Psalm 18 vs. 30 says; “As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him”
The Apostles of Jesus Christ were holy men of God who were moved to speak by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Peter encouraged the brethren on the need to live holy lives. The Hebrew word for holy means “set apart.” The Greek word for holy means “sacred, pure, and worthy.” In 1st Peter 1 vss. 15 and 16 Peter says; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written; “Be holy for I am Holy.”
1st. Peter 3 vs. 12 says; “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”There is good taken place throughout the world because many children of God want to do right and are seeking to live holy lives. May God continue to bless you!
We rarely hear about the good, but we are reminded daily of the evil ways of mankind. We are reminded each day of the brevity of life because people die every day. This life is temporal and glory be to God that it is. It would be helpful to know for those willing to give careful consideration to obedience to the gospel, where the authority of the Apostle’s of Christ came from. The Apostle Paul wrote 13 epistle’s of the New Testament.
The Apostle Peter reminded the brethren on where their authority came from and on what they needed to do moving forward.
In 2nd. Peter 1 vss. 13 thru 15 He says; “Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as the Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.” Consider this as a reminder today.
Vss. 16 thru 21 Peter says; “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
As Indiana lawmakers prepare to reconvene in January for a shortened 2026 legislative session, multiple Republican legislators have filed bills to expand how the state carries out death sentences — reopening a debate over capital punishment that stalled in the Statehouse earlier this year.
At the heart of two bills — one in the House and another in the Senate — are additional execution options beyond lethal injection, which is currently the only method authorized under Indiana law.
Senate Bill 11, authored by Indianapolis Republican Sen. Mike Young, would allow Indiana to use a firing squad to carry out executions under certain circumstances.
Under Young’s proposal, the death penalty could be inflicted by firing squad if the Department of Correction determines — at least 30 days before a scheduled execution — that it is unable to conduct an execution by lethal injection due to the unavailability of required drugs.
The bill would also allow a condemned person to request execution by firing squad at least 30 days before the scheduled date.
Separately a House bill authored by Republican Reps. Jim Lucas of Seymour and Andrew Ireland of Indianapolis, would allow executions to be carried out by either firing squad or nitrogen hypoxia. Lucas said lethal injection would remain the default method, but condemned individuals could request an alternative.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle obtained a copy of the bill which was filed this week but as of late Wednesday had not yet been published on the General Assembly’s website where all filed bills are publicly accessible.
“It’s a simple bill,” Lucas told the Capital Chronicle. “We’re going to go with drugs as the first option,” Lucas said. “But if (the condemned) want to choose one of these other options, they can.”
Lucas said the measure was drafted in collaboration with DOC officials and is driven largely by the state’s difficulty securing lethal injection drugs and the cost associated with executions. In the last year, Indiana officials paid up to $300,000 for a single dose of pentobarbital.
He said the goal is to align Indiana’s exertion protocols with other states and the federal government, and that his bill “was an ask from the White House.”
Could legislation pass — or stalemate?
Young’s legislation additionally details procedures for firing squad executions, requiring a five-member team made up of DOC officers selected by the prison warden.
Four officers would fire weapons containing live ammunition, while one would fire a weapon containing a blank round, with firearms loaded in a way that prevents squad members from knowing which ammunition they are firing. The bill would also shield the identities of firing squad members from public disclosure and legal discovery.
Currently, five states authorize the use of firing squads under certain circumstances: Idaho, Utah, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Nine states permit executions by lethal gas, but only five — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma — specifically authorize death by nitrogen hypoxia, a process that deprives inmates of oxygen using nitrogen gas.
Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, listens to a bill on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Republican leadership has not yet said where the supermajority caucuses in either chamber stand on new legislation, or if the bills will get committee hearings during the short session, which is scheduled to conclude by the end of February following redistricting debates in December.
The proposed bills follow more than a year of concerns over the state’s ongoing difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs. The problem that has delayed executions nationwide and prompted states to revisit alternative methods.
But when asked earlier this week about pending death penalty legislation, the Republican governor struck a cautious tone.
