The largest cemetery in Indianapolis, and one of the largest in the country, celebrates a milestone.
Crown Hill Cemetery was founded 150 years ago. It is now the third-largest non-government cemetery in the U.S. at 555 acres.
“The commitment made by our original board of directors was to create a cemetery that could accommodate the community‘s needs for well over a century, which is where we are today,” said Keith Norwalk, the cemetery‘s president.
More than 200,000 people are now buried at Crown Hill, including one U.S. president, who lived out his years in Indy after moving to the city at the age of 21.
But Norwalk says the man most people ask about is legendary bank robber John Dillinger, who was buried in his hometown after he was killed by federal agents in Chicago in 1934.
Also among those buried at Crown Hill are Robert Irsay, the man who brought the Colts to Indianapolis from Baltimore, and poet James Whitcomb Riley, who is buried at the cemetery‘s highest point – it‘s also the highest point in Indianapolis.
The cemetery will give free public tours starting inside the front gate from 3:00pm until 5:00pm Sunday. Norwalk says a coffee table-size book on Crown Hill is in printing right now and is scheduled to be published in late October
The Grind 10K Walk Run started off this morning at Beck’s Mill. This fundraiser to help support the mill and its operation included runners from all over the state as well as from Wisconsin and Virginia.
The Indiana Department of Transportation and Indiana State Police will be prohibiting large trucks from using the “collector” lanes of southbound I-65 and westbound I-70 during the South Split construction project.
While the main lanes are closed during the construction, drivers can still use the collector lanes to exit onto Michigan Street, New York Street, Ohio Street and Fletcher Avenue. INDOT says semi drivers have been using those city streets to bypass the construction and re-enter the interstate.
INDOT says this causes traffic concerns as semis cannot negotiate the downtown turns without driving over curbs or into other traffic lanes.
State Police are assisting contractors this weekend to post additional overhead signage allowing police to enforce the prohibition of large trucks on the collector and in the downtown area.
State Police say trucks making local deliveries or pick-ups will be exempt. All traffic is being asked to follow the designated detour on I-465 while the construction is going on. The project is expected to be completed in November.
Education reform groups are urging Indiana to put teeth into new accountability requirements for schools of education.
A new law gives the Department of Education until 2016 to craft a rating system for the nearly 50 Indiana institutions that train teachers, based on how well their graduates do over the next three years on licensure exams or in the classroom.
Indianapolis Public Schools board member Caitlin Hannon is executive director of TeachPlus, which assists novice teachers as they‘re starting out. She says I-P-S and other school districts should be able to look at where job applicants got their training as a factor in the hiring process.
Rae Shih with StudentsFirst Indiana says the state shouldn‘t stop there. She says schools which fall below a minimum percentage of graduates rated as effective teachers should be shut down if they don‘t improve by a specified deadline.
The Obama Administration has been working on similar federal regulations to prod states to strip accreditation from schools of education that are consistent poor performers.
The Purdue Institute for Civil Communication is bringing the future of energy debate to students.
The new institute hosted industry experts as well as university scientists doing research into energy efficiency and biofuels. The main discussion point was: Can Clean Energy Replace Fossil Fuels?
Robert Bryce, a senior fellow with Manhattan Institute’s Center for Energy Policy and the Environment says not anytime soon.
He points to last year’s growth in coal, oil and natural gas outpacing the growth in renewable energy by a wide margin.
Speaking on the future of clean energy is analyst Nat Bullard (buh-LARD) with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. He says you only have to look at the path Asia is going down – choosing wind and solar for new power generation.
Youth football coaches in Indiana would have to take a two-hour training course under a proposal to be introduced in next year‘s legislature.
The Senate approved a bill this year requiring any coaches playing on municipal fields to complete an online course covering issues from proper coaching demeanor to tackling methods designed to minimize the risk of head injury.
The House opted to study the issue instead. Senator Travis Holdman (R-Markle), the bill‘s author, says he‘s hopeful a year of reviewing the issue and the course will lead to passage next year.
Former Broad Ripple High School and Purdue linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, who played 10 seasons with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots, now coaches youth football back home in Indy. But he says he “didn‘t trust the process” enough to let his son play until he saw the course created by U-S-A Football.
Hallenbeck says every major coaching organization, the N-F-L and N-C-A-A have endorsed the program. Holdman says the state still needs to require it to make sure unaffiliated club sports are covered too.
INDOT is embarking on the next phase of the U.S. 31 project in Hamilton County (Westfield) this weekend.
Spokesman Will Wingfield says it involves the 146th to 156th street portion of the $58 million project.
