Bush has solid lead over Kerry in state, according to poll\nINDIANAPOLIS -- A new poll shows Indiana voters strongly favor President Bush over Democratic Sen. John Kerry, even though they harbor worries about the president's handling of both Iraq and the economy.\nThe poll conducted for The Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis television station WTHR of 540 Hoosiers likely to vote in November showed Bush leading Kerry by 54 percent to 33 percent in the race for the White House.\nIndependent candidate Ralph Nader was favored by 6 percent in the presidential poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.\nTraditionally, Indiana voters favor Republican candidates in presidential elections. The last time a Democrat won Indiana's electoral votes was in 1964, when Lyndon Johnson won the state. In 2000, Bush won 57 percent of Indiana's votes. \nOverall, 52 percent of 700 Hoosiers quizzed in a second part of the poll said they approve of the president's performance, while 43 percent disapprove. That is down from a poll taken in January, when Hoosiers gave Bush a 59 percent approval rating.\nThe margin of error in the question-and-answer portion of the Star/WTHR poll was plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.\nOn specific issues, Indiana residents are more negative.\nRegarding the overall situation in Iraq, 51 percent said they disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq, while 44 percent approve.\nFifty percent said they disapprove of the president's handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse situation, while 39 percent approve of it.\nAnd regarding the economy, 52 percent disapprove of Bush's handling of economic issues, while 43 percent approve.\nA majority, 61 percent, of the respondents said the nation is on the wrong track.\nJ. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, which conducted the Star/WTHR poll, said Hoosiers have a better opinion of Bush's job performance than voters nationally.\nA CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll taken earlier this month showed 51 percent of voters nationwide disapprove of how Bush is handling the White House.\nRepublican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels, Bush's former White House budget director, said Hoosiers disagreeing with the president's handling of certain issues won't necessarily cut into his support.\nHoosiers, he said, "respond to the consistency and principles and decisiveness they see in this president."\nIndiana Democratic Party Chairman Joe Hogsett said the poll shows "support for the president is not very deep. A lot of people who do have concerns about President Bush don't know enough about Senator Kerry."\nKerry has never campaigned in Indiana, other than a fund-raising reception last year.
Lake County tax problems negatively affect region\nCROWN POINT, Ind. -- Lake County's ongoing tax crisis has hit child welfare agencies beyond the cash-strapped county, forcing some to take out loans to cover daily expenses and threatening children's services.\nDozens of local child welfare and treatment providers have been told, effective immediately, that the Division of Family and Children will not reimburse service claims, The Times of Munster reported Sunday.\n"We do not have enough money to cover monthly expenses," said Bruce Hillman, director of the Lake County division. "I feel fairly helpless."\nLake County's property tax revenue funds local service providers who serve more than 1,600 Lake County foster children, wards of the state and other special needs youth.\nHillman said that on average, two-thirds of every dollar to care for these kids comes from property tax coffers. The rest of the funding for child welfare services comes from state and federal funds, private pay and donations, he said.\nThat money -- from $100 to $1,000 a day depending on needs -- follows these Lake County children to various counties and states, from Valparaiso to Lansing, Mich., and beyond.\n"It's the perfect storm," said Shirley Caylor, director of The Crisis Center, a residential living facility for children in the Lake County town of Miller.\nShe said extreme steps are being taken by many child providers, such as taking out new loans or extending credit lines to cover daily costs.\n"Until the state finds a resolution, the tax money is frozen," Caylor said.\nChild welfare agencies, as well as schools, cities and towns, began facing uncertain revenues earlier this month after a Lake County neighborhood group obtained a local court order that stopped the county from mailing property tax bills.\nA judge has ruled the 2002 reassessment unconstitutional because Lake County was held to different requirements than Indiana's 91 other counties.
