Heap excuses himself for missing debates this week

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Heap excused his absence from the Maricopa County Recorder debates this week in a post on X, saying he’s been “getting to talk with voters from across the political spectrum” and sharing a photo that appears to be taken at a meeting of LD3 Republicans. After his opponent, Tim Stringham, and others criticized Heap for not attending the two debates scheduled for this week, including Thursday’s Citizens Clean Elections Debate, Heap said in the post that he spent the day “like most days,” talking to voters. Despite saying he enjoys speaking with voters from all parties, in the photo Heap posted, one of the voters he’s speaking with is wearing a Trump shirt and hat. The event in the photo appears to be a Thursday meeting of the LD3 Republicans, according to a reply from fellow Freedom Caucus lawmaker Chaplik. The post has echoes of a similar statement Heap made a few weeks ago, when he asked the “Independents and Democrats in the room today” at the Trump rally to consider voting for him. Both debates turned into Q&As with Stringham, giving him 40 minutes of free airtime to denounce Heap and others critical of the recorder’s office like Trump and Lake. 

Mendoza calls opponent Barber a Democratic plant

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

After the primary election, LD9 GOP House candidate Mary Ann Mendoza expressed some skepticism about the other Republican, Kylie Barber, running for the House in the district. Mendoza appeared on a Rumble video on July 30 to discuss the election and said she believes Barber is a “Democratic plant.” She said the “power brokers” of the state that are aligned with former Republican Governor Doug Ducey and former gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson have endorsed Barber. Mendoza criticized Robson Taylor for endorsing Donald Trump and Kari Lake. She said Robson Taylor “hates” Trump because Trump wouldn’t endorse her as a gubernatorial candidate in 2022. “(Robson Taylor is) helping a candidate who knows nothing, who is nothing, who is a Democratic plant,” Mendoza said. Barber is campaigning as a business-friendly Republican. Her campaign website includes photos of her with Wilmeth and Shope, and she’s been endorsed by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. Mendoza lost in 2022 and was removed as a speaker at a Republican National Convention event in 2020 after she shared anti-Semetic conspiracy posts on social media, although she apologized and said she didn’t read every post in the then-Twitter thread that she shared. Her campaign also received negative attention in 2022 when photos from 2011 and 2012 of Mendoza appearing to do blackface surfaced before the election. Mendoza received more votes than Barber in the primary election by just under 1% of votes. Austin and Blattman got more combined votes in their respective uncontested primary race to Mendoza and Barber by about 1,000 votes. Barber got about 50 more votes than Blattman total, while Austin received 1,000 more votes than Mendoza. In 2022, Blattman beat the third-place runner-up, Kathy Pearce, in the LD9 House race by 0.7% of votes in the district. LD9 of West Mesa leans Democratic in the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission’s competitive analysis of the district with a 2.6% vote spread favoring Democratic candidates. Mendoza also said she supported Mark Lamb in the U.S. Senate primary against Kari Lake because he “doesn’t have an ego behind him and doesn’t get loud, and abrasive and confrontational” like Lake does. “I don’t think she’s got the personality to do the job,” Mendoza said.

Surprise Councilman seeks to remove speech restriction

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

City of Surprise Councilman Jack Hastings plans to make a motion to remove the council’s rule that prohibits complaints against elected officials and city staff members while giving public comment, he announced in a post on X Friday. The city is facing a lawsuit and an investigation after Rebekah Massie spoke in opposition to a proposal to increase the city attorney’s salary at an Aug. 20 Surprise City Council meeting and was subsequently arrested after Surprise Mayor Skip Hall accused her of violating public comment rules. “I support the freedom of speech and people should be able to voice their concerns and criticize their government and elected officials,” Hastings wrote. The Republican incumbent is running for reelection as councilman for the Surprise District 5 seat. Hastings will make a motion to vote on removing the rule at the council’s next meeting Tuesday, according to his post.

