When Gen Con opens tomorrow, (Thurs) visitors will have the chance to visit an alternate reality created by students at IUPUI, and win prizes at the same time.  The multi-player game “Return of Aetheria” was designed by students and an instructor with the Media Arts and Sciences Program at IU‘s School of Informatics and Computing. “Gen Con contacted us about a year ago and wanted us to become the flagship school of their educational initiaive,” said IUPUI‘s Matthew Powers, who lectures at the school and lead the development of the game.  “We have together several classes to have students design, create, program and finish a real-world game.”
“Return of Aetheria” will be a three-day interactive game, open to anyone attending, using video mapping and projectors to create a large crystalline display.  “Players pay $2, and they will help return magic – or Aetheria – to the real world.  The more they play, the more the crystals will crack and return magic to the real world,” said Powers, adding that players will be guided through the game via an app they can download.  Winners will split $4,000 in prizes, donated by sponsors recruited by the school.  Since Gen Con partnered with IUPUI last year, the Media Arts and Science program has added two classes, one on pre-production and another on the production of games.  Powers says “Aetheria”, in addition to being fun to play, will help students get a job in the industry.  “We need to blur the line, so that when students go out in the real world, they are prepared for the type of chaos and type of pressure that comes with making a game,” said Powers.  “In the industry, if you can make just one game, game makers will look at your portfolio.”
Powers plans to have students add on to the game each year, creating new versions for display at other conventions.

New research shows the number of motorcycle collision fatalities are up in Indiana.  The Indiana University survey shows motorcycle crash fatalities were up 28 percent in 2012.

Also, the number of motorcycles or mopeds involved in collisions was up 15.6 percent in 2012 over 2011. There were 158 alcohol impaired driving fatalities, up almost 13 percent from 2011 and 2,112 injuries in 2012.

Despite that, the survey says Indiana seatbelt usage is seven points higher than the national average at 93.6 percent.  Finally, the number of young drivers involved in collisions continued on a downward trend in 2012.

Young driver involvement dropped 5.6 percent in 2012.  The information was compiled by the IU Public Policy Institute‘s Center for Criminal Justice Research.

Indiana‘s largest teachers‘ union says it wants to move on from the scandal over an insurance trust that led to a $14 million dollar settlement deal with the state.

The Indiana State Teachers Union agreed to the settlement with Secretary of State Connie Lawson‘s office during talks last month.  The tentative deal was announced today and will likely be approved by a federal judge if the 27 school districts who lost 27 (m) million dollars that were paid into health plans also approve the settlement.

The state sued the ISTA and its parent, the National Education Association, in 2009.  The lawsuit said money paid into the health plans was shifted without the knowledge of the schools into the ISTA‘s long-term disability fund.  When the disability fund subsequently lost money, the state says the union placed much of the remaining health trust fund into high-risk investments in an effort to recoup their losses.  Warren Williams lost his job as ISTA executive director in part because of the trust and other financial problems with the union, and the NEA bailed out the ISTA months before the lawsuit was filed.

Secretary of State Connie Lawson referred to the insurance trust as a “Ponzi scheme,” unfortunate language according to ISTA spokesman Mark Shoup (SHOOP).  “It‘s not a good time to send verbal bric-a-back (sic) back and forth between the folks who came together to make this settlement happen,” said Shoup.

The settlement allows schools and perhaps teachers to recover just over half the money that was lost.  “We‘ve been transparent with that.  We‘ve been true to our word over the last four years,” said Shoup, even though the ISTA and NEA tried to have the lawsuit dismissed in 2010 and asked for a summary judgement in its favor last year.  The union‘s trustee overseeing the trust, Ed Sullivan, also offered school districts lump sum payments of 25 cents on the dollar lost in October 2009 – two months before the state‘s lawsuit – in an effort to quell claims against the union.

If the school districts agree to the settlement, the union has ten days to pay the state, which Shoup says will come from a settlement fund created from the ISTA‘s lawsuits against Williams and others who had a hand in the scheme.  “No ISTA or NEA dollars, dues dollars or otherwise, will be used for this settlement,” said Shoup.

