Smart Talk 1270 News Five days a week, from Elkhart and South Bend to Allegan and Warsaw, Don Wagner brings you area and national news of importance to the Michiana listener, as well as Sports coverage including scores, stories and live game coverage. Tune in each weekday morning for local news at Noon, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm plus IRN/USA News national updates at the top of every hour and IRN/USA News headlines at 30 past most hours of the day.

News Director Don Wagner

Weather Center Forecast AM 1270 Sports Today's News Posted Daily Monday to Friday

Last Update 3/9/2010

A Michigan congressman at the center of the health care debate in Washington says he's becoming more optimistic that Washington can pass a health care bill without the use of federal tax money to expand abortions. Democrat Bart Stupak's name was on the House amendment that banned the use of taxpayer-funded abortions and says he expects to resume talks with House leaders this week in a quest for wording that would not allow our tax money to be used for abortions. Former Colorado Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave is the head of the pro-life group, "Susan B. Anthony List," and says she understands the pressure pro-life Democrats are facing in the vote on health care but also says a vote for health care that includes taxpayer-funded abortions could mean the end of their service in Congress. The Susan B. Anthony List conducted a survey of Hoosier voters in Indiana's eighth and ninth congressional districts, which are represented by Democrats Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill, and found two-thirds of voters would not support the Democrat incumbents if they vote for a pro-abortion health care bill. Pro-life groups are also keeping an eye on Second District Democrat Congressman Joe Donnelly, who voted for the Stupak amendment, to make sure he doesn't switch sides.

As you're out on the roads, you might notice a few more cop cars. That's because extra patrols are on the highways to make sure we're driving safely. It's part of the latest Operation Pullover blitz, which uses federal money to conduct sobriety checkpoints and saturate patrols to look for impaired drivers. Neil Moore is the Executive Director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and says March, with St. Patrick's Day and basketball, can be a time for celebrations involving alcohol. Last year in March alone, 41 people died in traffic crashes in Indiana. 24-percent of those deaths involved a driver who was intoxicated.

Authorities have identified the man who lost his life in a tragic apartment building in South Bend just over 24 hours ago. A little after midnight Monday morning, fire broke out in the 400 block of West Madison. Just minutes after arriving, firefighters found 51-year-old Richard Gaska unconscious in a first-floor bedroom. Gaska was rushed to Memorial Hospital but died a short while later. Several other people were left homeless. Investigators say the blaze started on the porch but by the time emergency crews got there, the fire had spread inside the two-story apartment house.

The life of a 14-year-old Southern Michigan boy has changed forever due to one apparently horrible act over the weekend. The teenager allegedly shot his grandfather who was sleeping early Sunday morning. 69-year-old Jesse Miles of Buchanan died at South Bend's Memorial Hospital a few hours later, and now the boy could face the rest of his life in prison. The Berrien County prosecutor's office says the 14-year-old will be charged as an adult. He was arraigned on Monday. Police say the boy was visiting his grandparents when he found a pistol in the home and took his grandfather's life.

A small airplane was forced to make an emergency landing in an Elkhart County field Monday night. Sheriff's officials say the ultralight plane went down in a field along County Road 29 near Goshen around 6:30. Nobody was hurt, although there was no word on what caused the problems. Just four days earlier, a helicopter went down in a field near the Goshen Air Center. Nobody was injured in that emergency landing either.

The census is coming. You may have received a letter in the mail Monday, reminding you that the Census Bureau is about to send a survey to your home, or you may get the note in the next day or two. The Census Bureau is in the process of hiring one-point-two million people, although about three-million Americans have applied for those jobs, most of which will allow you to work 20 to 40 hours a week between early May and mid-June. Census Bureau spokesman Jim Accurso says the goal is to hire workers who live in the neighborhoods they'll be called upon to canvass, going door-to-door to homes that did not respond to this month's questionaire. If you're working out of the Census Bureau's South Bend, you will be earning 12-dollars-25 cents an hour.

Indiana lawmakers are back to work this week, trying to wrap up negotiations on top legislative priorities. Legislators met Monday and will meet today in conference committees to talk about potential compromises on bills dealing with unemployment insurance premiums for Hoosier businesses, school funding and the potential merger of the state's two largest pension funds.

Some Indiana lawmakers believe a recent workplace shooting in Portage should lead Governor Mitch Daniels to veto a bill allowing most Hoosiers to keep guns locked in their cars. A day after the House and Senate passed the measure, a disgruntled 19-year auditor with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development went to his car, got his semi-automatic shotgun and opened fire on fellow employees at an administrative office. Fortunately, nobody hurt. Daniels has not made a final decision on whether or not to veto the bill. Many conservative lawmakers still feel we have a constitutional right to keep a gun in our vehicle.

The American Cancer Society is getting some heat from doctors. That's because the Cancer Society is questioning the value of prostate cancer screenings, claiming the screenings often lead to needless biopsies and have some side effects. Doctor Michael Koch (Cook) is the head of urology at the IU Medical Center and says it might be more about money, rather than health care. He says insurance companies or the government may be the driving force behind the claims by the Cancer Society. Koch says the recommendation from the American Cancer Society angers those cancer patients who have been diagnosed through the screens and might otherwise had a diagnosis missed and died.


...In Sports...

Notre Dame gave Connecticut all it could handle for a half and then some before falling to the top-ranked Huskies, 59-44, in the semifinals of the Big East Women's Basketball Tournament. UConn led just 25-22 at intermission before pulling away in the second half. It was the 71st straight win for the Lady Huskies, breaking their own NCAA record. Skylar Diggins led the 7th-ranked Lady Irish with ten points but was held scoreless in the second half. Notre Dame will wait until early next week to find out their draw in the NCAA Tournament.

The Butler Bulldogs will try to punch their automatic ticket to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tonight when they host Wright State in the championship game of the Horizon League Tourney at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The 12th-ranked Bulldogs knocked off Wisconsin-Milwaukee 68-59 Saturday night to reach the title game. Butler's current 19-game winning streak is the longest in the nation.

The Summit League Tournament championship tonight will pit IUPUI and top-seeded Oakland. IUPUI blew a 19-point lead but came back to beat Oral Roberts, 69-65, Monday night in the semifinals. Oakland advanced to the finals with a 71-58 win over IPFW.

The annual Big Ten awards in men's basketball had a strong Purdue flavor as the Boilermakers took home coach of the year and defensive player of the year honors. Matt Painter was named coach of the year, while senior guard Chris Kramer is the Big Ten defensive player of the year for the second time in his career. Juniors Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore were named first-team all-conference by both the media and coaches. Ohio State's Evan Turner was named the Big player of the year.

Purdue junior forward Robbie Hummel spent his 21st birthday Monday undergoing reconstructive surgery in Indianapolis. Hummel tore the ACL in his right knee on February 24th in Minnesota, ending his season.