The Times from Munster, Indiana • 34

in brief 0 0 IL I WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11 2009 PAGE A4 GET THE LATEST NEWS: nwi.coi Mayor Clay meeting with state House speaker and other officials Joel Rodriguez, the mayor's special assistant for economic development, said the city primarily is seeking funding for "shovel ready" infrastructure projects. Clay said he has yet to receive word about the scheduling of a second hearing to determine Gary's distressed unit appeal. The state panel requested additional financial information from the city Jan. 29, and Clay said the city plans to respond tms week. BY PATRICK GUINANE pguinanenwitimes.com 317.637.9078 INDIANAPOLIS Gary Mayor Rudy Clay on Tuesday went to Indianapolis seeking a sizable slice of the $5 billion windfall Indiana would receive from the economic stimulus package being debated by Congress.

Clay noted that Gary is the only city petitioning the state's Dis 1 1 I I Dedicated to getting better times staff reports CALUMET CITY Man who fled police Is facing felony charges Jerome Pugh, 36, of Calumet City, has been charged with felony aggravated fleeing and eluding, Calumet City police Cmdr. Dan Zorzi said. He was also driving with a suspended or revoked driver's license, he said. At 10:54 p.m. on Tuesday, police observed Pugh disobey a traffic signal at Ring Road and Torrence Avenue and tried to pull the 1973 Mercury sedan over when it turned into the entrance for River Oaks West, according to police records.

Instead the vehicle fled. The suspect was traveling at a speed of more than 63 mph on River Oaks Drive, according to the police report. The vehicle eventually turned south on Stanley Boulevard, drove across a lawn and continued east in alleys, police records state. It crashed into a snowbank in the alley behind Wentworth Avenue and lost control, police records show. The police officer's vehicle slid on the.

snow and rear-ended the suspect's vehicle, and both cars came to rest in the'alley behind the 1300 block of Wentworth Avenue. No one was injured in the incident, Zorzi said. CALUMET CITY Police Investigating four home burglaries An unknown suspect or suspects burglarized a residence sometime between the morning and 1:34 p.m. on Saturday in the 200 block of 157th Street, Calumet City police Cmdr. Dan Zorzi said.

Electronics were taken from the house, he said. In a separate incident, a resident reported a residential burglary and stolen items in the 400 block of Prairie Avenue at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, he said. Police also responded to a residential burglary in the 600 block of Douglas Avenue at 11:44 a.m. on Monday when a security alarm sounded.

A residential burglary was also reported in the 400 block of Green Bay Avenue at 12:29 p.m. on Monday. The back door was forced open and electronics were taken, Zorzi said. LANSING Raid leads to charges of drug possession A Lansing man faces felony charges after police raided his home on a warrant pursuant to a drug investigation. Steven RJanusz, 20, has been charged with felony possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia, Detective Lt.

Dan Sylvester said. Police served a warrant on his home in the 3400 block of 191st Place on Jan. 24, he said. recovered drug paraphernalia, cash and a total of 128 grams of marijuana," Sylvester said. LANSING Three burglaries are reported in Lansing Lansing Police are investigating three burglaries.

One occurred in the 171 block of Wentworth Avenue between 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday evening, Detective Lt. Dan Sylvester said. An unknown offender kicked in the door to the apartment, took $700, an xBox and a bottle of special edition Barack Obama Hennessy cognac. In a separate incident, an unknown suspect or suspects burglarized an apartment in the 3200 block of 187th Court during the day Feb.

6, he said. The door was forced open but nothing was taken. An apartment was also burglarized in the 3000 block of Bernice Avenue, he said. There were pry marks on the locks and some checks may have been taken. LANSING Woman, 94, scammed by three 'pipe checkers' A 94-year-old woman was the victim of a scam by three men between 1:20 and 1:30 p.m.

on Saturday in the 2400 block of 178th Street, Lansing Detective Lt. Dan Sylvester said. "Three (men) came to her home asking to check water pipes under the sink," Sylvester said. "She let them in and they looked under the sink and they leave in a white van, and she later finds a bottle of prescription pills stolen." People should be cautious about letting people inside their homes and should check identification for public works or other employees, Sylvester said. tressed Unit Appeals Board for relief from new property tax caps, which threaten to sap more than $30 million this year from the city budget.

MAYOR RUDY CLAY "The bill passed the (U.S.) Senate with approximately $5 billion coming to HAMMOND Council to review wind turbines at Wolf Lake The city's proposed wind turbines will continue under review by the City Council until the Port Authority provides a full accounting of the project's cost. During the public caucus prior to the council's regular meeting Monday, Fifth District Councilman Dan Repay had urged same night approval of the required variance, but Councilman At Large Robert Markovich requested disclosure of the payments to the engineering firms, attorneys and others involved in the project. Construction cost has been given as $195,000 for both turbines less a state grant of $24,250, or $170,750. Critics of the project argue the savings are so minimal it will take decades to recoup the cost, but Port Authority Director Milan Kruszynski last week said the payback hasn't been the foremost concern. The project explores the potential of the wind turbines as an alternative energy source, he said.

