Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IN - The Fort Wayne Mad Ants acquired former Notre Dame standout and Cleveland Cavalier Luke Harangody in a trade with the Canton Charge.  The Mad Ants traded JaJuan Johnson and their 2013 first round pick to Canton in exchange for Harangody and the Charge's third round pick in the 2013 D-League draft. "We are all very excited about bringing Luke on board with the team," said Mad Ants president Jeff Potter.  "We feel his combination of rebounding and scoring will help get this team on the right track.  It is difficult to have to part with JaJuan, but we feel that Luke addresses some of our needs and could not pass on this opportunity to acquire him. "  Harangody - a three time First Team All Big East player at Notre Dame - was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.  He played 27 games his rookie year with the Celtics and averaged 2.7 points and 2 rebounds before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  In his second season, he played 19 games in the D-League while assigned by the Cavaliers to the Canton Charge, and he averaged 18.9 points and 11.7 rebounds during that time.  Harangody will make his debut for the Mad Ants tonight as Fort Wayne hosts the Texas Legends at 7:30 pm at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - The Hollywood stunt pilot whose World War II-era fighter plane crashed at a Nevada air show, killing himself and at least eight spectators, grew up in Fort Wayne and developed an early fascination with flying. A woman who knew Jimmy Leeward in his youth tells The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne (http://bit.ly/pHH4XO ) she remembers the day the then 16-year-old Leeward got his private pilot's license at age 16. Eight-five-year-old Joan Knapp once worked for Leeward's father's Fort Wayne air business.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Fort Wayne man has been accused of torturing his girlfriend's kitten, which officials believe was dropped into a fire. Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Jerome was arrested Tuesday night and faces two felony charges of torturing or mutilating an animal and a misdemeanor count of cruelty. The Journal Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/RgnkYK) the kitten burned its paws and its whiskers were burned off in June. Court documents say Jerome's girlfriend told investigators he didn't want the cat. An affidavit says that Jerome told animal care officials he "could have burned the kitten's whiskers while flicking his lighter" and that he may have "bumped" the kitten into the fire.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Prosecutors have charged the pastor of a Fort Wayne church with repeatedly molesting a young girl who was a foster child in his care. Allen County court documents say 50-year-old James Burton inappropriately touched the girl who was younger than 14 between June 2009 and early this year. Documents say the child told a school employee that her foster father had been molesting her and told investigators the molestations began when she was 6 or 7 years old. The Journal Gazette reports ( http://bit.ly/RaiFs1 )

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Fort Wayne firefighters have rescued five people from an apartment building fire. One of the persons rescued is in critical condition at a Fort Wayne hospital after firefighters pulled that person from the smoky building Sunday morning. The Fort Wayne Fire Department says the four others all were rescued from apartment balconies and told firefighters of the fifth person inside who needed to be saved. Firefighters say the blaze began with unattended food cooking on a stove.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A man's decomposing remains have been found in a Fort Wayne creek. WPTA-TV and WANE-TV report nearby residents discovered the remains and notified police Wednesday afternoon. Authorities say the body is that of a middle-aged male in an advanced state of decomposition. Police believe the body had been at the site for some time.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Officials say a fetus found in a Fort Wayne sewer overflow house was 14 to 15 weeks in development. The Journal Gazette reported Wednesday ( http://bit.ly/A6dlLP ) that the Allen County Coroner's Office stated a fetus cannot survive outside the womb at that stage of development and is considered to be non-viable. Coroners could not determine the sex of the fetus and it had no deformities or obvious signs of trauma. Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Raquel Foster says a miscarriage likely occurred.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Officials in Fort Wayne say some people in the northeast Indiana city are claiming Moorish citizenship. Allen County Recorder John McGauley tells WANE-TV his office has served at least 13 people since December who have brought in documents to be recorded proclaiming allegiance to the "Moorish Empire" and changing their names. Some of the documents are titled "The Moorish Divine and National Movement of the World. " McGauley calls the documents "interesting," but says none of them have any legal standing.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Indiana conservation officers say a 12-year-old Fort Wayne boy has died after driving a snowmobile into a tree in the yard of his home. Officers say the Connor Kitchen suffered severe head injuries in the crash Saturday afternoon. He died a few hours later at Parkview Hospital. Officers say the boy's father, 48-year-old Kyle Kitchen, was riding on the snowmobile helping his son operate the sled when the boy unexpectedly accelerated, throwing his father from the vehicle.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Firefighters in oxygen masks and protective suits have removed 31 cats so far from a squalid house in Fort Wayne, authorities said. Fort Wayne animal control officer Brad Block told The Journal Gazette ( http://bit.ly/yvsie8 ) Friday that about 15 or more cats remained to be removed from the unoccupied one-story, two-bedroom home. He expected the rescue operation would last through Sunday. Firefighters were setting humane traps baited with cat food throughout the house to catch the animals, he said.

