Congressman Bucshon will be touring Washington, IN this afternoon with Governor Pence to survey the damage from yesterday’s storm. The group will meet at Bethany Christian Church (1139 S. IN 57, Washington) at 4pm ET.
Congressman Bucshon will also make a stop in Knox County to tour the area with Sheriff Morris. Congressman Bucshon and Sheriff Morris are expected to meet at the Mini Mart in Decker, IN (10870 US Highway 41, Decker, IN )at 1:30pm ET.
Knox County – Indiana State Police arrested a Vincennes teen this morning for driving while intoxicated after she swerved to avoid a deer and lost control of her vehicle.Â
Preliminary investigation revealed at approximately 8:40 a.m., Bailey Dreiman, 18, of Vincennes, was driving her 2004 Dodge Ram pickup truck northbound on Monroe City Road approximately ½ mile north of Wheatland Road. She swerved to avoid a deer, but overcorrected and lost control. Her vehicle rolled onto its roof and came to a final rest on the roadway. Dreiman was wearing her seat belt and only received minor injuries. Further investigation revealed she had been consuming alcohol and had a blood alcohol content of .19%. After she was treated and released at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, she was taken to the Knox County Jail where she is currently being held on bond.
ARRESTED AND CHARGE:
• Bailey Dreiman, 18, Vincennes, IN
1. Driving While Intoxicated, Class A Misdemeanor
Investigating Officer: Trooper Ryan Johnson, Indiana State Police
By Lesley Weidenbener
TheStatehouseFile.com
Lesley Weidenbener, managing editor, TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – The biggest question about the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly is how legislative leaders will handle a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Referred to by many as a ban on same-sex marriage, the proposal has already passed the legislature once. If it passes again, the amendment goes to the ballot for possible ratification by voters.
But it’s not been clear whether House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, plan to allow votes on the proposal at all. And recently, they’ve been avoiding the question.
That might be about to change – and the answer could affect the rest of the legislative session.
The leaders will be part of a panel Monday sponsored by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, which has not taken a stand on the amendment. In past events, questions for the panel have typically come from the chamber’s president, Kevin Brinegar, and from business leaders in the audience.
It seems unlikely the same-sex issue won’t come up, particularly because the event is on the eve of the legislature’s Organization Day. That’s the official start of the 2014 session, although work won’t begin in earnest until January.
So even if the question doesn’t come up at Monday’s panel, it will certainly be posed by reporters on Tuesday.
Bosma and Long’s silence on the issue so far seems to indicate indecision about the issue among Republicans, who have quorum-proof majorities in both the House and Senate. That’s no surprise – but it is a change.
The marriage amendment passed easily – with both Republican and Democratic support – in 2011.
Then last year, the leaders announced they were postponing votes on the amendment because the U.S. Supreme Court was considering another state’s marriage laws. Bosma and Long said then that they planned votes in 2014 and expected the measure to pass.
But much has changed.
This summer, the high court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage law, essentially opening federal benefits to legally married, same-sex couples. However, the court said states could still impose bans.
A coalition of businesses and other organizations that oppose the amendment have nabbed some pretty high-profile members of late, including Indiana University, Ball State University, Emmis Communications and the Indy Chamber. Already, two of Central Indiana’s biggest employers – Eli Lilly & Co. and Cummins Inc. – are on board.
Meanwhile, public opinion has been moving quickly, with more and more Hoosiers saying they either oppose the constitutional amendment or support same-sex marriage.
The WISH-TV/Ball State Hoosier Survey revealed last week that Hoosiers are split on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage, with 48 percent supporting the idea and 46 percent opposing it – a statistical tie.
But the poll also found that just 38 percent of respondents support the marriage amendment while 58 percent are opposed.
Ball State political science professor Ray Scheele told WISH-TV that the opposition to the amendment is growing. “And that’s been true over the last couple of years,†he said.
Legislative leaders have some tough decisions to make about the proposal. We may find out soon which way they are leaning.
Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com
John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – One of the most important lessons good parents teach toddlers is that not getting one’s way is no excuse for behaving badly.
It appears that much of Indiana’s educational and political leadership never got that valuable piece of developmental training.
On Wednesday, a meeting of the Indiana Board of Education descended into – well, chaos would be too kind a term. Some hybrid of blood feud and epic temper tantrum would be closer to the mark.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz closed and then walked out of the meeting after a board member made a motion she said was inappropriate and illegal. The board members, all of whom were appointed by Republican governors, accused Ritz of thwarting reform and unfairly using her position as chair to stifle discussion. Ritz accused Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, of attempting to deny the will of the voters and take over education. Pence responded with a statement and an op-ed piece that made it seem as if Ritz’s conduct were something he needed to scrape off the bottom of his shoe.
By the time it was done, the Statehouse walls had been spattered with more mud than a happy hog would encounter in a lifetime.
There’s plenty of blame to go around in this debacle.
Let’s start with the board of education and their Republican backers.
Ever since Ritz won a surprise victory in last November’s election, defeating school choice darling Tony Bennett, the self-proclaimed education reformers have done everything they can to deny the reality of that vote. They have worked to curtail Ritz’s authority from the get-go – even engaging in the foolishness of saying at times that the voters’ verdict didn’t matter.
In addition to signaling contempt for the processes of self government, these advocates for choice have undercut their own message by suggesting that the only “choice†they’re willing to accept from voters and parents is the one that has their stamp on it.
If they were smart – a big if given the addiction to folly they’ve shown so far – Republicans would back off and force Ritz to try to push her own agenda rather than continuing to allow her to play Joan of Arc in resisting them. They have made her a much bigger presence than she ever could have made herself.
And then there’s Ritz.
If Republicans have been foolish and arrogant in refusing to accept a message from the voters, Ritz and her backers in the teachers’ union have been almost willfully delusional. They have interpreted her win last November as a mandate for her to assume powers over education policy a president in war time would envy.
What the Ritz crowd doesn’t get – or chooses to ignore – is that last November’s election wasn’t anything like a mandate for her.
What the voters did last fall was reject Tony Bennett, her Republican predecessor as state school superintendent. Voters didn’t like Bennett’s arrogance, his refusal to give any consideration to the views of anyone who didn’t agree with him completely and his impatient haste to disregard any information that might not support his approach to education.
Ritz was the instrument voters could use to register their opposition to Bennett. She was a handy club voters could use to beat a man they didn’t like and, in some cases, even despised.
But that doesn’t mean that the voters had any particular devotion to the club they used. Last year’s vote was more about Bennett than it was about Ritz.
It certainly wasn’t a groundswell of support to make Ritz into some sort of Bennett-in-reverse education czar.
The reality is that Hoosiers remain divided about education policy. They know they want good schools for their children, but they also want to know that the people responsible for their children’s futures have more on their minds than winning ideological or partisan battles. Hoosiers want to see the people in charge of the state’s schools work together.
The fact that the people charged with the responsibility for educating their children – and preserving their futures – are behaving like three-year-olds at a day care who have been fed too much sugar and denied their nap times isn’t likely to reassure Hoosiers that their kids are in good hands.
This is a situation that calls out for leadership.
The question is: Who is going to provide it?
John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits†WFYI 90.1 FM Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
AG Zoeller urges consumers to sign-up for state’s Do Not Call list by Tuesday
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said while Indiana residents welcome lower health insurance rates, agents using robocalls to solicit Hoosiers is illegal and their sales pitches may backfire.
Nearly 50 consumers filed complaints earlier this year after receiving robocalls or prerecorded phone messages offering affordable health insurance. Zoeller’s office determined the calls stemmed from Andrew D. Ross, a Nevada agent, who has a non-resident license in Indiana to sell insurance.
“With the recent rollout of the federal health care law, the number of callers soliciting discounted health insurance products will likely increase,†Zoeller said. “It’s important Hoosiers know what to look out for and don’t hand over personal information to unsolicited callers who have not been verified.â€
In Indiana, most robocalls are illegal regardless of whether or not your number is registered on the Do Not Call list. Exceptions include calls from school districts to students, parents or employees and businesses advising employees of work schedules.