“Even though I’m anticipating that there might be some stuff there — I’ll look at that,” Braun said, referring to death penalty bills. But he added that such measures “don’t rise to the level of other issues,” such as lowering health care costs and passing reforms related to education and utilities.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun sits for an end-of-year interview with the Indiana Capital Chronicle in his Statehouse office on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
“If it comes up,” he continued, “then I’ll view it on the merits at the time.”
Hoosier prosecutors, meanwhile, have urged lawmakers to preserve the death penalty as an option.
Vicki Becker, the Elkhart County prosecutor speaking on behalf of the Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys, said prosecutors oppose removing capital punishment as a tool — regardless of how the legislature ultimately structures it.
“State of Indiana, prosecutors don’t want to lose tools. They don’t want to lose tools,” Becker said. “And in the grand scheme of things, when we have cases that truly are the worst of the worst, we need to have those tools.”
Becker said prosecutors will serve as subject-matter experts as lawmakers debate the issue but emphasized that the final decision rests with the General Assembly.
Opposition mounts, too
Opposition to the death penalty has also intensified.
On Tuesday, more than 70 handwritten letters from pastors and members of Indianapolis First Friends and Shalom Zone, a self-described interfaith group, were delivered to the governor’s office calling for abolition. Braun briefly met with the group and promised a more formal conversation would follow.
“Like so many Hoosiers, 23 other states, and the entire European Union, we believe the death penalty should be abolished,” said Jodie English, a Quaker who helped organize the letter drive.
Braun — whose administration oversaw two executions in 2025 — has called on lawmakers to take up the issue but has stopped short of endorsing any specific execution methods.
The governor has pointed to South Carolina, however, which recently reinstated the firing squad as an option after years of delays due to its inability to obtain lethal injection drugs.
But Braun’s office has since refused to disclose how much the state paid for the latest three sets of lethal injection drugs purchased by the DOC in recent months. At least one of those doses was used for Roy Ward’s execution in October.
Braun has maintained, too, that the high cost and short shelf life of the drug should prompt new discussions on how the state approaches capital punishment moving forward.
Lawmakers failed to advance several death-penalty-related proposals during the 2025 session, including a Republican-backed bill to abolish the death penalty altogether.
That proposal drew some bipartisan support in both chambers but never received a committee hearing. At the time, House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray said the issue lacked sufficient consensus to move forward during an already hectic session.
Lucas said he’s confident that his bill will receive a hearing in the House and advance out of the chamber, but he was less certain about its prospects in the Senate.
“I absolutely refuse to predict what the Senate is going to do on anything,” he said. “I’m over in the House. I’m working the House side. That’s my focus right now.”
Five men remain on Indiana’s death row at the state prison in Michigan City. Since December 2024, the state has carried out death sentences for three inmates: Joseph Corcoran, Benjamin Ritchie and Ward. Corcoran’s marked Indiana’s first executions in more than a decade.
The state has not requested execution dates for any of the remaining death row inmates.
“We’re not relitigating the death penalty or anything like that,” Lucas said. “And we want to keep this as humane and efficient as possible, for all parties involved.”
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December 30, 1861 The 40th Regiment Indiana Infantry musters in at Lafayette and Indianapolis. Serving until the end of the Civil War, the regiment engages in 16 significant battles, including Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, and the Siege of Atlanta.
Dr R N Harger’s “drunkometer”, 1st breath test, introduced in Indiana.
January 1, 1827 Presbyterian minister John Finley Crowe establishes Hanover College, the oldest private college in the state.
January 3, 1825 Scottish factory owner Robert Owen buys 30,000 acres in Southwest Indiana which becomes New Harmony.
Where in Indiana
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Our Where in Indiana? from last week was taken in Lebanon, of the home Dr. William Williams built in 1929. Dr. Williams opened Lebanon’s first hospital.
“If I could offer but one helpful hint to young Hoosiers hoping to better their odds for success in life, I would simply note the importance of thoughtful reading.”
The U.S. House on Thursday passed, 211-204, a bill to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf outside Alaska.
The bill, sponsored by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert, would direct the Interior secretary to reissue a 2020 rule removing ESA protections that delisted wolves other than the Mexican wolf in the lower 48 states, while stipulating it could not be challenged in court.