Rogers asks if Fontes used state resources to promote elections referendum

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Rogers sent a records request to Fontes’ office on Thursday to ensure he “isn’t skirting the law by using state resources” to promote Prop. 140, or the Make Elections Fair Act. She announced the records request in a post on X, where she told her followers that Fontes is a “team member” behind the initiative, describing it as the “California-inspired Ranked Choice Voting initiative.” “I initiated a records request to ensure SOS Fontes isn’t skirting the law by using state resources to promote this radical initiative to upend Arizona’s election system,” Rogers wrote in her post.  Rogers cited a portion of state statute that prohibits the use of state resources to influence an election. Her records request asked for documentation of all communications within the office or with third parties relating to Prop. 140. This accusation is reminiscent of one in which Democrats lodged against GOP lawmakers in March of the 2024 legislative session. The entire Senate GOP caucus, including Rogers, urged voters not to sign the Arizona Abortion Access Act through a proclamation on the floor, led by Bolick. In a post on X, Rep. Ortiz claimed this tactic violated the same law that Rogers alleges Fontes could have broken, which sets up a $5,000 fine for each violation.

Two provisions on the EPM debated as November election nears

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

A federal judge heard arguments on Thursday over whether two provisions of the 2023 EPM, one governing behavior around polling locations and another allowing the Secretary of State to leave out a county’s election results if the Board of Supervisors fails to canvass on time, withstand constitutional muster. Judge Michael Liburdi, a Trump nominee, promised a swift ruling to tee up any ruling for appeal. American Encore, America First Policy Institute and an Arizona voter asked the court to strike down a portion of the EPM prohibiting a list of harassing behaviors for alleged violation of the First Amendment and the “vote nullification” provision, alleging a severe burden on the right to vote in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In arguments Tuesday, Karen Hartman-Tellez, attorney for the Secretary of State, said the plaintiffs only presented an “abstract theoretical concern” premised on “a bunch of hypotheticals” in looking to the provision allowing a statewide canvass to go on without a county given an improper vote by a board. She noted one particular scenario the plaintiffs mentioned in their briefing where members of a board are in a car wreck, or are kidnapped, throwing a canvass into jeopardy. Hartman-Tellez said the notion was “particularly galling” given death threats to election officials, but again contended “hypotheticals are not well pleaded facts.” Liburdi asked Hartman-Tellez, “If this is all hypothetical, why do we need all this?” Drew Ensign, attorney for the plaintiffs, noted past “flirtation with non certification” by boards. He pointed to the Cochise County Board of Supervisors’ refusal to certify until ordered by a court in 2022 and Pinal County Supervisor Kevin Cavanaugh near no-vote in certifying the 2024 primary election given his own suspicions about his lost sheriff’s race. Ensign said the fact that you only have to look back one election cycle showed how “close to crisis” the state had come, and noted, had Pinal County not canvassed the vote, the state could have had the first implication of the canvass provision. And again, he stressed the burden on those voters who would not have their votes counted in such an event. Liburdi then pushed Hartman-Tellez on the ultimate end result of the provision. He asked whether it was the position of the Secretary of State that excluding votes is constitutional. Hartman-Tellez would not say but said the alternative was none of the state’s votes counted with an incomplete state canvass. Liburdi asked, “Does the secretary of state have the authority to disenfranchise every voter in the state of Arizona, despite having mandamus relief – yes or no?”  He said the notion seemed like a “nuclear bomb” and unnecessary remedy given relief available through the courts. Hartman-Tellez again stressed that it hadn’t happened. “It almost happened,” Liburdi said. He noted the fact the Secretary of State felt it necessary to include the provision shows it’s within the realm of possibility, and again noted the availability of court relief. “Instead, he wishes to have a tool in his arsenal to disenfranchise voters, I can’t understand that,” Liburdi said. “It’s very hard for me to reconcile that this is necessary.” In turning to the free speech claim against a provision on voter harassment, Nathan Arrowsmith, assistant attorney general, started by bringing up an offered stipulation by the AG’s office that the provision does not change criminal statute, will not result in criminal enforcement and does not apply to the average voter. Ensign, though, claimed the provision would be enforced, but not by criminal statute, rather by removal from polling places by election workers. Arrowsmith noted there was no allegation of a removal from a polling place and said the prospect was “far too speculative.” Ensign still claimed the provision constituted a violation of the First Amendment and sparred with the AG and SoS’s claim that the provision was merely guidance for poll workers. “It’s their text, they could amend it to say what they say it says,” Ensign said. “They refuse to amend it, presumably because they want it to be enforced.” Liburdi said he would take the matter under advisement and portended a decision within two weeks, noting the likelihood of an appeal. “I do understand I’m not the last stop.”