Zoeller filed a lawsuit against Ross in Marion County Superior Court on Thursday, for making at least 47 calls between January and May to residents across the state. According to the lawsuit, Ross is accused of violating the Indiana Telephone Solicitation of Consumers Act and the Indiana Regulation of Automatic Dialing Machines Act. The Attorney General’s office seeks civil penalties, investigation and prosecution costs, and to stop the illegal calls. Zoeller said the lawsuit has been forwarded to the Indiana Department of Insurance for their consideration.
If someone gets a call offering health insurance, they can verify the agent is licensed with the Indiana Department of insurance (IDOI) by checking here or by calling the IDOI consumer services division at 800-622-4461. Consumers can file insurance-related complaints by visitingwww.in.gov/IDOI.
Zoeller said consumers should be on alert for these types of calls with the recent rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For more information about scams and what to look out for visit www.IndianaConsumer.com/ACA.
The next quarterly deadline to register for the state’s Do Not Call list is Tuesday, Aug. 20. Consumers can register their residential landline, cell, VOIP or prepaid wireless numbers for free by visiting www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 1.888.834.9969. Individuals do not need to re-register unless their address has changed. Out-of-state area codes can also be added as long as the billing address is located in Indiana. Those consumers who are registered and receive an unwanted call can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office by visitingwww.IndianaConsumer.com.
Zoeller said consumer complaints help the Attorney General’s office bring enforcement actions against violators and stop unwanted calls. Since 2009, the office has obtained 124 settlements or judgments against companies that violated Indiana’s telephone privacy laws. The total awarded to the state has been more than $20.5 million. Zoeller said the money collected is used to defray the cost of enforcing the state’s telephone privacy laws.
The Attorney General’s office also shares caller-ID numbers of suspected illegal telemarketers with companies that block spam callers for their customers. Zoeller said that while many investigations into the source of unwanted calls turn up empty due to internet-based technology most of the reported caller ID numbers are now being shared with companies that can use the numbers to block calls for their customers.
Zoeller thanked Deputy Attorney General Eliza Bradley for her work on the case against Ross and commitment to the Telephone Privacy Section within the Attorney General’s office.
IS IT TRUE it has also been nearly 2,000 days since that same former Mayor and his Director of Metropolitan Development Tom Barnett announced a deal with Historical Landmark Indiana to refurbish the old Greyhound Bus Station?  …because of Historical Landmark Indiana failure to follow its commitment  the Greyhound Bus Station it now considered to be schedule to a future  wreaking ball project.  …the results are similarly abysmal to those of the McCurdy as the old Greyhound Station is deteriorating and some days even sending forth foul odors that are reminiscent of a stroll through Bee Slough after a big rain?…it is in Evansville as it is in Washington true that government has lost its ability to do anything but push meaningless papers around and claim future victories to distract voters from the malaise of the present?
IS IT TRUE it has now been approximately 2,000 days since a smiling former Mayor announced to the people of Evansville that he had made a deal to get the McCurdy Hotel refurbished into 90 luxury apartments?…despite this premature announcement of a half baked project after 2,000 days the McCurdy looks like the Wreck of the Hesperus with broken windows and graffiti dominating its former imposing but now rotting shell?…many of our readers are beginning to believe that the McCurdy Hotel is destined for the wrecking ball because of neglect?
By Jacie Shoaf
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – In celebration of National Adoption Day, the Indiana Supreme Court will be allowing still photography, audio and video coverage of a select number of uncontested adoptions from Friday through Nov. 22.
Typically photography and audio and visual recordings aren’t permitted inside Indiana courtrooms. For this limited time – and for the purpose of raising awareness of the value of adoption – families and media may record the adoption events inside the courtrooms with the parties’ consent and at the judge’s discretion. Recording and photography cannot interrupt court proceedings.
Jacie Shoaf is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
