Indiana Cities Eye Summer Curfew Law

Palladium-Item :

"With summer nearing, cities and towns across Indiana are looking at beefing up summertime curfews to keep youth off the streets and out of trouble late at night.

Until last year, when a new version of Indiana’s curfew law was adopted, it was no crime for teens to hang around in a public place at any hour.


Constitutional challenges have taken the state’s curfew law on and off the books three times since 2000, but Indiana’s latest law won’t be challenged by civil rights groups because it includes protections for youngsters’ First Amendment rights."

Senator Calls for Study of Crashes Caused by Semis

WANE-TV :

"Last August, a semi crashed into vehicles stopped in a construction zone on the Toll Road near Bristol, killing a truck driver and four members of one family, including two children.

Thursday's crash occurred in roughly the same area under similar construction conditions.

The crash has prompted Senator Tom Wyss of Fort Wayne to call for a study of commercial vehicle crashes in Indiana. On Thursday, Wyss said Indiana interstates were developing a reputation among truck drivers that 'once you cross the Ohio line, you've got a free ride.' Wyss doesn't believe that's the fault of the Indiana State Police who he believes are undermanned to cover the amount of truck traffic in the state."

Riot Breaks Out at Indiana Prison

iWon News:

"Inmates staged a two-hour riot at a medium-security men's prison Tuesday, injuring two staff members and setting fires in a courtyard.

Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman Java Ahmed said more than one cell house was involved in the disturbance at the New Castle Correctional Facility, about 43 miles east of Indianapolis.

Corrections officials sent emergency squads and county and state police to the prison. New Castle Mayor Tom Nipp said the entire city police force was also activated."

Indiana: A 150-mile trail, 7 wineries

The Enquirer:

"Seven central Indiana wineries on the fledgling Indiana Wine Trail are finding their niche in America's multibillion-dollar wine industry.

Of course, not everyone on the trail is willing to struggle with Indiana's limitations. Charles R. Thomas, owner of Chateau Thomas near Plainfield, likes his wine 'fine.' He says that kind of taste is impossible to get from Indiana grapes.

'I applaud the people who try to grow grapes here, but it's no secret that I don't think Indiana is the place for it,' said Thomas, 75, and a retired gynecologist. He uses only old world grapes, such as chardonnay and merlot from the West Coast, in his wines. 'But to each his own. That's the strength of the wine trail - the diversity.'"

12 from southern Indiana charged with running caviar ring

AP Wire:

"State conservation officers believed they broke up an illegal caviar ring Monday by arresting 12 southern Indiana residents on accusations of running a network that generated as much as $400,000 for some fishermen.

Members of the ring caught paddlefish from Ohio River tributaries and then sold their eggs as caviar, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. One paddlefish can yield as much as $800 in eggs, and annual income for those who catch them can range from $100,000 to $400,000.

'It's easy money, it's just like picking cherries,' Sgt. Dean Shadley said. 'And I'm sure that was tax free. I can't imagine they reported it.'"

Indiana Lottery privatization on hold

Lottery Post:

"Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday he is putting off but not giving up on his hopes of privatizing the Hoosier Lottery and wants a yearlong, statewide 'conversation' on how best to spend the $2 billion or more the lease could bring.

Daniels said 10 companies, mostly American firms, have submitted nonbinding bids to lease the Hoosier Lottery. Half of those, he said, 'are north of a billion and a half,' with two offers 'well over twice as big' as the $1 billion the state had estimated it could receive.

But Daniels acknowledged that his hopes of winning Indiana General Assembly approval before the legislative session ends April 29 are over.
The biggest reason: House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has been adamantly opposed."

Supreme Court takes Indiana money-laundering case

Examiner.com:

"The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a case from northwestern Indiana that could undercut the federal money-laundering law, an enforcement weapon the government considers vital in going after outlaw gamblers and drug traffickers.

The Justice Department wants the court to overturn a standard set by a federal appeals court that complicates the task of prosecutors in securing money-laundering convictions.

The law makes it a crime to conceal proceeds from illegal activity or to use them to promote the activity. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago says that in order to convict, the proceeds must be profits rather than gross receipts."

Lawsuit Claims 'In God We Trust' Indiana License Plates Are Unconstitutional

FOXNews.com :

"The 'In God We Trust' license plates that have quickly become a fixture on Indiana roads came under a legal attack Monday claiming the law authorizing them is unconstitutional for favoring that message over those on other plates.

The lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court claims the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles gives preferential treatment to motorists wanting the plates, which also feature the American flag, because they don't have to pay the $15 administrative fee that the agency collects on sales of most other Indiana specialty plates.