Judge weighs hypothetical of supervisors’ move

Braun details sprawling agriculture plan, ideas to help Indiana farmers

Posted on by Jarred Meeks

Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Braun, in partnership with Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity and Enterprise, released on Friday a sprawling agriculture plan detailing policy proposals concerning farmers, rural communities and the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

To give farmers property tax relief, the plan calls for capping their annual property tax bill increases at 3%. Similar to what Braun suggested under his property tax relief proposal, the plan would require that all property tax-related referendums take place in general elections and such ballot language be changed to highlight total proposed levies.

The plan also suggests “modernizing” how farmland is valued by tinkering with the farmland base rate formula — upping the maximum capitalization rate, removing some or all federal payments and ensuring the use of accurate input cost data — to give farmers more relief.

Braun and Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity and Enterprise envision creating farm savings accounts to serve as “rainy day” funds for Hoosier farmers. In addition, they argue for older Hoosiers looking to sell their farms to receive an adjusted gross income tax credit “in exchange for selling or renting their assets to a qualified beginning farmer.”

To aid rural Indiana communities, the plan proposes establishing the Hoosier Rural Business Growth Program to spur the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to attract private sector investors and help rural businesses expand.

In addition, the state should implement new accountability and transparency safeguards for the corporation, the plan said.

“As part of its due diligence process, the State should require IEDC [Indiana Economic Development Corp.] to analyze the impact of its investments on Hoosiers’ utility costs and regional water and energy resource availability,” the plan said. “IEDC would also be directed to study whether new generation, transmission, or distribution capacity would be needed to serve an IEDC project. For any investment that is projected to have a negative impact on ratepayers or electric cooperative member-consumers, IEDC would be required to develop and implement a mitigation plan.”

Regarding child care, the plan advocates for local governments to work with employers to create and sustain needed facilities via a program using a mixture of state funding and a local match. And to improve Indiana’s broadband infrastructure, Indiana should establish a matching grant program similar to the state’s Community Crossings Matching Grant Program for local roads and bridges, the plan said.

Braun’s campaign told State Affairs he would work with the Indiana General Assembly to determine how the programs would be financed.

Among other proposals, the plan would establish a “one-stop” online portal for farmers, giving them easier access to technical support, regulatory updates and funding opportunities. The plan would also build on state lawmakers’ efforts to ban foreign adversaries from owning Hoosier farmland by requiring the countries “to divest of any land holdings” in Indiana and requiring “all foreign agents” to register with the state.

“Among other things, this registration process would include a requirement to disclose the ownership structure of foreign entities, thereby bolstering the State’s detection of Chinese shell companies,” the plan said.

Braun’s plan comes one week after he was noncommittal about additional policy proposals when speaking with reporters. Asked by State Affairs at the Sept. 6 meeting whether he would release additional policy plans, Braun replied, “Remains to be seen.”

The Braun campaign told State Affairs on Friday that it expects to release more policy plans in partnership with Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity and Enterprise, an organization headed by prominent conservative political figures in Indiana, ahead of the election.

The organization’s board consists of attorney James Bopp Jr., Institute for Quality Education President and CEO Betsy Wiley, former state Rep. Daniel Dumezich, longtime alcohol lobbyist Jim Purucker, former state Sen. Scott Schneider, and the board’s president, Ryan Black, according to its website. The organization has paid for TV ads supporting Braun in recent months.

In a written statement to State Affairs, Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater said, “As with his [Braun’s] property tax proposal, his Agriculture and Rural Plan appears to be not his own, but a plan given to him by someone else. Every voter should wonder if Mike Braun or the board members of Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity, and Enterprise, Inc will be executing the responsibilities of Governor of Indiana should he be elected.”

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick’s campaign did not immediately respond to State Affairs’ request for comment.

Contact Jarred Meeks on X @jarredsmeeks or email him at [email protected].

Commerce Department honors top young professionals

Posted on by Brett Stover

Some of Kansas’ top young professionals gathered at the Statehouse this week for the NextGen Under 30 “Day at the Capitol.”

The Department of Commerce program, now in its third year, celebrated Kansans under 30 years of age who are at the top of various industries — and hopes to keep them in the state.

