Majestic Star stops paying Gary, Indiana.

The Majestic Star stopped payments to the city of Gary on February 12th causing the city to have to cut back, reports the Post-Tribune.

Majestic Star Casino owner Don Barden cut Gary off from a key source of revenue last week, keeping a promise and putting pressure on the already cash-strapped city.

Celita Green, the city controller, said Majestic Star never made its monthly tax payment last week.

Majestic’s monthly payments total roughly $6 million each year depending on how much money it makes, Green said.

Mayor Rudy Clay said Barden’s decision to withhold payment puts Gary in a “major financial dilemma.”

“The city was skating on thin ice anyway,” Clay said.

Barden filed complaints against the city with the American Arbitration Association and Marion County Circuit Court last week, naming the Indiana Gaming Commission as a defendant in Marion County, as well.

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Technorati Tags: Gary Indiana, Majestic Star, tax revolt

A military jet at the Gary Chicago Airport during last year’s Gary Airshow.

I’m going to have to agree with Gary Mayor Rudy Clay that the Gary Chicago Airport should have a rail link from the South Shore line.

O’Hare and Midway airports are served by passenger rail service.

Linking the Gary Chicago airport to the South Shore increases its competitiveness by allowing passengers from Illinois and Indiana to travel to the airport without driving.  There will be pressure to build a rail spur to the airport, so we might as well do it now, rather than waiting later when construction and land acquisition costs are greater.

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Technorati Tags: Gary Chicago Airport, Gary Indiana, Metra, Rudy Clay, South Shore

Family members say the shooting wasn’t a random carjacking.

Reports Steve Schmadeke in the Chicago Tribune:

The family of an infant fatally shot in Gary Monday night while strapped into the back of his mother’s car said they believe his death stemmed from a personal dispute, not a carjacking as police have theorized. …

Samuel Shaw said his daughter moved in with him after someone threatened to kill her and the baby.

Josiah Shaw was a “miracle baby” who was born without a heartbeat but had since thrived, his grandfather said. His name came from the Bible, and the boy liked to listen to his grandfather read from Scripture. His mother, the younger of two children, is a “really sweet person” planning to become a teacher in the Gary school district, Shaw said.

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Technorati Tags: carjacking, crime, Gary Indiana, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw

The Post-Tribune’s Lori Caldwell reports:

A complicated identity theft scheme involving the “person of interest” held in Monday’s shooting death of 13-month-old Josiah Shaw may provide detectives with a motive.

Indiana State Police began an investigation in early 2007 after a Gary man attempted to obtain a driver’s license using Terry Noel’s identification, including a birth certificate and bank card.

The man told State Police detectives Noel, also known as Terry Bethel, wanted to avoid a DNA test that would link him to a child born out of wedlock, sources said.

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Technorati Tags: carjacking, Gary Indiana, Josiah Shaw, Kwana Shaw, Terry Bethel, Terry Noel