The BMV charges the administrative fees in addition to other costs of up to $25 whose proceeds support the causes of the groups or universities promoted by other specialty plates."

First Subaru Camry rolls off the line in Indiana

Autoblog:

"No, we're not confused - Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, and Toyota cooked up a deal in 2006 that creates more production capacity for the Camry by having Subaru of Indiana Automotive begin building the country's best selling car. The deal was one of the first fruits born from Toyota's decision to snatch up the 8.7% stake in Subaru that GM dropped back in 2005.

The agreement nets Toyota the ability to produce 100,000 more of the vanilla sedans per year (Toyota sold an already impressive 448,445 Camrys in 2006) at Subaru's plant in Lafayette, Indiana. Subaru, meahwhile, snared a $230 million payment from Toyota to build even more of the best-seller, and 1,000 jobs have been added, as well, to nearly double the 120,000 Tribecas, Outbacks and Legacys the plant produced in 2006. The local community also netted a $60,000 donation to their zoo's owl exhibit in return for support of the deal."

VeraSun expanding in Indiana

Argus Leader Media:

"VeraSun Energy Corp., already the nation's second-largest ethanol producer, said Wednesday it will expand into Indiana with its sixth biorefinery, an addition that will boost its annual production capacity to 670 million gallons.

Energy powerhouse Archer Daniels Midland Co. is the nation's top ethanol producer.

Brookings-based VeraSun - which has three ethanol plants in operation and two more under construction - will start building the 110-million-gallon plant next month in Reynolds."

Kroger buying Indiana stores

The Enquirer:

"Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., the nation’s largest traditional grocery retailer, plans to buy 18 Scott’s Food & Pharmacy stores in northeast Indiana from Supervalu Inc.

The grocer, which owns and operates 2,468 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states, will keep the Scott’s Food & Pharmacy brand.

The company operates two dozen local banners including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, King Soopers, Smith’s and Smith’s Marketplace, Fry’s and Fry’s Marketplace, Dillons, QFC and City Market."

Group ranks Indiana 45th among states for Medicaid

AP Wire:

"A consumer watchdog group's report on state Medicaid programs ranked Indiana last when it came to eligibility and 45th in its overall performance in the government health care plan for the needy.

The Public Citizen report, which gave extra emphasis to eligibility, criticized Indiana for excluding 'those made poor by extreme medical expenses.' Such people normally would not meet income requirements but are impoverished by medical expenses.

The state also received poor grades for 'very low cutoffs in terms of poverty level.'

Indiana ranked above average for quality of care at 16th. The report gave Indiana credit for nursing home care that exceeded many of its peers."

Farm Bureau Pushing for Property Tax Reform

Muncie Free Press:

"As this year's Indiana General Assembly enters its closing days, Indiana Farm Bureau is pushing for legislators to approve language that will result in meaningful property tax reform.

Among the provisions now under consideration by a House-Senate conference committee are:

* Removing the school general fund from the property tax rolls.
* Giving local units of government the option to increase income taxes.
* Creating a local review board to evaluate large public building projects."

Dead alligator found in Indiana drain

Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

"Surveyors looking for the source of a clogged drain in southern Adams County found a 7-foot dead alligator. 'At first they thought it was a turtle in there, but then they discovered an alligator,' Adams County sheriff's Deputy Larry Butler said.

He said the 120-pound alligator, which had been dead for about a week, was put inside the drain after it died. The sheriff's department and the Department of Natural Resources were looking for the owner of the reptile found Monday in Berne, about 30 miles south of Fort Wayne.

It is legal to own alligators in Indiana, but the state requires owners to apply for a permit with the DNR for alligators that are longer than 5 feet, said Greg McCollam, assistant director with the department's fish and wildlife division. There were no permits registered in Adams County, he said."

Activists Ask Army To Stop VX Waste Shipments

WRTV Indianapolis:

"The first shipments of chemical waste from deadly VX nerve agent being destroyed in Indiana arrived at a Port Arthur, Texas, plant on Tuesday, hours before two activist groups called on the Army to immediately halt further shipments.

Four tractor-trailers pulled into Veolia Environmental Services' plant about 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, each loaded with a reinforced tank filled with about 4,000 gallons of VX hydrolysate, said Daniel J. Duncan, Veolia's environmental health and safety manager.

That convoy left western Indiana's Newport Chemical Depot early Monday for the nearly 1,000-mile journey to Port Arthur as part of a $49 million contract Veolia recently signed with the Army to incinerate about 2 million gallons of the chemical waste."

