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Archived NewsBytes located at the bottom of the page
May 31
May 30
The National Wildlife Federation reports that more than 95 percent of rainwater tested from four Indiana sites contained unsafe levels of mercury. The report found rain samples from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore were 33 times the level the federal government deems safe for humans. A spokesman for the Indiana Wildlife Federation pointed out that the Great Lakes contain about 25 percent of all of the fresh water in the world and we need to consider the impact if eventually this water is not usable. According to the report released Thursday, rain and snow at the national lakeshore fell within limits deemed safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency only about 2 percent of the time. Mercury is a naturally occurring element that makes its way into the environment when oil- and coal-fired power plants burn those fossil fuels. Rain washes it into waterways, where it settles and is eaten by microorganisms, which are then eaten by fish. State health officials already advise that children and women of child-bearing age limit consumption of fish from all Indiana lakes and streams because of high mercury levels. The analysis was based on data collected in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin through the federal Mercury Deposition Network from 2001-2002. Similar levels were found in other states. In Indiana, rain samples were studied from state monitoring stations in Huntington, Jefferson, Monroe and Porter counties. The report noted progress in Indiana, including a new law to ban the sale and distribution of novelty products containing mercury, limit the sale of mercury thermometers and require schools to dispose of mercury-containing materials and also recommended that the state adopt stricter water quality standards and reduce mercury air emissions from all significant sources by 90 percent by 2010.
Cooking on the run takes on a new meaning! Wednesday a motorist called 911 about another car that that was driving erratically, driving off Indiana 46 before getting back on the road and continuing east. About 30 minutes later, a police officer saw a car fitting the description and stopped it in a parking lot. They discovered the driver's license had been suspended, found a small amount of methamphetamine on him, and then a search of the car revealed a working meth lab in the trunk. The Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Team dismantled the lab. The police arrested Randall Crippen of Columbus, IN, who was still in the Bartholomew County Jail Thursday for driving with a suspended license and could also face several drug-related charges.
May 29
More choices! In response to criticism that its offerings were limited to a single fund firm, Indiana's college savings plan has added five prominent mutual fund families. The CollegeChoice 529 Investment Plan has offered funds by Bank One or its investment arm since it was founded six years ago as the nation's second 529 plan, but starting June 1, participants in the fund's "custom" portfolio also can select Fidelity Advisor Inflation-Protected Bond Fund, Royce Low-Price Stock Fund (companies whose average cost/share is less than $20), Templeton Foreign Fund, Massachusetts Growth Stock Fund (larger companies), and Mutual Shares Fund. Indirectly, the new offerings could lower costs for participants, and the changes make Indiana's plan more competitive with other states, which virtually all now have 529 plans.
May 28
The search for a new I.U. president has been narrowed to two candidates, but the names of the two finalists have not been released. Meanwhile, former IUPUI Chancellor Gerald Bepko is expected to remain I.U.'s interim president beyond the end of June. Myles Brand, the previous president, left in January to head the National Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Cook Inc. has won approval to start selling its aortic graft in the United States, a move that could double the size of its 160-person graft manufacturing line in Bloomington. Cook hopes to win a large chunk of the market with its hand-sewn fabric graft, which already is the top-selling aortic graft in Europe and Asia. Cook will have to train more than 1,000 U.S. physicians who have signed up for a two-day course to learn how to install the graft, which is inserted into the body through the femoral artery using a catheter. It will take up to a year to train them all. The device treats dangerous bulges in the aorta but have experienced various problems during early development, which have been overcome. Company officials say that sales could now exceed $150 million annually and Cook could double the number of workers making the aortic graft in the next year.
A woman accused of murdering her 2-year-old son is dead. Dubois County officials report that she died of an overdose while visiting her parents. Monica Berger had been charge with the 2001 death of her son and was committed to a Kentucky mental institution.
A Knox County couple will face murder charges for a crime that was committed in 1978, even though another man was sent to prison twenty-five years ago. Wayne Gulley and his wife, Ella Mae Dicks, will be tried later this summer for the rape/murder of Sherry Gibson. In 1978, prosecutors accepted a confession from 17-year-old John Jeffers, who died of a drug overdose three years later in prison.
Today at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House President Bush will sign the tax-cutting legislation into law. Within weeks, the 10-year, $350 billion package of tax rebates, lower rates, breaks for small businesses and investors, as well as aid to states, will start speeding refunds to parents and fattening paychecks and investor earnings.