The rule from President Donald Trump’s first administration was struck down by a federal court in 2022.
Five Democrats voted for the bill and four Republicans voted against it. The measure was considered during the chamber’s last vote series before a two-week break, and 18 members did not vote.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, has sponsored a companion bill in that chamber. The measure faces an uphill road in the Senate, where passage of partisan bills is rarer due to the 60-vote threshold for most legislation.
The bill would remove gray wolves from the ESA list, even though they have not reached population figures that the Fish and Wildlife Service has said would indicate full recovery.
Rep. Donald S. Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, said it would be reasonable to adjust population thresholds, but that congressionally mandated delisting was unwise and illegal.
“This bill fails to recognize the status of gray wolves today, taking us back to an outdated rulemaking that didn’t hold up in court,” Beyer said on the House floor Thursday.
House Natural Resources Committee ranking Democrat Jared Huffman of California said the bill set a “troubling” precedent by blocking judicial review.
“It tells the American people they no longer have the right to challenge unlawful government actions,” he said. “The ESA is simple and effective. It ensures decisions are grounded in science — that’s the heart of it — and this bill throws that principle out the window.”
Several Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee spoke in favor of the bill, saying it would delegate wolf management to states.
In a statement, Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, said the gray wolf has been “fully recovered” for two decades.
“States are more than capable of managing thriving wolf populations. This legislation restores a common-sense, science-based approach to wolf management, returning decision-making to states,” he said.
Republicans also argued the bill would protect livestock and humans.
Rep. Pete Stauber showed a photo from his district in Ely, Minnesota, of a wolf in a school parking lot.
“Because of the gray wolf’s listing status, nothing could be done to protect the lives of the students there,” the Republican said. “The broken ESA is putting my constituents’ lives at risk.”
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Moline, Ill.: The goal scoring was back for the Thunderbolts after a brief drought, with four goals earning Evansville a point in a 5-4 shootout defeat at Quad City on Friday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Wednesday, December 31st against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.
The first period was dominated by Evansville as they outshot the Storm 16-7 and scored three goals to take a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes; the first goal was scored on a power play by Evan Miller at 5:33, his first as a Thunderbolt assisted by Connor Federkow and Tyson Gilmour. Evansville struck again on another power play at 8:19, with a Derek Contessa deflection goal assisted by Myles Abbate and Joey Berkopec. The third goal came at 16:53 as Eelis Laaksonen cut through the Storm crease and wrapped the puck into the far side of the net, assisted by Contessa and Scott Kirton. Savva Smirnov got the Storm on the board at 7:27 of the second period, but Evansville answered back as Abbate scored on a 2-on-1 from Contessa at 12:03. The Storm came back with goals at 15:16 by Dmitri Toporowski and 16:32 by Jake MacDonald to cut Evansville’s lead to 4-3, and Toporowski tied the game with 6:03 remaining in the third period to force overtime. Following the scoreless overtime, Laaksonen scored in the shootout, however the Storm scored on three of four chances to complete the comeback, 5-4 the final score.
Contessa led the way offensively with a goal and two assists, Abbate scored one goal and one assist, while Miller and Laaksonen finished with one goal each. In goal, Kristian Stead stopped 28 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime. The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Saturday, December 27th at Quad City, with the season series tied 3-3.
Six Indiana communities were awarded more than $29 million in low-interest state loans for housing-related public infrastructure, the Indiana Finance Authority announced Monday.
It’s the latest round of the Residential Housing Infrastructure Assistance Program, which is intended to boost housing development by helping communities pay for the expensive public infrastructure that new homes require.
The awarded projects include roadways, water and wastewater systems, stormwater management, and utilities, according to IFA, which administers the program.
“Increasing Indiana’s housing supply is essential to supporting our growing workforce and strengthening local economies,” Gov. Mike Braun said in a news release.
“These investments will help communities keep pace with job growth, attract new talent, and ensure more Hoosier families have access to safe, affordable places to live,” he said. “When we expand housing opportunities, we’re laying the foundation for long-term economic success in every corner of our state.”
