A judge has issued an arrest warrant for the former owner of a Gary funeral home after he missed a court hearing on criminal charges over four bodies left behind at the business.
Lake County prosecutors requested the warrant after 44-year-old Darryl Cammack of Chicago missed Thursday’s hearing. He faces felony theft charges and misdemeanor charges of not disposing of human remains in a timely manner.
A message seeking comment from defense attorney Brian Woodward wasn’t immediately returned Friday.
Cammack operated the former Serenity Gardens Funeral Home until 2006, when his funeral license was revoked.
The four badly decomposed bodies were found in May 2009 by new owners of the abandoned building.
Rail line reopens after fatal accident
A rail line in northwest Indiana reopened Friday, a day after a worker cleaning up after a derailment was killed when a crane fell on him.
The Federal Railroad Administration is investigating the cause of Wednesday’s 28-car derailment and why the crane tipped over. The accident happened in Porter County about five miles southeast of Chesterton.
CSX spokeswoman Carla Groleau said one rail line opened Friday morning and the second line was expected to open later in the day.
Porter County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Eckert says 43-year-old Michael Bowling of Dyer was overseeing the derailment cleanup Thursday when the crane became unstable and fell.
High water closes state park beaches
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says beaches at Mississinewa, Salamonie, Roush and Lieber state recreation areas will be closed at least through the weekend because of high water.
The agency said the high water also has closed a ramp at Portland Mills in Parke County and a backpack and canoeing campground at Shades State Park.
The department also said some reservoirs may have debris floating in the water so boaters and skiers should use caution.
Counterfeiters prey on garage sales
Some garage sales in northern Indiana haven’t been so profitable, as police say they’ve been stuck with bogus bills.
Nappanee police say 10 counterfeit $20 bills were found at four garage sales around the city Thursday.
Three men were believed responsible for giving out the counterfeit money, including five bills at Melissa Keb’s sale in the Elkhart County community.
She says the men made separate transactions, but she didn’t notice any trouble with the cash until she was warned by another woman holding a sale. Keb says one of the men paid for a $2 item with a bad bill and left with $18 in real money.
Daniels: Let charters have unused schools
Gov. Mitch Daniels is calling for a new law that would force public-school districts to transfer unused buildings to charter-school startups looking for space.
Daniels says some Indiana districts are withholding empty schools from charters. He says that costs taxpayers twice since they have paid for both the empty public school and a newly built charter-school building.
Daniels singled out Gary Community Schools as a place where the problem is especially bad. But district spokeswoman Sarita Stevens says Gary currently has buildings up for sale through a bid process, and charters are eligible to participate.
Mishawaka factory plans to reopen
A company is preparing to reopen a plant it closed about 18 months ago in Mishawaka.
John Willis, director of new business development at Elixir Industries, tells the Truth of Elkhart that in the next few months, the aluminum extrusion business plans to begin production with about 30 employees.
In a year, it expects to have 100 workers.
The company traditionally supplies the manufactured housing industry but is expanding because of potential long-term growth in the recreational vehicle industry.
