Indiana News

The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus unveiled an expansive justice reform plan Thursday that reimagines policing across the state.

Indiana State Police report they arrested three protesters from Milwaukee Wednesday for allegedly blocking traffic in Kosciusko County. The protest group is on a march for racial justice from Wisconsin to Washington DC for a national commemoration of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington.  All three were taken to jail and later released. 

One of the group leaders, Frank Sensabaugh, posted a Facebook Live broadcast of what happened.  Sensabaugh also goes by the name Frank Nitty according to media reports out of Milwaukee. 

Gov. Eric Holcomb and Republican legislative leaders want to provide schools with more certainty about funding for at least the first half of the new school year.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A grand jury has indicted two Indianapolis police officers on battery and other charges following an investigation into allegations that they used excessive force while arresting demonstrators at a protest in May over the death of George Floyd. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mear announced Wednesday that a grand jury indicted Johnathan Horlock and Nathanial Schauwecker. Horlock faces three counts of battery, official misconduct, perjury and obstruction. Schauwecker faces four counts of battery and two counts of official misconduct.

Indiana State Police have announced the arrest of a Nappanee man on child porn charges. 

NEW:

The National Weather Service out of North Webster, Indiana, has confirmed that two tornadoes touched down Monday night. Both were category EF-1 tornadoes. One touchdown occured six miles southwest of Wakarusa with maximum wind speeds of 110 miles per hour. The other touched down one mile north of North Webster with maximum winds of 90 miles per hour. 

Monday, Aug. 10th was the first day of class for Notre Dame students. The university released data about the testing procedures the students on campus went through prior to coming to campus.

Nearly half of the state’s long-term care facilities have experienced at least one case of COVID-19 among residents, according to a significant data release today by the Indiana State Department of Health.

Of 754 facilities required to submit data, almost half or 344 have experienced at least one positive resident case.  At least one resident death has been reported by 235 facilities. During a press call yesterday, state health officials said they expected a public dashboard to be released next week. 

The fight over vote-by-mail continues in Indiana as Gov. Eric Holcomb and Republicans remain opposed to expanding the system for this year’s fall election.

The Indiana State Department of Health reported 60 additional confirmed deaths over the last week, bringing the state’s total to 2,835. The state announced more than 74,000 total confirmed cases – including four days with more than 1,000 reported cases – and more than 841,000 Hoosiers tested.

A street mural reading "Black Lives Matter" in Downtown Indianapolis was defaced over the weekend. On Sunday morning the artwork on Indiana Avenue was covered with splatters of gray paint.

Indy 10 Black Lives Matter organizer Leah Deeray posted a video on Instagram and described the vandalism as an expected response from those against their cause.

"It is still beautiful, we still love it. And yeah, we are going to keep fighting," Deeray said. "This mural did not stop anything. We are going to keep fighting."

SYRACUSE, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a central Indiana man has been killed in a boating accident on Lake Wawasee. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says responders were dispatched around 6 p.m. Saturday to reports of a person being struck by a boat. Investigators say 20-year-old Nathaniel Mroz of Fortville was one of three people being pulled on a tube behind a boat when they were thrown off into the water. As the boat was trying to pick up the people, it hit Mroz. He was later pronounced dead at the scene. Mroz was wearing a life jacket.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — The Purdue University Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of a powerful new supercomputer from Dell that will support a wide range of research. Purdue says the high-performance computer cluster called Anvil will significantly increase the capacity available to the National Science Foundation's Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment. It serves tens of thousands of researchers across the U.S. Purdue has been a partner in the project for the past nine years. Anvil will be funded by a $10 million Science Foundation grant.

PERU, Ind. (AP) — Some Indiana campgrounds have been packed this summer with campers seeking a taste of the great outdoors following months of restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. John Cardwell owns the Hidden Creek Campground near the northern Indiana city of Peru. He says within a few weeks of opening the members-only campground this year all camping sites had been booked for the season. He told the Kokomo Tribune that people see camping as a safe getaway during the pandemic compared with staying in hotels or flying. State recreational areas are also seeing high demand.

Via a Facebook post, the Elkhart Co. Health Dept. has announced another twist in the school reopening plan. The latest information is that schools *can* now choose to open for in-person instruction. This comes one day after the county's superintendents took part in a conference call with the county's health officer and were given the impression that they needed to move to online instruction only through September. 

Indiana workers’ union representatives rallied today, calling for Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun to support the HEROES Act before the Senate goes on a five-week vacation starting August 7.  

The rally began in Indianapolis in front Young’s office before moving to Braun’s.