military.
  

April 8

• Today is the day Bedford-native, Commander Ken Bowersox begin their six and a-half hour spacewalk to perform repairs to the space station.  The repairs include reconfiguring power connections, replacing a part of the electrical power system, recovering tools from previous spacewalks and providing a backup power source for instruments that maintain the space station's orientation.  Bowersox, science officer Don Pettit and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Burdarin are to return home in early May  after their replacements arrive.  The three men have been on the space station since late November. For more information, you can go to the Nasa Human Spaceflight website.  You can watch their television coverage of the day!
  
  
• Recruiters say Indiana's military recruits increasingly are enlisting for a patriotic reason rather than for job benefits or overseas adventure.  John Gore is a Navy recruiter in the Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood.  He says the percentage of applicants listing patriotism as the main reason for joining increased from five percent to twenty-five percent among those who enlisted through his office since March 1.
  
  
• Students living in Indiana University dorms this fall will be charged nearly two hundred dollars more than they have in the past.  The cost of living in a standard double-occupancy room with a two-meals-per-day food plan at IU will be $5,772 annually.  Next year, freshmen will be required to live in the campus halls for the first time since 1967.
  
  
• This fall, the University of Indianapolis will be offering a new three year, master's-level degree for nurse-midwives.  Nurse-midwives provide prenatal and gynecological care, deliver babies -- except for Caesarean and forceps-assisted births -- and care for newborns.  Nurse-midwives will teach the courses and supervise each student's five- to seven-hundred hours of clinical work with patients and hospital deliveries.  Enrollment into the program is limited to seven to ten students, and will cost around $30,000.  Graduates will then have to take the American College of Nurse-Midwives exam to be certified and acquire a state license.
  
  
• According to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, Indiana had 21,425 inmates from June 2001 to June 2002.  That figure does not include inmates held in local city and county jails.
  
  
• Funeral services in the cities of Hobart and Warsaw, Indiana, were conducted to commemorate the lives of servicemen killed in Iraq.  Nineteen year-old tank gunner, Army Corporal Greg Sanders, is survived by his wife, Ruthann, and their fourteen month-old daughter.  He was the second Hoosier serviceman to die in the war when a sniper's bullet struck him down on March 24.  Twenty-six year-old Marine Lance Corporal David Fribley was one of the nine marines killed on March 23.  Services today for Fribley will be held in the gym of Warsaw Community High School.
  
  
• The fight for Indiana to go to daylight-savings time has gone national.  U.S. Representative Julia Carson, D-Indianapolis, has renewed her pitch for the change, saying Congress should deal with the issue since the General Assembly has failed to do so.  Carson plans to introduce a bill that would change Indiana to daylight-saving time unless Indiana lawmakers vote against it.  Supporters of her idea include the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, FedEx, and ATA Airlines.
  
  
• Ketchup.  When one hears the word, one usually thinks of a thick red liquid put on food to enhance (or hide!) the flavor.  The H.J. Heinz Co. is changing this.  The company has sold the condiment in red, green, purple, pink, orange, and teal.  Now they are adding blue to its palette.  Heinz EZ Squirt "Stellar Blue" was unveiled Monday, just in time for spring and summer.  The company has sol more than twenty-five million bottles of colored ketchup since introducing "Blastin' Green" in October 2000.  The condiment maker no longer produces "Blastin' Green" or "Funky Purple", but consumers might still find it on some grocers' shelves.  Heinz will produce a limited supply of 500,000 bottles of the new blue ketchup this year.  Although no one knows for sure which color will be introduced next, the company likes getting ideas from customers - expecially those who get a kick out of weird colored food.
  

April 7

• Today is the last day to register to vote in the primary elections this May.  Registration can take place at county voter registration offices, Circuit Court Clerks' offices and license branches.  Voters must be 18 years-old by election day; a U.S. citizen; and be a resident of the same precinct in Indiana for a minimum of 29 days before the next general election.
  
  
• Beginning this fall, students living on I.U.'s campus will be paying more for Room & Board.  The I.U. Board of Trustees approved a 3.45 percent increase, which amounts to almost two hundred dollars.  Also beginning this fall, the university will require nearly all freshmen to live in the campus' halls for the first time since 1967.  The cost of living in a standard double-occupancy room with 2 meals per day will be $5,772 per year.
  
  
• A ceremony of honor World War II veterans who fought in France likely will be canceled because veterans are angry with France's lack of support for the war in Iraq.  The ceremony to honor veterans of the Normandy invasion was to be held in May at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Coliseum in Evansville, in conjunction with the French Consul General in Chicago.  Eligible veterans can still receive the certificate of appreciation from France even if there is no ceremony.
  

April 4

• For some time now, all eyes have been on a gambling bill, a similar version of which was passed by the House, and was being considered in the Senate Finance Committee.  Thursday, backers of an Orange County casino were given a glimmer of hope.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Borst gave the bill a hearing for the first time and the committee approved it.  Now the bill moves to the full Senate, where passage is expected.  Even if the bill becomes law, Orange County voters would have to approve a casino referendum before one could be established.
  
