Solid Gospel 1270 News Five days a week, from Elkhart and South Bend to Allegan and Warsaw, Don Wagner brings you area and national news of importance to the Michiana listener, as well as Sports coverage including scores, stories and live game coverage. Tune in each weekday morning for local news at 6:02am and 7:02am plus IRN/USA News national updates at the beginning of every music hour.	News Director Don Wagner
Weather Center Forecast AM 1270 Sports Today's News Posted Daily Monday to Friday

Last Update 3/10/2010

Many of our local public schools are looking at the prospect of laying off teachers in the wake of the state's money crisis, and it may not be the end of the budget cutting. There's word now that the School City of Mishawaka may eliminate 54 jobs, among the most we're hearing about. The move is expected to save the school corporation one-point-eight-million dollars over the next two years. Mishawaka faces a four-point-seven million dollar shortfall. Governor Mitch Daniels has ordered the state's school corporations to slice 300-million dollars from their budgets. But in an interview with Solid Gospel 1270..Republican House member Dave Yarde says unless Indiana's revenue starts turning around, lawmakers will be right back visiting the same budget issues next year, and schools may be forced to make even deeper cuts. Yarde admits it could mean more students for each class.

The Indiana House reconvenes this afternoon to iron out the school funding issue and the crisis surrounding the state's bankrupt unemployment insurance fund. Lawmakers have been meeting in conference committees this week to talk about those bills. Governor Mitch Daniels has been critical of House Democrats for slowing down the process by last week adjourning until this afternoon. By state law, the Indiana General Assembly must end the session by this Sunday.

The Obama administration wants to open the military to open homosexuals, but medical evidence is pointing to the dangers of that. Matt Barber of the Liberty Counsel says our federal health regulations prohibit gay men from donating blood, and he questions the safety of our soldiers in the battlefield where blood transfusions and exposure to biohazards are commonplace, if open homosexuals are allowed to serve in our armed forces. The FDA also warns gay men have an increased risk of HIV and other infections that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusions. Setting aside our moral beliefs, Barber says the medical evidence is indisputable that the federal government cannot homosexualize the military.

Police are investigating the death of a 23-year-old inmate at the St. Joseph County Jail in South Bend. Authorities say an autopsy is scheduled today for Stephanie Braasch of Argos, who died in her holding cell on Teusday. Braasch was booked into the jail on Sunday on a drug charge and is the second inmate to die in the St. Joe County Jail in less than a week. Last week, 43-year-old Cleveland Baldwin apparently died from a medical condition.

You might remember a big celebration last year in the small Elkhart County town of Wakarusa, which had landed the new headquarters for Electric Motors Corporation, a company planning to build electric vehicles in our area. The company is already moving, but not far away. Company officials say they're moving Electric Motors' headquarters to Plymouth, although there are plans to return to Elkhart County for manufacturing. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the company said the building in Wakarusa was great but simply too large and expensive. Electric Motors has also announced new leadership.

For a limited time, you can go online for free to improve your job skills if you're looking for work. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is offering free online courses through the end of June. Access to the courses is open to all Hoosiers. Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter says over 750 e-learning courses are available. Lotter says the training is a big help if you're looking for a job. You can access the courses 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To sign up, visit "in.gov/dwd/elearning."

If you or a family member are planning to go to college next fall, today is the day to get your financial aid form in the mail. Elizabeth Crouch with Learn More Indiana says last year, more than 177-thousand Hoosiers potentially forfeited thousands of dollars in state college aid by missing the deadline. Crouch says many families qualify for state aid. Crouch says more than 250-million dollars in state financial aid is available.

The end may be nearing for Indiana's anti-smoking agency. State lawmakers are considering a plan to abolish the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency and transfer those duties to the Indiana Department of Health. State Budget Director Chris Ruhl says it could save the state up to one-and-a-half million dollars in overhead and administration. Ruhl questions the agency's effectiveness, despite a drop in state smoking rates over the last decade.

A grocery store bagger from St. Joseph County raced latenight TV host David Letterman in a bag-off. 19-year-old Kyle Perry of Osceola was on the "Late Show with David Letterman" Tuesday night after winning the national bagging competition last month in Las Vegas. Perry works at the Martin's Supermarket on State Road 23 in Granger. He went head-to-head in a bag-off with Letterman, who worked in a grocery store while growing up in Indianapolis. Letterman had a gag in the bag-off, actually having a trap door under his bag, giving Kyle Perry the leg-up in the late night contest.

Officials in Michigan are looking for volunteers to help count the state's frogs and toads. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced plans Tuesday for the state's 15th annual Frog and Toad Survey. The DNR says there's been a documented worldwide decline in the population of frogs, toads and other amphibians since the 1980s and says they may be disappearing because of habitat loss, pollution, disease and collection.


...In Sports...

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame open play in the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament tonight against Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden. The Irish are 21-and-10 and are the number seven seed. The Pirates are 19-and-11 are are coming off a 109-106 win over Providence in the first round of the tourney Tuesday night. Notre Dame had a first-round bye. Tipoff tonight in New York is set for seven o'clock.

The Butler Bulldogs wrapped up another NCAA men's basketball tournament berth with a 70-45 pasting of Wright State in the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament. 12th-ranked Butler has the longest winning streak in the nation at 20 games and will enter next week's NCAA Tournament with a 28-and-4 record.

IUPUI fell short in its quest to make the NCAA Tournament, falling to Oakland 76-64 in the finals of the Summit League Tournament. The Jaguars had no answer for the Golden Grizzlies' Derick Nelson, who finished with a career-high 36 points.

The Chicago Bulls were blown out at home Tuesday night, losing to the Utah Jazz, 132-108. Deron Williams had 28 points and a season-high 17 assists, dropping the Bulls one-game under the .500 mark at 31-and-32. Chicago only trailed by two points at half but were outscored 69-47 in the second half.

The Indiana Pacers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 107-96 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night. Dahntay Jones had 25 points for the Pacers, who won for just the third time in their last 14 games and played without leading-scorer Danny Granger. Granger was suspended a game without pay for fighting with Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye during Indiana's 113-105 loss last Saturday in Arizona.

The long-time backup for Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Giants. Jim Sorgi's contract with the Colts ended last weekend. Sorgi was the Colts' sixth-round draft choice in 2004.