i A-4 The Times-Mail, Bedford, Indiana, Thursday, March 24, 1994 STATE BRIEFS Skull may be that of missing teen Pro-life groups cant take GOP backing for granted Associated Press Weapons sculpture is message of peace ANDERSON A sculpture made from hand guns, rifles, knives and brass knuckles once used for violence on city streets is a sign the community wont tolerate crime, an artist said. Artist Kenneth Ryden is designing the Crucible of Peace out of 60 weapons turned in during a ceremony earlier this week at Anderson University. This sculpture will represent a community unwilling to accept wanton violence as inevitable, a community that is a melting pot of ideas and efforts focused on mechanisms of peaceful existence, said Ryden, an art professor at the university. The Anderson Police Department has confiscated more than 25 weapons, while the Madison County Sheriffs Department has about 15, said police Chief Ron Rheam. Others were brought in by the commu-nity.
Sponsors donated $50 per weapon. Half the money will pay for the sculpture. The other half will be donated to the Mayors Commission on Domestic Violence. The sculpture will likely be completed by May. It will be taken for the next year from schools to the courthouse and to public-viewing areas.
A final spot for the sculpture hasnt been chosen. Ex-employees charged in robbery JEFFERSONVILLE Two former employees of a fast-food restaurant were accused of locking four people in a freezer, stealing money and trying to set the business on fire. Kenneth Payne, 31, and Charles Frazier, 32, were charged with robbery, criminal confinement and arson. Both men were arrested Monday and police were searching for a third suspect, assistant police chief Charlie Elder said Wednesday. Employees of the Burger King restaurant told police they were confronted by a man with a rifle around 3:30 a.m.
Sunday. Employees Jamie Drake, David Spencer and Robert Baker were locked in a walk-in freezer. The manager, Tamiko Mack, was ordered to open the safe and then put in the freezer. The assailants allegedly poured grease on the floor and set a garbage bag on fire. A plastic bucket holding pickles melted from the fire, and the pickle juice extinguished the blaze, said Detective Maynard Marsh.
The employees were locked in the freezer until around 6:30 a.m. when the morning manager arrived for work. Elder said none of the employees were harmed. Associated Press EVANSVILLE Anti-abortion groups cant take the Indiana Republican Partys support for granted, but party leaders said Wednesday the party isnt likely to abandon its familiar family values themes. A spokesman for a conservative anti-abortion group appeared before the first of four state GOP Platform Committee hearings to plead for continued backing this year, just as a pro-choice spokeswoman did.
The pro-life position is a winner. Dont let the Republican Party commit political suicide. I urge you to keep a pro-life plank in your GOP party platform, Michael Fichter told the hearing. I think youll see that in cases where political candidates and parties have flip-flopped on issues, it has always been disastrous, said Fichter, a regional representative for Citizens Concerned for the Constitution. A faction of the party became disenchanted that its most conservative wing dictated antiabortion positions for the party in 1992.
State Rep. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, one of five co- chairmen holding the hearings in Evansville, Merrillville, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, said Democrats need not hold a monopoly on abortion-rights voters. I think these hearings show there are some things weve had in our platform like welfare reform, family values that we should keep, Becker said. Personally, I think there is room in this big tent for all different philosophies. Fichter said that anti-abortion groups are aware the GOP might want to distance itself from them after losing the White House and most statewide races in Indiana two years ago.
Based on the events at the national level, we want to make sure we have a presence at all of these hearings, he said. Other themes were more predictable with a decidedly regional flair. An Evansville building contractor joined several other people in urging GOP support for an Indianapolis-to-Evansville freeway. When we were starting out, we used to buy a lot of supplies from Indianapolis, but with (Interstate) 64, we now buy most of it from Louisville because its a two-hour drive for our trucks instead of three or four, said Robert Davies, of George Davies Son Inc. Its amazing, really.
I can drive to the state capitals of Tennessee and Kentucky faster than I can get to my own, he said. A drive to Nashville, takes about two hours, and a drive to Frankfort, Ky. takes about 2 Vi hours from Evansville. Several Republicans seeking the nomination to challenge Rep. Frank McCloskey in southwestern Indianas 8th District harangued the six-term Democrat.
The longest, if not the fiercest, came from Howard Hubler, a car dealer who lives outside the district in Barger-sville. He accused McCloskey of being soft on crime and law-enforcement and an ally of welfare programs that encourage poor women to have more children. All indications suggest that we are in the third cycle right now of women getting pregnant and having babies just so they can live on welfare, Hubler said. CLEVELAND Five youths playing under a railroad bridge in Marion, found a human skull which could be that of a missing college student from Ohio, Marion police said. Tricia Ann Reitler, 19, of Olmsted Township, was a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan University when she disappeared from the campus last March 29.
Her jeans, shirt and shoes were found near the campus two days later. Her disappearance launched a massive search in which her family and volunteers from Ohio went to Marion to look for her. Lt Jay Kay of the Marion Police Department said it was too early to tell if the skull was that of Ms. Reitler. It was examined by a forensic pathologist in Fort Wayne and has been sent to an anthropologist at the University of Indianapolis, he said.
The area where the skull was found, less than a mile from the Marion police station, was thoroughly searched by volunteers shortly after Ms. Reitlers disappearance. Her parents, Garry and Donna Reitler, said Wednesday night they had been told by police about the finding of the skull. Lt Kay said the youths found the skull about 2 p.m. Wednesday in the structure of a bridge over the Mississinewa River, about two miles from the college campus.