  
• Time for another "feather" in Indiana's cap.  Indiana is once again leading the nation in welfare reform - just not in a way it would like to.  The state's welfare rolls increased twenty percent last year, the largest increase in the nation.  Back in the 1990's, the state boasted the nation's biggest drop in the number of families on welfare.  John Hamilton, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, blames the rise on the state's weakened economy.
  
  
• Purdue University is working on a homeland defense research center.  Not only work experts work on preventing terrorist attacks in the United States, reducing the country's vulnerability to terrorism and minimizing damage from attack, but the university also plans to create a new academic program in which students would earn degrees with a specialization in homeland security.  The degree program would be developed for all levels, from undergraduate to doctoral students.
  
  
• Indiana has joined to growing number of states to suspend smallpox vaccinations for health-care workers because of concerns that shots may have contributed to three deaths nationwide.  Officials have postponed the last two clinics in first phase of vaccinations until they get more information about the potential risk of heart problems from the smallpox vaccine.
  

April 3

• High school juniors who are interested in studying engineering, can attend the Women in Engineering Preview Day, April 14, at Purdue University.  The day will provide an overview of engineering, along with specific information about various engineering fields.
  
  
• What a difference just a year can make!  Last year, our state lawmakers could not reach an agreement on a state budget and had to call a special session.  This year, both Indiana House and Senate members are working so fast toward agreement, that leaders have targeted April 24 as their last day of work.  If lawmakers do make the April 24 target, it will be the first time in a least ten years that a buedget-writing sessions has ended ahead of schedule.  At this point, it looks like only Governor O'Bannon could be the one that would keep lawmakers working past their target date.
  
  
• The Senate Finance Committee is hearing a bill that would allow Orange County to get its casino.  An amendment to Rep. Jerry Denbo's House Bill 1902 would give steady subsidy of casino profits to a privately owned business - the French Lick Springs Resort and Spa.  It would also give the state control over the casino's operations.  Hotel owners and operators say the casino could create 2,000 jobs, something Orange County would love to have.
  
  
• Purdue University is reaching out to those in need.  One student facing personal and financial hardships from each of Indiana's 92 counties will be eligible for a fully paid freshman year at Purdue, beginning in 2004.  The new need-based annual scholarship program is thought to be the first of its kind in the state.  Under the Purdue Opportunity Awards Program, Purdue will cover the amount of tuition and room and board that state and federal aid does not.  Purdue will help freshmen find aid after their first year.  To be eligible, students must have great financial need and face other obstacles, such as a death in the family or health problems.  They must also meet academic qualifications.  Students will be nominated by local educators and community leaders and chosen by a committee of Purdue officials and representatives of high schools and donors.  Information about applying will be sent to high schools during the summer.  Scholarships will be awarded next April.
  
  
• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is in court arguing that irresponsible marketing of handguns has "led to disproportionate numbers of injuries, deaths, and other damages among minorities."  This type of suit, along with suits filed by private individuals or groups would be blocked by a bill approved by a powerful House committee today.  The legislation would block antigun lawsuits alleging a link between gun marketing practices and street violence.
  
  
• SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is suspected of being in the United States.  California, which has the highest number of suspected cases in the U.S. says things are under control there.  The CDC in Atlanta reports that California has nineteen suspected cases, and investigating another twelve.
  
  
• U.S. troops have attacked Baghdad's international airport and larger sections of Baghdad lost power for the first time since the war began.  All this happening despite temperatures rising to about ninety degrees outside, and over one hundred degrees inside the tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
  

April 2

• On Tuesday, the Indiana Senate passed a bill that would allow counties who have not finished with reassessment to issue "provisional" tax bills this summer for at least half of the amount each property owner paid in 2002 taxes.  The measure must return to the House for a vote on whether to agree with Senate amendments.  The bill is expected to reduce the need for schools and local governments to take out low-interest, short-term loans to keep operating.
  
  
• The Indiana House passed Senate Bill 451, barring homeowners from suing construction companies over home defects without giving them a chance to fix the problem.  The bill returns to the Senate for a vote on whether to agree with House amendments.
  
  
• We all have heard about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, and how rampant is has become in the Asian countries.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already recommended postponing nonessential trips to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Hanoi, Vietnam. So far, there have been about 1,800 cases, and at least seventy-eight deaths worldwide.  Seventy cases of the illness are suspected in the United States, but no one has died from it yet.  U.S. health officials say that the disease is not spreading as rapidly in this country as it has in Asia or Toronto.  Symptoms of SARS are high fever, dry cough, shortness of breath or breathing difficulties.  There may also be headache, muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, malaise, confusion, rash, and diarrhea.
  
  
• Yes, you heard the news correctly.  A 19-year-old Army supply clerk, captured buy the Iraqis more than a week ago after her maintenance unit made a wrong turn and was ambushed, has been rescued.  U.S. Special Forces, acting on a CIA tip about her whereabouts, slipped behind enemy lines and rescued her from the hospital where she was being held under cover of darkness.  U.S. forces engaged in a firefight on both the way in and out of the building, but there were no coalition casualties.  Eleven other bodies were also found, but they have not been identified yet.  The rescue team consisted of Air Force pilots, Marines, Navy SEALS, and Army Rangers.
  
