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Indiana Guard soldiers departing soon for Texas border mission

Mar 28, 2024

EDINBURGH, Ind. — About 50 Indiana National Guard soldiers will soon depart for the U.S.-Mexico border on a mission Gov. Eric Holcomb described Thursday as a necessary step to protect the country. The soldiers were hailed during a departure ceremony at the Guard’s Camp Atterbury training base ahead of traveling next week to the El Paso area for a 10-month assignment assisting with an immigration enforcement effort spearheaded by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Holcomb announced the Indiana deployment in early …

The Donald Trump-Al Capone connection is clear

Mar 28, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — For more than a century, from Republican Calvin Coolidge to Democrat Joe Biden and everyone in between, American presidents have resisted the temptation to compare themselves to Al Capone, the syphilitic, bootlegging Prohibition-era Chicago mobster.  Until Donald J. Trump. “Did anybody ever hear of the great Alphonse Capone, Al Capone, great, great head of the mafia, right?” Trump said last December in Reno. “Mean, Scarface. He had a scar that went from here to here, and he didn’t …

Explaining Dyngus Day

Mar 28, 2024

SOUTH BEND — Dyngus Day is difficult to explain to folks who ask what this strange-sounding event is in South Bend. Let’s try by explaining what it’s not. Dyngus Day, while sometimes described as a Polish version of St. Patrick’s Day, is not named after a St. Dyngus. Nor does it have anything to do with legends about driving snakes out of the old country, mysterious leprechauns or shamrocks. Dyngus Day is not something recently concocted by local bars, clubs …

Spartz, Goodrich trade barbs over ads, Ukraine

Mar 28, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS — The Republican primary 5th Congressional District showdown between U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz and state Rep. Chuck Goodrich intensified this past week. Spartz called Goodrich “a lying corrupt RINO” for what she says is a misleading TV ad on her record for funding the Ukraine war. Goodrich told CBS4’s “INFocus” on Sunday that “Spartz has failed us by focusing on Europe.” In a campaign release, Spartz said Goodrich is lying about her position on Ukraine. “Victoria Spartz was the first …

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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 …

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 …

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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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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 …

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. …

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 …