The awardees are:
Elkhart: $10 million
Fort Wayne: $8.15 million and $1.75 million
St. Joseph and New Carlisle: $4.5 million
Arcadia: $3 million
Austin: $1 million
Attica: $975,000
Communities were picked “based on the need for additional housing inventory to accommodate local job growth,” the news release said. IFA also prioritized loan applications from local governments with “housing-friendly” zoning.
The projects are expected to support more than 1,500 units of housing, according to IFA. A projected 683 will be in rural areas and 882 will be in urban areas. The number of units will be confirmed upon loan closing, agency spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland said.
Under Indiana law, 70% of the funding must go to projects in communities with a population of less than 50,000. The remaining 30% is available for larger communities.
The program is a revolving loan fund. As the money is paid off, it becomes available for future projects.
IFA previously announced awards of about $31 million last spring and $51 million in 2024. The initiative stems from 2023’s House Enrolled Act 1005.
Indiana legislators face some hefty fiscal decisions on how much they want to go along with the broad federal tax cuts that President Donald Trump pushed through Congress last summer.
An analysis from Gov. Mike Braun’s administration estimates that total state tax breaks on businesses and individuals could top $900 million over the next two years if the Legislature were to adopt all the tax changes included in what Republicans dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Republican legislators are poised to take up proposals on conforming the state tax code with federal rules after the legislative session resumes Jan. 5.
The federal changes include temporary deductions for individuals who receive tips and overtime wages along with the interest on loans for vehicles built in the U.S. Otheradjustments give numerous tax breaks to businesses, including a broader deduction for some production facilities.
Chad Ranney, Braun’s state budget director, called conformity with the federal tax code “a provision-by-provision decision in conjunction with the Legislature.”
“There’s nothing that says you have to take all or nothing,” Ranney said. “We’ll figure out, working with the Legislature, what makes sense from a policy perspective, what makes sense from a fiscal perspective and, frankly, what gives Hoosiers the best bang for their buck.”
Details from conformity analysis
Indiana’s last major conformity update came in 2023, when Indiana adopted the Internal Revenue Code as of Jan. 1, 2023, bringing the state into line with pandemic-era relief measures such as the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan.
The state analysis provided to the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Monday projects that taxpayers would save nearly $275 million over the next two years with the deduction for overtime wages.
The tax break on tips would total about $80 million during that time, while the vehicle loan deduction was estimated at $70 million.
The biggest of the business tax cuts amounts to an estimated nearly $380 million over the two-year period.
We have more priorities, urgent priorities that we need to tackle first before we implement any of these changes.
– Democratic Sen. Fady Qaddoura
But those savings mean revenue loss for the state budget.
The tax conformity debate will come in the wake of an improved forecast of state tax collections released last week. The new projections show that the state’s cash reserves could grow to nearly $5 billion by the middle of 2027 — more than double what was anticipated when the new state budget took effect in July.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ryan Mishler, R-Mishawaka, was noncommittal on what tax code changes legislators will take up.
“Ideally it’d be nice to be revenue neutral on some of that,” Mishler said. “You know, some of them are cost savings and then some would cost money. So I guess we just have to balance that out.”
Legislators would likely need to act quickly to enact those tax breaks for 2025 before individuals and businesses begin filing their tax returns — and amid worries of confusionover differences in what could count toward income subject to federal and state taxes.
It is possible that lawmakers could push through a conformity bill in the first few weeks of the legislative session that is now scheduled to conclude by the end of February.
Arguments over priorities
Few states have so far adopted the federal tax changes despite the Trump administration urging them to do so, The Associated Press reported.
One worry with Indiana adopting all the federal changes is that it would further reduce the state’s tax base, said Neva Butkus, a senior analyst for the nonprofit Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
That could make the state more dependent on its 7% sales tax — among the highest in the country — that now draws in nearly half of the state’s revenue.
Butkus said the federal tax changes directed a disproportionate share of savings toward the wealthy. She also called the deductions on tip and overtime income “short sighted” and not equitable.