It was found on a ledge in the structure, Kay said. No other body parts or clothing were found. We had divers search the river, but they found nothing. We will search the river again tomorrow. Mrs.
Reitler said the family has planned a church service next Tuesday, the anniversary of Tricias disappearance. It was to be a prayer vigil to mark the anniversary of her daughters disappearance. It may be our memorial service, she said in an interview published today in The Plain Dealer. Mrs. Reitler said if the skull is identified as that of her daughter, she doubts the family will go to Marion immediately.
Chief seeks take-home police cars Eavesdropper thwarts burglary r' Associated Press EVANSVILLE An Evansville man eavesdropping on a cellular telephone conversation picked up by his police scanner alerted authorities in time to thwart plans to burglarize an office supply store. A rural Dale man, 38-year-old John D. Alstatt, was arrested Wednesday on a felony charge of attempted burglary. He was being held in the Vanderburgh County Jail. Bond was set at $20,000.
A probable-cause affidavit said Derek Dillon of Evansville was in his car when he monitored the cellular-phone conversation from an 800 megahertz scanner. Dillon flagged down Vanderburgh County sheriffs Deputy Dale Thene, who then also heard part of the FORT WAYNE Allowing police officers to take their squad cars home with them would improve response time and create a more visible presence in the neighborhoods, Police Chief Neil Moore said. Moore has asked Mayor Paul Helmke and Payne Brown, director of public safety, to buy take-home cars for every city police officer. The plan would increase the size of the police fleet from 198 to more than 380, Moore said. The chief estimated the plan would cost between $180,000 and $1.1 million, depending on whether cars were bought or leased.
The departments response time would be improved because off-duty officers with a squad car could be called out if they were closest to an incident, Moore said. Moore based his plan on a similar one in Lexington, Ky. Every officer there with at least two years experience is assigned a take-home car. If you go talk to the criminals, theyll tell you this city is over-populated with police, said L.C. Richardson, manager of Lexingtons police fleet.
You cant go anywhere in this town without seeing a police car. Moore said he expects to hear what Helmke and Brown think of his proposal in 30 to 60 days. nr; i i Kentucky, the affidavit said. Sheriffs Department spokesman Cpl. Eric Williams praised the citizen involvement that led to Alstatt arrest Were just very pleased that guy overheard the conversation, he said.
No one questioned whether it was legal to monitor the conversation that led to the arrest, Williams said. Eavesdropping on and disclosing the contents of cellular phone conversations are illegal under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act The judge apparently didnt see a problem and found probable cause to hold him (Alstatt), Williams said. If the issue comes up, well deal with it then. Officers staked out Smith Butterfield Office Products near Evansville Regional Airport and, minutes after midnight, a man approached an outside window of the store and tried to pry it open, a court affidavit said. The man was frightened away once by an approaching car, returned, and was frightened away again, the affidavil said.
After officers saw the man get into a sport-utility vehicle and drive off, a deputy pulled the vehicle over. Alstatt was driving, and officers found a cellular phone and a screwdriver inside it, according to the affidavit Alstatt pleaded with detectives not to charge him with the attempted break-in because he was on parole for an armed robbery in IWC' fEastefhnd Spring Savings Sale March 25th through April 2 OR Open Monday thru Thursday 8:30 a.m. 'til 5:30 p.m. Friday 'till 7:30 and Saturday 'till 5:30 p.m. Closed Sundays.
Phone 800-39-JEANS 812-636-7336 Jt 4t Ladies' Basic Denim Jeans Juniors Misses 20 OFF SALE Off Our Already Low Discounted Price Ladies' Spring Dresses, Suits Skirts Normally $19.99 to $64.99 15" ,.51" Dresses To Size 24, Skirts To 22W 15" ON SALE Men's Basic Denim Jeans Unwashed 100 Cotton-505 St. Leg and 517 Boot Cut ON SALE 15" SAVE NOW! Ladies Spring Blouses Knit Tops Normally $6.49 to $25.99 519 ,.2079 Pre-Washed 100 Cotton 505 St. Leg, 517 Boot Cut and 550 Tapered Leg Loose Fit Ladies' Basic Denim Jeans Juniors Misses ON SALE Blouses to 24W, Knit Tops to 24 $1799 $1799 ON SALE ON SALE Men's, Ladies' and Children's Spring Jackets Normally $13.99 to $38.49 11 19 ,.3079 ON SALE Men's To Size 3XL, Ladies' To 24W Men's SUITS Large Group Boys'Spring Fashions Men's Short Sleeve Dress Knit Sport Shirts Girls' Spring Fashions 20 off Our Already Discounted Price Including: Jeans, Jumpers, Blouses, Dresses, Skirts, Gowns, Jackets, Pajamas and More. Fall Dresses Large Group 60 Our Regular Price 20 60 oh Normally $3.99 to $32.99 Our Already Discounted Price Including: Bibs, Shorts, rompers, Shirts, Jackets Jeans 319 ,2639 Dress Shirts to Size 20, Knit to 4X, Sport to 4X Our Regular Price Men's Fashion Jeans Sale Gigantic frn Shoe Sale 5 off OUR DISCOUNTED PRICE Men's, Ladies' and Children's Dress Shoes and Athletic Shoes by Nike and L.A. Gear SHOES FOR THE FAMILY ON SALE 15 off OUR DISCOUNTED PRICE By: Lee, Wrangler and Levi ON SALE Lowest Prices Guaranteed If you find an exact item we carry advertised elsewhere within 30 days at a lower or equal price, bring the ad in or provide similar proof and we will sell it at that price less five percent.
$1614.