On Monday, Kruszynski said he loosely estimates the payback period at 20 years based on the cost of the construction and the savings. A j' WN 'in 1 yLJ J' I I fit rrA I the state of Indiana," Clay said. "We're not asking for a lot of money out of that. We're only asking for $400 million, which would create about 18,000 jobs in Gary." Clay said he had a meeting scheduled with Indiana House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, and he planned to drop in on state Commerce Secretary Mitch Roob, an appointee of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

1 uk in NATALIE 8ATTAGLIA PHOTOS THE TIMES CEDAR LAKE Lake Council allows man to keep roosters Jhe Lake County Council voted Tuesday to permit James Kearney to keep three of his roosters, over the protests of some neighbors who object to the poultry's early morning crowing. Kearney, who lives in the 11900 block of Lee Street in a rural subdivision north of Cedar Lake, was seeking zoning approval to keep his chicken coop. He said his children raised the birds as part of their 4-H agricultural hobbies. Dana Torreano, who said she lives across the street from Kearney, said the roosters crow starting at 4 a.m., waking up her children. GARYLAKE STATION Pothole patching on Borman extended Two lanes on Interstate 8094 will be restricted in both directions between Broadway and Central Avenue from tonight into Thursday morning while the Indiana Department of Transportation patches potholes.

Patching will take place from 9 p.m. to 5 according to IND0T. A 1 ABOVE: The Rev. Gregory Holicky blesses each room Tuesday during an official dedication and blessing of the Dyer rehabilitation unit at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers.

The hospitals' inpatient rehabilitation department has expanded to include a 12-bed unit in Dyer. I. KIT: Dr. Revathy Ameerudding, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare-Centers reads the Prayer of The Faithful on Tuesday during an olficial dedication and blessing of the Dyer rehabilitation unit.

LANSING Residents can meet village leader hopefuls The Lansing Presbyterian Church is hosting a meet the candidates night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on March 9. Residents will have a chance to meet candidates running for village president. The church is at 2625 Ridge Road. CROWN POINT Man's trial continued to get psych evaluation Rasson Roby will not stand trial for his mother's murder until he undergoes another psychological evaluation, Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell determined Tuesday.

Boswell continued Roby's jury trial until 1 p.m. Thursday so Dr. R. Bhawani Prasad can evaluate Roby in the Lake County Jail. 34, of Gary, is accused of the 2007 bludgeoning death of his 59-year-old mother, Arlena Roby.

Roby, who has been verbally combative throughout his pretrial proceedings, was led from the courtroom Monday after an outburst during jury selection for his trial. He has refused to acknowledge the murder charge. He maintains he is in court for a felony charge of battery for an incident involving his sister. MERRILLVILLE Another bishop meeting in the works for Siena St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School parents emerged from a closed-door meeting with Gary Bishop Dale Melczek on Tuesday with more optimism and a greater sense of urgency.

Melczek had given permission to close the small Catholic school at the end of the school year because of dwindling enrollment and its precarious financial position. The Diocese of Gary school has 130 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Parents said the bishop is open to holding another meeting, including the parents, the parish council and Siena school administrators. No date has been set. CROWN POINT E.C.

man charged with drunken driving accident An East Chicago man was charged last week with causing a drunken driving accident that injured his passenger, Lake Criminal Court records state. Roy Johnson, 32, faces a felony causing 1 serious bodily injury while operating a motor vehicle charge with a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 grams of alcohol for crashing his car into a utility pole on Feb. 1 in Gary, Lake Criminal Court records state. He is also charged with misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle with at least 0.15 grams of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver, records state. CROWN POINT South Bend man gets six years for auto theft A South Bend man was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison for auto theft and for striking and injuring a Lake County police officer and his canine partner, the Lake County prosecutor's office reported.

Antione, also spelled Antoine, Dupree pleaded guilty Jan. 6 to felony auto theft and battery and a misdemeanor count of striking a law enforcement animal. The 35-year-old stole a 2003 Saturn L-20 on June 10 from a South Bend gas station while the owner, who left her keys in the car, was inside, prosecutors said. EAST CHICAGO Parking space savers have to go, officials say With the snow all but gone for now, city crews were out on Tuesday picking up the lawn chairs, milk crates and other items used by residents to mark their shoveled-out parking places. City ordinance forbids the keeping of "boxes, barrels, crates or other material upon any part or portion of any street, sidewalk or alley." Street Department workers spent much of last week removing snow from residential streets, and now it's time for residents to pick up their place-holding materials, said Councilman Adrian Santos, D-lst.

"We had a lot of snow, and everybody was fighting for parking," Santos said at Monday night's City Council meeting. "It seems like every block you go down there are objects." The street crews, accompanied by code enforcement officers, are just going to throw people's stuff away, Santos said, unless residents remove the items first. The council suggested including a mention of the pertinent ordinance inside water bills and on the cable television government channel..