WARSAW - A Kosciusko County man was seriously hurt when his motorcycle slammed into a car. County police say it happened on State Road 25 at the intersection of County Road 25. They say around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, Richard Lattea, 46, of Etna Green was riding his motorcycle north on S.R. 25 behind a 2007 Cadillac when the driver of the Cadillac slowed as she approached the intersection to turn east. That's when Lattea's bike hit the back of the car. When police and medics arrived, Lattea was lying on the ground in “ respiratory distress.” He reportedly had a collapsed lung and was airlifted to Lutheran Memorial Hospital in Fort Wayne where he was in serious condition.

FULTON COUNTY - A Fulton County man is facing charges after a standoff with police. 46-year-old Nicholas Westerhoff was shot. He was in critical condition at a hospital in Fort Wayne. Police were called to his house Wednesday night, saying Westerhoff fired several shots outside the home after arguing with his girlfriend. She wasn't hurt. When police got there, Westerhoff refused to come out, leading to a standoff that lasted about four hours. Just after 11:30 p.m., he went to the door and started firing.

SOUTH BEND - You probably have it lying around somewhere in your house -- the phone book. It's reliable, easy to use, but there's something wrong with Yellowbook's latest edition for South Bend and Mishawaka. "I opened it up and I looked at the cover and I realized that's not our county courthouse or a building in our skyline," said Jesse Vogel, who lives and works in downtown South Bend. "And looking at it a little further, I realized it's Allen County where Fort Wayne is, their courthouse and their Lincoln Tower building in downtown Fort Wayne.

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana man rescued his two children from drowning after they were trapped in a frozen pond. Indiana Conservation Officer Patrick Heidenreich says 8-year-old Samantha Buuck ventured onto a frozen pond behind her family's home in Fort Wayne Saturday and fell through the ice. Her 12-year-old brother, Anthony, jumped in and swam to her, and both children began yelling for help. Dale Buuck heard his children yelling outside and was able to push them into shallower water so they could climb out. The boy began CPR on Samantha and then called 911 after his father took over.

Bishop Emeritus John D'Arcy's funeral was held Friday. The long-time former leader of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese died Sunday from cancer. Those who knew Bishop D'Arcy say he was a devoted leader. They describe him as a man of deep integrity and devotion to ministry. He is a father figure and a grandfather figure to a lot of people who knew him and worked with him. And Friday, they got the chance to say their final goodbyes. Visitation of the Body was at 9 this morning in Fort Wayne.

SOUTH BEND - Today in South Bend, people have an opportunity to pay their last respects to the longtime former leader of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese, Bishop Emeritus John D'Arcy. Morning prayer starts at 10 o'clock at St. Matthew Cathedral on Miami Street. Visitation goes all day until a Rosary at 5 p.m. Bishop Kevin Rhoades will celebrate a Mass of Transferral at 7 p.m. Rhoades talked to WSBT about the Bishop D'Arcy's legacy as leader of the Diocese.

Catholics across northern Indiana are remembering the man who led the church for almost a quarter of a century. Funeral arrangements have been unveiled for Bishop John D'Arcy. D'Arcy led the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese for 24 years until retiring three years ago. He died Sunday at the age of 80 from a rare form of cancer. A prayer was dedicated to Bishop D'Arcy during evening mass Sunday at Saint Matthew's Church in South Bend. Doctors diagnosed D'Arcy with cancer in his lungs and brain in December during a trip to Boston to visit his family.

The former leader of local Catholics is back in northern Indiana continuing his fight with cancer. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend sent out a statement Friday from Bishop Emeritus John D'Arcy. D'Arcy thanked current Bishop Kevin Rhoades and everyone in the diocese for their prayers. The Bishop says it's good to be home. He's now in Fort Wayne after announcing earlier this month that he is undergoing treatment for cancer in his lung and brain. D'Arcy previously battled prostate cancer in 2011.