Tuesday’s event came a few months after the Commerce Department launched a new marketing campaign, “Love, Kansas,” which aims to encourage former residents to return to the Sunflower State.

Caitlyn Claussen, one of this year’s awardees, is among those “boomerang” Kansans. Born and raised in Kansas, Claussen attended college in Illinois, where she realized she was “super-homesick.”

“I missed the limestone of Manhattan and being around my family and just the good down-home atmosphere in Kansas,” she said.

An athletic counselor at Kansas State University, Claussen said she tries to show student-athletes that “Kansas isn’t the flyover state that everybody is told it is.”

Alex Gutierrez, who works in sales at AT&T, has lived in Topeka his whole life. But going on vacations outside the state made him appreciate how quiet, calm and affordable Kansas is.

“There’s a lot more than just what it is. … You don’t get as lost in stuff,” Gutierrez said. “You’re able to be a part of things a lot more. Your voice matters more.”

Claussen, Gutierrez, Rosie Mosate and others said the state could do a better job of marketing Kansas to young people elsewhere in the country.

There’s a “predetermined understanding” of what Kansas is, Mosate said, and many outside the state find it boring.

“There’s so much cool, good stuff to do in this state, and it’s not really advertised,” she said. Mosate grew up in Wichita, where she now works as a treasury services supervisor at Intrust Bank.

“This is one of the few states where there’s such a large sense of community,” Mosate said. “It doesn’t matter what city, what town. … It is just a state full of neighbors, right?”

The character of Kansas communities is something many awardees pointed to as a strong selling point. Olivia Richardson grew up just across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri, before attending Wichita State University, where she studies biomedical science and psychology.

Wichita State “felt like an extension of my high school,” Richardson said, and it had a family atmosphere. Schools in other states made her feel like she was just a number, but she felt Kansas colleges “really appreciated their students more.”

Richardson and others also said Kansas is a more affordable place to live than surrounding states.

“It’s a perfect place to settle down, to start a family,” Richardson said.

How can Kansas attract and retain more young people? Besides better marketing, a few awardees had specific suggestions.

Ryan Hammar, who works for the J.M. Smucker Co. in Topeka, grew up in Wichita and attended the University of Kansas. After an internship in Texas, Hammar decided he’d rather stay closer to his friends and family in Kansas.

Hammar said some obstacles to attracting young people are the state’s “archaic” drug and alcohol laws. Friends from out of the state have been frustrated by Kansas’ rules on alcohol sales, which he said are more restrictive than those in neighboring states.

“A lot of people may leave due to those [rules] because it doesn’t line up with their lifestyle,” Hammar said.

For many young people, he said those restrictions are “a bigger part of their lives than maybe they want to admit.”

The Kansas Board of Regents’ new transfer credit rules, a policy that went into effect this year, is a “step in the right direction,” Claussen said.

The change will help Kansas students who attend smaller schools around the state earn four-year degrees, she said, and will help “keep that money here in Kansas and keep the Kansas kids in Kansas.”

Brett Stover is a Statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected] or on X @BrettStoverKS.

‘I can’t survive without my phone’: Task force zeroes in on mental health impacts of social media on students

Posted on by Matt Resnick

The impact of students’ screen time use on mental health was the focus Thursday for a task force created by the Kansas State Board of Education to evaluate cellphone use in schools. 

It was the fourth of at least 10 weekly meetings of the 36-member task force, which largely consists of students, teachers, parents, school administrators, school board members and legislators. 

The group’s main objective is to develop research-based guidance on students’ personal devices and how they’re used in school, screen time and mental health, and oversight of district-owned devices. 

The committee is slated to present its findings and recommendations to the Board of Education in November. The board tentatively plans to act on those recommendations by December but has no plans to implement a blanket cellphone policy for school districts statewide. Instead, the board anticipates issuing policy-related guidance to districts. 

“What’s going to be really critical about this is that the state board will not issue a state policy,” Education Commissioner Randy Watson told State Affairs on Wednesday. “They will issue guidance that local districts can look at to help them establish their own policy.”

Watson said that he’s unsure of the direction the task force will go but that many states have adopted “some kind of limitation to devices in school.” 

He added that he wants the task force “to keep an open mind, ask good questions and just think, ‘What would be the best recommendations for you to make for our state?’ So don’t lock in too quickly, and I think the task force is doing a good job of that.” 

