63 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(02/07/07 3:28am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly 300 volunteers for the American Cancer Society lobbied lawmakers Tuesday, urging them to pass a $1 increase in the state cigarette tax.\n"With 300 of us in the snow, the bad weather and the cold, it shows our dedication and our strength," said Brenda Davis, who came to Indianapolis from Mitchell. "We mean business."\nVolunteers, many of whom wore red shirts, met with some lawmakers over lunch at a downtown hotel to discuss the tobacco tax. Other volunteers crowded Statehouse hallways to speak with their senators and representatives.\nGeorge Flowers, of Evansville, hoped to tell lawmakers that adding a $1 per pack tax to the current 55 cents per pack would help some people quit smoking. He said his younger sister recently died at age 60 of lung cancer.\n"The addiction -- it's scary," Flowers said. "She's dying, she's on her last note, and we're getting ready to put her in hospice. The ambulance had to wait because she wanted to smoke one last cigarette. She passed away three days later."\nThe American Cancer Society says raising the cigarette tax by $1 per pack could prevent 89,800 children from becoming smokers and could spur 52,900 people in Indiana to quit.\nGov. Mitch Daniels has asked the General Assembly to raise the cigarette tax by at least 25 cents per pack. Daniels has proposed using the new revenue to provide health insurance to low-income adults and immunizations for children.\nThe chair of the House Health Committee, Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, has said he hopes to introduce legislation to raise the state's cigarette tax by at least $1 per pack.\nAlthough there is bipartisan backing in the General Assembly for expanding health care coverage, there has been no groundswell of support so far for increasing the cigarette tax.\nMany Republicans have signed pledges against any tax increases. Democratic House Speaker Patrick Bauer has said that although the House will hold a hearing on a cigarette tax increase, its passage is uncertain.
(02/06/07 2:49am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana wants its best students to stick around for college and afterward -- and Gov. Mitch Daniels proposes paying them to do so, with $20,000 scholarships over four years.\nBut there's a catch -- leave the state less than three years after graduation and be required to repay the money.\nAt least 17 states offer general merit-based scholarships, according to the Education Commission of the States. Many pair industry and higher education to create clusters of jobs in specific fields, said commission member Bruce Vandal.\nBut none of the scholarship plans have post-graduation strings attached as Indiana proposes.\nDaniels says the "Hoosier Hope Scholarships" would help move Indiana's job-strapped manufacturing economy to one strong in life sciences, staffed with homegrown talent.\n"Let's make the dreary term 'brain drain' a forgotten phrase," he urged lawmakers in his Jan. 16 State of the State speech.\nSkeptics of the plan say the state first should create jobs that are attractive to young people.\n"The real issue is providing opportunities that young people want," said retired IU economist Morton Marcus.\nOthers are leery of Daniels' plan to fund the program by outsourcing the state's lottery for 30 years, in exchange for an estimated up front payment of $1 billion and annual payments thereafter.\nUnder a bill filed by state Sen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, 60 percent of the upfront money would go into a fund for the scholarships and 40 percent would be used to attract top faculty to state universities and colleges.\nIndiana House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, has called the lottery outsourcing proposal "fool's gold." No state outsources its lottery, although several, including Illinois and Michigan, are considering it.\n"I wouldn't place any bets on it getting through," Bauer said after Daniels announced the proposal.\nIndiana education leaders insist they have to do something about the problem of students leaving the state for college and jobs.\nMore than one in three Indiana natives who stay in state for school leave after graduation, according to a 1999 study by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, a governmental research organization. And 90 percent of those who leave the state for college never return, said Stan Jones, Indiana's higher-education commissioner.\n"The brain drain is one of the top three or four issues facing the state," Jones said. "If we cannot have a talented pool of young people in the state, we're not going to be able to attract jobs."\nDetails of the scholarships -- including how the state would track down recipients who don't stay in Indiana afterward -- are still being worked out. But education officials say they could help keep about 1,700 students a year in state.\nIndiana already offers scholarship programs for nurses and minority teachers who agree to work in state, as do other states. Missouri, for example, offers forgivable loans for students who agree to work at in-state life science companies after graduation.\nElizabeth Urbanski, acting director of Maryland's Office of Student Financial Assistance, said the programs work.\nMaryland offered forgivable loans in several fields, including science and technology, but is phasing out the programs in favor of need-based aid.\n"We had a large number of students who went into science and technology fields and received jobs in state," Urbanski said.\nDaniels' plan would give bright Indiana students $5,000 each year for four years to attend private or public schools in state. That sounds good to James Totton, a junior at Purdue, where tuition, fees and room and board top $13,000 a year.\n"Being able to keep high-level talent, as opposed to people going to California or the East Coast, is incredibly important," said Totton, who eventually wants to teach in Indiana. "$20,000 is a lot of money to college students."\nJones hopes it's enough to make students think twice about leaving after graduation.\n"Obviously, somebody may still choose to leave and forgo the scholarships, but at least they will have gone through the process of thinking about staying and looking for jobs in Indiana," he said.\nStacey Otts, a chemical-engineering student at Rose-Hulman University in Terre Haute, said the scholarship probably wouldn't have swayed her.\nOtts had job offers in Indiana and out of state. She took a job in Houston, where she thinks she will enjoy a big-city atmosphere.\n"I can either live in Terre Haute, Indiana, or I can live in Houston," she said. "To me, that was not a hard decision."\nBut Ashley Harris, a biomedical-engineering major at Rose-Hulman, said $20,000 would be appealing even with strings attached.\n"When you're younger, three years -- it's not really that big of a deal to stay in-state"