On Saturday (September 14th), crews will begin shifting traffic in both directions so that they share newly built southbound lanes while they create new northbound lanes and ramps.
The ramps will connect 31 with 146th street, Greyhound Pass and 151st street. On Tuesday, crews will shift northbound traffic as they modify traffic control devices and address other issues.
Less than 48 hours after her eight month old toddler was laid to rest on Wednesday, Casey Crain, 23, of Salem has now been arrested and charged in the infant’s death.
Casey Crane, 23, of Salem was arrested Friday at Noon and charged with a Class A Felony, Neglect of a Minor
A detective from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg arrested Crain, after Judge Larry Medlock issued a warrant based on charges of Neglect of a Dependent, an A Felony.
She was taken into custody at noon today (Friday) from her home at 602 ½ Ridgeview Drive in Salem and incarcerated at the Washington County Detention Center in Salem.
Earlier this week on Monday, September 9th, detectives from the Indiana State Police and Salem City Police Officers arrested Jamie Lykins, 24, from 602 ½ Ridgeview Drive in Salem.
Lykins had been the live-in boyfriend of Crane and was charged in the beating of Leelan and charged with two Class A Felonies – Battery Resulting in Death and Neglect of a Minor.
Crain was not originally charged in the death of her son, but has been implicated partly due to the facts in the case that some time passed (approximately 45 minutes) while her boyfriend was in the bedroom allegedly abusing the toddler.
To counteract the statements made in the affidavit as well as extreme criticism on social media sites like Facebook, Crane appeared on WLKY 32 saying that she had in fact checked on Leelan several times during that 45 minute period.
“I went in there so so many times to check on him and every time I went in there, [Jamie]was just holding him and rocking him like he normally would. Every time I was around him, he was nice and sweet and caring towards him,” Crain told WLKY. “But obviously I was wrong.”
“Arrests and charges were strategically made,” said Washington County Prosecutor Dustin Houchin. “They are all calculated to ensure justice.”
The investigation is continuing with the help of the ISP and Salem Police Department.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Casey was interviewed over the weekend and told police Lykins, put the toddler, Leelan, down for a nap about 5 p.m. Saturday.
Crain advised that as soon as Lykins went into the bedroom, he turned a country music radio station on to a high volume.
Crain advised she heard Leelan crying continuously for approximately 45 minutes, followed by silence.
According to the affidavit, Crain told police she then assumed Leelan was asleep.
Crain advised later that she went in to check on Leelan and discovered that he was severely bruised, not breathing properly and was semiconscious.
Friends who were coming over to the house to go fishing with the couple, Lexi Livingston and Gregory Lee, saw the condition of the toddler and encouraged them to get Leelan to the hospital.
Livingston told police Lykins didn’t want to do that because he was afraid the police and child services would be called.
State Police also spoke to Dawn Walker, who was going to be babysitting Leelan that night. Walker told police that when she entered the home, Lykins looked at her and said, “We have a problem. I beat the fuck out of baby LeeLee.”
He was arrested Monday after detectives from the Indiana State Police Post at Sellersburg were able to gather enough evidence from interviews, Indiana State Police Crime Scene Investigators and the autopsy completed on Leelan Crain, which indicated he had various areas of bruising on his body. The cause of death was ruled to be a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
Lykins was arrested without incident at a convenience store on State Road #56 in Salem Monday afternoon and incarcerated in the Washington County Detention Center in Salem.
He was charged with Neglect of a Dependent, an A Felony and Battery Causing Death, also an A Felony.
Livingston and Lee transported Crain, Lykins and Leelan to St. Vincent Hospital Saturday evening, where medical staff alerted the Salem Police Department regarding the toddler’s condition.
According to hospital personnel, the injuries were not consistent with the story that the toddler had fallen off of the bed and were consistent with physical abuse.
Once at the hospital in Salem, Leelan was transported to the Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, KY by air ambulance. He was pronounced dead at approximately 1:41am, September 8th.
An autopsy was performed Sunday morning, September 8th, on Leelan Crain at the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville, KY. The autopsy preliminarily determined the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. The official and final determination of the cause of death to Leelan Crain will not be made until the autopsy results are complete which typically takes up to six weeks. This investigation is continuing.
Officials with Delaware County’s Animal Care say it was a typical pet hoarding situation.
16 cats and five dogs were found from the home of Amy McCreery.
Animal Control officers say the floors in the home were covered with fecal matter and the walls were soaked with urine. Many of the dogs were found outside in the extreme heat with no food, water or shelter.
To make matters worse, McCreery‘s 12-year-old was living in the same filthy conditions. The Indiana Department of Child Services removed the young girl from the home.