May 27
May 26
May 23
May 22
Will they or won't they? Here we go again! The Indianapolis Colts are negotiating with the city for way to increase their revenue, which the team claims has slipped from the middle of the league to the bottom third. Although Colt owner Jim Irsay claims he will honor the lease, which was revised in 1998, and will keep the Colts in Indy through at least 2013. However, he is not without an escape clause in that the commitment must be reciprocal, meaning that Indy must also honor the agreement by keeping the Colts in the middle of the league's 32 teams in revenue and provide a "first-class" facility. That means they need a payment from the city within the next 30 months and it could approach $30 million. Covering a two-year period, that would meet a requirement of the lease to keep the Colts at the league median. Previously, city officials and the Colts estimated the annual payment to the team could total at least $10 million, but the figures Irsay used Wednesday amounted to $15 million per year. That cost is NOT likely to decrease over the next few years. What's more, the 56,000-seat RCA Dome is the league's smallest and one of its oldest venues. Does that also require a new stadium to make Irsay happy? "The lease goes two ways," Irsay said. "I'm going to fulfill my part of the lease. But what if a decision is made where people say we need to no longer worry about the Colts, we need to worry about (something else)? . ."What if (the city) doesn't want to pay? What if they don't want to create a first-class facility for us to be in?" Is this first-class greed? Exploitation? A hostage situation? The Mayor's spokesman pointed out that the mayor has committed to making the median payments, if necessary, and making sure the Colts are playing in a top-rate facility. "We are now in the process of determining what is the best way to be fair to the Colts and to the taxpayers," he said, and conceded the $30 million figure cited by Irsay "is a significant amount of money." During recent league meetings, owner voted to pursue two stadium options in California, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the earliest a team would play in Los Angeles is 2006, although a more realistic timetable is 2007 or 2008. Possible candidates for relocation to that new stadium include teams with stadium/lease issues in their current markets: the Colts, San Diego, Minnesota and New Orleans. Could it be time to help them pack their bags?
May 21
In 2001, amid a lot of hype on the part of the state's BMV, Hoosiers were asked to vote on a new design for the state's license plate. More than 158,000 Hoosiers voted on the design that included the slogan "Back Home Again". However, the BMV has now decided to disregard the voters' choice, remove that slogan, and replace it with www.IN.gov in order to increase exposure of the state's Web services. Many were shocked and some were angered by the action, such as one Elkhart man has started marketing "Back Home Again" stickers that fit over the website address. At $2.25 each, the gentleman reports that he has already sold thousands of the stickers on his Web site, www.ourplate.com , since February. Of course, the sticker is not endorsed by the BMV, but according to the BMV and the State Police, as long as the sticker does not cover up the license number, expiration date and "Indiana", it is legal.
Oops! A couple of years ago, the Old South Gospel Street Bridge in Paoli was refurbished. This week a truckdriver-in-training, whose instructor was asleep in the back, apparently missed the US 150 turnoff on the west side of the downtown square and continued to South Gospel, where he encountered the bridge. Luckily, the decorative metal that hung down on the antique bridge prevented the rig from pulling onto the bridge. It would not have supported the 26,000 ton semi-tractor and trailer.
LUCI, The Land Use in Central Indiana Model, is a computer program designed to forecast urban development for the central Indiana region, according to John Ottensmann, a professor of planning and associate director of the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The LUCI program was 2 1/2 years in the making. One of the questions the developers studied was land use and patterns of urban development in 44 central Indiana counties, addressing not just what happened in the past, but what might happen in the future. It is designed to be used by non-professionals, as well as available free to the public. The LUCI model covers 17,369 square miles and includes six metropolitan areas, including Indianapolis. The model creates an extensive series of graphs, maps and tables, while predicting how changes such as new employers, development restrictions and transportation services might affect an area's overall development for years into the future. The idea, Ottensmann said, is to use various scenarios created by the model to foster community debate about land use issues. The president of the Indiana Planning Association called the computer model "a great tool" for helping counties engaged in comprehensive planning think about "the big picture." A Web site to view and download the model -- http://luci.urbancenter.iupui.edu -- was opened to the public May 9, and about a half-dozen people have downloaded it, Ottensmann said. There is interest in developing models for northern and southern Indiana, but no firm plans yet because of the funding issue.