Social media pitfalls

Payton Lynn, a public service executive for the Kansas State Department of Education, unspooled findings from multiple studies conducted by outside entities. Two of the studies dated back a decade or more, drawing parallels between children’s social media use and depression.

One study, conducted from 2013 to 2017 among U.S. students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades, revealed that girls consume significantly higher rates of social media than boys. Approximately 10% to 14% of girls in the study were categorized as “social media super-users,” meaning they spent more than 40 hours a week on a social media platform,  while boys hovered between 4% and 7% for most of the study’s duration. 

A companion study of social media use by teens in the United Kingdom showed that nearly 40% of girls spent three to five hours daily on social media, compared to 13% of boys. Those students, according to the study, were prone to depression. 

Another study showed that 32% of teenage girls were negatively affected by “body image and disordered eating behaviors,” accentuated by images on Instagram. And 12% to 15% of girls reported having experienced cyberbullying, compared to 8% of boys. 

Another study showed that addictive video gaming habits had a negative psychological impact on boys. Other findings revealed that high school boys had a much higher prevalence of viewing daily pornographic content than girls. In all, the study concluded that excessive time spent on social media leads to isolation, depression and susceptibility to radicalization and embracing conspiracy theories. 

Yet another study presented on Thursday showed that 25% of teenagers have sent unsolicited explicit images, while 81% of teens were unintentionally exposed to pornographic content. The study also concluded that 1 in 7 children aged 9 to 12 have shared nude photos of themselves, while 1 in 3 children have seen nude photos of others that have been reshared without the individual’s consent. 

Guest panelist Robert Stiles, a behavioral health expert with the University of Kansas Medical Center, said some parents “don’t know where to start” when it comes to their children’s cellphone use. 

He recounted a story of a student with failing grades partly attributed to screen time distractions during the school day. The parents intervened, requesting that school staff confiscate the student’s phone in the morning and return it at the end of the school day. 

“The student ended up leaving and facing the consequences of walking out of school over giving up their phone,” Stiles said. “There was just this idea of panic and need that ‘I can’t survive without my phone,’ and I think we see that in a lot of kids.”

Watson, the education commissioner, said he encourages people to view their weekly screen time use instead of how much time they spend on phone calls. 

“The first thing that everybody notices is that we call this device a phone, and that’s generally the least part of how they use it. It’s a computer that we still call a phone,” he said. 

“I think that’s been a shock — people seeing how much time they’ve spent on their device. And where they’re spending that time on their device.” 

Melanie Haas, one of two task force members representing the Kansas State Board of Education, said she’s been pleased with the progression of topics the task force has covered. 

“There are a lot of topics that you can cover inside of that conversation,” Haas said, alluding to students’ personal devices, the mental health impacts of social media and oversight of district-issued devices. 

“I just hope that we can get through all of the many discussions that we want to have and come up with something that’s really useful for local boards, because this is really about giving local boards the information they need so they can make informed decisions about what their policy should be inside schools.” 

Matt Resnick is a statehouse reporter at State Affairs Pro Kansas/Hawver’s Capitol Report. Reach him at [email protected]

Kansas Daily News Wire September 13, 2024

Posted on by State Affairs

Welcome to the Kansas Daily News Wire, your daily roundup of top state and political stories from newsrooms across Kansas. — Hawver’s Capitol Report/State Affairs

STATE

State board of ed approves measure aimed at better training teachers in area of American Sign Language: The Kansas State Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously approved the revision of its educator preparation standards to include American Sign Language in its World Language repertoire. (Resnick, State Affairs)

Seven dead after six crashes across Kansas on the same day. How these wrecks unfolded: The Kansas Highway Patrol worked six different vehicle crashes across Kansas Wednesday that left seven people dead, reports show. (The Wichita Eagle)

Statehouse Briefs: $20M for bridge projects; new mobile visitors center: Gov. Laura Kelly and other executive branch officials traveled Thursday to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson to unveil a new mobile visitors center from the Kansas Tourism Division. (Stover, State Affairs)

CDC says Kansas has a weight problem: Federal health officials say one in three Kansans are experiencing obesity in a newly published report Thursday. (KSNT)