“Why should a child care worker making $30,000 and a bartender making $30,000 all of a sudden pay different amounts in taxes?” she said during a webinar put on by Prosperity Indiana last week.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura, the top Democrat on the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee, said he believed the Legislature should be cautious in adopting the federal tax changes.
Qaddoura cited concerns about federal Medicaid funding cuts included in Trump’s tax and spending bill threatening to increase state costs for the health insurance program for low-income families.
He argued that rather than enacting the federal tax breaks, the state should boost funding for programs such as child care vouchers that have long waiting lists and eliminate the state’s sales tax on residential and business utility bills.
“We have more priorities, urgent priorities that we need to tackle first before we implement any of these changes,” Qaddoura said. “We’re not obligated to comply with the entirety of what has been sent to us.”
Leaders of an Indiana group aimed at supporting independent political candidates say the state’s time in the national congressional redistricting spotlight gives them hope that the legislature will advance election reforms.
On top of Independent Indiana’s list is eliminating straight-ticket voting in which those casting election ballots can vote for all of a party’s candidate with a single push of a button.
A poll conducted for the study found that 62% of voters considered straight-ticket voting a “bad thing,” with 26% in support. The highest level of support was from among Republicans, but they were 36% in favor and 49% against the practice.
Nathan Gotsch, executive director of Independent Indiana, said the secretary of state’s office does not track how many straight-ticket votes are cast statewide.
“But we went through and looked at the top five largest counties in the state and over 50% of voters in the last election in those counties voted straight ticket,” Gotsch said.
Call to eliminate straight-ticket voting
Bills to eliminate straight-ticket voting have been introduced numerous times in the legislature over the past decade without winning passage.
Such issues have been dismissed in the past as ones of little interest to the public. But that was also the view about a topic like congressional redistricting before the monthslong debate ended with its defeat by the state Senate last week, said Jay Chaudhary, a board member of the nonprofit Center for Independent and Effective Government, which is Independent Indiana’s parent organization.
“Nobody cares about redistricting, right? But we saw the absolute fire storm and really the power of the people in beating that back,” said Chaudhary, who was director of the state’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction under Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
Indiana is one of only six states that currently allows straight-ticket voting, according to the group.
Gotsch said a new factor in the straight-ticket voting discussion will be the impact of school board candidates being allowed to list their political party affiliation starting with the 2026 elections. The partisan school board bill adopted earlier this year, however, does not allow straight-ticket votes to count in those races.
“I actually think in a lot of Republican areas, you could find Republican school board members losing because of that under vote,” Gotsch said. “So many people are going in, voting straight ticket and then those Republican school board members are not benefiting from those votes.”
The group is also advocating for a lowering of the signature threshold independent candidates must meet in order to qualify for the election ballot.
Those candidates must now collect petition signatures from registered voters equal to 2% of the most recent secretary of state vote in their district. For a statewide race, that means nearly 37,000 signatures.
Gotsch, who was an independent candidate in 2022 for northeastern Indiana’s 3rd congressional district seat, said that the 2% requirement was enacted in 1980 and creates a barrier for those wanting to run as independents.
Poll finds many voters dissatisfied
Independent Indiana’s report also blames gerrymandering for what it said resulted “in a small, unrepresentative slice of voters effectively determining who ultimately holds most elected offices.”
The report cited the 2024 primaries, in which 17% of Indiana registered voters cast ballots—an estimated 13% in the Republican primary and 4% in the Democratic primary.
The report’s poll found that 53% of overall Indiana voters were dissatisfied with their election choices, with 40% satisfied. Republican voters, however, were satisfied with their choices by a 68%-26% margin.
For political party identification, the poll found:
29% of voters considering themselves Republicans.
15% saying they were independents who leaned Republican.
21% said they were Democrats.
11% independents who leaned Democratic.
15% independents.
8% declined to answer.
Regarding the state’s major parties:
33% had favorable opinion of the Indiana Republican Party, with 45% unfavorable.
25% had favorable opinion of the Indiana Democratic Party, with 43% unfavorable.
The poll, conducted by North Star Opinion Research, was taken of 604 registered voters in early October with a margin of error of 3.99%. North Star regularly polls for GOP candidates and national Republican committees.