(01/31/07 4:43am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Legislation that would raise the state's minimum wage and lessen the impact of the inheritance tax passed the House Tuesday on a 71-29 vote, with only Republicans voting against it.\nThe bill would increase Indiana's minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.50 an hour by 2008. The legislation would also change how much inheritance children or other descendants could receive tax free. Currently, the first $100,000 is exempt, but the bill would bump that threshold to $200,000.\nSome Republicans who support the inheritance tax measure but do not want to increase the state minimum wage said the two proposals should not be in the same bill.\n"These are two issues which are just not related at all," said Rep. Tim Harris, R-Marion, who voted for the legislation.\nRep. Michael Murphy, R-Indianapolis, said he would vote for the proposal because the inheritance tax was important, while raising the minimum wage would not have a great impact on many businesses.\n"I can't find anybody who still pays $5.15 an hour," Murphy said. "The market has moved beyond this political debate."\nAt the current state and federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, a full-time worker makes about $10,700 a year. At $7.50 per hour, the annual salary is about $15,600 -- just above the average poverty threshold for a family of three in 2005.\nThe bill would increase the minimum wage to $6 an hour on Sept. 1, to $6.75 on March 1, 2008, and to $7.50 on Sept. 1, 2008.\nEven if Indiana's rate doesn't change, minimum wage workers in the state could be getting a pay raise. Congress is moving forward with a plan to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years. If both plans succeed, the higher of the two wages would be paid to most minimum wage employees.\nOf Indiana's roughly 1.8 million hourly workers, about 2 percent, or 37,000, make $5.15 an hour or less, according to 2005 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(01/10/07 3:10am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Full-day kindergarten, one of Gov. Mitch Daniels' top priorities, might already be facing political hurdles with only one day of the legislative session on the books.\nThough the concept is supported by members of both parties, some Democrats -- who control the House -- say increasing basic funding for schools is a higher priority than expanding full-day kindergarten. At least one member of the Republican-controlled Senate worries that state-funded full-day kindergarten will mean higher property taxes.\n"They laid off teachers, they have laid off personnel, they cut programs," new House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said Monday. "So first we have to fund them. My priority would be first to get a solid, good budget that does not increase property taxes, and then if we can do full-day kindergarten, we will do it to the extent that we can."\nEducation advocates say full-day kindergarten gives teachers more time to help students, especially those struggling to catch up with their peers.\nDaniels said he will lobby lawmakers on his proposal, which would phase-in full-day kindergarten over three years, starting with the state's neediest children next year. The plan would cost $54 million in the 2007-08 school year, but that would grow to $260 million a year by 2011-12.\nDaniels says the state is in the black and can afford to pay for full-day kindergarten that would eventually be available to all Indiana students.\nHouse Democrats, however, say the current budget, approved by a GOP-controlled Legislature, provided a minimal increase for schools that relied almost entirely on local property taxes. resulting in more than half of Indiana's districts receiving less money than before.\nDaniels said he plans to propose an "aggressive" funding increase for schools, which could help appease House Democrats.\nSenate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, has other concerns. He says full-day kindergarten could force some school districts to increase property taxes to build extra classroom space.\nAbout 53 percent of school districts would need more classrooms to implement full-day kindergarten, according to a survey by the Indiana Department of Education.\nMeeks said the true cost of full-day kindergarten is not revealed in the governor's estimates.\n"You've got to look at the whole picture -- that includes local property taxes," Meeks said Monday in a telephone interview from his home, where he was recovering from a back ailment. "When you look at full-day kindergarten, you've just got the tip of the iceberg."\nSenate Tax Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said Meeks raises a legitimate issue.\n"As long as school buildings are concerned, it will be a property tax issue," Kenley said.\nPart of the reason Daniels proposed a three-year plan was to give schools time to prepare for full-day kindergarten, said Jane Jankowski, spokeswoman for the governor.\n"He realizes there are practical concerns to achieving this," she said, adding that Daniels hopes schools can look for creative ways to find classroom space.
