Indianapolis-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is expanding its Hoosier Healthwise hospital network to include Clarian Health Partners. The agreement gives thousands of Hoosier Healthwise Medicaid Managed Care enrollees access to seven additional hospitals. The list includes Riley Hospital for Children, Methodist Hospital and IU Hospital.

NDIANAPOLIS, IN — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
in Indiana announced the expansion of its Hoosier Healthwise network of hospitals to include Clarian Health Partners. Anthem provides health care benefits to more than 123,000 enrollees in the Hoosier Healthwise Medicaid Managed Care program.

Under this new agreement, members will have access to seven additional hospitals across the state, including: Methodist Hospital, Indiana University Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children, Clarian West Medical Center, Clarian North Medical Center, LaPorte Hospital and Bedford Regional Medical Center.

“We know that access to health care providers is critical for the
members we serve” said Leslie Naamon, regional vice president for community and network management. “We are very pleased to have Clarian join our network of hospitals, as this will provide our members with greater access throughout the state, and more importantly, we will be able to provide our members in rural areas with access to needed hospital services.”

“Clarian is pleased to participate in Anthem’s Medicaid product. Our
goal is always to provide the broadest access possible to all residents of Indiana by our participation in health plans,” said Daniel F. Evans, Jr., president and CEO, Clarian Health.

Since being awarded the contract to provide health care benefits to
members of the Hoosier Healthwise Medicaid Managed Care program in 2006, Anthem has been actively expanding their list of hospitals and physicians.

In addition, in August 2007, Anthem opened four Community Resources Centers (CRCs) throughout the state. Located in Indianapolis, Evansville, Columbus and Merrillville, the CRCs are part of a unique community-based model designed and developed by Anthem’s State Sponsored Business to deliver individualized health care coordination to members and their communities.
The centers are staffed by a dedicated, and often bilingual, team and offer local residents and providers access to health programs and services to address specific community needs, such as disease-management programs for asthma or diabetes.

Source: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana

The State Fire Marshal is investigating a seven-alarm fire that swept through downtown Lawrenceburg Sunday, destroying as many as five businesses and damaging others. The blaze burned several historic buildings and left eight families homeless.
Our partners at Network Indiana/WIBC report that the fire at one point had all departments in Dearborn County on the scene, along with close to 100 firefighters.

Greendale Fire Lieutenant Shannon Craig says below-freezing temperatures, ice and wind made the fire difficult to battle. At least one firefighter was hurt from falling on the ice and a woman who lived in one of the apartments suffered a heart attack after escaping the blaze.

Early damage estimates are in the millions.

Metro Police say they’re shocked by the city’s homicide rate this year. Mainly because four children have been killed.

Monday night the City County Council voted 21-8 to give Mayor Greg Ballard control of the police department. He has a lot of work ahead of him; the city’s homicide rate is up 66 percent over last year.

“They’re being caught in the crossfire,” IMPD Lt. Jeff Duhamell said.

Police say they haven’t seen this many child homicide victims in years.

“It’s unfortunate that the children are there. They’re totally innocent,” Lt. Duhamell said.

Police point to drugs as a primary cause of homicide. Police say marijuana was a driving force behind the brutal Hovey street murders, that killed two mothers and their babies.

“It’s a group of individuals out there who could care less about life in general,” Lt. Duhamell said.

To give you an idea of how Indy stacks up against other city’s of similar size San Diego has seen five homicides this year. Saint Louis, which is a larger city, has seen 11.

“Hopefully everybody, even the criminal element is taking a step back and saying this is outrageous. Something needs to change. And it will change,” Public Safety Director Scott Newman said.

Newman said the first step in reducing homicides is changing police work policy. His plan is for officers to take a more proactive approach to solving crimes and stopping them before they start.

The mayor’s office takes control of the Metro Police department on February 29th at 12:01 a.m.

Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) has extended an agreement with Volvo Trucks North America. The extension means the Cummins ISX engine will remain in Volvo VN trucks.

COLUMBUS, Ind.–Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) and Volvo Trucks North America today announced that they have extended the agreement for the availability of the Cummins ISX engine in Volvo VN trucks.

“We’re pleased to build on our partnership with Volvo Trucks North America and offer the 2010 ISX Heavy-Duty engine in the VN truck lineup,” said Jim Kelly, Cummins President – Engine Business.

