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CHICAGO (AP) — When the U.S. prisons director visited the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, this past week, she stopped by the federal death row where Bruce Webster is in a solitary, 12-by-7 foot cell, 23 hours a day. Webster’s not supposed to be there. A federal judge in Indiana ruled in 2019 that the 49-year-old has an IQ in the range of severe intellectual disability and so cannot be put to death. But four years on, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons haven’t moved him to a less restrictive unit or different prison.

When a school district deems its region’s main thoroughfare unsafe for school buses, that highway’s problems need fixed. Lots of Wabash Valley residents fear driving on the local stretch of Interstate 70. And with good reason. Fatal accidents — several involving semi tractor-trailers crashing into stopped or slowed traffic — have become frequent on I-70 between the Illinois-Indiana border and Indianapolis. Accidents along that 68-mile path outnumbered those on the 66-mile portion east of Indy to the Ohio border in 2016 and 2017, according to the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s statistics. Distracted driving has been cited as a factor...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday it was reinstating a two-decades long dormant policy to resume the federal government’s use of capital punishment and immediately scheduled the executions for five death row federal inmates. “Congress has expressly authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people’s representatives in both houses of Congress and signed by the President,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “The Justice Department upholds the rule of law - and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.” U.S....

Convicted wife-killer Drew Peterson reportedly was jumped by another inmate at an Indiana prison -- only about a month after the Illinois ex-cop moved to the new facility for security. The inmate, who was not identified, attacked Peterson with a food tray on March 29 in a dining area of the maximum-security federal facility in Terre Haute, a source told The Chicago Tribune. Peterson wasn’t seriously hurt and was separated from the prison's general population afterwards.

For some, the possibility of tolls on Interstate 70 across Indiana is going over like a flat tire. But Republican lawmakers who control the legislature say they could help fund new driving lanes and only those who use the road would pay for them. “I think it’s totally unfair,” said Judy Anderson, president of the Vigo County Board of Commissioners. “I don’t think we would be supportive at all.” Pending legislation would let the governor place toll lanes on interstates and bridges, subject to federal approval. Many Vigo County residents commute to jobs in Indianapolis and a large number of...

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana—On the first Saturday of Donald Trump’s presidency, as protesters and marchers stormed the nation’s capital and cities around the country, Dick and Jane Ames threw a party. Four days earlier, they visited a Party Mania store and purchased two big red balloons, $11 apiece, one in the shape of the number 4 and the other in the shape of a 5. For $50, they purchased a cardboard cutout of the guest of honor. Jane, 74, prepared a tantalizing, if at first blush random, spread of food. She whipped up a tamale casserole, a tossed salad with tomatoes,...

When communication about the unspeakable stupidity of the recent U.S. 231 rock-throwing incidents first popped into my email inbox a couple months back, the subject line made me gasp. "Rock throwing arrests," read the line heralding arrival of an email from Owen County Prosecutor Don VanDerMoere, a likable former deputy prosecutor for Putnam County who still keeps in contact. Before I could even click to open it, my heart was pounding and my mind went to thoughts like, "Oh, my god they finally caught those guys." However, it was a leap of faith to a wrong conclusion. Instead we have...

Trump rally 5/1/2016 in Terre Haute, IN @ 1pm Indiana Theater TERRE HAUTE, IN Terre Haute (/ˌtɛrə ˈhoʊt/ TERR-ə HOHT) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the self-proclaimed capital of the Wabash Valley. With numerous higher education institutions such as Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Indiana State University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology located in Terre Haute, the city...

26 year old Shane Lee Corey was held for police by an armed homeowner who allegedly caught him in his garage at the home near CR 1200 N and 200W north of Brazil.

A federal judge on Friday gave the government 30 days to start allowing American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and other Muslim inmates to hold group prayers outside their cells in a high-security prison in Indiana. In a seven-page order, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson said the Bureau of Prisons might have misconstrued her ruling seven months ago that granted Lindh’s request to hold group prayers in the Terre Haute federal prison’s Communications Management Unit, so she made her intent clear. “The warden is to allow group prayer during every Muslim prayer time for which the inmates are not confined to their...