May 20
It's raining--AGAIN! And it is going to get cool and breezy and drop temperatures tonight into the lower 40's! However, there is light at the end of the tunnel and there may be a window of opportunity to mow your yard again from Wednesday through the holiday weekend!
A 20-year-old man with very limited caving experience spent 17 hours stuck in a Monroe County cave and walked away in good condition after being rescued. Jarod Watt of Yorktown went into Buckner Cave in western Monroe County with two friends Saturday morning and got stuck in a narrow passage around noon. One of his friends went for help while the other stayed behind with Watt, deep in the cave. Led by Anmar Mirza, a local expert in cave rescues, more than 30 people took part in the effort that began early in the afternoon and lasted until nearly 6 a.m. Sunday. Workers chipped and drilled the cave walls to free Watt, while his parents stood by.
In 2005 Monroe County will have a new covered bridge imported from Shelbyville. Originally built in 1885, is was disassembled in the early 1970's and is now just a pile of lumber at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. Monroe County officials plan for it to be erected over Bean Blossom Creek north of Bloomington to replace the old Maple Grove Road covered bridge which burned in 1971. The federal government will pay 80 percent of the $550,000 cost, and officials also plan to use a $120,000 National Historic Bridge Preservation grant the county received in 2001.
And yet another worm! A new one that pretends to be an e-mail from Microsoft's technical support was quickly spreading on the Internet Monday, antivirus vendors said. Named Palyh, the mass-mailing worm can arrive as an e-mail from support@microsoft.com and comes with various subject lines, messages and file attachments. When the file is executed, the worm uses the victim system's e-mail address book to spread, searches for HTML pages and text documents for other addresses, and also appears to spread via file shares, according to Message Labs, a provider of managed e-mail security services. MessageLabs said it intercepted more than 35,000 copies of Palyh in 89 countries, with a majority reported in the U.K. The company expected the worm to hit the United States hard Monday as people came to work. Due to an increased number of submissions, Symantec upgraded the worm from a category two to a category three rating, with five being the most serious. Symantec said it received reports of the worm from 221 consumers and six businesses. Systems affected by Palyh include Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP and ME, according to Symantec. The worm has the ability to install spyware programs on infected systems, Kaspersky Labs said. The author of Palyh, however, included a temporary trigger in the worm so that its routines are active only until May 31, the company said.
May 19
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer will resign in July to enter the private sector. He wants to leave before the re-election campaign gears up. His replacement will likely be deputy press secretary Scott McClellan, Republican strategist Ed Gilespie and Pentagon spokesman Victoria Clarke. A cautious and calibrating press secretary, Fleischer has been the public voice of the presidency through the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq war, loyally putting the best spin on events. He frustrated reporters by constantly dodging the toughest questions and sometimes irked his White House colleagues by pushing for access behind the scenes -- often without success.
They made it! On what is called "Bump Day", there was some question about whether the Indy 500 would even have a full field of cars for the race. With the weather cooperating and extra effort on the part of race officials, it happened, although it was the first time since 1947 that no cars were bumped. Nine drivers qualified yesterday to fill the field. For those interested in trivia, the field average speed is 227.125 mph, the third fastest field in history. Also twenty of the thirty-three starters are American. There are six drivers from Brazil, three from Japan, and one each from England, New Zealand, South Africa, and Sweden.
May 16
Tuesday President Bush was in Indianapolis to seek support for his tax cut plan, especially from Sen. Evan Bayh. Last night the Senate voted and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana crossed party lines to back tax breaks. The bill passed 51-49, and Bayh was one of three Democrats who voted for the Senate's $350 billion tax cut package. Bayh, who is up for re-election next year, said he supported the cuts because strong action is needed to spur the economy and create new jobs and because fiscally responsible tax cuts must be part of that strategy. The bill would suspend taxes on stock dividends for three years and would also would accelerate 2001 income tax cuts.
Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. said Friday it is discussing the possible sale of the company with an interested party. Company spokeswoman Gloria Siegler said she could not release any further information. Elder-Beerman employs about 6,100 people and operates 68 department stores in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
After a 10-year effort to establish a casino in French Lick, the State Legislature gave that approval during the session that just ended. However, the battle is not over because the casino now has to be approved by the local residents, many of whom question the economic and moral wisdom of depending on gambling for the area's redevelopment and survival. A countywide referendum in November will determine whether the area will actually float a boat in the moat. There will be organized opposition to the plan, but supporters believe they will prevail in the referendum because people want jobs and tax money to revitalize one of Indiana's poorest counties. 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 until the governor at that time (Gov. Henry F. Schricker) ordered state police to crack down in 1949. The area had as many as 17 casinos.
May 15
May 14
A suspended federal grant to help Morgan and 31 other Indiana counties recover from devastating tornado damage has been partially restored. U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., and U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., confirmed Tuesday that the Department of Labor has responded to their concerns by reaching an agreement with state officials to resume the funding. Buyer called it "one of those cases when government makes a mistake and should be willing to admit it. The agreement restoring the grant funds particularly targets Marion, Morgan and the Madison-Grant county areas that were among the hardest hit. The money was to be paid in installments as needed. So when less than $100,000 had been spent by April, federal officials notified Indiana that no further payments would be made. Buyer, Lugar and others argued that much of the money hadn't been spent in winter when construction was slowed by bad weather. In a May 12 letter released by Lugar, Labor Assistant Secretary Emily Stover DeRocco confirms an agreement to restore funding, but at a lower level of $550,000. Because $250,000 has already been paid to the state, another $300,000 will be paid. Indiana's Department of Workforce Development will pay claims submitted by the counties and receive reimbursement from the federal grant.
May 13
A proposed smoking ban ordinance for Indy faces a possible Rules and Public Policy Committee vote tonight and send it on to the full council for a vote. The proposal which is designed to protect people's health from secondhand smoke has drawn heavy opposition from restaurant and bar owners who do not share concern for their clients' health want to sink the proposal or, at the very least, alter the original proposal to exempt bars completely. The medical community and the Indianapolis hospitals have shown support for the proposal. Even so, the bottom line is still the question about whether or not the City Council will share the concern for the health issue. At least two other Indiana cities already have passed smoking bans, and both provide some leniency for bars. Fort Wayne exempts bars from its ordinance, which bans smoking unless there is a fully enclosed smoking area. The Bloomington City Council voted in March to extend an existing smoking ban but gave bars until Jan. 1, 2005, to phase in the new rules. In Indy, under the altered proposal, the city's smoked-filled bars would stay that way--filled with smoke! But at least a person might be able to sit down in a nice restaurant and be able to enjoy good food without breathing smoke!
May 12
A critical shortage is on the horizon in healthcare in Indiana as projections for the next seven years indicate the number of sick people will stretch beyond the capacity of hospital nursing staffs to care for them. By 2010 Indiana will need 17,000 more nurses than it is expected to have available. To address the expected shortage, nursing schools and health-care organizations have formed a consortium called Nursing NOW to provide the health industry with a broader pool of nursing candidates from which a care facility can choose. Employers are attempting to entice recent graduates with loan repayment deals and other perks. Hospitals in turn plan to help by enrolling additional students. The Indiana Health and Hospital Association's fourth quarter 2002 survey said there are now about 1,845 open nursing positions statewide.
May 9
President Bush will speak at the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis on Tuesday. The event is open to the public, but the bad news is that you must have a ticket and they are probably already gone. A Lugar spokesman said his office was inundated with 1,000 calls yesterday and that's about how many tickets he expected to have available. However, if you want to try your luck anyway, call Lugar's office at 1-317-226-5555, leave your name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, and a phone number where you can be contacted. There is a limit of three tickets per person. The time of the speech has not yet been confirmed, but there are reports that it could be at 9:00 am Tuesday. At the White House Thursday the president made it clear that his message is intended for Congress and encourage the passage of the president's economic plan and the tax cuts included in it, including his proposal to eliminate taxes on stock dividends.