(01/05/07 1:56am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- About three-quarters of Indiana residents support state-funded full-day kindergarten, and more than 60 percent say they would support the programs even if taxes were raised to pay for them, according to a survey released Wednesday.\nEducation advocates could use the survey by IU's Center for Evaluation and Education Policy to help garner lawmaker support for full-day kindergarten, which Gov. Mitch Daniels plans to push as a top priority during the legislative session.\nSuellen Reed, the state's superintendent for public instruction, predicted supporters would cite the survey during General Assembly debates about full-day kindergarten. Teachers and other education officials have worked to stress the importance of such programs for years, Reed said, and the survey results show that people now know and like the idea.\n"All of that work is beginning to pay off," Reed said. "If it's going to happen, this is going to be the year. I'm very hopeful."\nThe survey questioned 612 Indiana residents ages 18 or older in November and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.\nJonathan Plucker, director of IU's Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, said the survey found support for full-day kindergarten that was not seen for other programs.\n"Indiana citizens have been paying attention," Plucker said. "They really like the idea."\nAbout 76 percent said all school districts should be required to offer full-day kindergarten, while 58 percent think children should be required to attend full-day kindergarten.\nDaniels, however, does not favor mandatory full-day kindergarten. He wants optional programs in all school districts so that parents can decide whether their children attend full- or half-day programs.\nThe survey also found that 61 percent said they support increasing taxes to pay for full-day kindergarten, although raising taxes isn't part of the governor's plan.\nDaniels wants to phase in full-day kindergarten over three years, starting with students from low-income families this year. The price tag is about $145 million for the next budget but would grow to $260 million a year between 2011 and 2012. Daniels said the state budget is now in the black and can afford the phase-in approach without a tax hike.\nBut Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange, has raised concerns that full-day kindergarten could force some school districts to increase property taxes to build extra classroom space and other necessities to accommodate such programs.\nThe education survey, which included questions about a variety of education topics, also found that 65 percent rated schools in their districts as excellent or good. But minority residents were more likely to rate their schools as poor than white residents.\nReed said the survey shows that many people are proud of schools in their communities.\n"People believe their local schools are doing a good job," Reed said. "Those are the schools that they know best"
(12/07/06 5:06am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A new trial date has been set for Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, who faces charges for allegedly shooting a gun in the air several times during a fight outside an Indianapolis strip club.\nJackson was in Marion Superior Court Wednesday as a judge scheduled a Feb. 12 trial. The judge also set the same trial date for Deon Willford, who was also charged in the Oct. 6 fight outside Club Rio on the city's west side.\nOnly one trial will take place that day, and the state wants to try Willford first, said David Wyser, chief trial deputy for the Marion County prosecutor's office. Both Jackson and Willford have so far rejected deals that would have required them to plead guilty to the most serious charges, Wyser said.\nJackson, who is averaging 11.4 points per game this season, has pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of criminal recklessness and misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct. Jackson was booked into jail Oct. 12 and has been free since then on a $10,000 bond.\nThe criminal recklessness charge carries a prison term of six months to three years.\nAuthorities say Jackson, already on probation for his role in the brawl with Detroit Pistons fans two years ago, got the gun from his car and fired it in the air before Willford hit him with a different car. Teammates Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels and a former Pacer were with Jackson at the club but not charged.\nJackson's attorney, James Voyles, has characterized the incident as a fight. Jackson had stitches in his lip and other scrapes and bruises after the incident.\nOfficials have said a security camera outside the strip club captured part of the fracas. Willford's attorney, Martin Solomon, said the footage does not show his client doing anything illegal.\nBut Wyser said the video supports the state's evidence.\n"The video will speak for itself," he said.\nProsecutors also said Jackson kicked a man who police said has deformed arms. Jackson told police that the man, Quentin Willford, started the brawl. In November, Quentin Willford was arrested for resisting law enforcement and public intoxication.\nAnother man, Raymel Mattocks, who was at the club with the players, was charged with misdemeanor counts of battery, disorderly conduct and marijuana possession. Prosecutors say Mattocks, a friend of the Pacers players who lives in New York, started the fight and had marijuana, which officers found in the passenger-side door of Tinsley's car. His trial was set for Jan. 18.
(12/06/06 5:26am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana should phase in optional full-day kindergarten over the next three years, starting next fall, with the state's neediest children, Gov. Mitch Daniels was expected to announced Tuesday.\nStarting in August 2007, all kindergarten-age children who are eligible for free and reduced-priced lunches -- about 33,000 statewide -- would have the opportunity to attend full-day, if the governor's plan is accepted.\nIn August 2008, all school corporations that have higher than the median number of students on the lunch program would offer the full-day option, and by 2009, all districts would have a full-day, the governor's plan proposes.\nDaniels' proposal would require a one-time grant of $25 million to schools starting the program in 2007 to pay costs from August to December until districts receive normal funding. The cost that school year would be $54 million, including the grant, according to the proposal.\nSome education officials had urged the governor to implement full-day for all students in the 2007-08 school year -- a proposal Daniels' budget agency estimated would cost about $166 million.\nClassroom space and staffing was also a concern in some areas, according to a recent survey of school districts by the Indiana Department of Education. About 82 percent of school districts said they would need more faculty for the program to work, while 53 percent said they would need more classrooms.\nBut some teachers and superintendents say schools can find a way to get space and staff to expand full-day kindergarten as long as the state provides funding.\nSuellen Reed, the state's superintendent of public instruction, has said a phase-in approach to full-day is better than nothing.\nAdvocates say more time in kindergarten helps lagging children catch up to their peers before entering first grade, while providing other youngsters individual challenges to keep them interested. Critics worry that the programs are state-funded day care.
