CROWN POINT

Hobart man sentenced for theft from neighbor

A Hobart man was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for stealing $200 from a neighbor, the Lake County prosecutor's office reported.

John Steven Ensign, 28, pleaded guilty May 27 to felony theft.

Ensign's girlfriend, Erica Hanas, 30, went to a neighbor's home at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 18, 2005, wearing no shoes and saying she had been in a fight with her boyfriend, police said.

The neighbor, who had $200 on the floor of his bedroom, allowed her to use the phone. Later, Hanas came to the door again with Ensign, who struggled with the neighbor, allowing Hanas to run into the bedroom and take the money, prosecutors allege.

Then Ensign and Hanas fled, court records state.

Hanas was sentenced on April 11, 2006, to two years in prison for felony robbery, prosecutors said.

INDIANAPOLIS

Obama campaign hires aide to U.S. Sen. Bayh

Barack Obama has hired an aide to U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., to be his presidential campaign spokesman in Indiana.

Jonathan Swain, Bayh's press secretary, took a leave of absence earlier this year to serve as Indiana communications director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Swain joined the Obama campaign Monday.

"We are honored to have Jonathan joining this campaign for change in Indiana," Emily Parcell, Obama's Indiana state director, said in a statement. "His many years of experience in Indiana politics will be a major asset to our campaign team."

Clinton won Indiana's May 6 primary by a narrow margin, but the New York senator conceded the Democratic nomination to Obama earlier this month. Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, now faces presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

McCain, an Arizona senator, is scheduled to address the annual conference of the National Sheriffs' Association today in Indianapolis.