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Indiana wetlands bill garners praise, criticism as it heads to governor’s desk

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Indiana wetlands bill garners praise, criticism as it heads to governor’s desk


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Supporters of wetland legislation approved 6 Feb. by the Indiana legislature say the regulations are fair to residents, property owners, agriculture and developers while those against it say the state has already weakened wetland protections and this will only serve to damage sensitive ecosystems, increase flooding and decrease water quality.

Now it will be up to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb whether he will sign the controversial bill into law.

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The legislation was introduced by GOP state Sen. Rick Neimeyer, who said it pertains to state wetlands only, not federal. It takes some of the classifications and changes those that do not meet the definition of isolated wetlands.

He said IDEM and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources will be responsible for reviewing and deciding whether a specific wetland can be declassified. The process will be transparent and the agencies will have to explain their decisions.

Niemeyer said the legislation is necessary because classifying some of these “wet holes” that do not meet the definition of isolated wetlands is unfair to property owners.

Living in south Lake County he has always had a concern about flooding but does not believe the legislation will have that big of an effect on flooding. Still, he said, like others he will be watching what happens if the measure becomes law.

Niemeyer said with his experience on the Lake County Plan Commission and drainage board, he worked with the bill and thinks it is where it needs to be to be fair to all parties.

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“I understand the issues on both sides,” Niemeyer said.

State Sen. Dan Dernulc was among a group of eight Republicans to break rank and vote against the measure when it came before the Senate.

“I personally do not like the changes to the classes,” Dernulc said.

He describes himself as “a bit of an environmentalist” and would prefer to keep things the way they are. Dernulc said his is still for development.

“We have to do it with the way the good Lord made it,” Dernulc said.

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Organizations like Audubon Great Lakes are urging Holcomb to veto the legislation.

“Two years ago, lawmakers rolled back protections for more than half of Indiana’s wetlands. Yesterday, the Indiana Legislature passed a bill that could leave more vital wetlands out to dry.

Despite its fast track through the legislature, HB 1383 has faced growing opposition from Hoosiers and conservation groups. Yesterday’s Senate vote demonstrated a lack of consensus among lawmakers. Governor Holcomb can protect Indiana’s natural resources by vetoing this problematic bill,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, organizations like the Indiana Builders Association have come out in support.

“We support clearly defined isolated wetlands classifications to provide regulatory relief for property owners and developers while ensuring protection of high-quality isolated wetlands,” according to the IBA website.

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“In 2021, the Indiana General Assembly enacted legislation that protects high-quality isolated wetlands while reducing the regulatory costs and permitting requirements on low-quality Class I isolated wetlands in Indiana,” it continued.

“In the years since the law was passed, property owners and environmental consultants who conduct wetland delineations have found that the State Regulated Wetland Class Determination Worksheet utilized by the Indiana Dept. of Environmental Management (IDEM) presented some implementation challenges as it related to the intent of SEA 389 and the classification of isolated wetlands in the state,” the statement read.

Lake County Surveyor Bill Emerson Jr. said losing any wetlands will increase flooding and decrease water quality.

“I view wetlands as a public resource just like our other waterways that need to be protected. I’m hoping our governor feels the same way,” Emerson said. Emerson was among those opposed to the legislation who spoke out against it in 2023.

“Changing those classifications means that more ecologically important wetlands will be categorized in a way they will not be protected,” Emerson said.

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He said the state already has reduced protections for wetlands quite a bit.

“Once they are gone, they’re gone. They are expensive to recreate,” Emerson said.

Niemeyer said the legislation also contemplates recreating some wetlands lost to development through a credit system. Developers will pay credits to fill a wetland that can be used to create other wetlands or increase an existing wetland.

“It’s a two-way street. Everybody needs to be working together,” Niemeyer said.

2024 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Indiana wetlands bill garners praise, criticism as it heads to governor’s desk (2024, February 9)
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Man found dead in tanning bed at Planet Fitness days after he was reported missing

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Man found dead in tanning bed at Planet Fitness days after he was reported missing


A man was reportedly found dead inside a tanning bed at an Indiana Planet Fitness days after he was reporting missing by family.