(11/08/06 6:36am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Republicans appeared on their way to keeping control of the three statewide offices up for grabs Tuesday.\nRepublican Secretary of State Todd Rokita retained his office, beating Democratic challenger Joe Pearson, and Republican Richard Mourdock defeated Michael Griffin for treasurer. Republican Tim Berry was leading Judy Anderson in the race for auditor, according to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press.\nThe statewide wins were encouraging to the party -- even if Republicans lost other offices, said Mike Murphy, chairman of the Marion County Republican Party.\n"It shows that this is still a clearly Republican state," Murphy said. "It gives the voters -- both Republicans and Democrats -- the most qualified, the most experienced candidates with absolute integrity. That's what all citizens in the state deserve."\nDemocratic challengers ousted three Republicans for closely contested U.S. House seats.\nBut in the races for statewide offices, Republicans had an advantage. Rokita and Berry had held statewide offices before, and all three Republicans raised far more money than their Democratic challengers.\nVictories would continue GOP control of all elected state executive branch offices, as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state superintendent of public instruction also are held by Republicans.\nRokita had upset some Democrats by pushing a new law that requires voters to bring photo identification to the polls. But Rokita said he was proud of his work on the law and mentioned it in a campaign commercial.\n"Tonight I was ready to be judged on my efforts," Rokita said Tuesday night. "What we're seeing now are Hoosiers appreciating that effort."\nThere was little talk in the last few months about the races for the three statewide offices, which were all created by the Indiana Constitution and come with important duties. The secretary of state oversees all elections in Indiana, the treasurer invests millions of state dollars and the auditor takes care of the state's books.\nThe Libertarian Party appeared to retain its automatic ballot access for the next four years as Mike Kole received about 3 percent of the vote for secretary of state, according to unofficial results. The Libertarians needed to receive 2 percent of the vote in that race to maintain that access.
(11/08/06 3:57am)
Baron Hill squeaked past Rep. Mike Sodrel in southern Indiana's 9th District.\nMeanwhile, Democrats ousted Republican incumbents Tuesday in Indiana's 2nd and 8th Congressional Districts as well, giving the party three of the 15 seats it needs to take control of the U.S. House.\nJoe Donnelly topped Rep. Chris Chocola in northern Indiana's 2nd District, and Brad Ellsworth swept past Republican Rep. John Hostettler in southern Indiana's 8th District.\nHill, a former representative who lost to Sodrel by about 1,400 votes in 2004, had 48.5 percent of the vote with 77 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press. Sodrel had 46.9 percent.\nChocola, a self-made millionaire who captured 47 percent of the vote to Donnelly's 52 percent, said this year's election was a "tough environment," in part because of the war in Iraq and Indiana voters' displeasure with Gov. Mitch Daniels.\n"I think we're going to see a tough environment across the country," Chocola said in congratulating Donnelly on the victory. "I don't know what we could've done differently to overcome the environment."\nEllsworth, the Vanderburgh County sheriff, capitalized on a low-key campaign by Hostettler in the district known as the "Bloody 8th" for its history of close, contentious races.\nEllsworth, who campaigned as a conservative Democrat, had 62 percent of the votes with 56 percent of precincts reporting. Hostettler, a conservative seeking a seventh term, conceded the race about 9:30 p.m., said Jay Howser, Hostettler's campaign manager.\nMarine Reserve Lance Cpl. Nolan Schemel, 20, of Evansville, came to Ellsworth's headquarters to show his support for Democrats trying to wrest control from Republicans and steer the country out of Iraq.\n"Politics has everything to do with what's going on in Iraq," said Schemel, who returned in October from a seven-month deployment in Fallujah, Iraq. "It's like a stalemate, and somebody needs to make a decision."\nDemocrats tapped into that sentiment as they tried to sway voters unhappy with the war, Washington scandals, President George W. Bush's low approval ratings and Daniels' decisions to approve statewide daylight-saving time and lease the Indiana Toll Road to a foreign company for 75 years.\nThe National Republican Congressional Committee spent more than $5.5 million on the three Indiana congressional races, with more than $3 million going to Sodrel. Hostettler, a traditionally weak fundraiser, received more than $1.8 million.\nBoth parties also brought in political heavy hitters.\nPresident Bush and first lady Laura Bush attended fundraisers for Chocola and Sodrel, but Hostettler, who broke with the president on using force in Iraq, said he did not want Bush to stump for him. Hostettler has never received more than 53 percent of the vote in six elections.\nDemocrats got help from former President Clinton and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who campaigned for Hill, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who attended a fundraiser last month to benefit Hill, Donnelly and Ellsworth.
