Indiana state Senator David C. Ford has died from complications of pancreatic cancer, 24-Hour News 8’s Jim Shella reported.

In late January, family members confirmed the Hartford City lawmaker was “critically ill with cancer” and underwent surgery.

The four-term Republican senator served as Assistant Majority Floor Leader and chaired the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Technology. In addition, he was a member of the Judiciary, Tax and Fiscal Policy, and Education and Career Development committees.

Last year, Ford was named a Government Leader of the Year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Ford’s Senate District 19 includes Adams, Allen, Blackford, Grant and Wells counties.

Governor Daniels Signs Bill Authorizing Special Plate

INDIANAPOLIS – The new Indiana license plate commemorating the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial was unveiled today by Ron Stiver, Commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) and Connie Nass, chairperson of the Indiana Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Members of the Bicentennial Commission and Michael Blickman, chairman of the Indiana Historical Society Board of Trustees attended the ceremony that was held in the Rose McKee Lanham Gallery at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis .

The new license plate is now available at no additional charge for 2008 and 2009 and may be obtained at any Indiana BMV license branch as a renewal or new registration. The plate may be displayed through 2013.

Stiver explained that the license plate design features a logo developed for the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission that is being used on special signage throughout the state.

“Too often it is forgotten that America ’s most eloquent and greatest president spent fourteen of his most formative years in Indiana ,” Stiver said. “President Lincoln truly does ‘belong to the ages,’ and it is only fitting that Hoosiers are able to take part in celebrating the bicentennial of his birth through display of the new Lincoln license plate.”

On behalf of the Bicentennial Commission, Chairperson Nass added, “The Commission is proud to have worked with legislators and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to design, develop and produce this special plate that proudly identifies Indiana as Lincoln’s Boyhood Home.”

The Bicentennial license plate was authorized by the Indiana State Legislature through House Bill 1202 with Representative Russ Stillwell as the House author and Senator Jim Merritt as the Senate sponsor. The bill was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels on Marc h 3.

Indianapolis is joining a program designed to offer priority hiring status to qualified soldiers returning to the civilian workforce. Mayor Greg Ballard and Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita will make the announcement today in conjunction with the U.S. Army and AAR Aircraft Services Indianapolis for the Army Partnership for Youth Services Program.
Colonel Terrence L. Murrill Sr., Commander, U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Indianapolis; Mr. Mickey Cohen, President and General Manager, AAR Aircraft Services — Indianapolis and the Honorable Robert Spanogle, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, State of Indiana will also be present.

The announcement is set to take place at 1 p.m. at the Indianapolis Airport IMC-AAR facility.

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. is investing $250,000 in Ivy Tech’s capital campaign to raise $2.8 million. The funding will be used for land acquisition, equipment and technology for a new campus in Warsaw.
The new campus will serve Kosciusko County and surrounding communities.

Press Release

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. is making a major investment in Ivy Tech Community College-Warsaw’s future as an educational leader in the community. DePuy U.S. President, David Floyd, said the company is investing $250,000 in Ivy Tech’s capital campaign to raise $2.8 million for land acquisition, equipment and technology for a new campus in Warsaw.

“Given the orthopaedic industry’s need for highly skilled, technically trained employees, DePuy is committed to supporting a career pathway for those who are interested in pursuing a degree in the manufacturing field,” said David Floyd. “DePuy’s support of Ivy Tech also enables members of our community to stay within the county to attend classes and further their education.”

According to Ivy Tech-Warsaw Executive Dean Randy Maxson, “The amazing generosity of DePuy is yet one more example of the commitment the Warsaw and Kosciusko County communities have to ensuring that Ivy Tech-Warsaw has a permanent home. This significant investment in Ivy Tech-Warsaw’s future will ensure that residents have continuing educational opportunities right here in the community.”

About the “Changing Lives…Fulfilling Dreams” Capital Campaign
Ivy Tech has had a presence in the Kosciusko County community since the late 1970s, but always in a borrowed or leased space. The lease for the current main facility at 3755 Lake City Highway will end in 2012. The college has been conducting a capital campaign in response to the community’s need for a new, permanent campus in Warsaw.

Ivy Tech entered into a purchase agreement for land for the new campus last fall. College officials and community members are completing the process to secure state funding for the “bricks and mortar” of the new campus. The new campus will serve Kosciusko County and surrounding communities. Current plans are to fold programs at the main campus and the Ivy Tech Orthopedic and Manufacturing Training Center, which opened in October 2006 at 980 Executive Drive, into the new campus.

About Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s second largest public post-secondary institution with over 105,000 students enrolled annually. Ivy Tech has 23 campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its communities, along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. More information about Ivy Tech can be found at www.ivytech.edu.

About DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.
DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, is advancing the standard of orthopaedic patient care, with a focused commitment to help surgeons achieve excellence in surgical practice. The company designs, manufactures and distributes orthopaedic devices and supplies including hip, knee, extremity, trauma, cement, orthobiologics, and operating room products. As a global leader in joint replacement products, DePuy Orthopaedics is committed to Restoring the Joy of Motion® for patients whose mobility is restricted by severe osteoarthritis or other debilitating injury.

ndiana Governor Mitch Daniels is expected to meet with President George Bush this morning at the White House. The session is a governor’s only meeting with the President as part of the National Governor’s Association Winter meeting. Daniels will deliver a speech this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. He will talk about Indiana’s economic development progress.
He will speak about the Healthy Indiana Plan, Major Moves, telecom reform and the state’s progress in economic development.

Prosecutors have focused the blame in TaJanay Bailey’s death on her mother’s live-in boyfriend, signaling that her mother may dodge a murder charge.
But Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Wednesday that any plea agreement reached with Charity Bailey would hold her accountable and could leave her facing decades in prison. He announced plans to seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole only for Lawrence Green, whose murder case likely is headed for trial.
“We determined that Mr. Green was more culpable in terms of physical abuse,” Brizzi said, with some instances going back 18 months.
Bailey, 20, and Green, 21, were each charged with murder and neglect after 3-year-old TaJanay’s Nov. 27 death, a horrific killing that sparked an internal review by the state Department of Child Services.
The prosecutor’s life sentence request for Green cites two aggravating circumstances: that Green tortured TaJanay before her death, and that the girl was younger than 12.
Brizzi said Green repeatedly whipped TaJanay, hung her by her T-shirt on a coat hook, causing injury, and punched her in the chest.
If a jury convicts Green of murder, it then would consider a life sentence.
The Department of Child Services returned TaJanay and her infant half brother home for a trial visit less than one month before the girl’s death. DCS had removed TaJanay from Bailey’s care in May 2006 on suspicions of abuse and neglect.
Brizzi initially said he would seek life sentences for both Bailey and Green. But Bailey has been cooperative and gave an expanded statement, Brizzi said.
No plea deal has been signed, but Brizzi said he anticipated allowing Bailey to plead guilty to felony neglect instead of murder in exchange for her testimony. Class A felony neglect carries a potential penalty of 20 to 50 years in prison.
“We are in plea negotiations,” said Ray Casanova, Bailey’s public defender.
Mark Inman, one of Green’s attorneys, declined to comment Wednesday. His other attorney, Carolyn Rader, did not return a phone message.
Brizzi said Bailey, who is about seven months pregnant, was the only eyewitness to TaJanay’s final days.
“We want to make sure the person responsible for putting hands on that baby will never see the light of day,” he said.
A DCS review has cited failed communication, lingering domestic violence issues in the home and a lack of urgency among everyone handling TaJanay’s case. Officials said all of those amounted to errors in judgment.
Brizzi said Wednesday that prosecutors are still looking at the way DCS handled the case but so far had found no evidence of criminal violations by workers.

School districts in Indiana are taking steps to keep recalled beef from school lunches. In Michigan one district threw out ten tons of hamburger meat.

It’s all part of the largest beef recall in U.S. history, and it’s affecting schools in Indiana.

Meatloaf was on the menu Sunday at Anita Collins house. She thawed one of the three pounds of Westland Slaughterhouse beef she received from a food pantry at St. Vincent DePaul.

But after watching the Humane Society’s undercover video of abused cattle at Westland she decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

“I’m going to throw it away. Because I didn’t buy it at a grocery store or anything, so I’m just going to get rid of it because I’m scared to use it,” Collins told Eyewitness News.

She’s not the only one holding the beef. The Indiana Department of Education issued orders January 31st to put more than 900 pounds aside.

Thirty-seven Indiana school districts including St. John Lutheran, and St. Simon the Apostle in Indianapolis, Greenwood, Greenfield and Southwestern Consolidated were all shipped frozen meat. That meat came from the same slaughterhouse under investigation by the USDA.

“It’s bad. It’s pathetic. That’s not the kind of thing that we want to see,” said State Superintendent of Instruction Dr. Suellen Reed.

Downed cattle too sick to walk and too sick for the nation’s food supply were forced onto their feet by abuse.

Dr. Reed says schools have taken immediate action but can’t be sure how much had already been served up.

“They put those aside and what we’re going to do is keep those aside. They will not be presented to students or anyone else,” vowed the superintendent.

