CRIME STOPPERS OF CENTRAL INDIANA
(317)262-TIPS (262-8477) www.crimetips.org 1(800)92-ALERT (922-5378)
Cash Rewards up to $1,000 for Information. Callers Remain Unknown

November 19, 2007
Sergeant Thomas Kern
Case # 071103

Caught on tape!

ANDREWS JEWELERS
3919 LAFAYETTE ROAD
LARCENY

MACY’S
3919 LAFAYETTE ROAD
THEFT

MARATHON OIL
8020 EAST BROOKVILLE ROAD
ROBBERY

SHOE CARNIVAL
3717 COMMERCIAL DRIVE
BURGLARY
Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana is offering a cash reward for information leading to the felony arrests of these suspects caught on video tape committing felony crimes. Photos of these and other felony suspects can be seen on the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimetips.org.

Contact Crime Stoppers at 262-TIPS or 1-800-92ALERT if you have any information that may assist authorities in the arrest of any felony suspect. Callers will remain anonymous; known only by a code number and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1000.

INDIANAPOLIS - State lawmakers have another property tax relief plan to consider.

On Monday, Rep. David Orentlicher proposed a plan that will reduce property taxes by 62-percent for both homeowners and renters.

Orentlicher appeared with a pair of supportive homeowners to reveal his proposal that includes a one-percent hike in the sales tax and a one-percent hike in the state income tax.

That hike in the income tax is something the governor opposes.

“We all pay the same income tax rate, we all pay the same sales tax rate but we pay very different property tax rates. What my proposal does in a way that none of the other proposals do is even out those tax rates,” said Rep. Orentlicher.

“We can have on my plan, we can go down to 7th, 8th lowest property taxes in the entire nation without raising income taxes,” said Governor Mitch Daniels.

The Governor’s plan calls for cutting residential property taxes by a third.

Rep. Orentlicher submitted his ideas to the Kenley Commission, a legislative study group which instead proposed hikes in the local option income tax and a 50-percent cut in property taxes.

Campero USA, the U.S. arm of the Latin American Pollo Campero restaurant chain, announced plans Wednesday to open restaurants inside Wal-Mart stores.

The move is expected to help the retailing giant boost its appeal to Latino consumers and to allow Pollo Campero, which has its U.S. headquarters in Dallas, to expand by spending less than freestanding sites would cost.

The chain specializing in chicken served fried or grilled was launched in Guatemala in 1971, and it has 260 restaurants worldwide, the company said. All but one of its 36 U.S. locations are owned by franchisees, according to the company.

Two restaurants s are scheduled to open next year inside Chicago-area Wal-Mart stores. Another Pollo Campero is set to open later in the year at a store about 15 minutes from Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., said Rodolfo Jimenez, executive vice president of Campero USA.

He said there have been no discussions yet about the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and he gave no estimate of how many restaurants eventually will be located within Wal-Mart walls.

Most of the 2,300 supercenters operated by Wal-Mart in the U.S. contain restaurants.

“They have a successful formula, and we believe our customers would very much embrace offerings from this company,” Linda Brown Blakley, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said about the Pollo Campero deal.

Mr. Jimenez said most of the restaurants opening in Wal-Marts are likely to be owned by Campero USA, not franchisees.

The Wal-Mart restaurants will be smaller than normal, with less staff, and will not need a big marketing campaign to attract customers, he said.

The Subway sandwich chain and McDonald’s also have sites in Wal-Marts, which provides a pool of customers, many of them Latino. In addition, about 12 percent of Wal-Mart’s 1.3 million U.S. workers are Latino, Ms. Brown Blakley said.

“They want to have Pollo Campero in their stores,” Mr. Jimenez said. “They have a lot of Hispanic customers. They believe that having a Latin American concept in the stores would be good for the brand.”

Overall, Pollo Campero hopes to open 500 restaurants in the U.S. by 2012, not counting the Wal-Mart locations.

A mutated version of a common cold virus has caused 10 deaths in the last 18 months, U.S. health officials said Thursday. Adenoviruses usually cause respiratory infections that aren’t considered lethal. But a new variant has caused at least 140 illnesses in New York, Oregon, Washington and Texas, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials don’t consider the mutation to be a cause for alarm for most people, and they’re not recommending any new precautions for the general public.

“It’s an uncommon infection,” said Dr. Larry Anderson, a CDC epidemiologist.

The illness made headlines in Texas earlier this year, when a so-called boot camp flu sickened hundreds at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. The most serious cases were attributed to the emerging virus; one 19-year-old trainee died.

“What really got people’s attention is these are healthy young adults landing in the hospital and, in some cases, the ICU,” said Dr. John Su, an infectious diseases investigator with the CDC.

There are more than 50 distinct types of adenoviruses tied to human illnesses. They are one cause of the common cold, and also trigger pneumonia and bronchitis. Severe illnesses are more likely in people with weaker immune systems. Some adenoviruses have also been blamed for gastroenteritis, conjunctivitis and cystitis.