(11/08/06 2:55am)
Democrats ousted Republican incumbents Tuesday in Indiana's 2nd and 8th Congressional Districts, giving the party two of the 15 seats it needed to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.\nA third hotly contested race in southern Indiana's 9th District was a toss-up between Rep. Mike Sodrel and Democrat Baron Hill.\nDemocrat Joe Donnelly defeated Rep. Chris Chocola in northern Indiana's 2nd District, while Brad Ellsworth swept past Republican Rep. John Hostettler in southern Indiana's 8th District.\nDonnelly had 52 percent of the vote, compared with 47 percent for Chocola, with 83 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press.\nEllsworth, the Vanderburgh County sheriff, had 62 percent of the votes with 56 percent of precincts reporting. Hostettler, a staunch conservative seeking a 7th term, had 37 percent.\nDemocrats had targeted the three districts, hoping to capitalize on Washington scandals, the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush's low approval ratings and dissatisfaction with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nEllsworth, who watched returns from a hotel suite in downtown Evansville, joked with campaign workers about his acceptance speech but told everyone to remain calm until all votes were tallied.\n"I'm waiting for the last vote to come in before I claim anything," he said. "I'm still in the standby-to standby-mode."\nAt a Jeffersonville, Ind., banquet hall, Sodrel campaign workers taped up Sodrel signs while others watched election coverage on four flat-panel TVs. Sodrel was with about 400 supporters Tuesday evening and told them he hoped it would not be a long night.\n"Hope not, but it could be, it's a tight, tight race. ... I don't think we could've run any harder. I think we did everything we should've done," Sodrel said.\nSocial worker Cydney Pair, 37, voted for Hill at the Monroe County Courthouse Tuesday. She said the war and the economy affected her vote.\n"I just do not like the direction this country is going," she said.
(11/08/06 2:12am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Voting sites had not even closed in parts of Indiana before U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar took the stage Tuesday evening at the state Republican headquarters to wrap up the easiest of his string of easy re-election campaigns.\nLugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, cruised to victory for a sixth straight term without a Democratic foe.\nThe crowd at the GOP headquarters welcomed the senator with applause and held up Lugar 2006 signs. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a former Lugar aide and campaign manager, wore a Lugar campaign button from 1976, when he was first elected to the Senate after a 1974 loss to Democrat Birch Bayh.\nLugar thanked voters for the opportunity to represent them.\n"This is a celebration tonight for Indiana," Lugar said.\nDemocrats decided not to field a candidate against Lugar this year, saying it would be a waste of time and money to challenge the longest-serving U.S. senator in Indiana history. The Indiana Democratic Party instead focused on winning control of the Indiana House and hotly contested congressional seats.\nLugar, 74, faced Steve Osborn, a Libertarian from LaPorte, and two write-in candidates.\nThe race seemed lopsided heading into Election Day.\nOsborn said last month that he had raised less than the $5,000 benchmark for having to report contributions to the Federal Election Commission. Meanwhile, Lugar, who has won the previous three elections with more than two-thirds of the vote, had raised more than $4 million.\nLugar even paid for television commercials touting his efforts to promote alternative fuels and destroy abandoned nuclear weapons. Some political observers said the commercials helped voters learn more about Lugar. Others thought the ads were a breath of fresh air among the nasty commercials for candidates in races for U.S. House seats.\nEnergy independence and foreign policy have been the focus of the campaign for Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. When Lugar filed to run for re-election earlier this year, he pledged to run a vigorous campaign even if he had no Democratic challenger.
(11/08/06 1:54am)
Democratic challenger Brad Ellsworth defeated Republican Rep. John Hostettler in southern Indiana's 8th District, giving Democrats one of the 15 seats needed to take control of the U.S. House.\nEllsworth, the Vanderburgh County sheriff, had 62 percent of the votes with 39 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press. Hostettler, a staunch conservative seeking a 7th term, had 37 percent.\nThe race was one of three congressional races in Indiana that were closely watched nationwide.\nDemocrats also targeted northern Indiana's 2nd District and southern Indiana's 9th District. They hoped to capitalize on Washington scandals, the war in Iraq, President George W. Bush's low approval ratings and dissatisfaction with Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nRecent polls showed GOP Rep. Chris Chocola was about even with Democrat Joe Donnelly in the 2nd, and freshman Rep. Mike Sodrel was in a virtual dead heat with former Rep. Baron Hill in the 9th.\nAt a Jeffersonville, Ind., banquet hall, Sodrel campaign workers taped up Sodrel signs while others watched election coverage on four flat-panel TVs. Sodrel was with about 400 supporters Tuesday evening and told them he hoped it would not be a long night.\n"Hope not, but it could be. It's a tight, tight race. ... I don't think we could've run any harder. I think we did everything we should've done," Sodrel said.\nSocial worker Cydney Pair, 37, voted for Hill at the Monroe County Courthouse Tuesday. She said the war and the economy affected her vote.\n"I just do not like the direction this country is going," she said.