Police are conducting a death investigation after a man who was reported missing on Friday was found dead in a tanning bed Monday morning at the south Indianapolis facility, NBC affiliate station WTHR reported.

In a statement to the publication, Planet Fitness said they were “deeply saddened by the passing of one of our members” and noted the owner of the franchise was working with authorities on the investigation.

“At Planet Fitness, we have robust operational brand protocols in place, as the safety and well-being of our members is our top priority,” Chief Corporate Affairs Officer McCall Gosselin told the publication. “We are working closely with our local franchisee to ensure they are upholding those brand protocols.”

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Witnesses told the station they noticed a foul smell in the building near the tanning rooms.

A sign on the door of the building noted that “tanning was currently unavailable,” WTHR reported.

Family told the station 39-year-old Derek Sink was identified as the man found in the bed, saying he went into a tanning bed on Friday and was found dead there Monday morning. They said he struggled with drugs and a needle was found in the room with him, though no cause of death has been released.

Relatives said Sink was wearing an ankle monitor at the time.

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Pacers News: Watch Former Top Draft Pick Dominate for Indiana Mad Ants

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Pacers News: Watch Former Top Draft Pick Dominate for Indiana Mad Ants


The Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate squad, the Indiana Mad Ants (formerly the Fort Wayne Mad Ants), are off to a 1-1 start on their young 2024-25 regular season.

The club’s opening night roster included two Indiana legends, in two-time Big Ten All-Defensive Team Purdue guard Dakota Mathias and ex-Warsaw High School and Indiana Wesleyan combo guard Kyle Mangas.

But the biggest name, by far, suiting up for the Mad Ants is Jahlil Okafor.

Following a title-winning, one-and-done 2014-15 NCAA season with the Duke Blue Devils, the 6-foot-11 center was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, still in the midst of their “process” teardown era, as navigated by beloved former general manager Sam Hinkie. In Philadelphia’s draft history, Okafor was the lottery selection in between 2014 draftee Joel Embiid, the eventual 2023 league MVP, and 2016 draftee Ben Simmons, who blossomed into a three-time All-Star before he became a semi-tantalizing, often-hurt expiring contract.

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Okafor never reached the heights of either of those comrades, although on paper he had the pedigree to potentially get there. The cousin of former 10-year NBA vet Emeka Okafor (who himself was the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft), the younger Okafor was seen as a top prospect coming out of Mike Krzyzewski’s system. It never quite worked out, as his offensive game was stuck in the 2000s — full of back-to-basket moves but missing longer jumpers.

He never developed a reliable 3-point shot, but wasn’t the kind of rim-protecting big man who instilled fear in the hearts of opposing players. Essentially, he was in no man’s land, and some early meniscus trouble also hampered his development.

After an infamous departure from Philadelphia in 2017, Okafor played for the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit Pistons. He hasn’t suited up in an NBA game since 2021, but has played for the CBA’s Zhejiang Lions, the Mexico City Capitanes of the G League, Spanish club Casademont Zaragova, and Puerto Rican squad Capitanes de Arecibo.

Now, Okafor is making the most of his opportunity with the Mad Ants. In two contests with the Mad Ants, the 28-year-old is averaging 14.5 points on .684/.500/1.000 shooting splits (that 3-point rate is arriving on a fairly low 1.0 attempts and seems a bit fluky), 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.5 steals a night.

Okafor’s performance against the Cleveland Charge, NBAGL affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was especially appetizing.

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In that 122-114 Mad Ants win, Okafor scored 21 points on 10-of-16 field goal shooting (63 percent) and pulled down nine rebounds.

Mad Ants sixth man De’Vion Harmon led the club with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from the 3-point line) and an immaculate 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line. All five starters (including Okafor) scored in double digits.

Combo forward Cameron McGriff was the team’s third 20-plus point scorer, with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor (4-of-8 from long range), along with nine rebounds and two assists.

More Pacers: Indiana Stars Rave About Bennedict Mathurin After Young Star Posts Ridiculous Stat Line

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Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls

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Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls


Officers escort Richard Allen out of the Carroll County courthouse following a hearing, Nov. 22, 2022, in Delphi, Ind.

