Around The Region

Nine indicted in alleged drug ring\nBLOOMINGTON -- Nine people have been accused in a federal indictment of taking part in a drug trafficking ring that authorities say moved crack cocaine from Detroit to Bloomington.\nFour of the nine people have been arrested. However, U.S. Attorney Melanie Conour declined to identify them Friday and would not say whether they were still in custody.\nThe indictments were issued in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis Jan. 24 against a mix of Detroit and Bloomington residents, but were only recently made public.\nAll nine individuals are accused of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute powder cocaine and 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base, commonly known as crack.\nThey are accused of conspiring to operate an illegal drug operation from November 1999 to Feb. 19, 2001, according to the indictment.\nAt least two of the defendants from Bloomington have been arrested in the past by local authorities on drug-related or other charges.\nAuthorities previously have said that a tightly structured group of dealers from Detroit had become a major source of the crack cocaine supply in Bloomington.\nProsecutors said the organization consisted of friends and family members who operated the drug ring like a franchise.\nPoultry truck explosion deliberate\nBLOOMINGTON -- An explosion that damaged a truck at a poultry plant was deliberate, authorities said.\nNo one was injured in the explosion Friday at the Sims Poultry Plant.\nThe refrigerated truck was apparently rigged to explode and connected by a trail of gasoline to other trucks in the plant parking lot, said Jeff Groh, an agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The other trucks did not catch fire, however.\nCompany owner Richard Dunbar was baffled by the event. "I'm just at a loss to say as to who would want to do this to us," he said. "It's kind of scary. When you think what could have been, we're very lucky."\nATF agent Groh declined to speculate on a motive but said the company had been the target of animal rights activists in the past.\nThe plant, which employs five people, packages chicken for distribution for area retailers. No slaughtering takes place at the site.\nIndiana businesses receiving tax bills\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Tax bills sent out last week to more than 100,000 Indiana businesses have prompted thousands of complaints from business owners caught off guard by the billings.\nThe little-known tax, which state lawmakers quietly approved last year to fund worker-training programs, is due at month's end. Over the next three years, businesses will pay about $59 million into the programs.\n"It has generated a lot of questions and concerns, but some people are calling because they're interested in accessing the training money," said department spokesman Patrick Murphy.\nReport: Indiana guard ranks near bottom\nINDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Army National Guard ranks near the bottom in the nation in preparedness, with more than a third of its soldiers ill-prepared for military duty, a report concludes.\nThirty-five percent of Indiana Army Guard soldiers do not meet the individual training requirements outlined in their military job titles, according to a report by federal Guard officials.\nThe report was prepared for The Indianapolis Star at the newspaper's request and detailed in Sunday's edition.\nThe Star reported that not only is Indiana 43rd among the 54 national guards, so many soldiers have left the Indiana Army Guard in recent years that it now has one of the largest manpower shortages among state guards.\nDuring the past four years, Indiana's Army Guard has shrunk by more than 10 percent. \nIndiana's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. George A. Buskirk Jr., acknowledges the problems, but believes the situation is not dire.\n"We are not going to hell in a handbasket," Buskirk said.