(10/23/06 2:45am)
EDINBURGH, Ind. -- Leaving Iraq too soon would be a mistake, but the United States will change tactics as necessary to win the war on terror, Vice President Dick Cheney told Indiana Air and Army National Guard troops Friday.\n"We know that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength," he said. "They are invited by the perception of weakness. We know that if we leave Iraq before the mission is completed, the enemy is simply going to come after us," Cheney said during a rally to honor troops at Camp Atterbury.\nThe visit to the National Guard training site was one of several stops Cheney is making to honor troops for their war efforts and for recovery work after Hurricane Katrina last year. On Monday, Cheney was at Fort Campbell, Ky., to thank soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who had just returned from Iraq.\nCheney said Camp Atterbury, through which more than 30,000 guardsmen and women have passed since 2001, has helped the United States make progress in the war on terror.\n"Thanks to you, they've gone into the fight well-prepared and they've achieved great results for the United States," he said. "The excellence and the commitment shown at Camp Atterbury is one of the reasons we're going to win the war on terror."\nCheney said Iraq and Afghanistan are critical battlegrounds in a war that began Sept. 11, 2001, and that decisions on troop levels would be based on "conditions on the ground and the judgments of our military commanders -- not by artificial timelines set by politicians in Washington, D.C."\nGov. Mitch Daniels told the crowd before Cheney arrived that one of his daughters is dating an Army Ranger who recently found out he will be going overseas.\n"Our family will soon be where your family has been by the thousands -- waiting, missing people, staying in touch the best we can," Daniels said. "I am so grateful not just to those of you in uniform that serve, but to all of the families behind you."\nLt. Col. John Newman, of Indianapolis, serves with the 181st Fighter Wing of the Indiana Air National Guard. He brought his two children, Jessica, 13, and James, 7, to see Cheney at the camp about 25 miles south of Indianapolis.\n"I think it's fantastic that he took time out of his schedule to come here to Indiana," Newman said. "It's nice to put a little bit of light on the fact that Hoosiers have stepped up to the plate."\nJessica Newman said she enjoyed Cheney's speech and agreed with him about keeping terrorists from U.S. shores.\n"If we just leave, they're going to come back," she said. "If we just stay there and hold our ground, I think we'll win."\nThe rally for troops Friday included food, a band and appearances by cheerleaders from the Indianapolis Colts and the Indiana Pacers. When Cheney came on stage, he joked that he missed the fun earlier in the day.\n"Is it me you came to see, or the Colts and Pacers cheerleaders?" Cheney asked the troops. "I got here too late."\nThere are about 23,000 reservists and Guard members in Indiana, with an estimated 4,300 on active duty at any one time. Not all on active duty are serving overseas.\nSince February 2003, 68 Indiana military personnel have died after being sent to the Middle East for the war in Iraq. Overall, at least 2,786 members of the U.S. military have died in the war.
(10/18/06 3:37am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A Mooresville, Ind., woman is suing her son's public school, alleging that its practice of allowing some students to attend Bible classes once a week on school grounds while others stay behind without instructional time is unconstitutional.\nThe woman, identified only as M.W. in the lawsuit against the Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation, is the mother of an 8-year-old student at Neil Armstrong Elementary School.\nThe Morgan County school just southwest of Indianapolis allows third- and fourth-grade students to leave school for one hour a week to attend Bible classes in a trailer on school property, the lawsuit states.\nStudents who do not take part stay in school, but do not have instructional time, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 11 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.\nSteve Harris, an attorney for the Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation, said Tuesday that it is the district's policy not to comment on pending litigation.\nAlthough teachers at Neil Armstrong Elementary do not teach the class, they are involved because they collect parental permission slips to attend the program, said Jackie Suess, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Indiana, which is representing the mother.\nThe mother also said a teacher asked her son on the first day of school why he was not attending the classes, the lawsuit states.\n"Her little 8-year-old child came home crying more than once because he felt sort of singled out for not participating," Suess said.\nFor the program to be constitutional, Suess said, the school should not be involved in any way. Teachers should not hand out enrollment forms for the program, and the classes should not be held on school property, she said.\n"We're not attacking religious education release programs," Suess said. "They can be constitutional if they're done correctly."\nThe Bible class is run by a private group called the Morgan County Schools of Weekday Religious Education. In a letter explaining the program to parents, the group said the classes are nondenominational and focus on the Bible. An offering is collected each week to help pay for classroom expenses.\n"Three aims are stressed weekly: daily Bible reading, daily prayer and encouragement to attend church school and worship in the church of your choice," the letter states. "A selection of Bible readings and a scripture applicable to the lesson are sent home with the child each week. Pupils are encouraged to memorize the \nscripture"
