Soldiers arrive in U.S.
(Indianapolis) — The bodies of four Indiana National Guardsmen have been returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware after being killed in Afghanistan last week. The soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb and have been identified as members of the 713th Engineer Company. Those killed were Staff Sergeant Jonathan Metzger of Indianapolis, Specialist Brian Leonhardt of Merrillville, Specialist Robert Tauteris of Hamlet and Specialist Christopher Patterson of Aurora, Illinois.
Man in police shootout hospitalized
(Shelbyville) — A Shelbyville man is in critical condition this morning after a weekend shootout with police. Lyman Dawson, 22, was stopped by bystanders as he was trying to break into a car in a video store parking lot. He then allegedly followed the people that stopped him to their home, pulled a gun and began firing. Dawson is accused of shooting another man later before police found him inside another home and the shootout began.
Right to work legislation passed by Senate Committee
(Indianapolis, ) — Will House Democrats attend the Indiana general assembly session this week after missing the first three days of the session last week? Despite House Democrats opposition, a state Senate committee has passed the controversial right to work measure in order to send it to the full Senate. One Republican joined Democrats and voted against the measure. The same legislation prompted House Democrats in last year’s session to leave Indiana for several weeks who said they would return only when House Speaker Brian Bosma agreed to pull the controversial measure off the table. In related news, the NFL player’s union has commented on Indiana’s political battle over right to work legislation. The union is calling the the controversy an “political ploy” by Republicans and says the bickering ahead of the Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium may harm Indiana’ s image. The union quoted a report from the Economic Policy Institute saying states where right to work is in place have lower wages than union states by an average of 15-hundred dollars per worker per year.
University to host forum on foreign politics
(South Bend) — The University of Notre Dame will host the leaders of Mexico’s seven major political parties this week in Chicago for a discussion on the future of their country. The political leaders will be speaking with university experts from Notre Dame and other Midwestern universities at Notre Dame’s Chicago campus. Panelist will discuss challenges Mexico facesin their elections this year.
