NEW YORK — An outspoken opponent of the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy was accused of selling bogus tickets to Broadway shows and other sought-after events, according to court documents. Angel Ortiz, 19, was charged with grand larceny Monday. His lawyer didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Arizona’s attempt to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The decision doesn’t disturb most of the similar prohibitions that other states have on the books. On Monday, the justices declined to reconsider a lower court ruling that says the law violates a woman’s constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Democrats in New Jersey sharpened their aim at Republican Gov.
The Muncie City Council voted unanimously Monday night to oppose bill House Joint Resolution 3. The bill, previously known as House Joint Resolution 6, would add an amendment to the Indiana Constitution defining marriage as between a man and woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state. The proposed amendment also would ban anything “similar” to same-sex marriage, including civil unions. Supporters and opponents disagree on whether the proposal would also bar health and tax benefits for same-sex couples.
Students returning to university housing next year will pay about $365 more for regular accommodations. Ball State Board of Trustees voted to raise room and board costs 3.8 percent at a meeting Friday. Rates have increased 2.8 percent on average each year over the past five years.
A Ball State alumnus plans to bring free guns and a safety program to Indianapolis in February, in an attempt to prove an armed and trained community reduces crime. The Armed Citizen Project chooses neighborhoods in cities with average to high crime rates and then offers a free pump-action shotgun to any willing citizen in the neighborhood who also passes a background check and takes part in a gun safety program.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s efforts to add high-tech jobs have paid off in Indianapolis and surrounding counties — at the expense of the rest of the state, a newspaper analysis has found. The Indianapolis Business Journal analyzed U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and found Indianapolis had 39 percent more jobs in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — in 2012 than in 2001. That’s more than double the national growth rate of 17 percent.
Monday, Jan. 13 Take Back College Ryan Penneau, award winning public speaker and founder of Take Back College, will present a guide for first-year students at 6:30 p.m.
Hollis Hughes has stepped down as president of the Board of Trustees for Ball State after three years in the position, but will remain a trustee for two more years to fulfill is term. Hughes called his last three years the “opportunity of a lifetime.” He has served on the board for 25 years- as a member in 1989, as secretary in 2006 and as president in 2011.
Sections of two residence halls faced repairs after freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst Thursday. Studebaker West Complex and Kinghorn Hall are still in need of some repairs after the winter storm.
Ball State’s Board of Trustees voted today to increase the cost of room and board for students not on the Premium Plan. Room and board rates have increased about 3 percent annually for the past five years, according to a university press release. The board voted for those rates to rise to 3.9 percent annually.
As the temperature starts to warm up and snow melts this weekend, Ball State may experience minor flooding. Dave Call, an assistant meteorology professor, said low-lying places that normally experience excess water due to heavy rainstorms may flood this weekend. The National Weather Service predicted a high of about 44 degrees Saturday. Call said this is warmer than the temperatures Muncie has been experiencing, but it isn’t high enough above the freezing point to anticipate widespread flooding.
Indiana’s wind resources could provide more than 400 percent of the state’s current electricity needs, but the turbines have caused unrest in several towns. Indiana is currently ranked 15th in the U.S. for wind resources, according to the National Renewable Energy Lab. Its 930 wind turbines account for more than 2.7 percent of the state’s energy production, according to the Indiana Office of Energy Development.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is expected to tighten restrictions on U.S. spying on foreign leaders and also is considering changes in National Security Agency access to Americans’ phone records, according to people familiar with a White House review of the nation’s surveillance programs.
CINCINNATI — A man being held Wednesday, after police say they found bombs and other weapons in his vehicle, is a specialist in the Indiana National Guard trained as an intelligence analyst, a Guard official said.
SAN FRANCISCO — A new California law that spells out the rights of transgender students in public schools faces roadblocks as opponents attempt to repeal it at the ballot box, state elections officials said Wednesday.
BEIRUT — Al-Qaida is positioning itself as a vanguard defending the Sunni community against what it sees as persecution by Shiite-dominated governments across Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. As a result, a Syrian rebellion whose aim was the removal of President Bashar al-Assad is evolving into something both bigger and more ambiguous: a fight increasingly led by Sunni jihadis — often foreign and animated mainly by hatred of Shiites — who are determined to create an Islamic state. Battling these extremists is a coalition that includes moderates who are horrified that their rebellion in Syria has been discredited, with parts of the country falling under strict religious law. For moderates in the Middle East, the renewed assertiveness of the extremists is increasingly taking on the aspect of a regional calamity. “The war in Syria has poured gasoline on a raging fire in Iraq, and conflicts in both countries are feeding upon one another and complicating an already complex struggle,” said Fawaz A.
Today ‘Two Kinds of Funny’ At 10 a.m. in the Atrium Gallery, artists Matt Lynch, Ryan Mulligan and Chris Vorhees will present a gallery of contemporary sculptures.
Ball State extended the deadline for course add and drop, due to class cancellations earlier in the week.
While Ball State students returned to class today, K-12 schools throughout the area remain closed. Tony Proudfoot, a university spokesperson, said people often try to make the comparison between the two systems, giving Ball State its reputation for not canceling classes often.