May 8
Park & Ride! That is what state Transportation Commissioner J. Bryan Nicol is hoping Northeastside commuters (the ones who will suffer most from the Hyperfix project) will do to help cut the amount of traffic on the Indy roads during the Hyperfix highway project. The buses will feature soft, reclining seats, onboard restrooms, mini-tables for laptops and cup holders for coffee. These buses will be able to get green lights longer, which should mean fewer stops at intersections, and the riders will be able to avoid the stress and strain of traffic congestion. This all sounds GREAT to those who don't like to drive in Indy anyway--even without all the road repairs! A fleet of 18 buses seating 45-55 people will carry commuters from a Target store in Fishers, a high school in Lawrence, and the Glendale Mall to their jobs downtown and back, departing in 15-minute intervals during rush hour, cost $2 per ride. There will be three downtown drop-off spots. Although there are drawbacks, other cities have developed integrated public transportation systems and there is a growing recognition that eventually Indy will need a way to get people Downtown without the current gridlock problems, and some believe that if public transit is easy to use, takes people where they want to go in a reasonable amount of time and is safe and convenient, they will ride it. The Park & Ride program will start May 16th and end August 15th.
Are you with or without? It seems that more than half a million Hoosiers -- the majority of whom are employed -- lack health insurance, and their ranks are growing steadily, according to a new study commissioned by the state. Reportedly, that number has gone up 20% since 2000. Now state officials want to know why -- and what they can do to reverse the trend without spending money the state doesn't have. State officials also plan to continue to analyze the data. About 60 focus groups will be scheduled around the state during the next few months to glean more information, such as why people who might be eligible for public or private insurance don't have that coverage. Some of those surveyed said insurance offered by employers was too expensive, and others said they had not looked into public health care options.
There are a few (very few!) television commercials that are actually funny and enjoyable, ones you actually stop what you are doing just to listen! One of those was the Sprint commercial featuring a confused rancher who had used his cell phone to order 200 oxens and received a 200 of dachsunds instead. Another favorite is the one that features the Afflac duck, the spokesman for the insurance company, and most of America loves him. The Japanese, on the other hand, find the duck's voice too abrasive, and have gotten the company's attention since Japan actually makes up the majority of AFLAC's business. Therefore, when the new Japanese ads are released on May 16th, the duck will will quack with a kinder, gentler tone. Will that affect the American ads as well? I guess we'll find out soon!
May 7
Remember the congestion and delays on the east leg of I -465 during its renovation. Now it is the Westside's turn. Anyone driving the west leg of I-465 is familiar with the current congestion and the need to renovate. Built in the late 1950's, it is due for an upgrade which should begin in 2005. The upgrade will include widening the highway from 6 to 12 lanes in some places, adding new ramps and redesigning 8 interchanges, as well as ripping out and replacing the old concrete base that is showing its age. Sounds like a lot of growing pains and continued congestion until the project is complete! See the website for details.
May 6
Purple loosestrife is a flower with attractive purple blossoms and has become a real problem for Indiana, especially in the Dunes area, because it is so invasive that it is crowding out native vegetation. Some people unknowingly grow it in their gardens. However, there is an experimental program in which scientists are hoping to raise weed-eating beetles to help control this plant. The tiny galerucella beetles feed almost exclusively on purple loosestrife. Although there have been setbacks, there is hope that the problems have been overcome and that success is on the way with a new shipment of beetles. The beetles will be placed on plants being grown at a greenhouse in Griffith and on four plants being cultivated by students at Valparaiso's Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Ideally, the beetles eat the leaves and stems, which eventually kills the plant. One plant can feed about 20 beetles, which, when they mate, can produce 100 to 500 more beetles. They never eliminate all the plants, but within several years they can control them enough to restore the ecological balance. However, the loosestrife is a ecological challenge and is still growing faster than the beetles. It could take three or four years to see the results and it will take patience. If you have loosestrife growing in your garden, please do your part and destroy it!
Last year Purdue University set up a partnership with Kabul University (Afghanistan) when Afghan educators visited its campus in West Lafayette. Many of Kabul University's resources were ravaged during 10 years of Taliban rule and war. Kabul's research farms also were destroyed. Purdue offered to help rebuild the Kabul programs in agriculture and engineering Four members of the faculty at Kabul University are returning to Afghanistan this week with 40 used computers and more than 165 textbooks donated by Purdue University. The Kabul educators have spent weeks training at Purdue, learning about undergraduate teaching methods and classroom technology. They plan to apply what they have learned in Afghanistan, but they point out that rebuilding the curriculum will take time. Purdue faculty will travel to Kabul this summer to help set up computer labs and redevelop the school's 20-acre research farm.
May 5
Don't forget! Election Day is Tuesday, May 6th. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Remember, your vote counts!!