“Volvo and Cummins have a strong legacy of serving the needs of our mutual customers in the North American truck market,” added Ed Pence, Cummins Vice President and General Manager – Heavy-Duty Engine Business, “and this agreement allows us to extend that legacy well into the future.”

“Cummins remains a valued Volvo partner,” said Per Carlsson, President and CEO of Volvo Trucks North America, “and this agreement allows us to continue to meet the needs of Volvo customers who choose the ISX engine.”

Volvo Trucks North America is based in Greensboro, N.C., and is part of the Volvo Group of companies, headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Cummins Inc., a global power leader, is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, (USA) Cummins serves customers in more than 160 countries through its network of 550 Company-owned and independent distributor facilities and more than 5,000 dealer locations. Cummins reported net income of $739 million on sales of $13.05 billion in 2007. Press releases can be found on the Web at cummins.com or everytime.cummins.com.

ndianapolis-based Community Health Network and UnitedHealthcare remain optimistic that they can come to terms on a new contract as a deadline nears. The current agreement between Community and the Minnesota health benefits company is set to expire February 22. Community Health is planning to submit a new proposal this week.

Community Health Network and UnitedHealthcare are in active negotiations. Our current contract does not expire until Friday, February 22, and we are still optimistic that a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached before that time. Community will respond to United with a new proposal early next week. We understand that there is concern in the community, and while we continue to negotiate, we will provide updates.

There’s a Massachusetts-size “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico that’s threatening a $6 billion fishing industry there — and Indiana and Kentucky are getting some of the blame.
Findings by the U.S. Geological Survey put the two states in the top six among 31 states with waters that drain excess nitrogen and phosphorous into the Gulf, from sources such as farms, sewage treatment plants and power-plant emissions.
While nitrogen and phosphorous are essential for healthy aquatic life, an overabundance sets off rampant algae growth. When algae dies and sinks to the bottom, its decomposition consumes oxygen, creating a condition called hypoxia that suffocates fish and other animals that can’t make it to healthy water.
And that’s a costly problem: The economic value of commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf fishery was estimated at more than $6 billion in 2005 by the Gulf Fishery Management Council, which manages fishing from the end of state waters out to 200 miles.
“Farms, cities and suburbs are overfeeding the Gulf,” said Benjamin Grumbles, who directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water program, and is chairman of a Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force. “The key is to help the Mississippi River system deliver a more balanced diet of nutrients.”
Grumbles said the new federal findings “can help steer government action and citizen stewardship to get us more bang for the buck, and cut the size of the dead zone in faster and fairer ways.”

States study report
Kentucky and Indiana regulators said last week that they were still reviewing the report.
Representatives of environmental agencies in both states said they have been working to develop statewide water quality standards for nitrogen and phosphorous. They also noted they have existing programs aimed at reducing nutrients in their waters, such as requiring farms to have nutrient management plans.
Amy Hartsock, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said problems in the Gulf are a “main driver” in development of new Indiana water quality standards.
Tom Van Arsdale, manager of the water quality branch for the Kentucky Division of Water, agreed that nutrients cause problems in Kentucky waters, as well as in the Gulf.
But he questioned the USGS findings, which trace more of the problem to Kentucky than was previously thought.
“We aren’t totally comfortable with the analysis that USGS has done,” he said. “It’s open to some scientific debate.”
The federal study “is really the first time that there’s really been a finger pointing at Kentucky in particular,” agreed Peter Tennant, deputy director of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, which establishes water quality standards for the Ohio River.
The federal study said Kentucky contributed 6.1 percent of the nitrogen into the Gulf, and 9 percent of the phosphorous — that ranks sixth and fifth respectively. Indiana contributed 10.1 percent of the nitrogen and 8.4 percent of the phosphorous, ranking third and sixth.
Richard Alexander, a USGS scientist and the lead investigator in the study, said one explanation for the Kentucky numbers is that scientists now recognize phosphorous is a bigger part of the problem, and researchers found significant amounts of phosphorous washing off pasture and range land.
He said the study also found that larger, slower-moving rivers like the Ohio are less able to naturally eliminate nutrients before they get into the Gulf.
As a result, the study found that a nine-state region — Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi — contributes more than 75 percent of nitrogen and phosphorous to the Gulf, while covering just a third of the 31-state Mississippi River drainage area.
Not tackling the problem, Alexander said, “poses a threat to the economic and ecological health to one of the nation’s most important fisheries.”