Romney Makes Second Visit To Indiana

WRTV:

"Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will be the featured speaker at the Indiana Republican Party Spring Dinner.

The dinner is Friday at the Fountains Banquet and Conference Center in Carmel.

The former Massachusetts governor will be introduced by Gov. Mitch Daniels, the GOP said.

Prices for the dinner range from $175 for one person to $3,000 for a table for 10 people and three photo opportunities, according to information posted on the Indiana Republican Party Web site."

Indiana's minimum wage bill on its way to governor's office

Evansville Courier Press:

"A bill that would tie Indiana's minimum wage to an expected increase in the federal minimum is on its way to the governor's office, now that the Indiana House has concurred on Senate changes to the bill.

The House by a vote of 75-22 approved the Senate's amendments to House Bill 1027, where it had passed 45-3.

The bill now would increase Indiana's state minimum wage from the current $5.15 to $7.25 an hour, if Congress also boosts the federal minimum by that amount."

Discount for Ind. drivers on Ill. Tollway in jeopardy

POST-TRIBUNE :

"Indiana officials say the rollout of new toll-tabulating transponders in June will make highway travel cheaper and easier for Indiana motorists, but their peers across the border in Illinois say private toll road operator ITR Concession Co. are making things harder.

Illinois Tollway officials say they will reconsider their longstanding practice of granting all users of Indiana's I-Zoom transponders an automatic 50 percent reduction in the tolls paid by drivers who pay cash, since ITR Concessions ann-ounced plans to give a 40 percent reduction solely to Indiana residents.

Illinois gives the 50 percent discount to the 90,000 Indiana residents who have I-Pass transponders, at an annual cost of $9 million."

Indiana’s health commissioner apologizes for state’s role in developing eugenics

BostonHerald.com:

"An Indiana official publicly apologized for the state’s role 100 years ago in pioneering state-authorized sterilization of ”imbeciles,” paupers and others it deemed undesirable.
Health Commissioner Dr. Judith Monroe expressed regret on behalf of the state Thursday for its passing of the first such eugenics law. She also unveiled a historic marker that will stand across from the Statehouse.
”It is one (law) that we do regret but we should not forget,” she said.
In 1907, then-Gov. J. Frank Hanly signed a state law widely regarded as the first in the world to permit sterilization in a misguided effort to improve the quality of the human race. "

Indiana News Tidbits

Indiana ranks second-highest in job loss in nation
Indiana lost more jobs in February than any other state except Ohio as its struggling manufacturing sector helped fuel the loss of 7,400 non-farm-related paychecks.

Figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that only Ohio lost more jobs, about 9,700, in February. New Jersey was third with some 6,200 job losses.

Indiana was one of only three states to report a decline in employment for the past year, shedding about 12,700 jobs. Most of those losses came from the state’s struggling manufacturing and construction sectors.

Indiana Factory To Close, Send Jobs To Mexico
Dura Automotive Systems Inc. will close its 114-employee factory in this southern Indiana community and stop production by the end of the year, the Michigan-based company announced Tuesday.

The factory makes spare tire carriers and toolkits, and production will move to Matamoros, Mexico. Brownstown sits about 62 miles south of Indianapolis in Jackson County.

The Brownstown site is one of four Dura plants slated to close as part of a restructuring. The others are in Bracebridge, Ontario; Hannibal, Mo.; and Selinsgrove, Pa. The Pennsylvania location will close in May and move its assembly line to Elkhart.

A Solution in Need of a Problem
Today the Indiana House Rules Committee will take up SJR-7, the amendment to the Indiana Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. The language of the amendment reads as follows, marriage shall be between a man and a woman and nothing in Indiana law shall be construed to require the legal incidents of marriage to unmarried couples.

To be brutally honest with you, I really don't see what the big deal has been about this issue. I had no idea that gay marriage was such a threat to Indiana families. When a young, pregnant mother in Indianapolis was killed in her apartment by a stray bullet, I don't think it was a gay couple trying to get married who fired the gun that destroyed that family. I also don't think it's been gay couples trying to marry who have opposed progress in this state, keeping away badly needed jobs which can only strengthen families. And it's not gay couples trying to marry that are responsible for the high drop rate, obesity rate and brain drain, all things that go to harming families

Company seeks proposals for new wind farms, including in Indiana
The parent company of Appalachian Power said Wednesday it wants to buy up to 260 megawatts of wind power in West Virginia or Virginia.

Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power said it also wants to add 100 megawatts of wind-generated electricity for its Indiana Michigan Power subsidiary. AEP is seeking long-term wind power supply contracts for both subsidiaries and is considering sites in Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan.

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