IndyStar.com: Metro & State
Indiana's leading news source for all the top stories, local news, sports and weather.
Indy weather: Look for a warm, slushy week
Today’s warm temperatures will be going away temporarily, but they should be back in time to help usher in the weekend.Temperatures could reach a high of 47 degrees today, but a cold front moving into Central Indiana late tonight will bring an...
Ice on St. Marys River removed after toxic spill
Fort Wayne » A wire factory spilled hundreds of gallons of hazardous chemicals into the St. Marys River in Fort Wayne, although because of ice on the river, officials are uncertain what damage was caused.A crew worked Friday with a chain saw to...
USI's provost selected as its new president
Evansville » A top administrator at the University of Southern Indiana has been picked as its new president.On Saturday, the board of trustees appointed Linda L.M. Bennett to replace President H. Ray Hoops on July 1. Hoops is retiring after 15...
IPS students honor MLK a little later than planned
In rescheduled event, students are told they can make a difference Students across Indianapolis Public Schools on Friday celebrated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life -- a little later than planned because school was canceled due to extreme...
Gary to get $3.8M to boost neighborhoods
Gary » The city of Gary is receiving a $3.8 million federal grant for neighborhood development.The grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was announced Friday by Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind.Visclosky said it will help Gary...
Utilities make progress in restoring power
Evansville » Crews have been making progress in restoring power to a swath of Southern Indiana hit hard by ice in this week's winter storm, but warming weather could cause new problems.About 62,000 Indiana homes and businesses remained without...
Detached semitrailer hits car, killing man
Pendleton » A man was killed in a collision Friday with an out-of-control semitrailer on I-69 near Pendleton.State Police say the trailer, which detached from a northbound semi after the truck crossed a cable barrier in the median, hit a...
At Indiana ski resorts, the snow was welcomed
While commuters groan about slipping and sliding to work in the snow, plenty of other Hoosiers have been digging into fresh powder at Indiana ski resorts."There's nothing like the feeling of being the first person on fresh snow," said Ryan Lee,...
Indianapolis Metropolitan High School helps its grads in college
Felisha Dugan didn't know what to do last fall when she arrived at Indiana State University and couldn't afford any of her textbooks.Fearing she'd fall behind in her classes, the 18-year-old turned to an unlikely source of help: a college...
Muncie man charged with confinement, battery
MUNCIE — A Muncie man has been accused of twice battering his former girlfriend.Robert Earl Stokes, 36, 115 E. Rosebay Lane, is charged with criminal confinement and residential entry, both Class D felonies carrying standard 18-month prison terms,...
Contractor drowns when stuck in 8 feet of water below street
WABASH A contractor drowned when he became trapped in 8 feet of water in a water-main access hole in Wabash.Police said Stephen A. Walls, 51, Hartford City, was working beneath an intersection Tuesday afternoon when he became stuck. Police and...
Police in South Bend arrest escapee, suspected accomplice
SOUTH BEND A Newton County Jail inmate who escaped police custody at gunpoint was arrested here Thursday along with a suspected accomplice, police said.Ray Fisher, 36, Kentland, was arrested around 3:30 p.m. near the parking lot of a carwash on...
'Painful episode' ends with Senate conviction
Ousted Illinois governor is facing likely federal indictment SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Gov. Rod Blagojevich was thrown out of office Thursday without a single lawmaker rising in his defense, brought down by a government-for-sale scandal that stretched...
IU Art Museum will use grant to add classes, staff members
Bloomington » The Indiana University Art Museum has received a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.The museum, which does not charge admission, says it will use the money for its academic programs and to hire new staffers,...
Lawsuit blames recycling plant for residents' health problems
Elkhart » Residents living near a recycling facility have filed a lawsuit alleging that dust from the plant has led many of them to seek treatment for asthma, nosebleeds and breathing difficulties.About 100 people who live near the VIM Recycling...
S. Indiana schools close ahead of storm
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Many schools and businesses are closing in southern Indiana in anticipation of a winter storm.A winter storm warning is in effect for the area through noon on Wednesday.The National Weather Service says sleet, freezing rain and...
300-pound bell stolen from N. Ind. memorial
UNION MILLS, Ind. — Police say someone unbolted and carted away a 300-pound cast iron bell from a memorial to a now-closed northern Indiana high school.The bell was mounted in the center of a monument marking the site of the old Union Mills High...
Bus stop robbers strike again in Indy
Two middle school students were robbed on an Eastside street while waiting for a bus, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.The robbery came less than a week after four robberies of high school students on the Northeastside....
2 to 4 inches of snow forecast for Indy metro area
Snowfall totals have been below-average this winter With two storm fronts rolling toward Central Indiana, that National Weather Service has called for a winter storm watch starting this evening.A “winter disturbance" will bring snow into the area...
Rally to oppose state closure of home for kids
Opponents of the state's plan to close a home for troubled children in Knightstown are planning a rally in the Statehouse to press their cause.The American Legion's Indiana branch and the home's alumni association plan to hold the rally at 10 a.m....
Ex-congresswoman asks for presidential pardon
Gary » Convicted former Gary City Clerk Katie Hall is asking President Barack Obama for a pardon, her attorney said.If granted, the clemency would wipe out the mail fraud convictions of Hall, a former congresswoman, and of Junifer Hall, her...
Judge: Inmates' trysts weren't jail escapes
Bloomfield » A prisoner at a Southern Indiana jail who was part of a group that found a way to sneak between cellblocks for sex isn't guilty of escape because he never left the jail, a judge has ruled.Greene Superior Court Judge Dena Martin's...
Couple found in SUV drowned, coroner says
Gary » The Lake County coroner said an East Chicago couple died from hypothermia and drowning after their SUV overturned in a marsh in Gary.The deaths of Arthur Joshua, 39, and his wife, Latavia, 35, were ruled accidental Friday.Police said the...
What did he look like? Mummy will get a face
RICHMOND, Ind. -- The face of the Wayne County Historical Museum's mummy hasn't been seen for thousands of years, but soon area residents will be able to watch as a forensic artist reconstructs its features.Brenda Robertson Stewart, an...
Man, 78, fatally injured as truck rolls over him
Greentown » A Howard County man died Saturday afternoon after his pickup truck rolled over him, police said.Bradley L. Tate, 78, had parked his truck in the driveway of his rural Greentown home, east of Kokomo, and was struck and dragged by the...
There she is -- from Indiana
UIndy senior is 1st Hoosier to win in pageant's 88 years Indiana has its first Miss America.Katie Stam, a University of Indianapolis senior, was crowned Miss America 2009 on Saturday night at the annual pageant in Las Vegas.Stam, 22, Seymour, a...
Legislator: Indiana Medicaid office ignoring law, costing state millions
Legislator accuses Indiana agency of ignoring law ordering review of payments At a time when Indiana is struggling to fund essential services, the state might be missing out on millions of dollars it could recover for Medicaid expenditures that...
Indiana lottery numbers
INDIANAPOLIS — Here are the winning numbers selected Saturday in the Hoosier Lottery:Daily Three-Midday6-4-0(six, four, zero)Daily Four-Midday0-6-2-7(zero, six, two, seven)Lucky 5-Midday2-17-20-21-29(two, seventeen, twenty, twenty-one,...
Indiana: Planned Parenthood clinic omitted data in abortion reports
State health agency said Planned Parenthood facility in Indianapolis omitted information in abortion records The Indiana State Department of Health issued a warning last year to a local Planned Parenthood clinic for omitting data in abortion...
After temps in 20s, Thursday and Friday will seem balmy
It’s a freakin’ heatwave!!
