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Front-running Braun a debate target

Mar 28, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — The night of March 22, a shallow backwater of the World Wide Web lit up: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun had missed a $1.2 trillion budget vote. The Eric Doden campaign’s spin was this: “Braun’s campaign sent a desperate fundraising solicitation to supporters just hours after skipping the vote. In it the campaign said: ‘We may have to scale back our get-out-the-vote efforts if we don’t hit our goal. And with less than two months until Election Day, that …

Democrats eye more candidates for new bid against GOP House supermajority

Mar 27, 2024

State Democratic Chair Mike Schmuhl sees a larger field of Democrats running for legislative seats this year as a boost toward his party’s hope of ending the 12-year full Republican supermajority hold on the General Assembly.  Schmuhl and Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn joined three candidates for suburban Indianapolis legislative seats on Wednesday for the start of “Break the Supermajority” events Democrats plan around the state.  Democrats have fallen short the past five election cycles in their goal of breaking the …

The KKK in Indiana has had lasting effects

Mar 27, 2024

MUNCIE — Last autumn I read Timothy Egan’s masterpiece, “Fever in the Heartland,” which covers the abrupt rise and fall of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. It sent me down a research pathway that uncovered the ill effects of the KKK on population and demographics that still plague parts of the Hoosier State. I expected this book to be a difficult, maybe even painful, read. I could not have been more mistaken. It was as delightful a book as …

ACLU continues fight as court upholds ban on trans care for minors

Mar 26, 2024

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has asked the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to consider the fate of a state law banning all gender-affirming care for minors. The request, filed Monday, comes after a three-judge panel of the appeals court voted 2-1 last month to strike down an injunction issued by a District Court judge in Indianapolis last year that partially blocked the law that Republicans pushed through during the 2023 legislative session. The appeals court’s Feb. …

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Can we bridge division?

Mar 26, 2024

BLOOMINGTON — Disagree Better. That’s the name of an interesting initiative at the National Governors Association this year, spearheaded by the organization’s chair, Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. The idea, in a nutshell, is to “reduce partisan animosity and foster healthy debate by modeling a more positive and optimistic way of working through policy problems,” as the NGA puts it.  It would be easy to scoff at, of course. In this era of bitter political hostility, as we head into a presidential …

The sinister sins of our solons

Mar 22, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — Hear ye! Hear ye! The Indiana General Assembly and the governor of the Hoosier State have declared, by the passage and signing of Senate Bill 202, that intellectual diversity must be promoted by the faculties of our state-supported colleges and universities. Henceforth, any student may report teachers for failure to promote intellectual diversity. Boards of trustees are responsible for the implementation of this new law. What penalties for failure to comply may apply to those bored board members …

The governor’s nod

Mar 21, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — The last time a former governor made an endorsement in an open gubernatorial primary — Doc Bowen for Eric Miller in his 2004 race against Mitch Daniels — it had little impact. Daniels won with 66% of the vote. Gov. Eric Holcomb told reporters last week that although he hasn’t made an endorsement decision in the six-candidate GOP gubernatorial primary, he would “in short order.” “We can repeat words,” Holcomb said. “And most of those words, I see …

Deep ideological chasm behind SB 202 will remain

Mar 20, 2024

MUNCIE — The debate over ideological diversity on campus won’t end with Senate Bill 202. Also, the heart of the issue isn’t what most people think. It doesn’t fit easily into ideological labels of conservative or liberal, and it isn’t about political parties. The issue is not about gender, race, ethnicity or the mix of ideas discussed on campus. It isn’t about acknowledging lingering discrimination, recognizing the ugly parts of American history or even choosing the right tactics to promote …

Wave of retirements should serve as a warning to Congress

Mar 19, 2024

BLOOMINGTON — Recently, I had occasion to look back at some of the early speeches I gave after I first went to Congress in 1965 as a young freshman member from Indiana. Admittedly, six decades is a long time. But even so, what I found was jarring.Congress, I liked to tell audiences back then, worked in a remarkably hospitable environment. No matter how spirited the policy debate, I told listeners, we were surrounded by what I called “a cocoon of …

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“This road map contains the foundation for building a better Evansville. Between now and April 9 we will continue to build a strong team of collaborative, creative city leaders and to create a culture of transparency, accountability and accessibility.”

Quote from Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry
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Indiana sees 60% jump in federal Marketplace health coverage enrollment

Mar 22, 2024

The number of Indiana residents obtaining health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace has jumped by 60% from last year. The spike to nearly 296,000 people was at least partly driven by those seeking replacement coverage after being disenrolled since April from Indiana’s Medicaid program, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Those disenrollments started when the COVID-19 pandemic prohibition on kicking people off Medicaid expired. Indiana’s Marketplace enrollment …

INGov Republicans politely debate

Mar 21, 2024

FISHERS — The six Republican candidates for governor sparred politely Tuesday, mainly over economic issues, in a forum held three weeks before the start of early voting for the May 7 primary. Only mild barbs were aimed at front-runner U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, who was joined by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, former state Commerce Secretary Brad Chambers, former Attorney General Curtis Hill, Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden and conservative activist Jamie Reitenour. They shared a stage with Democratic candidate Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater …

Hoosiers in Trump administration won’t endorse him

Mar 21, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — In late spring of 2016, even as Donald J. Trump won the Indiana presidential primary with 53.6% of the vote, the Republican establishment was slow to come around. Gov. Mike Pence had given his milquetoast endorsement to Sen. Ted Cruz. Only former GOP Chair Rex Early and Sullivan County Chairman Bill Springer were on board with the Manhattan billionaire when the national convention delegates were announced. Then came the veepstakes, with Gov. Pence slowly rising to the top …

Joseph Habig named acting state budget director

Mar 20, 2024

Gov. Eric Holcomb has promoted from within his administration for a new leader of the State Budget Agency. Joseph Habig, the agency’s deputy director for more than four years, will become acting budget director once current Budget Director Zac Jackson leaves that position April 5, the governor’s office announced Wednesday. Jackson announced last month that he was stepping down to join the administration of new Carmel Mayor Sue Finkham as the city’s chief financial officer and controller. Habig has worked …

How McCormick, Rainwater are framing their campaigns for governor

Mar 20, 2024

Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater have many differences in their campaigns for governor but will share a big common theme as they face whoever emerges from the six-candidate Republican primary. Whether their argument that the 20-year Republican hold on the governor’s office has lasted too long catches on with voters could determine whether their campaigns gain traction going into the November election. Here are some takeaways on how McCormick and Rainwater are making those arguments, which they presented …