Taking steps for a solution
The Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico task force, which was created in 1997 to shrink the dead zone, recommended this month that states contributing the most to the problem enact new nutrient reduction strategies by 2013.
Part of that would involve states establishing standards to limit the concentrations of the nutrients in their waters.
That could result in stepped-up scrutiny or potential controls on nutrient sources — something one Kentucky environmentalist said is long overdue.
Judy Petersen, executive director of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, said the study “means we can’t keep putting off developing these standards. This is going to be critical to our state, as well as the wider region, including the dead zone.”
Kentucky Farm Bureau spokesman Gary Huddleston said the report is being reviewed, particularly for any regulatory proposals that could grow out of it.
Huddleston noted that farmers prefer nutrients go to their crops rather than waterways — and could be open to ideas for reducing any loss of nutrients.
“There’s nobody in the world that has as much incentive to make sure that that goes into a plant root versus a creek or a river than the guy who’s paying for it,” he said.
He also said the statistics might not take into account changes in farmers’ practices in recent years to fence livestock out of waterways and use manure more carefully.
Chip Keeling, a spokesman for LG&E, said the company is investing more than $850 million in additional environmental controls, which are aimed at reducing nitrogen emissions.
Tennant, meanwhile, said sewage treatment plants along the Ohio River could control some nitrogen and phosphorous for a modest expense, but substantial reductions would be much more expensive.

Some say bill protects taxpayers; others fear it’ll drive out Hispanics and drive up prices

Whether the work is picking tomatoes on a farm or pounding nails at a construction site, Indiana relies on cheap and plentiful immigrant labor — legal and illegal — to do business.
But what would happen if those workers suddenly disappeared? As Indiana lawmakers debate a tough new illegal immigration bill this week, that’s a question they are being asked.
While the legislation is welcomed by some as a way to crack down on illegal immigration, others say the loss of up to 85,000 undocumented workers would have a far-reaching impact on Hoosiers.
“Ag jobs are often ones that are not the first jobs people will take,” said Kent Yeager, public policy director for Indiana Farm Bureau. “A lot of people in this country are just not willing to do that work.”
Without a reliable immigrant work force, Yeager said, producers of fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy will be forced to look elsewhere to find workers — and may even shift their operations to other countries.
“If you don’t like being dependent on foreign oil, how will you like being dependent on foreign food?” Yeager said.
That is a message state lawmakers are hearing from opponents — chambers of commerce, manufacturers, home builders, restaurant owners and Hispanic leaders — as they debate Senate Bill 335, which would crack down on business owners who knowingly hire illegal workers. Hiring and harboring illegal immigrants is already a federal offense. Violators can be jailed and heavily fined.
The bill was advanced out of a Senate committee last week and may be debated by the full Senate today or Wednesday, according to its author, Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel. If passed, it would move to the House for consideration.
Supporters are applauding the bill as a way to stop illegal immigrants from using taxpayer dollars for public services, taking away jobs that Americans would otherwise have and spreading drugs through violent Hispanic gangs.
Opponents say the bill would create an atmosphere of fear that would drive many hard-working and law-abiding Hispanics out of the state. They say this is already happening in Arizona and Oklahoma, where similar strict laws have been adopted.
Indiana now has about 300,000 Hispanic residents, roughly 5 percent of the state’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They pay an estimated $200 million in local and state taxes and have $4.8 billion in purchasing power in Indiana. Their scattering would not go unnoticed.
“The economy needs immigrant labor, both documented and undocumented. Without them, many businesses will not be able to operate,” said John Livengood, a lobbyist for Indiana’s hotels and restaurants. “This will hurt our economy.”

