Free Republic

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A former Army cook convicted of multiple rapes and murders is set to die next month in what would be the U.S. military's first execution in nearly 50 years. The military said Thursday that former North Carolina soldier Ronald A. Gray is to be executed Dec. 10 at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. Gray was arrested in connection with four slayings and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, N.C., area between April 1986 and January 1987, while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. He was convicted of murdering two women.

TERRE HAUTE — A news conference has been called for 4 p.m. today in the mayor's office in city hall, following an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling this morning in favor of former Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke who had challenged Republican Duke Bennett's eligibility in the 2007 election. The court by a 2-to-1 decision stated that Bennett was ineligible to take office and that Burke is not entitled to fill that post as a result of the ruling, because voters were unaware of Bennett's ineligibility. Thus, the votes cannot be counted and the court ruled the office vacant. As...

Obama made his first direct criticism of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, saying she pretends to oppose spending earmarks when she actually has embraced them. Speaking to 800 people at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, Ind., the Democratic presidential nominee ridiculed McCain and his running mate, the Alaska governor, for describing themselves as agents of change at last week's GOP convention. "Don't be fooled," Obama told the crowd surrounding him in a large barn. "John McCain's party, with the help of John McCain, has been in charge" for nearly eight years. McCain has vowed to wipe...

A group of Terre Haute kids were squeezed out of cash from their lemonade stand and now a man is behind bars. The children were running a lemonade stand in the Farrington Grove neighborhood when things went sour. Dominique Morefield and her friends set up their lemonade stand at the corner of Deming and Center streets. Police said 18-year-old Steven Tryon came up to the stand and asked for their money. "The guy comes up and was just like, 'give me your money,'" said Morefield. He grabbed it from the girl's hands and took off running. "I was just like,...

(Unit opened last year, currently has 17 inmates) TERRE HAUTE — The U.S. Justice Department has opened a new unit at the medium-security prison in Terre Haute to monitor communications of its inmates more closely, which could include lower-risk offenders convicted of or associated with terrorism, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said. The Washington Post has reported that the unit houses “a hodgepodge of second-tier terrorism inmates, most of them Arab Muslims, whose ability to communicate with the outside world has been tightly restricted.” The self-contained unit opened in December and has about 17 inmates, although that number eventually could...

RUTLAND, Vt. — The first man sentenced to death in Vermont in almost 50 years is now on death row at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute. On Tuesday the federal Bureau of Prisons listed Donald Fell as being in transit. By late Wednesday he was listed as being held in Indiana, the site of the federal government’s death chamber. “This was going to happen,” said one of Fell’s attorneys, Alexander Bunin. “Typically, that’s where people facing a (federal) death sentence are held.” “He was ready for it,” Bunin said. “He was prepared to go and he was ready to...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - One of two young boys allegedly abducted by their father was found dead in a lake Wednesday, and the other boy and their father were found nearby with knife wounds, authorities said. Katron Walker, 32, had cut his own throat and stabbed himself in the chest, Terre Haute Police Sgt. David Smith said. His 2-year-old son, Monte, was also hospitalized with injuries. Police were called to the lake early Wednesday after a resident recognized Walker's van from an Amber Alert and spotted him with the boys. "He was running from a trailer and had both boys...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Gov. Mitch Daniels visited Vigo County, where the production of methamphetamine has been prolific, to sign legislation Tuesday that will restrict the sale of cold medicines containing ingredients used to make the drug. The law is similar to a Vigo County ordinance that has been in effect since January. State police reported that authorities found 166 meth labs in the county last year, the most among Indiana's 92 counties. The county also topped the state list in 2002 and 2003. The new law, enacted unanimously by the General Assembly last month, places restrictions on the sale...