Briefs

Officials from the Indiana State Excise Police have named a local officer the agency’s educator of the year.

In a statement, the agency said officer Christopher Drake of the Columbia City district has gone beyond the normal duties of an excise officer.

Drake, who lives in Fort Wayne, leads classes for community organizations and alcohol and tobacco businesses. He also trains other officers in the use of guns and physical tactics and teaches at the Fort Wayne Police Department’s academy.

Officer John Barchak of Fort Wayne was named officer of the year in the Columbia City district.

Excise police make up the law enforcement arm of the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission.

About 380 Ball State University students will have to find another dorm to stay in at least temporarily when the school year starts because the renovation of Studebaker East Residence Hall is behind schedule.

The Star Press reported the Missouri contractor was supposed to turn the building over to the university by March 31 but still has not done so. The university said that after the work is finished, the university won’t have enough time to get it ready for students to move in.

The 180 returning students and 200 new students will have the option of either choosing to be assigned to Botsford/Swinford Hall and then move into Studebaker when it is ready or requesting another residence hall.

An airplane crashed Sunday afternoon in a farm field in southern Indiana, injuring two people.

Lawrence County Sheriff Sam Craig said the single-engine aircraft went down just south of Bedford.

Craig said his department received a 911 call from one of the airplane’s passengers about 1 p.m. and emergency medics were dispatched. Both of the airplane’s occupants were taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries, which were not believed to be life-threatening.

Craig said the plane had taken off from an airport in Illinois. He released no further details.

A southern Indiana man has been charged with placing a homemade bomb under the hood of a woman’s truck.

Hugh K. Garner Jr., 52, of Bloomfield was released from the Monroe County Jail on Saturday after posting a $50,000 bond. Police had arrested him on a warrant for charges of attempted arson, intimidation and criminal mischief.

The Herald-Times of Bloomington reported that the woman told police she found a threatening note under her truck’s windshield wiper Feb. 1 while it was parked in a Bloomington lot and discovered the bomb after the vehicle had engine trouble and she and a friend popped the hood. Police said the bomb was a soda bottle with gasoline with a spark plug taped to the cap.

Police said the woman and Garner are acquainted.

Veterinarians at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium think they know what killed 14 exotic birds since April.

The zoo said a bacterial infection was passed from bird to bird, killing one-third of its lorikeets. Zoo veterinarian Dr. Michael Barrie told the Columbus Dispatch he thinks the infection has stopped and that the last death came more than a week ago.