ANDERSON – A star of the MTV reality show “Teen Mom” has pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and admitted to violating probation.
The Herald Bulletin reports Madison Circuit Judge David Happe told 21-year-old Amber Portwood of Anderson she will find out Thursday whether she will be accepted into a drug court rehabilitation program that would eventually allow the charges to be dismissed. If not, she faces up to five years in prison.
Portwood was arrested Dec. 19 while meeting with probation officers about alleged probation violations, including failing to deposit $10,000 into a college trust fund for her daughter, failing to submit to drug tests and not getting her GED or completing anger management classes. She was being held in the Madison County Jail without bond.
State to report on stage collapse probe
Indiana regulators will release a report Wednesday on their investigation into August’s deadly stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair.
The state Department of Labor said Monday that the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s findings will be released during a morning briefing at the Statehouse.
The Labor department says the briefing will include an outline of IOSHA’s findings and a briefing on any safety orders issued as a result of its probe. Indiana Labor Commissioner Lori Torres and Deputy Commissioner Jeffry Carter will present the findings.
Seven people died and 58 were injured after a stage collapsed Aug. 13 at the state fairgrounds.
Two out-of-state companies hired by the state are also reviewing the stage collapse and the state’s emergency response to the disaster.
Body found in cave likely missing man
Authorities believe a body removed from a cave at a state forest along the Ohio River in southern Indiana is that of a man reported missing four months ago.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources issued a news release saying the body was removed from the Breathing Hole Cave in Harrison-Crawford State Forest, about 30 miles west of Louisville, about 6:20 p.m. Monday. The body had been found by people exploring the cave a day earlier.
The DNR says they believe the body is that of caving enthusiast Kevin Eve, 25, although they don’t have a positive identification. They also don’t have a cause of death.
The Georgetown man was last seen Oct. 1, and his car was found in the state forest along the Ohio River two days later.
Murder-arson trial delayed a fifth time
A central Indiana judge has postponed for the fifth time the murder trial of a man accused of setting a fire that killed a 64-year-old woman.
Fifty-year-old Donald G. Guffey’s trial had been set for March 19, but a Henry Circuit Court judge recently granted a request by Guffey’s public defender for a delay. The Star Press reports the judge will set a new trial date for Guffey at a March 1 hearing.
Guffey is charged with arson and felony murder in connection with a July 2010 blaze at a New Castle apartment building the killed Linda Conn.
Authorities allege that Guffey was actually trying to harm Dunn’s granddaughter because he believed she had told others that he was an undercover police informant.
Fishing line used to fend off crows
Terre Haute is trying another tactic in its ongoing battle against the large flocks of crows that plague the western Indiana city.
The Tribune-Star reports that members of Terre Haute’s Crow Committee are trying fishing line tied to form large “X’s” atop buildings in the hopes that it can discourage the birds from landing there.
Crow Committee member Joy Sacopulos says a person in Sarasota, Fla., emailed the committee about using fishing line to keep birds away from buildings in the city’s downtown area, which last winter was filled with about 100,000 crows.
The noisy birds make a mess with their droppings and create headaches for business owners. Officials have tried to scare the crows with fake owls, the sounds of a bird in distress and fireworks.
Food bank in Gary has record year
A northwest Indiana food bank distributed more than 5 million pounds of food to more than 100 food pantries and soup kitchens last year.
Food Bank of Northwest Indiana Advocacy Director Megan Sikes in Gary tells The Times of Munster that 2011 was a record-setting year. She says the organization distributed about 5.2 million pounds of food. It provided about 4.7 million pounds of food a year earlier.
Despite the record, food bank Director Angie Williams says there’s still a need for more because a lot of people are struggling. Sikes says the food bank plans more food drives this year to bring in more donations.
