Tuesday’s News & Sports Headlines with Kim Wells
In an interesting twist to ‘Hoosier Hospitality’ we’re learning President Obama’s life was threatened during his visit here last Friday. Authorities in southern Indiana have confirmed threats were made. The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office says a few warnings including comments on social media caused them to increase security. The Secret Service was on heightened alert and watching some people during his visit to Millennium Steel in Princeton.
President Obama says plans are underway for additional airline passenger screening in West Africa and here in the U.S to deal with growing concerns about Ebola. After a White House meeting with top health officials, the President warned that the margin for error is low. He said U.S. officials are redoubling efforts to ensure that health-and-safety protocols are followed across this nation.
The Liberian man being treated for Ebola in Dallas is still in critical condition and is receiving an experimental drug. A Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital official says Thomas Duncan is getting a different drug than the one given to earlier patients. Other Ebola patients have been treated with a drug combination called ZMapp, but ZMapp supplies have been exhausted.
A federal judge says police in Ferguson, Missouri cannot force protesters to keep moving during demonstrations. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry decided Monday that the “Five-Second Rule” violates the constitutional rights of the demonstrators in the St. Louis suburb. Protest demonstrations continue following the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by one of that city’s police officers.
Back here at home…U.S. Marine from Memphis, Indiana is believed to be the first American military casualty in operations against ISIS. The Navy declared Corporal Jordan Spears dead Saturday after search and rescue efforts failed to find him. The 21-year-old corporal bailed out of an aircraft when it appeared it might crash in the Persian Gulf.
The limbo for same-sex couples is over. The Supreme Court decided on Monday not to hear Indiana’s gay marriage case, letting the lower court’s decision stand. ACLU attorney Ken Faulk summed up the decision by saying, this case is over, same-sex marriage is legal in Indiana. The Indiana Family Institute called the decision disappointing, but not a defeat.
Governor Mike Pence is still trying to reach an agreement with the federal government on his plan for an alternative approach to Medicaid expansion. On Monday, Pence met with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell for a “substantive discussion,” but says differences still remain. Pence wants to implement a version of the Healthy Indiana Plan that’s been available to a limited number of Hoosiers since 2008 instead of expanding the state’s Medicaid program, which he calls broken.
Early voting ahead of next month’s general election begins today across Indiana. You can vote early at the county clerk’s office. Candidates for Congress and state offices like Secretary of State, Auditor and Treasurer are on the ballot. In many places, there are also votes on county judges and school board candidates. The election is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
We’ve just learned about a major drug bust in Indy. A special operation at the Indianapolis International Airport is being called a success after 27-gallons of the chemical known as the “date rape” drug were seized last month. GBL is an industrial solvent that’s often sold illegally as a supplement for bodybuilding, fat loss and to help fight depression or insomnia. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the intoxicant was shipped from various countries, including the United States, and had misleading invoice descriptions in an attempt to disguise the contents.
A man who admitted tricking teenage girls into sending him explicit photos and using them to coerce the girls into having sex will now spend 28 years behind bars. Austin Williams was sentenced on Monday. He was arrested in January 2013 for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl. That charge was eventually dropped, but during the investigation, officers found hundreds of pornographic images of children on his computer.
In an odd revelation from a TV dad…New York City Police are investigating former “7th Heaven” star Stephen Collins after learning that he’s admitted to having exposed himself to three girls, who at the time were all under the age of 14. TMZ.com says the actor divulged the information during a 2012 therapy session he and his estranged actress wife, Faye Grant, underwent during their divorce. Collins’ earlier admission to Grant prompted the therapist’s visit, during which he went into detail about the encounters. Collins was totally unaware at the time that he was being taped. His victims included one of his first wife’s relatives and another girl, who both lived in New York at the time. Collins said he’d already made amends with a third girl, who lived near his home in Los Angeles. TMZ doesn’t say when the incidents, which spanned several years, took place. New York City detectives have reportedly traveled to Los Angeles to discuss the tape with Grant.
The Indiana Pacers open preseason play tonight at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tip off is at 7 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers will also be home on Friday night to face the Orlando Magic.
Indianapolis Weather: Showers this morning, then scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Today’s High: 68 degrees.
I’m Kim Wells.
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