On the front line
Not everyone will be hurting, argued Rod Webb, owner of Aztec Resource Co., an employment agency that supplies local landscapers, builders and factories with hundreds of Hispanic workers every year. Many of them are seasonal. All of them are legal, he said.
“Every company is into maximizing profits. If you can pay someone less than you would pay an American, you will,” Webb said. “I am not saying all companies do this, but there are companies that don’t give a damn.”
Webb was born in England and raised in Mexico, his father’s home country.
Referring to his workers more like family than clients, he said he started his 10-year-old Southside firm because he got tired of hearing how some young Hispanics were being abused.
Abuse comes in many forms: working a week but not getting a paycheck, being threatened with deportation if they complain or suffering injury on the job with no workers’ compensation to help.
According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the median salary for short-term undocumented workers in America is about $350 a week, half what legal immigrants (with green cards) earn.
Webb said he requires everyone who walks through his door to fill out paperwork necessary to run through the federal government’s E-Verify system, a program that confirms the work status of an individual.
“Our boys average $9.60 an hour, which is not bad for a laborer with very little education and not many skills,” Webb said.

Concern at home
Hoosiers are frustrated about illegal immigration.
Last year, an Indianapolis Star-WTHR (Channel 13) opinion poll found that 70 percent of Hoosiers who were questioned oppose any kind of government policy that would allow those in the country illegally to stay or earn their citizenship.
Nationally, 82 percent of Americans do not think the government is doing enough to control illegal immigration, according to a 2007 New York Times/ CBS poll.
Delph said constituents have told him repeatedly that immigration is a major concern. Such feedback is the primary reason he is pushing for the tough new law, which would punish employers who take advantage of cheap and illegal labor.
That likely would include some of the 3,000 pork farmers in Indiana — the nation’s fifth-biggest producer of pigs — where the state’s $3 billion pork industry accounts for 6.5 million pigs a year.
“Clearly there are illegal immigrants in agriculture,” said Mike Platt, executive director of the Indiana Pork Producers Association. “All of us are looking for a reasonable solution. We want secure borders and legal workers . . . and farmers want to know they will not be penalized if they do everything they are supposed to do.”
But the new state law, Platt said, would drive up the cost of raising pork.
“When you press on one side of the balloon and the cost of the labor goes up . . . the cost to the consumer can go up, too. That goes for pork chops, cars, houses, every segment of the economy,” Platt said.
Rick Wajda, who represents 7,000 home builders and contractors in Indiana as chief executive of the Indiana Builders Association, estimates that 60 percent of the illegal workers in construction have obtained false documents that the E-Verify system is not likely to catch.
“Nobody really knows how many illegals there are on job sites. A lot of people suspect that they see people and think they are legal or illegal. We don’t know that,” Wajda said.
Regardless, if Hispanic workers suddenly disappear due to fear of prosecution, the housing industry will be affected.
“Any increase in costs of goods and services can only be absorbed so much. (They) have to be passed on to the consumer, the home buyer,” Wajda said.
Delph, who has met with these lobbyists in addition to leaders in the Hispanic community, is aware of their concerns. It’s a more straightforward matter to him.
“This is not about Hispanics. This is not about race. This is about following the law,” Delph said.

Bane or benefit?
Indiana University Law Professor John L. Hill was asked by Delph to pull together numbers that show the economic impact of illegal immigration.
It is not an easy task. Many illegal immigrants are paid in cash and live under the radar of the government. Estimates of how much money they earn, spend or absorb from tax-supported programs are vague and hard to find.
In testimony last week before a Senate committee, Hill concluded that the numbers he did find show that a large illegal work force probably is a plus for business.
But it also hurts middle-class families whose tax dollars support the emergency care, education, incarceration and Medicaid benefits of many illegal immigrants — an estimated $259 million in state and local tax dollars, or $150 to $200 per household in Indiana, by Hill’s estimates.
Hill also said 15,000 jobs are lost to illegal immigrants that could otherwise be had by Hoosiers.
But there is another way to look at it, said Michael J. Hicks, an associate professor of economics and director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University.
An illegal worker with a false document will have about 15 percent of his salary pulled for payroll taxes — taxes for programs such as Social Security that he will never get back because of his illegal status.
Illegal immigrants “do pay a lot of taxes,” Hicks said. “They also use public services, but if you net out the costs . . . it is going to be lower because they pay taxes they will never get back.”
As for the impact on jobs, Hicks said, Indiana already has a low 4.6 unemployment rate.
“Where are we going to get another 40,000 to 100,000 workers?” he asked. “We don’t have a work force of 40,000 to 100,000 Americans willing to cut and stack tobacco, work in restaurants or do the other low-wage jobs the immigrants are doing.”
At Aztec Resource, Webb hopes to be one of those who benefits from tough new laws, here and elsewhere.
Webb hopes Indiana companies will turn to firms like his that can do the E-Verify screening and find the workers they desperately need.
“Sooner or later, we have to realize that we need a labor force,” Webb said. “Let’s make it simple for these people to get their permits. They are just like us. All they want is a good job, a chance to have a home and to raise their kids in a safe place.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana residents gave varied responses when asked what they plan to do with their piece of the federal tax rebate checks that will arrive in homes in May or June.