LOCAL

If Lenexa rejects homeless shelter, Johnson County could be back at square one: If the Lenexa City Council on Tuesday denies a special use permit to operate a homeless shelter, Johnson County could be sent back to the drawing board — possibly needing to find a new location and deciding whether to commit alternate funding in the face of a fast-approaching federal deadline. (The Kansas City Star)

Lawrence community members petition for city to scrap pool renovation, keep open swimming space: More than 1,200 people have signed a petition asking the City of Lawrence to discard a proposed $6 million renovation of the outdoor pool because the proposal will cut open swim space in half. (The Lawrence Times)

Police searching woman’s phone for evidence in recent attack: Riley County police are looking at phone evidence to investigate a report of an Aug. 30 attack, resulting in severe head injuries for the victim. (Manhattan Mercury)

Shawnee County Parks and Rec plans to build new cabins at Lake Shawnee: There’s good news for those wanting to get away to Lake Shawnee. Two new rentable cabins have been requested for the area. (WIBW)

Howey Daily Wire Sept. 13, 2024

Posted on by Howey Politics Indiana

Happy Friday!

Jarred Meeks reports on Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick’s update to her marijuana plan. And GOP gubernatorial nominee Mike Braun told Brian Howey he plans to “plow through” the nonessential rhetoric pervasive this election cycle. More news below. — Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs

Braun to focus on ‘kitchen table’ issues: “I’ve been clear I’m going to focus on the issues that are on the kitchen table, not the ones that are inherently divisive,” the Republican gubernatorial nominee said when asked to comment on the pervasive election rhetoric. (Howey, State Affairs)

McCormick envisions path to marijuana legalization in Indiana: The Democratic gubernatorial nominee wants to allow medical marijuana in Indiana before fully legalizing the drug for adult Hoosiers. (Meeks, State Affairs)

STATE

Judge turns down bid to broaden abortion ban exceptions: Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon released a decision denying a request from abortion providers for an order expanding health exceptions and lifting the state’s ban on abortion clinic licenses. (Davies, State Affairs)

Student attendance improved last school year, but more work remains, officials say: More than 205,000 Hoosier students (17.8%) were chronically absent in the 2023-24 school year — meaning they missed at least 10% of school days — down from more than 220,000 (19.2%) during the 2022-23 school year and over 237,000 (21.1%) during the 2021-22 school year. (Meeks, State Affairs)

Pandemic school funding to sunset as Indiana asks for spending extension: School officials face a January deadline to spend what remains of the state’s $2.9 billion aid package for COVID-19-related projects, but they can request an extension from the U.S. Department of Education. (Cassel, WFYI-FM)

New state dashboard will flag students at risk of not graduating on time: The Indiana Department of Education previewed a new dashboard for schools that will flag students who may not be on track to graduate on schedule. (Adair, Lakeshore Public Media)

Indiana students say cost is biggest barrier to college: Indiana high school students are skipping college because of concerns about costs and uncertainty about what careers to pursue, according to new research from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. (McCoy, WFYI-FM)

Execution date set for Fort Wayne man who killed 4 people in 1997: Indiana is expected to conduct its first execution since 2009 after the state Supreme Court ordered that Joseph Corcoran be executed before sunrise Dec. 18. (Gay, Fox59)

Portage mayor, Porter County Council unhappy after Gov. Holcomb yanks appointment to RDA: Portage Mayor Austin Bonta and Porter County Council members aren’t happy with Gov. Eric Holcomb’s removal of the city’s pick to serve on the Regional Development Authority after just three weeks into what was expected to be a four-year term. (Jones, Post-Tribune)

Wayne County prosecutor criticizes Rokita’s antisemitism training as political grandstanding: Longtime Wayne County Prosecutor Michael Shipman accused fellow Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita of misusing his position to grandstand and further his political ambitions by promoting training to combat antisemitism for local prosecutors and law enforcement. (Smith, WFIU-FM)

Jury finds IU’s sexual misconduct policy discriminatory: After a two-day trial, an Indianapolis jury found Indiana University guilty of discrimination in a sexual misconduct investigation in a verdict that challenges the legality of IU’s misconduct policies. (Sandweiss, WFIU-FM)

Today: Notre Dame to inaugurate new president — The University of Notre Dame will inaugurate its new president, the Rev. Robert A. Dowd, who will preside over a 10 a.m. inauguration Mass at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and attend an inauguration ceremony set for 2:45 at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. (Parrott, WVPE-FM)