The weather report for the week indicates the possibility of a wet week. Since 2 p.m. Sunday, the rain gauge at our Bedford On-Line office indicates that we have received 2" of rain. High water is possible on low lying and normally flood prone roads in Lawrence, Jackson, and Jennings, Counties. SR 258 and 235 in Jackson County had some areas with water over the roads. As always, do not drive through flooded roads!
The astronauts have returned from the International Space Station, although the landing was short of the targeted landing site, nearly 300 miles off course, causing the recovery to be hours late. It was the first time NASA astronauts returned to Earth in a foreign spacecraft and to a foreign land. The switch from a shuttle to Soyuz landing came after the Columbia disaster in February, which resulted in the indefinite grounding of the entire shuttle fleet. On Monday, Russian space experts were meeting to discuss what went wrong with the Soyuz capsule carrying Bowersox, astronaut Donald Pettit and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin back from the international space station. The spacecraft was a new model that had never gone through a re-entry before. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said he feared the worst during the two hours the Soyuz was missing, especially because it was just three months ago that the Columbia burned up during atmospheric re-entry. After meeting with his Russian counterpart Yuri Koptev on Monday, O'Keefe said the two men now aboard the space station, astronaut Edward Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, should be sent a global positioning system and a phone so they can tell spotters where they are if they land off-target. Bowersox, who grew up in Bedford, IN, commanded the 5 1/2-month space station mission.
An 11-year-old Gary, Ind., girl collapsed and died Saturday on an exit platform just after riding the "Raging Bull" roller coaster at Six Flags Great America amusement park. She apparently choked to death, possibly on a piece of gum, according to a preliminary autopsy report released on Sunday. However, more tests will be conducted and the final results should be completed by the end of the week. The ride was shut down for an inspection and then restarted, officials said.
Friday night three inmates escaped from the Jennings County Jail. An inmate had summoned a jailer and complained that he was ill, and while the mailer called an ambulance, the convicts escaped through an exhaust vent. The three men used a jail door as a ladder to reach a 9-high maintenance hatch in the jail's general inmate population area. They then crawled through an exhaust vent and came to a second maintenance door. That door's latch malfunctioned, allowing the inmates to open the door and escape. Jeremy Hilton, being held on a probation violation, was captured within five minutes when a sheriff's deputy drove by and spotted him. Sheriff's deputies, North Vernon police and an Indiana State Police helicopter searched the county most of the night. The two remaining escaped convicts were arrested about 6 a.m. Saturday at a rural house where were hiding. Larry Burdine, of Seymour, had been held on forgery charges, and James Bennett, 32, of Country Squire Lakes, was being held for child molestation. All three men now face escape charges.
Spam mail has become a big problem for businesses, as well as for the private sector. Members of Congress are proposing a variety of ways to fight this unwanted e-mail. One proposal is national "do-not-spam" registry similar to a service that's to start that blocks unwanted telemarketing calls. Another proposal would require spam to have valid return addresses, and still another would seek federal legislation offering rewards for people who help track down spammers. Most of the panelists at a Federal Trade Commission forum this past week said that a strong federal anti-spam law is needed and would be better than the mix of local laws now in 29 states. But the chairman of the industry-supported Global Internet Project warned that any U.S. law would do little to stop spam from other countries and the only solution is blocking it with new technology. Everyone knows that junk e-mails are a rapidly growing problem, with the anti-spam company Brightmail recording 6.7 million instances of multiple unsolicited messages being sent out in March, a 78% increase from a year ago. Companies have been developing mail filters and users have been limiting distribution of their e-mail addresses to cut down on junk mail, but persistent spammers have found ways to dodge those obstacles. Several states require spam e-mail to have a subject line beginning with "ADV" to identify it as advertising. The FTC found that less than 2 percent of spam used this label. John Levine, a director of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail believes the FTC does not need more teeth; the best approach is simply to give the FTC more money to go after the spammers with the existing laws because so much of the spam is already illegitimate.
May 2
It was a dollar-and-cents issue. The Corydon Scenic Railroad is halting operations, citing rising expenses and mounting losses. It has operated from a station a few blocks west of the city's historic downtown square and was expected to begin its 14th season this month when railroad executives decided to cancel the service. Rising insurance premiums and fuel costs were difficult to justify, given the need to provide substantial subsidies from the railroad's profitable sister freight operation. The train carried roughly 13,000 passengers a year from May to October. The shutdown deals a blow to the town's tourism efforts. With the loss of the Corydon train, Indiana's local passenger-train operations dropped from five to four. Besides the state's largest service at the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, eastern Indiana has two--the Whitewater Valley Railroad at Connersville and the Carthage-Knightstown-Shirley Railroad at Knightstown, and French Lick remains the lone rail ride in southern Indiana.
