The Pioneer Village at Spring Mill State Park will come to life with historical re-enactors, crafts, demonstrations and musical entertainment during the annual Tri Kappa Candlelight Tour on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The tour is from 4-9 p.m. and is sponsored by service sorority Kappa Kappa Kappa’s Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Mitchell.
Dressed in traditional pioneer clothes, Tri Kappa members and their families and Spring Mill employees will re-create life in the mid-1800s in the houses and buildings of the restored Pioneer Village.

Visitors should bring a flashlight. Tri Kappa members will sell concession and food items in the carriage house.
The event is free, although the standard park admission fee of $5 per in-state vehicle and $7 per out-of-state vehicle applies. Buses will shuttle visitors from the campground and inn parking lots to the village.

Tri Kappa is a statewide sorority that supports community and state charities as well as educational and cultural projects. The Mitchell chapter has sponsored the Spring Mill Candlelight Tour since 1967. It has become a popular kick-off event for the week-long Persimmon Festival in Mitchell. Spring Mill State Park (stateparks.IN.gov/2968.htm) is located on State Road 60 east of Mitchell.

The Brown County Commissioners’ attempt to seek financing for renovation and expansion of the historic Brown County Courthouse has failed.

By Friday afternoon, four days after the petition/remonstrance process ended, signatures for and against the estimated $6.5 million loan had not been certified.

But Brown County Clerk Beth Mulry and Auditor Glenda Stogsdill announced in a news release that “the outcome of the petition and remonstrance process is clear.”

Less than 200 signatures were gathered in support of the proposed project, while more than 800 signatures against it had been verified as of 1 p.m. Friday.

“Both offices will continue to work through the certification as quickly as possible,” a news release reported. “Final signature counts will be released when the certification is complete.”

Indiana Conservation Officers arrested an Indianapolis man Friday afternoon at Patoka Lake in Crawford County on felony charges of receiving stolen auto parts, possession of methamphetamine, and misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, and failure to stop after accident resulting in damage.

25-year-old Justin Petrowski was arrested after an investigation into his alleged theft of a vehicle at the Champaign, Illinois Wal-mart Tuesday.

Early Thursday morning, the stolen vehicle was located near the Patoka Lake archery range. After locating the vehicle, Indiana Conservation Officers and Patoka Lake personnel conducted an exhaustive search, but were unable to locate Petrowski.

On Friday, just before 1 p.m., conservation officers discovered additional clues and hiked nearly a mile over rugged terrain into the woods on Patoka Lake property. They eventually located and arrested Petrowski, who was armed with a stolen shotgun and tending to his makeshift camp.

Conservation Officer Dennis Talley stated “It was a tense situation, and fortunately, there was a safe ending for all involved.” Petrowski is being held on $20,000 cash bond, and also faces additional charges in Indianapolis and Champaign, Illinois stemming from this investigation.

Assisting agencies at the scene included the Orange and Crawford County Sheriff’s Departments, and Indiana State Police.

A handful of deaths have been tied to what some are calling a new drug that‘s popular at dance clubs.  But one doctor says it isn‘t a new drug at all.

“Molly” is short for molecule and is touted as a “pure” form of MDMA.  MDMA is the same thing as the drug Ecstasy according to Dr. Kris Hunt, emergency room physician at St. Vincent Hospital.

“It‘s a slang term people are using to try to revamp the drug,” Hunt said. Those who use Molly claim it is safe, that it gives a powerful high with no lingering effects the next day.

“It increases dopamine and increases seratonin, especially.  Those are the two chemicals in the brain that make you happy,” Hunt says.  But the doctor also says claims of the drug‘s safety are specious.

“There is no guarantee of purity if anything is bought on the black market or through a drug dealer,” a claim Hunt says is true of any drug.

Molly‘s advocates are plenty – Miley Cyrus, Kanye West and Madonna (her last album was titled MDNA) are among those who have spoken of its benefits in songs.

The drug appeared to be popular at music festivals over the summer.   The Electric Zoo festival in New York is where two young women died over Labor Day weekend, and the medical examiner says both had overdosed on Molly.

At least two other deaths in other parts of the country have been linked to the drug, though Hunt says he isn‘t sure how prevalent it is in Indiana.

Hundreds of people returned to an intersection Sunday where Kokomo police say a driver hit two 13-year-olds on a moped and kept driving.

Christian Reede died Friday, a day after the accident.

Police are still searching for a white, late model Ford truck, with possible right front bumper damage.  A cash reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

Meanwhile, funeral services for Christian Reede will take place Thursday. The other teen is good condition at an Indianapolis hospital.

A dead body has been discovered in an Allen County park.

Authorities found a car Sunday belonging to Camilla Thompson in the parking lot at Fox Island Park. Later in the afternoon, they uncovered a body there.

No word yet if they body is that of Thompson.

The search for the woman has been suspended. An autopsy is planned.

The idea–to transform a bus for use as a mobile vaccine and pet care clinic for Marion County.

Jeremy Van Andel with the Humane Society of Indianapolis, says they launched the first-ever crowdfunding campaign in July to make that idea a reality and now Tuesday (Sept 17th) is the deadline.

The goal is 27-thousand dollars, and the campaign is currently sitting at 12 thousand dollars. VanAndel says the clinic is absolutely essential in connecting pet owners in Central Indiana with affordable pet care.

One of the goals of the campaign is to have a template to provide to other animal welfare agencies across the country that a mobile clinic is not only beneficial, but also can serve as an additional revenue stream.

A Greenwood doctor from Syria says the U.S. and the United Nations are “morally obligated” to help the “people of Syria.”

Dr. Ahmad Rami Saltagi says the world must launch some sort of military offensive against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Saltagi adds the United Nations should help lead the way. He says he‘s frustrated by the United Nations which has watched while Syrian children have been killed.

Saltagi says Syrian extremists could take over if the world doesn‘t intervene. He says most Syrians are moderate and need world support against dictator Assad.

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.