(09/25/06 2:41am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A Virginia company that makes automated political phone calls is suing the state of Indiana, saying its ban on such calls violates its right to free speech.\nThe company FreeEats.com filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Indianapolis. The company wants the Indiana attorney general to stop enforcing a state law that prohibits automated political calls unless recipients agree in advance to accept them.\nEarlier this month, the state sued a California-based group called the Economic Freedom Fund to force it to stop making automated calls attacking Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel in the closely watched 9th District.\nFreeEats.com said in its lawsuit that it made those calls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund.\nThe Herndon, Va.,-based FreeEats.com claims that the state law violates free speech rights under both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. The company also argues that the ban is an unconstitutional restraint on interstate \ncommerce.\nThe issue of political telemarketing has come up recently as the November elections draw near.\nIndiana Attorney General Steve Carter sent a letter dated Aug. 22 to state Democratic and Republican parties informing them that a 1988 state law prohibited automated phone calls for political purposes. Carter promised to enforce the law, even though it had been widely ignored during past political campaigns.\nCarter's office was reviewing the FreeEats.com lawsuit. He said Friday that the prerecorded calls are illegal and that he would not back down from enforcing the law.\n"There are a variety of ways that messages can be sent to people without violating the law and invading people's privacy," Carter said.\nCarter said that his office has been aware of the law before but that the public has become more sensitive about telephone privacy since Indiana's do-not-call law took effect in January 2002. The law prohibits most telemarketers from calling Indiana residents who are registered on a no-call list Carter's office administers.\nCarter sued the Economic Freedom Fund earlier this month in Brown Circuit Court in Nashville, Ind., after receiving 12 consumer complaints about the calls. The state's lawsuit seeks injunctions to stop them and fines of $5,000 for each violation. A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 27.
(09/20/06 3:30am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Methodist Hospital has offered to financially compensate families of two premature infants who died after being given an overdose of a blood thinner, the hospital CEO said Tuesday.\nTwo girls less than a week old died Saturday at the Indianapolis hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit after being given adult doses of heparin, which is often used to prevent blood clots that could clog intravenous tubes. Four other premature babies were still being treated after being given too powerful a dose of the drug that a pharmacy technician accidentally stored in the NICU's drug cabinet.\nHospital officials offered to pay funeral expenses for Emmery Miller and D'myia Alexander Nelson. The hospital also would pay for family counseling and provide financial restitution to all six families affected, said Sam Odle, president and CEO of Methodist Hospital, which is part of Clarian Health Partners.\n"We are acutely aware that nothing can adequately compensate these families for their loss," Odle said.\nOdle also revealed that in 2001, a similar overdose of the drug was given to two patients in the hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. They recovered, he said.\nNone of the six families has talked to the hospital yet about possible compensation, Odle said.\n"We would handle each family on an individual basis," Odle said. "We will make sure that the families are (as) satisfied with the outcome as we possibly can."\nOf the four other infants overdosed with the drug, three were hospitalized in critical but stable condition Tuesday at Methodist and were no longer showing ill effects from the heparin, officials said. A fourth was in critical and unstable condition at Riley Hospital for Children.\nSince the overdoses, the hospital has taken steps to ensure the mistake does not happen again, as it did in 2001 when dosages were confused in two pediatric patients receiving heparin to keep intravenous lines open, Odle said.\nAfter that mistake, the hospital eliminated other doses of heparin so that only one was available.\n"While this change greatly reduced the opportunity for further error, the circumstances of this past weekend exposed system weaknesses that have led us to further refine our system of checks and balances," Odle said.\nHeparin arrives at the hospital in premeasured vials and pharmacy technicians place the doses in a computerized drug cabinet. When nurses need to administer the drug, they retrieve it from a specific drawer, which then locks again.\nEarly Saturday morning, a pharmacy technician with more than 25 years of experience accidentally took the wrong dosage from inventory and stocked it in the drug cabinet in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit, Odle said. Nurses accustomed to only one dosage of heparin being available administered too much.\nMethodist has since changed procedures again and no longer keeps certain doses of heparin in inventory. All newborn and pediatric critical care units will require a minimum of two nurses to validate any dose of heparin.\nStaff members involved with Saturday's mistake were receiving counseling and taking time off until they feel comfortable returning to work, hospital officials said.\nDeb Hutchens, a neonatal nurse practitioner, said NICU nurses were devastated.\n"I feel like this is a NICU family," she said. "We are very close. We all feel very deep sorrow. It's just going to be a very long healing process for all of us."\nThe hospital on Sunday told other parents whose children are at the NICU about the overdose.\nDoug and Trisha Ripperger of Indianapolis said they felt safe at Methodist with their daughter, Julia, who was born prematurely about a month ago and was heading home Tuesday. The couple and other parents met Sunday with the hospital chaplain, who explained the heparin overdose. Their daughter was not administered heparin.\n"We're obviously very sad for those parents and those families," Trisha Ripperger said. "But we've had excellent care from day one. There was never a thought of taking her out of here"
