Indiana State Police Investigating Officer-Involved Shooting in Greene County
Detectives from the Indiana State Police have been requested by Greene County Sheriff George Dallaire to investigate an officer-involved shooting incident that took place on July 19, 2023, at approximately 10:00 a.m., at 3936 South Old Clifty Road, Owensburg.
At approximately 10am, deputies from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and a deputy of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, were attempting to locate a suspect involved in an earlier shooting that had occurred in the overnight hours in Bloomington, Indiana. Deputies were able to locate the suspect’s vehicle at 3936 South Old Clifty Road, near a tent. Upon exiting their vehicles, deputies heard a gunshot fired from the tent and they immediately took cover. A Greene County deputy then fired his department service rifle, towards the tent from which the gunshot was heard. Bloomington Police Department SWAT team was then activated and made entry into the tent finding a deceased male.
- The investigation is being conducted by Indiana State Police detectives, Michael Tummer and Matthew Hatchett, with the assistance of Sergeant Chris Fears, and CSI Sergeants Ian Mathews, David Mill, and Eric Russell of the Bloomington State Police Post.
- An autopsy of the deceased male will be conducted on Thursday, July 20th.
- All deputies involved in this incident have been placed on administrative leave, which is customary in officer-involved shootings.
- The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is conducting a separate investigation into the shooting in Bloomington.
- This is an active and ongoing Indiana State Police investigation. There is no further information to release currently. Upon completion of their investigation, Indiana State Police detectives will submit a full report of the incident to the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
*Criminal Defendents are presumed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law
Indiana Arts Commission Announces Five Indiana Communities as Part of Pilot Program “Creative Convergence”
The Indiana Arts Commission announced it has awarded five Indiana communities with early action grants to implement creative community development projects designed to enhance quality of life and grow local economies. Bedford, Dillsboro, Monticello, Valparaiso, and Warsaw are receiving grant funding through phase two of the pilot program Creative Convergence, which was offered this spring in partnership with the Indiana Communities Institute at Ball State University.
The Creative Convergence pilot is an outgrowth of a research study released by ICI in 2022. “Planning with Arts & Culture” examined how Indiana municipalities were utilizing local arts and culture in their community and economic strategies. Key amongst the findings was the expressed need for support in identifying and leveraging the creative sector to improve quality of life for all.
In phase one, participating community teams composed of government, economic development, and creative sector representatives attended a two-day training delivered by Indiana Communities Institute focused on topics such as understanding the positive impacts of arts and creativity on communities, quality of place as a talent attraction and retention tool, local economy diversification, community asset and needs identification, and community engagement.
The Indiana Communities Institute (ICI) brings together top research and outreach activities to assist communities as they strive to improve life experiences for residents, businesses, and visitors. As a result of the pilot training and grant funding, the five communities will gain experience in how to embed arts and creativity in community and economic planning and development, how to work collaboratively across sectors, and how to effectively engage their community in addressing an identified need or opportunity through an intervention focused in creativity.
The five pilot Creative Convergence communities and their projects are as follows:
- Bedford will address a lack of opportunity to experience visual arts in their community by repurposing Little Free Libraries as little free art galleries and installing a permanent public art exhibit case downtown. They will also offer creative programming in the community to cultivate and deepen interest in the arts.
- Dillsboro strives to create a vibrant and active town center through Dillsboro Arts, which will renovate an underutilized area in a current facility to become the multipurpose Dillsboro Arts Creator Space. The space will then be filled with a robust schedule of learning experiences and public performances in all arts disciplines.
- Monticello, through its Monticello Arts Beat, will create an artistic gateway designed to be welcoming and inclusive to residents and visitors and serve as first in a series of wayfinding arts installations around the community.
- Valparaiso will be working with the Valparaiso Creative Council (VCC) to launch an artist needs assessment through a series of focus groups to ensure the direct needs of artists are being met by projects of the City and VCC. The VCC will utilize this information to conduct a follow-up project to support them.
- Warsaw, through its Warsaw Public Arts Commission (WPAC), will engage in a project to communicate the economic and community value and impact of the arts and creativity in Warsaw through an education and awareness campaign. The WPAC will leverage this project to encourage additional investments and creative output in the community.
At the end of the pilot period, the IAC and Indiana Communities Institute will assess community outcomes for a planned formal rollout of the program in 2024.
IU-developed statewide initiative shows primary care clinicians can diagnose autism in young children with high accuracy
A new study led by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers shows primary care clinicians who receive specialized training can make accurate autism diagnoses for over 80 percent of young children referred with developmental delays, providing compelling evidence that community-based models of autism evaluation are a potential solution for improving access to this needed service. They recently published their findings in Pediatrics.
One in 36 children are now diagnosed with autism, according to the latest 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control. In many regions of the county, waitlists for autism diagnostic evaluations often exceed a year and families regularly travel long distances to access the limited number of specialists who are qualified to perform these evaluations.
A team of IU School of Medicine faculty, including Mary Ciccarelli, MD and McNally Keehn, lead the Early Autism Evaluation (EAE) Hub system, a statewide network that provides specialized training and ongoing collaborative learning with community primary care clinicians. EAE Hub clinicians perform evaluations of children ages 14-48 months who are at increased likelihood of autism. Nearly 5,000 children have been evaluated for autism in their local communities since the EAE Hub system was launched by an interdisciplinary team of IU faculty in 2012.
Of the 126 children who participated in this study, researchers found an 82 percent agreement on autism diagnosis between trained EAE Hub primary care clinicians and expert autism specialists. Across seven EAE Hub sites, there was no difference in overall accuracy of diagnosis.
This Week in Hoosier History
1991 – At age 20, Sharmell Sullivan-Huffman won the 1991 Miss Black America pageant, which was marred by accusations of rape by Miss Black Rhode Island, Desiree Washington, against pageant judge Mike Tyson. After winning the title, Sullivan began a career in professional dance, touring with several hip hop artists and R&B bands, including a 3½ year stint with James Brown.
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