LOCAL

Residents of 3 counties oppose proposed bottled water plant in Noble County: A proposed bottled water plant that would be located next to Pisgah Marsh in Noble County has drawn the ire of some residents in Noble and in bordering Kosciusko and Whitley counties. (McMahan, WANE-TV)

Hogsett says he won’t resign as he faces questions about sexual harassment response: Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said he will not resign despite concerns over his handling of sexual harassment claims against his former chief of staff, Thomas Cook. (Colombo, IndyStar)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Klinker plans to reintroduce bill to raise teacher pay to $60K: U.S. Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette, plans to reintroduce a bill she proposed last year that would raise minimum teacher salaries to $60,000 across the state. Most districts adhere to a $40,000 minimum salary as outlined in state law. (Appleton, State Affairs)

McNamara in favor of legislation on ‘signal jammers’: According to state Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, an alleged burglary made her realize the Legislature needed to address the issue of signal jammers, devices that scramble Wi-Fi and cellular signals and are illegal to operate under federal law. (Loesch, Courier & Press)

Audit and financial reporting subcommittee to meet Sept. 17: A calendar notice announced the Legislative Council Audit and Financial Reporting Subcommittee will meet at 10 a.m. in Room 431 at the Statehouse. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

CONGRESS

Sen. Young, bipartisan group push education department to help ensure schools can meet new transparency rules: U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., announced he joined a bipartisan group to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Education in support of delaying the institutional reporting deadline for the new Gainful Employment and Financial Value Transparency regulations to July 2025. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

House passes version of Braun’s agriculture oversight bill: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., lauded the passage of the House version of the Protecting American Agriculture From Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024, legislation that would add scrutiny to foreign acquisition of U.S. farmland and agricultural industries. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

Mrvan announces safe streets grants for Crown Point, Merrillville, Portage and Valparaiso: Crown Point, Merrillville and Portage will each receive $280,000 and Valparaiso will get $200,000 “to develop comprehensive safety action plans to eliminate roadway fatalities,” according to a news release from the office of U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

Yakym testifies on his bill to improve federal permitting process: U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., testified at a House committee hearing in support of his legislation, HR 6129, which “would streamline and improve the federal permitting process by requiring the White House Council on Environmental Quality to submit an annual report regarding litigation under the National Environmental Policy Act,” according to a news release. (Howey Politics Indiana/State Affairs)

Report: Yakym considers seeking seat on House Ways and Means — Bloomberg reported that Rep. Yakym is among several lawmakers seeking a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee in the next Congress.

Congressional schedule: The House and Senate are out.

CAMPAIGNS

Rokita’s thirst for battle isn’t going away: Rory Appleton of State Affairs dives into Todd Rokita’s first term in office in the first of a two-part look at the race for Indiana attorney general. 

Wells campaign claims ‘highly competitive’ AG race in new internal poll: Destiny Wells’ campaign recently released internal polling data showing “a highly competitive race” for Indiana attorney general, with 41% supporting the Democrat, 44% supporting Republican incumbent Rokita and 13% undecided. (Gay, Fox59)

McCormick calls state’s abortion ban ‘extreme’ during Muncie town hall: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick told attendees at a town hall in Muncie that Indiana’s near-total abortion ban is “extreme” and that she believes access to contraceptives would be in danger under her opponent Mike Braun’s administration. (Ouellette, WFIU-FM)

PRESIDENTIAL 2024

Harris, Trump paint polar opposite visions for America: Brian Howey of State Affairs provides his analysis of Tuesday night’s debate between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Trump says he won’t do another debate with Harris: Former President Trump said he would not participate in another debate with Vice President Harris, squashing the potential for a second meeting between the two candidates before Election Day. (The Hill)

NATION

Election betting goes mainstream: The popular trading platform Interactive Brokers plans to launch a market where investors can bet on the outcome of the presidential election, taking advantage of a federal court ruling that has effectively legalized election betting in the U.S. (The Wall Street Journal)

White House schedule: President Joe Biden will deliver remarks at a brunch in celebration of Black excellence at noon. In the afternoon, he will host a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom before traveling to Wilmington, Delaware. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for an evening campaign event and return to Washington, D.C., afterward.

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