The state has reached a tentative $14 million dollar settlement with Indiana‘s largest teachers union over a securities complaint in which 27 school districts were defrauded out of money.

Secretary of State Connie Lawson announced the settlement with the Indiana State Teachers Association, which was agreed upon after a settlement conference with a federal magistrate last month.  The settlement amount is almost half the 27 (m) million dollars Lawson says was lost by school districts in what she and State Securities Commissioner Chris Naylor called a “Ponzi scheme” involving health plans sold by the ISTA.

Naylor sued the ISTA and it‘s parent, the National Education Association, in December 2009 over the health trusts.  The program, which Naylor says was heavily marketed by the union to teachers and schools, allowed school districts to build surpluses which would be held in reserves and invested by ISTA.  Instead, the state‘s lawsuit says the union mixed the money in with it‘s long-term disability fund and perhaps other money.  The disability fund subsequently lost money, and Naylor says the union tried to recoup the funds by making “risky investments” with much of the remaining money.

Naylor says ISTA representatives also gave false assurances to school districts, in some cases providing bogus financial statements, saying the money invested in the health trust was safe.

The NEA was also sued because, prior to the lawsuit‘s filing, the national union bailed out the ISTA due to the state union‘s financial problems.  Naylor says it also became clear that the NEA had some oversight over the labor representatives that promoted the health plans.  The NEA asked to be absolved from the suit, but a federal judge repeatedly refused.

While Lawson says the state was, and is, prepared to go to trial in October, settling now for half the amount the schools lost will get them money more quickly than they would have seen during a long court fight.  She says it is also better than an offer made  prior to the state‘s lawsuit by the health trustee appointed by the NEA – he offered school districts as little as 20-cents on the dollar to quell possible claims against the ISTA.

The 27 school corporations affected were not named – Lawson said their names could not be made public until after the settlement is final.  That will happen once all of them agree to the terms hammered out by the state and the union.

Scientists and engineers are using radar to determine the safety of a sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore that collapsed onto a 6-year-old Illinois boy, burying him under 11 feet of sand last month.  EPA spokesman Francisco Arcaute (AHR‘-koot-ay) says the  gear they‘re using at Mount Baldy is usually used to do underground searches at hazardous waste sites.  But he says they definitely do not think anything hazardous is there under the dune.  Arcute would not speculate on what caused the sand pocket to swallow Nathan Woessner (WAYS-ner), but they hope to gather some solid scientific information that could lead them to find the cause.  I-U Northwest geosciences professor Erin Argyilan (AHR-guh-lin) says what the EPA and National Park Service team is doing is the right way to investigate the Mount Baldy issue.  Arcute says the team will remain at the dunes for at least one more day, but may need more equipment and more time to conduct the investigation.

The Salem School Board voted unanimously to approve a recommendation to move forward with an application for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that could fund $5 million of a system-wide project to add Safe Rooms to Bradie M. Shrum Elementary, Salem Middle and High Schools.

The Safe Rooms would be constructed as part of a national grant cycle aimed at providing funds for engineering and architectural services relating to the design and construction of a FEMA-approved facility.  The rooms will be heavily fortified concrete and steel that will withstand high winds.

The grants were made available following the events of Hurricane Katrina, in order to assist communities in building facilities which could conceivably act as emergency shelters in the event of natural disasters and other emergencies.

If the grants are approved, 25 percent of the project or approximately $1,860,794 would be spent in local funds.

After a presentation by Larry Timperman of Michell, Timperman and Ritz, Board President Steve Motsinger asked the board if they were ready after 18 months of talks about the project to approve an application.

“It looks as if we’re getting a $7 million expansion project with most of that paid for,” Motsinger said. “It looks like a no-brainer.”

Timperman estimated the construction cost would be $215 per square foot.

Board member Jason Pepmeier asked Dr. Kim Thurston where the local matching funds would come from.

Thurston said a bond issue would be generated.

Superintendent Dr. Lynn Reed noted that there was a window of opportunity for the grant and if the school was going to use the project to not only provide safe spaces for students, staff and visitors to the schools, they had better act.