Darron Cummings/AP


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DELPHI, Ind. — A former drugstore worker in the small Indiana community of Delphi was found guilty of murder on Monday in the killings of two teenage girls who vanished during an afternoon hike.

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Jurors convicted Richard Allen of two counts of murder and two additional counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the 2017 killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14.

Allen wasn’t arrested for five more years, while the case drew outsized attention from true-crime enthusiasts. His trial followed repeated delays, a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of Allen’s public defenders and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Reporters inside the courtroom said Allen, 52, showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered, but he looked back at his family at one point. Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. He could face up to 130 years in prison.

Outside the courthouse, people on the sidewalk began to cheer as word of the verdict spread.

Indiana State Police spokesman Capt. Ron Galaviz told The Associated Press that the judge’s gag order remains in place and he believes it will until Allen is sentenced. Allen’s lawyers left the courthouse Monday without making statements.

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A special judge oversaw the case — Superior Court Judge Fran Gull who along with the jurors, came from northeastern Indiana’s Allen County. The seven women and five men were sequestered throughout the trial, which began Oct. 18 in the Carroll County seat of Delphi, the girls’ hometown of about 3,000 residents in northwest Indiana where Allen also lived and worked.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland noted in his closing argument that Allen had repeatedly confessed to the killings — in person, on the phone and in writing. In one of the recordings he replayed for the jury, Allen could be heard telling his wife, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”

McLeland also said Allen is the man seen following the teens in a grainy cell phone video recorded by one of the girls as they crossed an abandoned railroad trestle called the Monon High Bridge.

“Richard Allen is Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors. “He kidnapped them and later murdered them.”

McLeland said it was Allen’s voice that could be heard on the video telling the teens, ” Down the hill ″ after they crossed the bridge on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bodies were found the next day, their throats cut, in a nearby wooded area.

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An investigator testified that Allen told him and another officer that on the day the teens vanished, he was wearing a blue or black Carhartt jacket, jeans and a beanie — clothing similar to what the man recorded on the bridge wore.

McLeland said an unspent bullet found between the teens’ bodies “had been cycled through” Allen’s .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun. An Indiana State Police firearms expert told the jury her analysis tied the round to Allen’s handgun.

But a firearms expert called by the defense questioned the analysis, and attorney Bradley Rozzi dismissed it as a “magic bullet,” saying investigators had made an “apples to oranges” comparison of the unspent round to one fired from Allen’s gun.

Allen was arrested in October 2022. He had become a suspect after a retired state government worker who volunteered to help police in the case found paperwork in September 2022 showing that Allen had contacted authorities two days after the girls’ bodies were found. That paperwork indicated that Allen had told an officer he had been on the hiking trail the afternoon the girls went missing, according to testimony.

Allen’s defense argued that his confessions are unreliable because he was facing a severe mental health crisis while under the pressure and stress of being locked up in isolation, watched 24 hours a day and taunted by people incarcerated with him. A psychiatrist called by the defense testified that months in solitary confinement could make a person delirious and psychotic.

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But Dr. Monica Wala, Allen’s psychologist at the Westville Correctional Facility, said Allen shared details of the crime in some of the confessions, including telling her he slashed the girls’ throats and put tree branches over their bodies. She wrote in a report that Allen told her he abandoned his plans to rape the teens when a van passed nearby. A man whose driveway passes under the Monon High Bridge testified that he was driving home from work in his van around that time.

That van, McLeland told jurors in his closing, was a detail “only the killer would know.”

During cross-examination, Wala acknowledged that she had followed Allen’s case with interest during her personal time even while treating him and that she was a fan of the true-crime genre.

Rozzi said in his closing arguments that Allen is innocent. He said no witness explicitly identified Allen as the man seen on the hiking trail or the bridge the afternoon the girls went missing. And he said no fingerprint, DNA or forensic evidence links Allen to the murder scene.

“He had every chance to run, but he did not because he didn’t do it,” Rozzi told the jurors.

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Allen’s lawyers had sought to argue before the trial that the girls were killed in a ritual sacrifice by members of a white nationalist group known as the Odinists who follow a pagan Norse religion, but the judge ruled against that, saying the defense “failed to produce admissible evidence” of such a connection.



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