OZONE ALERT
Indiana issues ozone alert for southern areas
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Department of Environmental Management warns high ozone levels in southern Indiana could cause breathing and heart problems for certain people today.
The agency is forecasting high ozone levels for the Columbus-Seymour area and the Indiana suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky.
It says anyone sensitive to poor air quality may be affected when ozone levels are high. Children, the elderly and anyone with heart or lung conditions should reduce or avoid exertion and heavy work outdoors.
Ground-level ozone is formed when sunlight and hot weather bake vehicle exhaust, factory emissions and gasoline vapors.
IDEM encourages people to reduce ground-level ozone by conserving energy and reducing automobile and gasoline-powered lawn equipment emissions until 7 p.m. Thursday.
INDIANA REPUBLICAN PARTY
Holcomb, other top leaders leaving Ind. GOP helm
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb leads a number of high-level departures from the state party half a year after the 2012 elections.
Holcomb announced Wednesday he was leaving to take a job outside politics. Former Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman, Vice Chair Sandi Huddleston and Executive Director Justin Garrett also are leaving their posts within the party.
The departing group had worked closely with former Governor Mitch Daniels over the last eight years in building the party into a dominant force in state politics. Governor Mike Pence had asked Holcomb to stay on.
Republicans held the governor's office in last year's election and built a supermajority in the Indiana House of Representatives. However, Democrats won a U.S. Senate seat and the state school superintendent's office.
BOY SCOUTS-INDIANA
Cub Scout pack loses church sponsor, gains another
DAYTON, Ind. (AP) - A Lafayette-area Cub Scout pack has found a new charter home days after a church severed ties with it over the Boy Scouts of America's decision to extend membership to openly gay youth.
Pack 3316 has found a new charter home at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Dayton.
The Lafayette Journal and Courier reports the church's board voted unanimously Tuesday to become the new charter organization for the scouts.
The administrative council of Dayton United Methodist Church voted to sever its ties with the pack on June 11th.
An Assemblies of God church in Whiteland, south of Indianapolis, also recently stopped its sponsorship of a Cub Scout pack following the national Boy Scouts decision to allow openly gay youths to join.
CHURCH ABUSE-INDIANA
Fort Wayne priest removed after sex abuse charge
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A bishop has removed a Roman Catholic priest from public ministry after a "credible allegation" of sexual abuse while the priest served in Africa about 20 years ago.
The Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese said Wednesday that Bishop Kevin Rhodes took the action against the Reverend Cornelius Ryan after being notified of the allegation by the South Bend-based U.S. Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
The News-Sentinel reports Ryan was serving as administrator of St. Joseph Catholic Church-Hessen Cassel on Fort Wayne's south side after the diocese removed the parish pastor, the Reverend Thom Lombardi, in December 2011 because of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor at a previous parish.
A message seeking additional information and comment was left at the congregation's South Bend office.
TEACHER-SEX CHARGES
Jury acquits former C. Ind. teacher of 11 counts
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A jury has acquitted a former middle school teacher of 4 felony and seven misdemeanor counts alleging she had sex with a high school student and hosted parties in which other high school students smoked marijuana and drank alcohol.
A Shelby Superior Court jury found 29-year-old Bethany Appleton of Trafalgar not guilty on all counts Wednesday
The Shelbyville News reports Appleton had faced six felony counts but two were dismissed before deliberations.
Defense attorney Bryan Barrett and some state witnesses described Appleton as a good, helpful teacher during the trial that began Tuesday. But some witnesses said Appleton allowed them to smoke marijuana in her former Shelbyville home.
The Shelbyville Central Schools alerted the Indiana Department of Child Services to the case last summer, leading to a police investigation.
GRAIN BIN DEATH
Western Indiana man dies in grain bin
VEEDERSBURG, Ind. (AP) - Hours of rescues attempts have failed to save a western Indiana man from dying after he was sucked into a grain.
Lafayette Journal and Courier reports 59-year-old Vernon Babb or rural Veedersburg was pronounced dead at the scene after being pulled from the bin about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, about five hours after he went into the bin.
Fountain County Coroner Joe Gritten says the preliminary cause of death is being listed as asphyxia. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday.
Nearby residents and emergency agencies tried to rescue Babb after people working nearby heard Babb screaming for help before 10:30 a.m. yesterday.
Veedersburg is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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