The recall is for 143 million pounds of frozen beef dating back to February 1, 2006. The USDA suspended operations at the slaughterhouse which supplies meat to the federal school lunch program and some fast food chains.

Federal regulators say downed cattle pose a higher risk of contamination from E.coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.

Dr. Kenneth Petersen is speaking out on behalf of the Department of Agriculture. “This is a Class II recall,” Petersen explained. “That’s what we refer to as having a remote probability of causing any adverse illness. Here we have a remote chance of people getting sick,” he said.

Dr. Reed offered state assurances. “To my knowledge no one has become ill,” she said from her Statehouse office Monday.

But the captured video has left the nation and beef industry unsettled.

Eyewitness News left a message with St. Vincent DePaul. Its pantry was closed Monday.

Superintendent Reed says the USDA will provide another meat source for schools at no additional cost. She says parents would have received notification if there were confirmed cases of contamination.

Critics say the recall raises concerns about government inspections, and some are renewing the call for tighter regulations.

“Food safety laws today are a hundred years old,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, Center for Science in the Public Interest. “They’re clearly not doing the job consumers expect.”

The pen manager at Westland/Hallmark caught on tape now faces five felony counts of animal cruelty. Another employee faces three misdemeanor counts. Both workers were fired.

The president of the meat company called the video horrifying and says a fulltime USDA veterinarian has been overseeing their work for years.

Sheldon Bartley was found unresponsive in a motel room with his mother.

Indianapolis - Recent child deaths are prompting a call for an independent investigator or ombudsman to handle conflicts involving the Indiana Department of Child Services.

The advocacy group Honk for Kids says the deaths of four Indianapolis children - three of whom were subjects of DCS cases - underline the need for an independent review.

Nina Williams-Mbengue of the National Conference of State Legislatures says an ombudsman can examine agency records, interview workers and review other circumstances of cases.

More than 30 states have an ombudsman who can investigate child protection agency complaints or conduct an independent investigation when a child dies.

DCS spokeswoman Susan Tielking said she did not see the need for an outside review of citizen complaints.

The first time Indianapolis tried for a Super Bowl, it scored points with NFL owners, just not enough. Now the city is trying again.

At 3:30 this afternoon Mayor Greg Ballard and other leaders will make the official announcement about their attempt to get the 2012 Super Bowl to Indianapolis. Last year, Indianapolis lost the 2011 Super Bowl to Dallas by just two votes. Many believe Dallas’ big advantage was a stadium with more seats.

Now it appears Indianapolis is up against Phoenix and Houston which have comparable stadiums to Lucas Oil. Mayor Greg Ballard is quoted on NFL.com saying “Indianapolis is a great football city and, frankly, deserves a Super Bowl.”

Bill Benner with Inside INdiana Business agrees, and this is why he thinks Indy will beat out the two other cities.

“I also think Phoenix just had the Super Bowl, Houston is bidding to have it the year after Dallas has it, so that would be Texas back to back, so I think both of those factors weigh toward Indianapolis’ favor,” said Benner.

People living in Marion County have mixed emotions about the bid.

“It’s going to be a tremendous opportunity to showcase the innovation that happens here in Indianapolis, and show that we’re still a first-class city,” said John Orczyk.

“How much is it going to cost everybody? I know they talk about the money that comes in, but how much is it going to cost the taxpayers? How much money did it cost the taxpayers for Lucas Oil Stadium?” asked Patrick Marlow.

A study done last year found that a Super Bowl would bring nearly 100,000 people to the Circle City, and the economic benefit for all of Indiana would be about $262 million. The bid is due to NFL officials on April 1st, and we should know by May who wins.

am writing in response to the article (”Worries over education, isolation aired at meeting,” Page 4, Feb. 7 Carmel Star) that was written about the proposed redistricting of Carmel Clay Schools and how different areas don’t want to attend certain schools. Our neighborhood is not affected by any of this, but our school would gain children from some of these families.

I am the parent of two children who currently attend Orchard Park Elementary School. I believe any child would be lucky to attend this school.
At Orchard Park, we have a wonderful principal who is kind, motivating and cares more about the students at this school than any one person I know. The teachers and staff are amazing and do make a difference in the lives of these students. We have parents who step up and volunteer where they are needed.
Yes, we do have diversity in our school. Our incomes vary, some of our houses may not be as big or our cars as fancy, but we all love our children and want them to have a great education.
There are more than 500 families who currently have children attending Orchard Park. We happen to love this school and are very proud to be a part of it. Let’s take a lesson from our kids and embrace a little diversity and be open to a change that may just turn out to be a good thing.
Laura Sharp Komisarcik, Orchard Park parent and PTO president