There are no good antiviral medications for adenoviruses. Patients usually are treated with aspirin, liquids and bed rest.

In the CDC report, the earliest case of the mutated virus was found in an infant girl in New York City, who died last year. The child seemed healthy right after birth, but then became dehydrated and lost appetite. She died 12 days after she was born.

Tests found that she been infected with a form of adenovirus, called Ad14, but with some little differences, Su said.

It’s not clear how the changes made it more lethal, said Linda Gooding, an Emory University researcher who specializes in adenoviruses.

Earlier this year, hundreds of trainees at Lackland became ill with respiratory infections. Tests showed a variety of adenoviruses in the trainees, but at least 106 — and probably more — had the mutated form of Ad14, including five who ended up in an intensive care unit In April, Oregon health officials learned of a cluster of cases at a Portland-area hospital. They ultimately counted 31 cases, including seven who died with severe pneumonia. The next month, Washington state officials reported four hospitalized patients had the same mutated virus. One, who also had AIDS, died.

The Ad14 form of adenovirus was first identified in 1955. In 1969, it was blamed for a rash of illnesses in military recruits stationed in Europe, but it’s been detected rarely since then. But it seems to growing more common. The strain accounted for 6 percent of adenovirus samples collected in 22 medical facilities in 2006, while none was seen the previous two years, according to a study published this month in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Federal prosecutors Thursday accused baseball’s reigning home-run king of using steroids and lying to a grand jury about it during a probe into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional sports.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted seven-time National League MVP Barry Bonds on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, the Justice Department announced. Bonds, 43, repeatedly denied he had knowingly taken banned substances during his December 2003 testimony to an earlier grand jury investigating the distribution of steroids by a San Francisco-area laboratory.

We want to hear from you. What are your thoughts on Barry Bonds? Is he being treated fairly? Should he play again? Should he make it into the Hall of Fame? Do fans even care about alleged steroid use in baseball?

TERRE HAUTE , Ind. ) Today, Terre Haute resident Bob Heaton announced his candidacy for State Representative in House District 46 against incumbent Vern Tincher.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at the newly constructed Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Terre Haute, Heaton said, “If the Indiana General Assembly is a citizen legislature, then I certainly feel qualified…There have been changes in my life that convinced me to look at this opportunity. I am self-employed and I know from regular interaction with my clients that they are concerned about the issues that face our state and country.”

Heaton graduated Indiana State University with Bachelor of Science Degree 1980 and played basketball for Indiana State University . In 1979, Heaton, along with teammate Larry Bird, made it to the Championship game in the NCAA Final Four.

“I seek to serve and to be a representative committed to learning the issues, hearing the opposing views of constituents, advocating for the people of Vigo , Owen, Clay and Monroe counties. I will do my best to assure that Indiana serves its citizens well,” Heaton said.

Heaton has been married to his wife Jane Ann for 27 years and have two children Allison, 24, a Pharmacist at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis and Travis, 21, a student at Purdue University .

Heaton’s message was clear on Thursday, it was time to give back to the place that offered him so much. “The Wabash Valley has given me so much and been so good to me over the years,” Heaton said. “Now it is my intention to give back to the community.

Community involvement has been paramount in Heaton’s life. He is a Board Member of the Terre Haute Boys and Girls Club, the Wabash Valley Youth for Christ and of the Terre Haute Convention and Visitors Bureau. Heaton is also a member of the Terre Haute Downtown Rotary Club and a Deacon of the Cory Zion Church .

Indiana branch wants entire appellate court to decide on challenge

The ACLU of Indiana has asked the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a three-judge panel’s dismissal of the group’s challenge to sectarian prayers at the Statehouse.

Carl Tobias, a constitutional law expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said he would expect the full 7th Circuit to reconsider the decision because “it is really a close case.”
It’s unclear how long it would take the 7th Circuit to decide whether to rehear the case. The timeline, ACLU attorney Ken Falk said Wednesday, could depend on whether the court asks the state to submit a legal brief arguing against a rehearing.
Last month, the 7th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 to overturn a lower court’s decision that sectarian prayers on the floor of the Indiana House violated the constitutional separation of church and state. The appeals court said the four taxpayers represented by the ACLU of Indiana did not have standing to sue because the recitation of prayers did not involve taxpayer expenditures.
The court, however, did not rule on the specific question of whether the prayers should be allowed.
Legislative leaders widely applauded the court’s decision, calling it a victory for free speech.
If lawmakers resume sectarian prayers, Falk warned, his group could file another lawsuit.
The legislature reconvenes Tuesday for Organization Day, but House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has not said whether a sectarian prayer would be given at the start of business. Falk said he would expect the House and Senate to continue their practice of offering nonsectarian prayers, because the 7th Circuit’s decision would not be final until the court rules on the ACLU’s request for a rehearing.
The group’s lawsuit was filed in 2005 after a minister led the House in singing “Just a Little Talk with Jesus.” In November 2005, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled that opening prayers in the Indiana House could not mention Jesus or endorse a particular religion.