On February 19th, WTHITV reported that "Terre Haute Police and Retired Teachers of Vigo County will hold a gun buy back in April." The turn in event was to be held Saturday, April 13th. The next day, a correction was posted. It seems some retired teachers were alarmed that their organization would be involved in such a partisan event. It became apparent that the Vigo County Retired Teachers Association was *not* sponsoring the event. The new partner with the THPD was the Vigo County's League of Women Voters. On 10 April, members of a local forum wondered what was happening...

TERRE HAUTE — A terrible tragedy unfolded on Terre Haute’s near-north side Monday afternoon when an officer with the Terre Haute Police Department was killed in the line of duty. Officer Brent Long, a six-year veteran of the police force, was fatally shot while serving a warrant with the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force at 1812 N. Eighth St. There were several officers making up the task force, including Long, who was accompanied by his trained police dog, K-9 Shadow. The dog was also shot at the scene but reportedly survived, police said. Long and the other officers were serving...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- State police credit new DNA evidence for an arrest in a 31-year-old cold case killing. Richard L. Boswell Jr., 53, of Terre Haute, was arrested Thursday on preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder...

SNIPPET: "TERRE HAUTE — The announcement this week of an Islamic terror plot to wage attacks in Europe came as little surprise to Aaron Weisburd. He’s been monitoring jihadi websites since 2002, and is a field instructor for the West Point Academy, traveling around the nation to teach law enforcement about terrorism and jihad, or holy war. On Wednesday, Weisburd was one of the featured speakers at the International Crime, Media and Popular Culture Studies Conference, hosted by Conference Chairman Frank Wilson and Indiana State University’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice." SNIPPET: "He created a blog of terrorist website...

Ask anyone who's lived in Terre Haute for a long time and they'll tell you crows are a big problem this time of year. But getting rid of them isn't as easy as you would think. An estimated 60- to 80-thousand crows call Terre Haute home every winter. And despite many efforts to rid the city of them, the crows return annually. Just one look at the outside of Brownstone Manor at 12th and Ohio Streets in Terre Haute and you know this place has quite the crow problem. "Our biggest concern is the amount of droppings around our area...

SNIPPET: "...let's get back to the woeful tale of Bro. Ismail Royer, as presented at the Umar Lee blog:" SNIPPET: "Mr. Royer, formerly associated with CAIR, is currently serving a 20 year sentence for his work on behalf of designated Terrorist group Lashkar e Taiba. Lashkar e Taiba is notable among other things for having killed 171 people in Mumbai in 2008, among many other atrocities."

SNIPPET: "Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel disagrees with the ACLU'S stance. "The lawsuit, however, in this particular case says that they are allowed to pray as a group only just one hour a week. The fact is that there is no constitutional right to assembly as a group five times a day, whether it's in the workplace or in the prison," he notes. Staver points out that Liberty Counsel completely supports religious liberty, regardless of a person's faith group. "But I think in the situation with regards to the Muslims, there is clearly a security issue at risk here when...

TERRE HAUTE — After more than a week of worry and searching, the body of Gerald Smith, an Indiana State University business student who was set to graduate this weekend, has been found in Knox County in the Wabash River. The Knox County coroner contacted ISU Police around 7:30 p.m. Friday evening, said Bill Mercier, director of ISU Public Safety. “He advised me they had a body in the water,” Mercier said. The body matched the physical and clothing description of Smith, he said.

TERRE HAUTE - Indiana State University officials hope increased public awareness will lead them to missing student Gerald Smith of Avon. Wabash Valley Crimestoppers has agreed to use its resources to spread the word about Smith's disappearance via television public service announcements, billboards and a reward of up to $1,000. In addition, the Indiana State University Foundation is accepting contributions for an additional reward fund.

Indiana State University officials are continuing to search for missing student Gerald Smith. On Saturday (May 2), university officials along with 30 volunteers divided the campus into six sectors and searched between 7 and 9 p.m.