Today is Oaks Day on the Derby Festival schedule, with the 129th Kentucky Derby tomorrow. Rosemary Homeister, one of the leading jockeys in south Florida, will be the fifth women in 129 years to ride in the Derby. She will be riding Supah Blitz. She has ridden the colt in its past three starts, with a second-place finish in the Grade I Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 15 and a fourth in the Grade I Florida Derby at the same track a month later. Homeister is immersed in racing: Her husband, Jose Ferrer, is a jockey and her mother, Rosemary Sr., is a former jockey who trains horses in Florida. In her first year of riding in 1992, she was voted the nation's top apprentice. Despite her success, and despite the fact female riders have been around since Crump became the first to ride in a pari-mutuel race in 1969, Homeister still encounters some of the good ol' boy mentality among trainers and owners who prefer male jockeys. Supah Blitz will enter the starting gate Saturday with 15 starts, the most experience of any horse in the field.
May 1
Since the state announced plans to close Muscatatuck State Developmental Center, there still remained a law that would give parents and guardians a say over where those residents might be moved. However, in an attempt to reach a compromise on state spending during the regular session that closed Sunday, budget negotiators inserted language into the budget bill that eliminates guardians' rights under state law to approve relocations of residents. The move was made with no public hearings or consultation with families or guardians and was an effort to speed the closure process because of the cost to operate the facility. Those legally looking out for the residents still have veto power due to a temporary court injunction in the case which is currently before the Indiana Court of Appeals, but an attorney representing the families has pointed out the need for a permanent injunction. There are 159 residents still at the facility, and the state is wanting them moved into community setting because its operating costs amount to $54 million per year, $25.6 million of which the state will pay in 2004. The current cost per resident is $850/day, and that is projected to rise next year to $1,140 as the number of residents dwindle. Many people believe that the residents are actually better off in smaller homes.
How easy is it to get admitted to a 4-year college in Indiana these days? Perhaps it is getting more difficult, if the widespread drops in admission rates over the last five years are an indication.. A record 60 percent of Indiana's 59,000 seniors are heading to college, driving up the number of applications and competition, but admission requirements are up at some colleges. Space is limited, especially at Purdue and Indiana universities' main campuses, as well as some private colleges. Some campuses are now referring a growing number of lesser-prepared students to two-year colleges to catch up. Competition is growing at DePauw and Butler universities, Wabash and Marian colleges and the University of Indianapolis, all of which have seen healthy increases in prospective freshmen. Because of limited class space and a desire to keep good faculty-student ratios, Purdue has shrunk the size of its freshman class about 10 percent since the 1999-2000 year. It has increased the number of math, science and English courses needed for admission, and most applications have to be in by March 1. High school counselors say Indiana's four-year colleges expect students, with few exceptions, to have completed Core 40 requirements -- a 40-credit hour group of primarily math, science, English and social studies courses that are taken in high school. That wasn't true a few years ago. A student needs to have at least a "C" average in Core 40 courses and an SAT score at or above Indiana's 1,001 average of a possible 1,600, or he likely will be referred to Ivy Tech State College, said Ball State's Douglas McConkey, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis also has tightened admission standards and will do so even more in the next two years, said Mike Donahue, admissions director. A couple of years ago, nearly all high school graduates were admitted. Now, nearly 1,000 are referred to Ivy Tech annually, with a guarantee they'll be admitted to IUPUI if they earn at least a C in five courses at the two-year college. Students are applying to more colleges, from three to five, compared with two or three 10 years ago. Colleges want to attract more top students because better-qualified freshman classes add to perceived prestige.
So what do you do if missed the deadline or didn't get in under the 25,000 limit for Saturday's Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Mini-Marathon? Go to eBay? Don't laugh! eBay apparently had entries for sale this week, and there have been "Wanted" ads posted in other places. It has been reported that the practice of buying and selling entries is growing. Although Festival officials may not like the practice, but they admit that it is hard to control and that buying back and reassigning them to those on a waiting list would be too costly and time-consuming.