The project will include an addition at all three schools with the one at Bradie Shrum planned for 9,025 total square feet. The net safe room size would be 7,965 and would hold approximately 1,585 students, teacher and members of the public.

The actual space of the development is planned to be used a as a multipurpose room with four additional classrooms.

The Salem Middle School project would provide for the construction of a 4,070 square foot multi-purpose room with men’s and women’s locker room and a kitchen area. The total safe room would be 5,252 square feet and would hold up to 1,025.

The project at the Salem High School is part of a larger project that would be completed in phases.

The first phase would be to construct, through the grant, a new band and choir room. An additional phase not to be paid for through the grant, would include the possible construction of an auditorium.

The Safe Room would be approximately 8,540 square foot and hold approximately 1,470 students, staff and residents.

A representative of River Hills Economic Development District said the grants would be split up into three separate ones to be submitted to the State of Indiana, and then submitted to FEMA.

“Because of the size of each project there is a limit of $2 million per project,” she said. “We will submit these individually. All could be granted or just one. This is going to be an extremely competitive grant among other agencies in the US.”

Mark Abbott made a motion to approve with Jason Pepmeier seconding the motion. The board passed the approval unanimously.

Timperman said if the grant was awarded in the next few months, bids for the project could be advertised for bid next spring.

Central Indiana health and safety leaders say they need not just federal funding for emergency preparedness, but more consistent funding.

Hospital representatives and state and local public safety officials testified at a congressional field hearing in Carmel, home to House Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee Chair Susan Brooks. Indiana hospitals and police and fire agencies coordinate their emergency response operations and drills through a public-private partnership dubbed the MESH Coalition.

MESH C-E-O Chad Priest says the group is grateful for the federal support it‘s received. But he says it‘s difficult to make long-range plans when the money local agencies receive from Washington keeps fluctuating, and at times disappearing entirely.

Brooks was joined for the hearing by Second District Representative Jackie Walorski and Senator Joe Donnelly. All praised Indiana agencies for their readiness. Brooks notes that although drills and planning often focus on terrorist threats, Indiana has shown the same preparation and coordination comes into play in other kinds of disasters, from the gas explosion which leveled part of Indy‘s Richmond Hill subdivision earlier this year to the Henryville tornado last year.

A La Porte man who had been missing since Saturday was found dead in a ditch along Interstate 94 Tuesday afternoon.  Indiana State Police say a mowing crew was clearing the grassy area on I-94 about one mile west of the Portage exit when the body of 50-year-old Ricky Kimble was found.  Kimble had been reported missing on Monday and hadn‘t been seen since Saturday.  It‘s not known how Kimble died.  An autopsy is pending at South Bend Memorial Hospital.  Police are still investigating as to what may have caused Kimble‘s death. Anyone who may have seen Kimble walking on I-80/94 from late Saturday until early Tuesday is asked to call the La Porte County Sheriff‘s Office.

A Pekin woman who was taken into custody by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and charged with reckless homicide and possession of a controlled substance has been released on bond.

Brooke Bunch, 31, Pekin, was arrested August 5 and booked into the Washington County Detention Center. Later in the day, she bonded out and was released from custody.

Bunch was charged with one count of Reckless Homicide, a Class C Felony and one county of Possession of a Controlled Substance, a Class D Felony.

The sheriff’s department is continuing to investigate the April 8 death of Johhny Ferrill, 67, Sellersburg.

The fatal accident occurred on State Road 60 East between Motsinger Road and Sullivan Lane.

Ferrill was traveling west and was operating a 2004 Harley Davidson.

Bunch was traveling East and operating a 2004 Jeep Cherokee.

WSLM received reports from a motorist who was following Bunch on April 8, noting she was driving “erratically” and weaving all over the road. The caller had also reported this to the Sheriff’s Department.

Bunch left the road, driving into a ditch and then ramping up the hill back onto State Road 60, coming into the path of the motorcycle.

Ferrill was ejected from the bike and thrown into a field to the east of the roadway.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.