CROWN POINT
Two men sentenced in domestic beatings
Two men were sentenced this week for separate domestic battery cases, according to the Lake County prosecutor's office.
Kenneth Bailey, 32, of Gary, was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison with possible placement in Community Corrections. He pleaded guilty May 30 to felony domestic battery.
Bailey was at his home Aug. 28 on Ridge Road in Gary when he grabbed his wife around the neck and began to choke her, prosecutors said. He pushed her down and held her there with his elbow, records state. Three children under the age of 10 were at home at the time.
Israel Cruz, 27, of Hammond, was sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison for a fight with his girlfriend, court records show. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony domestic battery.
Cruz choked and pushed his girlfriend as they argued Jan. 18 in front of a young child in the 1200 block of Sherman Street in Hammond, prosecutors said.
CROWN POINT
Hobart man charged in another child molesting
A day after posting bond for three felony counts of child molesting, a Hobart man was slapped Thursday with another warrant for charges related to a different child molesting case, Lake Criminal Court records show.
John Ray Henry was charged last month with three felony counts of child molesting, records show. He was charged Thursday with another two felony counts.
Henry fondled an adolescent girl between 2004 and the end of 2006 when the girl was living in her aunt's house, court records allege.
INDIANAPOLIS
Gary businessman tabbed as Purdue trustee
Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday announced he has reappointed a Gary businessman and his former campaign manager to the Purdue University board of trustees.
Mamon Powers Jr., president and chief executive of Powers and Sons Construction in Gary, received a new three-year term that will expire in July 2011. Powers, who holds a civil engineering degree from Purdue, first was appointed to the university board in 1986 by Democratic Gov. Frank O'Bannon.
William Oesterle, who ran Daniels' 2004 campaign for governor, received his second three-year term as a Purdue trustee. Oesterle founded Angie's list, an Indianapolis firm that compiles customer ratings of service companies and contractors. He earned his undergraduate degree from Purdue, where his father taught economics.
Daniels also reappointed Indianapolis businessman Tom Reilly Jr. and Dr. William Cast, founder of DuPont Hospital in Fort Wayne, to the Indiana University board. Their terms expire July 1, 2011.
CROWN POINT
Lake council defers vote on helping jail with bills
Lake County Council members said Thursday they aren't ready to give Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez $600,000 for medical expenses for county jail inmates.
The sheriff said earlier this week the jail faces a budget shortfall because of unpaid medical bills.
County Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, met Thursday with county police officials to discuss the financial crisis. He said the council and sheriff's officials will have to look for uncommitted funds elsewhere in their budgets to meet the expense and will defer a vote on the matter for at least a month.
