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Today's News Posted Daily Monday to Friday - Last Update:5/16/2008 We've got some great news today. All week, we've been following the story of a Shipshewana family in Central China, near the center of Monday's devastating earthquake that killed around 20-thousand people. Friday morning, we received word that Chad and Jenny Graber and their two-year-old son Matthew are just fine. Chad's mom Ellen e-mailed us, telling us she received a phone call late Thursday night from the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, China, who said the Grabers are safe and uninjured. Chad teaches English at Aba Teachers College in Wenchuan. Ellen Graber Thursday told Smart Talk 1270 prayer has provided the strength for her family to get through the last few days, not knowing if her son and family survived the quake. Emotions raged high at Thursday night's Plymouth School Board meeting. The reason -- Plymouth High School basketball coaching legend Jack Edison wanted to return to coach the Pilgrims after retiring a year ago. Edison, an Indiana Hall of Famer, coached Plymouth to two state championships and over 500 wins in his 34 years. Instead, the school board Thursday night unanimously hired former Pilgrim player Kevin Stuckmeyer, just 25-years-old, for the head basketball job. The community doesn't seem to be upset that Stuckmeyer got the job, just that Edison was overlooked and denied an interview. Now, there's word Edison could end up as an assistant coach for his son Michael, who this week was hired to lead the hoops program at LaVille. A big changing of the guard is about to happen at the Indiana Statehouse. We recently told you about Lagrange Republican Bob Meeks' decision to retire because of health reasons from the State Senate after 20 years, many as the chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee. Howe Republican Marlin Stutzman, who's been in the House for the last six years, has kicked off a campaign for Meeks' seat, even though he might have to go head-to-head with good friend State Rep Matt Bell of Fort Wayne. Bell has not yet announced a run for Meeks' seat but is strongly considering it. Meeks earlier this year suffered two strokes, and doctors urged him to retire. A GOP caucus will be held next month to decide who will replace Meeks on the November ballot. Homeowners in LaPorte County face a second round of assessments. A packed crowd Thursday night attended a public hearing held by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, which as soon as today could decide whether property in LaPorte County should be reassessed because of some apparent discrepancies in the way property values were determined last year. Two teenagers have been arrested for murdering an Elkhart man two months ago. One of the suspects is just 13. Police believe the 13-year-old and 19-year-old Joshua Love robbed 35-year-old Gerald Wenger, shot him and stole his car. The shooting happened March 8th at the corner of Middlebury and Monroe Streets, just southeast of downtown Elkhart. Police are investigating whether drugs played a role in the crime. Some of our fallen heroes are being remembered. Thursday was National Peace Officers Memorial Day to pay tribute to the many police officers who've lost their lives in the line of duty. Mishawaka Assistant Police Chief Mike Samp spent the day thinking about the dedication and service those officers gave to our communities. He says there used to be a level of respect for police officers that just isn't there anymore. Flags on our government buildings flew at half-staff Thursday to honor our fallen officers. At nearly four-dollars a gallon, gas prices are eating a big hole in many our pockets, including the government's checkbook. Sergeant Anthony Emery is with the Indiana State Police and says they've been hit hard, too, by soaring pump prices. Emery says State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell creates their fuel budget a year in advance. Emery says troopers are doing more stationary patrols and not letting their police cruisers run as long. Plus, he says many officers are even buying a tank of gas a week with their own money, so they don't lose their privilege of driving their squad car while off-duty. Soaring prices at the pump don't necessarily lead to big tax money to the state of Indiana. The state's gas excise tax is a fixed 18 cents on every gallon of gas. Even as prices go up, the tax stays the same. So far this fiscal year, gas consumption is down about three-percent, costing the Hoosier state about 12-million dollars. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has come up with a few new ways to cut down our wait times at the license branch. In fact, we might not even have to go at all now that the BMV is a new website where we renew registrations, reserve a personalized license plate, even look up our driving records, and a whole lot more. BMV Commissioner Ron Stiver says you just have to have your license plate number and Social Security number to set up your online account at "mybmv.com." Stiver says the service has been online for about three weeks, and more than 25-thousand people have signed up so far. He says the site is very secure and hacker-proof. Just one Indiana Democratic superdelegate has yet to endorse a presidential candidate. Southwest Indiana Congressman Brad Ellsworth says he will likely follow the lead of voters in his district, who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in last week's primary. Second District Congressman Joe Donnelly earlier this week said he is backing Barack Obama, giving Obama a majority of Hoosier superdelegates, even though Clinton won the Indiana primary. Indiana Democrats are uniting behind Jill Long-Thompson in her bid for governor. Long-Thompson narrowly defeated Jim Schellinger in the primary. She says she's confident she will raise enough money to beat incumbent Republican Governor Mitch Daniels in the fall, even though Daniels right now has about ten times more money in his campaign war chest than she does. We've got some good news if you're a "junk food junkie." No, we're not going to tell you go ahead -- eat all you want. But an Indiana health expert says all food has some value, even if it's eaten just for comfort. Kim Galaez says we need to think carefully about our diets. Galaez says there's nothing wrong with eating the occasional pork tenderloin or potato chips, as long as it's once in awhile and not all the time. ...In Sports... The Chicago Cubs have extended their lead in the National League Central after shutting out the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field Thursday, 4-0. Ryan Dempster struck out 12 Padres batters in eight-and-a-third innings of work to improve his record to 5-and-1. The North Siders now have a game-and-a-half lead over the second-place Houston Astros, who moved past the Cardinals with an 8-7 win over San Francisco Thursday. This weekend, the Cubs host the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jim Thome's RBI single off Francisco Rodriguez in the top of the ninth late Thursday night gave the Chicago White Sox a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The two teams split their four-game series, and the Sox with Thursday's win, moved back to .500 mark at 20-20. The Sox move on to San Francisco for an interleague series this weekend with the Giants. The South Bend Silverhawks notched their third straight win Thursday night, beating Great Lakes, 5-3. The Hawks this weekend play the Wizards in Fort Wayne. The defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs have staved off elimination and forced a game seven in their Western Conference semifinal series with the New Orleans Hornets. The Spurs cruised to an easy 99-80 win Thursday night, hitting 11-of-21 three-pointers, while only allowing the Hornets two threes on the night. Despite threatening weather most of the day, they finally got in a substantial day of practice Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Windy conditions kept the speeds down with Ryan Briscoe topping the charts at 223-point-708 miles an hour and Helio Castroneves coming in second at 223-point-284. Practice was scheduled Friday, leading in to day three of the Time Trials on Saturday. The Indianapolis Colts open a three-day, mandatory minicamp today at the team's westside Indy headquarters. This weekend's camp is on the only required workout of the off-season for the Colts before the team heads to training camp in July. It will be the first opportunity for the veterans to work out with the new crop of rookies, who had their own minicamp two weeks ago. A member of Purdue University's football team has been suspended indefinitely by head coach Joe Tiller. Senior safety Torri Williams has been charged in a shoplifting incident at a Lafayette grocery store. Williams is scheduled to appear in court for his initial hearing June 9th. He's currently on probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge in December. (2008 Smart Talk 1270) - Rights reserved Broadcasting and/or republishing in any form prohibited without prior express permission of Solid Gospel 1270. Personal use acceptable. (7:23:20 AM)Click for Weather Center Forecast Click for AM 1270 Sports Schedule | |||||
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