6News spoke with dozens of people about the checks. One of the most popular responses was that they plan to use it to pay higher property taxes.

Others said they plan to save the money, but that’s not what the federal government hopes most people will say.

Under the plan, most households will get up to $600, with an extra $300 per child. Low-income workers would get $300.

Butler University economics professor Bill Reiber said the stimulus package is designed to ward off a potential recession.

“Taxpayers have more money to spend and business will have incentives to invest in new plants and equipment,” Reiber said.

However, the stimulus part of the plan won’t have as much impact if most people decide to save or to use the money to pay down the massive debt many households have.

About 30 percent of the rebates are slated to go to the poorest of the working poor who have not paid federal income tax.

Some Hoosiers said they are bothered by what they called the redistribution of wealth.

“If they don’t make enough to pay tax then they shouldn’t get a rebate,” one person said.

The rebates will go to 117 million families.

Andrea Yarrell with her four-month-old daughter Charlii Yarrell

Gina Hunt with her 23-month old son Jordan Hunt

Police this morning had not yet identified any suspects in the slayings of two children and their mothers at a Near-Northside home late Monday.

Dozens of investigators continue to search for clues and interview potential witnesses as they hunt for the people who killed Jordan Hunt, 23 months, Charlii Yarrell, 4 months, and their mothers, Gina Hunt, 24, and Andrea Yarrell, 24.
On Tuesday, Sheriff Frank Anderson asked the public to help police find the killers and vowed to track them down “like dogs.”

“We’re not going to stop until we find you and put you in a cage where you belong,” Anderson said.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Spokesman Sgt. Matthew Mount said detectives from the homicide, aggravated assault and narcotics units have been working around-the-clock on the case.

“We have some promising leads, but no suspects yet,” Mount said.

More officers and investigators have been brought in from various other divisions within the department, as well as several agents with the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Mount said.

North District officers have been operating out of a mobile command post in the neighborhood since Tuesday, Mount said.
An armed break-in in September at the Near-Northside house where two women and two young children were gunned down Monday held eerie similarities to the slayings.
No arrests were made after Gina Hunt told police two armed men broke into the home in the 3200 block of Hovey Street on Sept. 27 and threatened to shoot her, the baby she was holding and another woman and child. The men left without harming the four.

Monday night, Hunt, 24, was shot multiple times and killed while holding her 23-month-old son, Jordan Hunt, and Andrea Yarrell, 24, was also killed while holding her daughter, Charlii Yarrell, 4 months. Charlii was pronounced dead at a hospital, the others at the home.
More than 80 investigators have been working to find the killers, said police, who put a mobile command center in the area.
Lesley Yarrell, Andrea Yarrell’s father, couldn’t contain his grief Tuesday as family and friends flocked to his parents’ home on North LaSalle Street.
Andrea Yarrell with her four-month-old daughter Charlii Yarrell, in a submitted family photo.
“My heart is gone. Those were my babies,” he said, tears rolling. Yarrell said he was proud of his daughter, who graduated from Perry Meridian High School and worked for the state Department of Child Services as a clerk before having Charlii. But he said he was not happy about some of the people she associated with.
He said Charlii’s father was shot last fall, and Andrea “had to run for her life.” It was after that, Yarrell said, that he rented a home for her near his parents’.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ll put you up in a safe place,’.” he said. “That baby was my pride and joy. I said I would take care of her and now she’s gone. Both of them are gone.”
Gina Hunt has two other children, who were not in the house during the shootings. Police said they are safe but declined to say who was caring for them.
Lesley Yarrell said he was displeased when Hunt recently asked Andrea to stay with her at the Hovey Street home, but he did not elaborate on his concerns.
“I went there Sunday and got my younger daughter. I told her I better not catch her there again,” he said. “But Andrea was an adult, and I couldn’t do that with her.”

