EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — The city of Evansville is preparing to tear down two downtown buildings after a fire. The Evansville Courier and Press reports the city filed an emergency raze order Tuesday for the damaged buildings. Demolition could start as early as next week and will leave a two-building gap in the city’s Main Street facade. Two other buildings sustained smoke and water damage in the fire but don’t have to be demolished.
***Photo courtesy of WIKY
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge is facing a deadline for deciding whether to block a new Indiana law banning abortions sought because of fetal genetic abnormalities. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt has said she will issue a ruling before Friday, when the law adopted this year by the GOP-dominated Legislature is scheduled to take effect. Planned Parenthood sued the state, saying the law is unconstitutional and violates women’s privacy rights.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Mike Pence and first lady Karen Pence have honored Indiana’s first governor during a bicentennial ceremony celebrating the state’s founding fathers. The Wednesday ceremony took place in Clark County in southern Indiana and involved the Pence’s placing a wreath at the grave of Gov. Jonathan Jennings, who left office in 1822 to take a seat in Congress. Pence says it’s important to honor Indiana’s founders as the state celebrates its bicentennial.
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Police say a Ball State University professor told officers he has been viewing child pornography online for about three years. The (Muncie) Star Press reports that 68-year-old Robert Yadon was arrested Monday on 10 counts of child exploitation. A police report says officers on June 21 served a search warrant at Yadon’s office and seized devices on which they found several photos depicting sexual conduct by children who appear to be younger than 18.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Baron Hill says he will crisscross the state of Indiana on foot this summer, walking from South Bend to Evansville as he campaigns for the open seat. Hill told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he expects the trek to take about 40 walking days. The 63-year-old anticipates going 10 to 12 miles each day that he walks and sees the trip as a good way to meet everyday people. This isn’t Hill’s first time walking across the state. The former southern Indiana congressman completed a similar feat in a losing 1990 bid for the U.S. Senate against now-retiring GOP incumbent Dan Coats. Hill faces current Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Young, who ousted him from Congress in 2010. He lags in fundraising behind Young.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The federal government has awarded $8 million for an effort to assist communities in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana affected by defense industry downsizing. The University of Michigan announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment is supporting work by the Institute for Research on Labor, Employment and the Economy. It follows an earlier pilot project. The school, Ohio State University and Purdue University have designed and started to implement programs tailored to more than 40 companies and seven communities. The new funds will support the schools’ two-year project to target 72 communities and companies. A goal of the Defense Manufacturing Assistance Program is to help companies and communities become more resilient and attract new work so they’re less dependent on the defense industry.
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — The Valparaiso City Council has voted to amend ordinance that will allow residents to keep as many as four chickens in the northwestern Indiana city. The measure approved Monday says the birds must be well-fed and kept securely enclosed on the owner’s property at all times. A chicken coop, or enclosed structure, to shelter them must be provided. Residents previously could only have chickens if their property was 5 acres or more.