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THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013
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Ritz leery of armed staff
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Schools chief says decision should be made by individual districts, not state legislature
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s state schools superintendent signaled her opposition Wednesday to a plan that would require public and charter schools to have an employee armed with a loaded gun, saying such decisions should be made by the individual districts rather than mandated by
the Legislature. Glenda Ritz, a Democrat who took office in January, said she didn’t know about the proposal before a Republican-controlled Indiana House committee added it Tuesday to a Senate-approved bill aimed at starting a school security grant program. The armed
employee proposal would have to clear both the full House and Senate by the Legislature’s April 29 adjournment deadline to become law. Leaders of the Indiana School Boards Association and the Indiana Ritz State Teachers Association also said they didn’t believe the
AREA LEADERS react to proposed legislation. SEE PAGE A6.
proposal was well thought out. Supporters of the requirement say it would lessen the vulnerability of schools to violent attacks such as the December elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 students and six teachers died. SEE RITZ, PAGE A6
Girl’s killing remains mystery
Parkview warns of possible police impersonator FORT WAYNE — Parkview employees have been warned about a man who is driving what looks like an unmarked police car, our news partner, NewsChannel 15, reports. According to the Parkview security alert, the suspect has targeted women alone in their cars near hospitals. He is said to follow them or try to pull them over. Indiana State Police officials said they and other agencies in Allen County have been looking for the vehicle in question since Friday. The Allen County Sheriff’s Department confirmed police have been alerted of the suspicious vehicle and are aware of the situation, but said there is no active investigation since a police report has not been filed.
Sixth shooting in a week claims life FORT WAYNE — The sixth shooting in Fort Wayne in a week’s time claimed the life of a man in the back yard of a house, our news partner, NewsChannel 15, reports. Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York said police received a call about shots fired in the 900 block of Hugh Street at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. York said two men in their twenties gunned down the victim in the back yard of a house on Hugh Street. There were five shootings over Easter weekend in the Fort Wayne area that left two dead, two critically injured and left another in fair condition.
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Index • Classified ............................................B7-B8 Life ..............................................................A3 Obituaries ..................................................A4 Opinion........................................................A5 Sports ..................................................B1-B3 Weather......................................................A6 TV/Comics ................................................B6 Vol. 156 No. 93
AP
South Korean marines work on their K-55 selfpropelled howitzers during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea near the border
village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
North Korea ratchets up rhetoric Military cleared to wage nuclear attack on U.S.; Pentagon to deploy defense system SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ratcheting up the rhetoric, North Korea warned early Thursday that its military has been cleared to wage an attack on the U.S. using “smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear” weapons. The Pentagon, meanwhile, said in Washington that it will deploy a missile defense system to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen regional protection against a possible attack from North Korea. The defense secretary said the U.S. was seeking to defuse the situation. Despite the rhetoric, analysts say they do not expect a nuclear attack by North Korea, which knows the move could trigger a destructive, suicidal war that no one in the region wants. The strident warning from Pyongyang is latest in a series of escalating threats from North Korea, which has railed for weeks against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened
sanctions for a February nuclear test. Following through on one threat Wednesday, North Korean border authorities refused to allow entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong. Washington calls the military drills, which this time have incorporated fighter jets and nuclear-capable stealth bombers, routine annual exercises between the allies. Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for a northward invasion. The foes fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The divided Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war six decades later, and Washington keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect its ally. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington was doing all it can to defuse the situation, echoing comments a day earlier by Secretary of State John Kerry. “Some of the actions they’ve
Police still get tips about Tinsley murder
taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger and threat to the interests, certainly of our allies, starting with South Korea and Japan and also the threats that the North Koreans have leveled directly at the United States regarding our base Hagel in Guam, threatened Hawaii, threatened the West Coast of the United States,” Hagel said Wednesday. In Pyongyang, the military statement said North Korean troops had been authorized to counter U.S. “aggression” with “powerful practical military counteractions,” including nuclear weapons. “We formally inform the White House and Pentagon that the everescalating U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and its reckless nuclear threat will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel and people and cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means,” an unnamed spokesman from the SEE KOREA, PAGE A6
SPENCERVILLE — Twentyfive years ago today a jogger found the body of April Tinsley, 8, in a drainage ditch along DeKalb C.R. 68, two miles west of Spencerville. The crime remains unsolved, but investigators have not given up trying to catch the person who killed Tinsley the little girl from Fort Wayne. “We’re still going through the list of any tips we get,” said Indiana State Police detective Mark Heffelfinger, now the lead investigator in the case. Those tips number more than 700 since the television series “America’s Most Wanted” shone its spotlight on the Tinsley case in 2009. “Once a week something will come in,” Heffelfinger said Monday. Many of the tips involve people who already are convicted sex offenders, but so far, none of them have led to the killer. “Someday, somehow, somebody’s going to say something” that cracks the case, Heffelfinger said. He encourages people with tips to call the Indiana State Police or Fort Wayne Police Department. The little girl was abducted SEE TINSLEY, PAGE A6
DNR grants to address invasive plants FROM STAFF REPORTS
INDIANAPOLIS — Department of Natural Resources grants totaling more than $693,000 will be used to fund the battle against invasive aquatic vegetation in Indiana’s lakes, the DNR announced Wednesday. The new grants were awarded by DNR Director Rob Carter, and are provided through the Lake and River Enhancement program in the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife. The 37 projects involve 53 lakes in 14 counties. Of the projects, 17 are in LaGrange, Noble and Steuben counties covering 21 lakes. The projects were selected from a number of applications submitted by local sponsors who commit to sharing a portion of the total cost. DNR’s portion comes from the LARE fee paid annually by boat owners to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The grants allow for the completion of projects that would be difficult for local organizations to fund on their own. “We are pleased to partner with local sponsors in supporting these projects to improve aquatic habitat and enhance recreational opportunities for boating and fishing,” said Mark Reiter, director of DNR Fish & Wildlife. SEE LARE, PAGE A6
JUDY OXENGER JOHNSTON
These mallards take a rest at the end of a dock on Clear Lake on Saturday afternoon. Clear Lake is one of eight in Steuben County to receive a Lake and River
Enhancement fund grant for weed control through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, it was announced Wednesday.