  
• U.S. forces are closing in on Baghdad.  They are now withing thirty-five miles of the city, after seizing a bridge over the Tigris River and sweeping past battered Republican Guard units.  Meanwhile, farther south, Iraqi soldiers were shooting at our forces from inside a revered mosque in Najaf.  American soldiers were not returning fire.
  
  
• The war in Iraq has also affected the careers of two news reporters.  NBC and National Geographic Explorer recently let Peter Arnett go, after he gave an unauthorized interview to Iraqi state television in which he said the U.S.-led war effort initially failed because of Iraq's resistance.  He is now working as a newspaper reporter for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror.  ,Geraldo Rivera was still with the 101st Airborne Division Tuesday, after the Pentagon said that Fox had agreed to remove Rivera from his posting there.  Rivera's fall from grace with the Pentagon cam after he was accused of unauthorized disclosure of military movements when he drew diagrams in the dirt.  Theoretically, we will still see Rivera, but he will be reporting from Kuwait.
  

April 1 - April Fool's Day

• It is April, and one thing is for certain!  The Kentucky Derby Festival is coming!  Thunder Over Louisville is scheduled for Saturday, April 12.  For those of you new to the area, Thunder Over Louisville is not only the official opening ceremonies for the two fun-filled weeks of the Kentucky Derby Festival, but it is also the nation's largest annual fireworks show.  If you would like more information on the gala event, you can visit their website at http://www.thunderoverlouisville.org.
  
  
• Driving in Indianapolis is beginning to get a little harder.  Monday, the Cityfix project went into high gear with the first of around nine construction projects starting.  And, although the state's interstate Hyperfix project does not begin until late May, preparations for the project led to lane closures at the I-65/I-70 split, causing traffic to back-up for three miles.  State officials say that now through at least April 23, there will be three problem areas:  the left lane of the ramp from I-65 South to I-70 East;  the left lane of the ramp from I-70 West to I-65 North; and the right lane of the ramp from I-70 West to the Michigan-Ohio-Fletcher exit.  The best advice for drivers going through the Indy area this spring and summer is to be patient, and allow extra driving time.
  
  
• Orange County residents have been given a glimmer of hope.  On Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee will hear a bill to allow an 11th riverboat casino in French Lick and West Baden Springs.  House Bill 1902 would move the state's only unused casino license from Patoka Lake to a manufactured lake between the historic French Lick Springs Resort and Spa and the once-grand West Baden Springs Hotel.  Sen. Lawrence Borst, R-Greenwood, who heads the finance panel, has said he does not support the bill.  If approved by the committee, the bill would move to the full Senate for consideration.
  
  
• Indiana casinos are taking in more money than ever before -- two billion dollars in the most recent fiscal year.  The national council on problem gambling reports that approximately 204,000 people in Indiana and Kentucky meet criteria for pathological gambling.  Even though the state spent $1.8 million last year to prevent and treat problem gambling, some of those who are most vulnerable to addiction, such as teenagers and the elderly, are not getting the help they need.
  
  
• In other gambling news, Indiana and Kentucky are set to join an international lottery early next year that could boast jackpots as large as $500 million.  The lottery would be the first international game to include the United States.  The game would be operated by the Multi-State Lottery Association, which runs Powerball, and is expected to include about thirty states in addition to more than a dozen countries.  Planning for the game began a year ago, when the General Assembly passed a law authorizing the state to join in an international game.  Details of the game are still being finalized.
  
  
• An attorney for the Indiana Civil Liberties Union is taking the state to court over the state's law banning same-sex marriages.  The attorney says there is no valid reason to keep same-sex couples from marrying.  The state says the law plays an important social role and is not discriminatory.  The court battle has just begun.  Both sides agree that because of appeals, the case will take years to resolve.
  
  
• After requesting and being approved for a leave of absence from Congress, Rep. Steve Buyer was told by the Pentagon, "Thanks, but no thanks."  Buyer, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve was making plans to ship out as a judge advocate to the Persian Gulf, where he was twelve years ago in an earlier war he was a legal advisor in a POW camp.  The Pentagon spent many days wrangling over whether Buyers desire to serve should override a six-decade practice of not sending lawmakers into harm's way as soldiers while Congress is in session.  The directives began when President Roosevelt signed an order in 1942, the early days of World War II, prohibiting members of Congress from being activated without first giving up his or her congressional seat.  Some members of Congress resigned from Congress, other resigned commissions from the armed forces.
  
  
• An Indiana Marine from Columbus, IN, is recovering on a hospital ship after his leg was shredded by friendly fire in Iraq.  Sgt. Jacob Hopkins received the Purple Heart and a promotion Sunday after surgery to repair his injured leg.  Hopkins was on guard duty Friday night, about 75 miles from Baghdad, when a mortar round fired by American forces struck about ten feet from his Humvee.  Shrapnel tore into his leg in three places, and shattered his leg below the knee.  Another Marine was slightly injured.  Officials are waiting for Hopkins to stabilize before flying him out of the war zone.