Hedge fund with big stakes in both airlines urges a merger; Delta says it has committee looking at possible deals.

Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it is open to a deal with another airline in the wake of a push by a hedge fund to combine Delta with United Airlines.

A merger, which is being proposed as an answer to soaring jet fuel costs, would create the world’s largest air carrier. A Delta-UAL tieup would likely spark a round of industry consolidation and sharply reduce the choices for passengers, while possibly leading to higher fares on some routes.

Pardus Capital Management, which according to federal filings has 3 million shares of Delta (Charts, Fortune 500) and 5.6 million shares of UAL (Charts, Fortune 500), sent a letter to the airlines Tuesday that proposed a stock-for-stock combination. Pardus’ holdings represent about 1.3 percent of Delta’s shares and nearly 5 percent of UAL.

United is the No. 2 carrier, behind only AMR Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) unit American Airlines; Delta, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year, is No. 3.

Officials from United and Pardus were not immediately available for comment.

Delta issued statements denying a report that it has already had merger talks with United but adding that its board has formed a special committee, headed by its non-executive chairman, to analyze strategic options. It also has retained financial and legal advisors to assist in this review.

“We appreciate receiving Pardus’ views on the best course for Delta’s future,” said the statement from Delta CEO Richard Anderson. “We have been consistent in our public statements that Delta believes that the right consolidation transaction could generate significant value for our shareholders and employees and that strategic options should be evaluated. With oil at over $90 a barrel, this analysis takes on a heightened importance as we factor those prices into our long-term planning process.”

Importantly, the Delta pilots union issued a statement saying it would not oppose a combination. Opposition from pilots has been a barrier to proposed airline deals in the past.

“Many analysts have suggested that airline industry consolidation is inevitable. The Delta pilots are not opposed to a rational and sensible consolidation scenario,” said a statement from Lee Moak, a Delta captain and the head of the Air Line Pilots Association unit at the airline. “The ‘right’ merger opportunity could draw our support and result in a successful merger. However, we are not interested in a transaction just for transaction’s sake.”

Moak said that the pilots could only support a deal if it is included in merger discussions from the beginning of the process.

“Any consolidating event which involves the Delta pilots will not happen without our active participation and consent,” he vowed.

Jet fuel prices have soared about 24 percent since Labor Day and are now 55 percent higher since January, when Delta fought off a hostile takeover attempt by US Airways Group (Charts, Fortune 500), arguing that such a combination would run afoul of antitrust regulators and not be a benefit to the airline, its employees or its passengers.

A spike in jet fuel prices in September 2005 sparked bankruptcies at both Delta and Northwest Airlines (Charts, Fortune 500). Most of the U.S. airline industry has filed for bankruptcies since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack,

Since Delta fought off the US Air bid, it has gotten a new CEO, Anderson, a veteran of Northwest and Continental Airlines (Charts, Fortune 500), who has spoken far more positively about the benefits of industry consolidation. UAL executives have long been on the record in favor of mergers in the industry

Carson City, NV– Nov. 2007 — Nevada ranked second in the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s 12th annual ranking of states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the “Small Business Survival Index 2007.”

Nevada ranked behind South Dakota and in front of Wyoming, Washington and Florida in the study released this month according to the Nevada Commission on Economic Development (NCED).

The index is designed to help political leaders and policymakers understand whether their state truly has an environment that helps entrepreneurship and small business growth.

“This report provides outside, unbiased acknowledgement of Nevada’s business friendly environment,” said NCED Executive Director Tim Rubald. “It provides us with another tool when we’re talking companies that considering moving their operations to Nevada.”

According to the SBE Council, the study has been expanded again this year. It includes taxes, various regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care, energy costs and more.

The 2007 Index considers 31 major government-imposed or government related costs affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Those costs are added together for an overall rating. The entire report is available at http://www.sbecouncil.org.

This report is considered one of the most comprehensive gauges available of how state and local policymakers treat businesses.

Nevada has held onto its second place ranking for the past four years. It continues to rank well above other western states.

2007 2006 2005 2004

Nevada 2 2 2 2

Arizona 15 15 17 17

Hawaii 42 44 46 49

California 49 49 50 50

While countless issues play into the decision-making that goes into business location and investment, public policy plays a vital role. Government costs impact where people live and work and where they seek opportunity.

The top 25 states in the 2007 SBSI had population growth of 8.2% over the research period. That was almost double the growth of the bottom 26 states which registered only 4.1% population growth.

People go where the jobs are and job growth has occurred faster in the states at the top half of the study.
NCED Information

The Nevada Commission on Economic Development is the state agency providing services, support and assistance to communities. NCED helps communities diversify and develop their economies so they remain viable. For more information on the NCED visit www.expand2nevada.com or call 775-687-4325.