To get your week off right, here is political and governmental news from across Indiana this morning as well as this past weekend which you may have missed.
Thousands of UAW Hoosiers are set to join the nationwide strike against GM. (Indy Star)
People on both sides of the abortion debate were shocked to hear that more than 2,200 medically preserved fetal remains were found at the Illinois home of the late Ulrich “George” Klopfer, a former South Bend abortion clinic doctor. But pro-choice supporters are saying it’s too early to rush to judgment, while pro-life advocates say the discovery is more proof stricter regulations are needed or for abortion to be outlawed altogether. (South Bend Tribune)
Lake County officials plan to increase cybersecurity following a ransomware attack that shut down the majority of the county’s email server for more than two weeks. (Gary Post Tribune)
Talks have ended between two central Indiana counties about possibly building a regional jail that they would share. (Journal Gazette)
Police launched a vandalism investigation at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) after staff reported finding suspicious flyers taped to three buildings. (WIBC)
Indiana University Bloomington’s School of Public Health hosted a symposium Friday that focused on gun violence. (WFIU)
STAY UPDATED ON POLITICAL NEWS FROM ACROSS INDIANA WITH THE INDY POLITICS STATEWIDE SUMMARY
Weekend Recap
Indiana revenue in August exceeded projections by nearly five percent, coming in at $1.1 billion. (Inside Indiana Business)
Sports betting is now legal in Indiana, but for faculty at Purdue, maybe not much longer. (WIBC)
The family of the Three Rivers Festival volunteer injured in a July altercation with Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux is asking for $300,000 for physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, and unlawful and excessive force. (Journal Gazette)
New poverty and income figures give a mixed picture of economic changes in 2018, with poverty dropping to its lowest rate since before the recession for the college-educated, but household income stagnating and eroded by inflation. (Stateline.Org)
Small towns in much of the country are dangerously dependent on punitive fines and fees. (GOVERNING)
Millions in road money will shift from cities and towns around the state to Marion County after state officials recently found an error in the distribution formula. (Journal Gazette)
An Indiana school district says a law that allows charter schools to buy unused school buildings from districts for $1 is unconstitutional. (Indiana Public Media)
If anyone is going to cover the costs for Purdue students to get updated IDs, valid for use at Tippecanoe County polling places, it won’t be the university. (Journal & Courier)
If you need evidence that the drug of choice these days has switched from opioids to methamphetamine, consider these stats from Boone County Community Corrections. (Zionsville Times Sentinel)
Opinion & Commentary
Who had the best (and worst) week in politics? (IN Focus)
On the latest edition of Indiana Issues TV, Kip Tew, Kyle Walker, Mary Beth Schneider, Brad Klopfenstein and I talk about Governor Eric Eric J. Holcomb’s primary challenge, State Rep. Dan Forestal’s latest legal problems, Curtis Hill vs. the BMV and of course, this week’s Democratic Presidential Debate. (Indy Politics)
Jennifer McCormick will be Indiana’s last elected superintendent of public instruction – but that doesn’t mean her last election is behind her. (Mary Beth Schneider, The Statehouse File)
Recreational marijuana will soon be legal mere miles from Evansville. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to get. (John Webb, Courier Press)
Economic growth, not recession, is the norm. For every one quarter the U.S. has spent in recession since the end of World War II, we’ve spent eight quarters growing. Of the 75 quarters in this century, only 10 have been recessionary. I’m counting our current quarter as growth, which may prove a bit optimistic. (Michael Hicks, Ball State University)
