A Texas man who took hostages in a northwestern Indiana realty office and held police at bay for several hours suffered three gunshot wounds before dying, likely from two different weapons, a coroner said Saturday. Roy L.INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana House voted 56-40 Tuesday to legalize captive hunts of deer and elk behind high fences.
It’s a policy shift for the state after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources banned the hunting preserves in 2006. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed the rules and still opposes the contentious hunts.
Four facilities have continued to operate under a legal injunction, but House Bill 1265 legitimizes them and also opens up the industry for more preserves to operate under specific regulations.
Rep. Matt Ubelhor, R-Worthington, said there is some controversy about hunts – also called canned hunts – but said Indiana’s preserves are large – akin to 80 city blocks – and allow deer the opportunity to elude hunters.
“It’s certainly fair chase,” he said.
But Rep. Dave Cheatham, D-North Vernon, said he doesn’t think the legislature should get involved in the ongoing lawsuit. And he also objected to captive hunting from a moral perspective.
“They bring deer in from outside, and there is no escape,” she said. “I don’t think that’s sport when you do that type of hunting.”
The only two area representatives to oppose the bill were Reps. Phil GiaQuinta and Win Moses, both D-Fort Wayne.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
All-day kindergarten
Indiana schools would get a funding boost for full-day kindergarten under a bill passed 96-2 Tuesday by the Indiana House.
House Bill 1376, authored by Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, includes $80 million a year in additional funding for full-day kindergarten and makes slight tweaks to Indiana’s automatic taxpayer refund including providing equal credits to each taxpayer instead of depending on taxes paid.
Rep. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said he appreciates the additional money for kindergarten but if lawmakers are going to re-open the budget they should also provide money for other struggling state programs.
The bill also provides an additional $5 million to compensate victims from the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair last summer.
The only local representative to vote “no” was Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, who said he is concerned that the State Fair provision is akin to the state admitting negligence in the event.
The bill now moves to the Senate.
Car dealer feud
A legal dispute between two local car dealerships could be resolved under a bill passed 75-21 Tuesday by the Indiana House.
House Bill 1171 now moves to the Senate, where a similar bill died Tuesday when Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, failed to call it for consideration.
DeHaven’s Summit City Chevrolet has filed a court action to block Kelley Chevrolet from moving to a new site based on a state law that limits locating dealerships of the same manufacturer within a six-mile radius.
Kelley contends the law is unfair since his dealership would technically be moving slightly farther away from Summit City on Lima Road near Interstate 69.
He plans a $6 million investment.
But Summit City has stressed it is following the law in place and a judge should consider the merits of the case without the legislature getting involved.
The bill would retroactively change the law to end the lawsuit in Kelley’s favor. Its effective date has been pushed to July 1.
“This is about creating jobs. This is an area that needs job. Let the free market work,” said Rep. Rebecca Kubacki, R-Syracuse.
The only area representative to vote against the bill was Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake.
“It’s a bad bill,” he said. “I think the fact that it’s in court we probably shouldn’t be picking winners.”
Credit creep review
The Indiana House voted 60-35 Tuesday to allow the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to review whether public colleges and universities are requiring too many credit hours to earn a degree.
House Bill 1220 aims to address the issue of “credit creep” – or that many degrees in Indiana now require more than 120 hours to complete. This means Hoosiers are paying more for their college education.
Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon, said an agreement has been reached with state universities on the bill that will be added in the Senate. It includes requiring the higher education commission to accept justifications for higher levels of credits if they meet certain requirements.
The commission also could review the credits only every three years.
The legislation now moves to the Senate.
Alcohol bill passes
Fort Wayne’s Embassy Theatre would be eligible for an alcohol permit under a bill that passed the House unanimously Tuesday.
Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said area legislators thought they made this possible two years ago but “goofed it up.”
House Bill 1054 allows the Embassy to buy an existing alcohol permit but not outside of the existing quota.
It now moves to the Indiana Senate.
Magistrate OK’d
The Indiana Senate voted 50-0 Tuesday to create a second magistrate for the Allen Circuit Court.
Right now there is a hearing judge paid for by the county and a federal grant. That position would be eliminated and replaced by a magistrate funded by the state.
The current salary and benefits for a magistrate is about $135,000.
Senate Bill 152 now moves to the Indiana House.
Creationism bill
The Indiana Senate has approved a bill to allow the state’s public schools to teach creationism in science classes as long as they include origin-of-life theories from multiple religions.
The Senate passed the bill 28-22, even though some senators raised questions about the measure’s constitutionality. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.
The bill permits local school boards to offer classes that include origin theories from religions including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Scientology.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