Gina Hunt with her 23-month old son Jordan Hunt, in a submitted family photo.
Polly Anderson, who worked with Andrea Yarrell at DCS, called her “a very nice, caring, friendly and fun person.” Andrea had stopped by last week to let co-workers see her daughter.

Sherrill Essett, another former co-worker, said Yarrell was a good worker.
“Everybody at our job is torn up about this,” she said. “She was a beautiful person.”

Police had not identified suspects by late Tuesday. Sheriff Frank Anderson asked the public to help police find the killers and vowed to track them down “like dogs.”
“We’re not going to stop until we find you and put you in a cage where you belong,” Anderson said. “There’s a special place in hell for you, and we’re going to see that you get there.”

A 911 call Monday night sent police to the wrong address, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Sgt. Matthew Mount said. They found the correct house, across the street, and went in through a broken window, he said.

Police were investigating reports that two men were seen running from the area.
Detectives found two handguns outside near the house, Mount said. Inside, officers found a safe, about a pound of suspected marijuana, an electronic scale, ammunition and three long guns, according to a police report.

Mayor Greg Ballard renewed his call to gain control of the crime problem and beef up community policing.

“Tragedies like this remind us that where we are as a city is nowhere close to where we need to be,” Ballard said. “When a child can be shot while lying in his or her mother’s arms, we must all decide no matter what our differences are as a community, that we can join together and make our streets safe for our children.”

IMPD Chief Michael Spears said detectives have not determined whether the reported September break-in and armed robbery at the house had any connection to Monday’s killings.

“I can’t say with any certainty that it’s related,” Spears said. “It’s certainly very suspicious.”

On Sept. 27, two men kicked in a door at the house and held Hunt, another woman and two children at gunpoint, a police report said.

“(Hunt) was pleading for the life of everyone in the house,” officer Noreen Cooper wrote in the report. The suspects reportedly took Hunt’s cell phone and the house phone and fled, according to the report.

Police had been called to the home at other times. In August, burglars stole $5,000 worth of sweat suits, jewelry worth $250, a $4,500 plasma TV and a $200 table, according to a report.

In November, Dana Davidson, 44, reported that her car’s window was busted out while parked outside the home.

Monday night, Andrea Yarrell was on the phone with her boyfriend, Gene Boyd, when the attackers came in, said Boyd’s mother, Annie Boyd. She said she called 911 after speaking to her son, who is at the Indianapolis Men’s Work Release Center, serving time in a drug case.

“He heard the shots,” said Boyd, 55. “He was on the phone. They were talking and she heard something at the door.”

Boyd said her son heard Yarrell waking Hunt before the connection cut off. He called back.

“He heard the shot, then heard Gina holler out: ‘Those are my babies!’ ” Annie Boyd said. “After that, the phone went dead again.”

A spokeswoman at the work release center said Gene Boyd was not granting interviews.

Annie Boyd said her son and Andrea Yarrell had been in an off-and-on relationship for about 10 years and had reconnected recently. He was not Charlii’s father, she said, but he loved the little girl. Boyd said she regarded Yarrell as a daughter.

“She just wanted to raise her daughter,” Boyd said. “Pretty little girl. She couldn’t wait to put a barrette in her hair.”

The suspects are “cruel,” Boyd said. “That’s the devil in somebody.”

People who live in Marion County can now get discounts on prescription drugs.

A little more than a month ago, the Marion County auditor’s office announced a prescription savings plan. All you have to do is show a free red card when filling a prescription, but several pharmacists told 24-Hour News 8 so far, no one has used it.

That’s the case at CMC, an east side pharmacy. Owner and pharmacist Bill Lindley has the cards available at the front of the store, but he told me no one has taken advantage yet. The cards may be used by any Marion County resident, regardless of age, income, or existing health coverage.

Marion County’s Deputy Auditor Michael Price says the cards are accepted at every pharmacy county wide. He believes the word is getting out and says so far more than 1,700 people have used the card, and the average savings is 23% on the prescriptions.

He says this was the vision of Auditor Billie Breaux who wanted to help people save money at a crucial time.

“We’ve seen the property tax issue, and we know the cost of drugs is just sky-rocketing, and she just searched for an opportunity to find out how to save our residents some money,” said Breaux.