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SOUTH BEND — Two bodies were found Friday in a manhole not far from where two other men were discovered dead earlier this week. Police found the bodies of two men in the hole above a railroad viaduct east of the 600 block of South Scott Street — near Coveleski Stadium — about noon while investigating Tuesday’s homicides. The most recent deaths also appear to be homicides, South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent said. Autopsies will determine for certain the cause of death and who they are. The deaths appear to be connected in what could be a quadruple homicide,...

Scrap theft is pushing the stats higher, as more and more vacant houses are stripped of metals like copper. A pound of copper a year ago went for about $1.75, now scrap dealers are paying upwards of $3.00 per pound. It’s enough to make police rethink their tactics. Division Chief Darryl Boykins of the South Bend Police Department says, "There’s been a spike in the price of metal and so that's caused a whole new different type of crime now that we have to look at, that, we didn't have to look at that 10 years ago, or even five...

- He has been the governor in Indiana; he now serves as a U.S. Senator, and is working on a possible presidential run. Sunday, anyone aspiring to do the same had the chance to ask Senator Evan Bayh about the campaign process. It's known as Camp Evan Bayh, which is aimed at helping Democrats win elections. Just a taste A group of aspiring politicians got a taste of what it could be like to run for office this weekend at the Century Center in South Bend. About 80 people participated in the camp, getting advice at the end of the...

SOUTH BEND -- A steady stream of cars pulled into a downtown McDonald's drive-through, while other customers filed in and out of the restaurant Wednesday evening. It appeared to be your typical busy evening at the McDonald's, 416 N. Michigan St. Little did visitors know, though, a dead body was in a car just a few feet away from them. A McDonald's employee discovered the body of a 38-year-old man about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday while cleaning the restaurant's parking lot, police said. Firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after and said the man was dead. Police say they don't suspect...

view lo speed video view hi speed video (WSBT) It snuffed-out lighting-up in St. Joseph County, but now there's a fight over an amendment to the smoking ban. Tuesday morning County Commissioners vetoed an amendment that would have let some businesses have a smoking room for their workers. The two commissioners who voted down the amendment say it's really a matter of people's health. Cindy Bodle and Steve Ross say they supported the ban in the first place because they wanted people to have cleaner air in public places. Some businesses had complained that workers should have a place to...

SOUTH BEND -- A former St. Joseph County police officer indicted on a charge of cruelty to an animal is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 23. A St. Joseph County grand jury Tuesday indicted Curt Seufert, 32, of South Bend, in connection with the Nov. 26 death of his girlfriend's dog. The case has attracted attention from animals rights activists across the country, including comedian Richard Pryor, who died in December. The indictment was sealed until late Wednesday afternoon when a summons was issued for Seufert to appear in court in two weeks. The grand jury did not return...

SOUTH BEND -- St. Joseph County residents will no longer have to request restaurant seating in a "no smoking" area. Beginning April 10, all the areas in most restaurants will be smoke-free. After months of deliberation, the County Council voted 7-2 on Tuesday to adopt an ordinance that will ban smoking in restaurants and other public places, and in private businesses as well. Dozens of area residents, including several physicians warning of health risks and restaurant owners fearful that they will lose business appeared in the County-City Building to support or oppose the issue. Jerry Scott, vice president of human...

SOUTH BEND -- Santa Claus is not being dispatched from the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. And people shouldn't give donations to a possible rogue Santa telling people he has been sent by the food bank. Nick Dalton, interim president and chief executive officer of the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, said he took a call from an angry local business owner earlier this week. The business owner, whom Dalton did not name, was upset because a Santa, who said he was from the food bank, did not show up for a scheduled event at his business, Dalton said. The...

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) - A man who beat his ex-wife to death with an unloaded shotgun during an eight-hour furlough from prison was executed early Wednesday, hours after the governor denied his request for clemency. Alan Matheney, 54, was pronounced dead at 12:27 a.m. EST after receiving a lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Matheney said his attorney would give his final statement. Matheney was sentenced to death in 1990 for murdering 29-year-old Lisa Bianco. Prosecutors said he drove to the South Bend suburb of Mishawaka, broke into Bianco's home, chased her outside and beat...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - At first glance, Walt Temple thought the animal he saw hopping through the city was a deer. "But then, why would it be on its back legs?" he wondered. It turns out a deer wouldn't be hopping on its hind legs. But a kangaroo would. So he called South Bend Animal Care and Control on Monday to let them know he thought he just saw a kangaroo, not far from the South Bend Regional Airport. "I didn't believe him," animal control officer Sumyr Springfield said. Then Springfield, who was first on the scene, saw the top...

May 26, 2005 Reviving a dream Big hopes of little congregation growing for Orthodox church FAITH By SARA TOTH Tribune Staff Writer This church, with an interior of about 18 feet by 40 feet, has stood in a backyard in Mishawaka since 1959. Katherine Palsce, the daughter of the now-deceased Orthodox priest who built The Holy Orthodox Catholic Apostolic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in his Mishawaka backyard, prays during a liturgy service on May 15. The Rev. John Schmidt gives the homily during the liturgy service on May 15. Schmidt has been celebrating Sunday liturgy...

Police will be out in force in the Penn-Harris-Madison schools today. The school security team is taking no chances with a message written on a high school bathroom wall last month. The message reads that people will die May tenth, which is today. Saint Joseph county sheriff Frank Canarecci says there's no way to know whether it's a joke, so police mean business. Since the message targeted athletes first, Penn will havesecurity at tonight's track meet, softball, and tennis matches.

ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) -- A judge ordered that an Evansville man charged with making methamphetamine in a motel room be held in jail under a $1 million cash bond. Robert E. Espy, 41, faces felony charges of possession with intent to deal methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine and other drug charges. "I've read (the charges) and I just don't agree with any of it," Espy said during a court hearing Thursday. Madison County Magistrate Stephen Clase raised Espy's bond from $20,000 to $1 million cash after reading the probable-cause affidavit. "You rented a room in a motel in Madison County to manufacture...

South Bend, IN (LifeNews.com) -- Former Indiana Congressman Tim Roemer is pro-life in a party that is overwhelmingly pro-abortion in its upper echelons. But with loses in the last two presidential elections that polls attribute in part to the issue of abortion, party leaders may be ready for someone different. Earlier this month, it came as a shock to many that the top two Democrats, incoming Senate Democratic chief Harry Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, are actively encouraging Roemer to run for the DNC chairmanship. For his part, Roemer acknowledges the gap between his view and most Democrats....

<p>INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Joe Kernan said last night that he will run for a full term as governor next year, strengthening Democrats' chances of retaining the office they've held since 1989.</p> <p>Kernan, 57, reversed a decision he made last December, well before he was thrust into the office when Gov. Frank O'Bannon died eight weeks ago.</p>

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 9/7/02 USS George Washington, Kabul, Peshawar, Bannu, Al Qaeda, Baghdad, cockfight, tatoo, tea house, al-Doura oil refinery, Jerusalem, Gaza, bomb-making factory, South Bend Indiana, Munich Olympics+30 ===================== USS George Washington =================== On the USS George Washington, starting with night time live fire training exercise with 50-calibre machine guns. ===================== Kabul =================== In Kabul, moving to sell her baked bread. In Kabul, at the funerals, after the bomb explosion in downtown Kabul (final pic). ===================== Peshawar =================== In Bannu, 112 miles southwest of Peshawar, Pakistan, proterrorists meet to support Al Qaeda. ===================== Baghdad...