(06/21/06 11:19pm)
INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 25 percent of Indiana's students do not earn a high school diploma, according to a new report that puts the state's graduation rate far lower than some previous estimates.\nThe state's graduation rate was 73 percent for the 2002-2003 school year, the most recent data available, according to the "Diplomas Count" report conducted by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.\nIndiana's state-reported graduation rate is 91 percent, but education leaders have known for years that the rate was far from the actual percentage of students earning a diploma.\nSince 1988, Indiana has calculated graduation rates by relying on group totals that schools reported each fall to the state Department of Education.\nThis year, for the first time, the state will calculate graduation rates using a new formula that follows individual students through school. The state Department of Education expects the new rate to be about 71 percent for the 2005-2006 school year.\nJason Bearce, spokesman for the department, said the more accurate calculations will help schools and the state realize the challenges students face in earning diplomas.\n"In this day and age, the high school diploma is just the beginning," Bearce said. "We can't afford for students not to have that credential."\nThe 73 percent graduation rate for 2002-2003 put Indiana 23rd in the nation -- slightly higher than the national average of 69.6 percent, according to the "Diplomas Count" report.\nChristopher Swanson, director of the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, developed a Cumulative Promotion Index to calculate graduation rates for states and districts. The formula estimates the number of students who "fall off track" for earning a diploma between ninth grade and graduation.\n"Our research paints a much starker picture of the challenges we face in high school graduation," Swanson said. "When 30 percent of our ninth graders fail to finish high school with a diploma, we are dealing with a crisis that has frightening implications for our country's future."\nLike Indiana, most states had state-reported graduation rates that were higher than the actual rate, the report found. In New Mexico and North Carolina, for example, the state rates were more than 30 percentage points higher than the graduation rate calculated by the report.
(06/12/06 2:11am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's decision to offer a "Choose Life" license plate could generate millions of dollars for anti-abortion centers seeking to spread their message.\nThe plate, commissioned by the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers, reflects a growing trend toward drivers who want to profess their beliefs and interests -- and organizations who hope to capitalize on those statements.\nIndiana currently offers 55 plates and plans to release 10 more in 2007 -- including the "Choose Life" plate and another that says "In God We Trust." Purchasers pay a $15 fee plus a donation of up to $25 to organizations representing pet lovers, the environment, advocates for children, colleges and universities, veterans and even sports enthusiasts.\n"Plates, to a degree, are an extension of one's personality," said BMV spokesman Greg Cook. "They obviously help bring in revenue and also help the organization gain awareness."\nThe Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles sold more than 300,000 specialty plates last year and collected $2.7 million. Virginia, which has 180 specialty license plates, collected $6.9 million through specialty plates in fiscal year 2005, said Bill Foy, a spokesman with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.\nAnother $1.9 million went to the groups whose interests the Virginia plates reflected- including tobacco heritage, greyhound adoption, foxhunting, home schooling and friends of Tibet.\nThe state also offers dozens of college and university plates, including out-of-state schools such as Texas A&M and Penn State. Plates are in the works that feature juvenile diabetes, adoption and scuba diving.\n"It's one of those things that have mushroomed," Foy said. "It really has just taken off."\nThough groups like the revenue, the volume of specialty plates can be a headache for law enforcement officials to track.\n"It's kind of like Pandora's box -- once you open it you can't get it shut," said Indiana State Police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten. "You just live with it the best you can."\nMelissa Savage, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said some states are finding it's difficult for administrators to track numerous plates.\n"There's certainly some states out there that are trying to rein it in," Savage said.\nSome more controversial plates, such as those supporting anti-abortion views, have spurred lawsuits across the country. In March, a federal appeals court ruled Tennessee could sell license plates that say "Choose Life," even though it doesn't offer one with an abortion rights message. The court later delayed production of the plates so opponents could appeal. Challenges also have been raised in other states.\nIndiana's "Choose Life" plates- which will bring money to the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers- are expected to withstand any court challenge because they were created administratively through the BMV, not by a legislative vote that could favor one political position over another.\nDan Steiner, president of the association, hopes to raise millions of dollars over several years for centers that offer abortion alternatives. The plates could also raise awareness, he said.\n"It's non-confrontational," Steiner said. "It's positive."\nDuring this year's legislative session, the General Assembly passed a bill to create the "In God We Trust" plate, which does not include an extra fee and is not technically a specialty plate.\nThe state also recently created an Indianapolis Colts series of plates, which were released earlier this year. So far, more than 6,134 have been sold, with part of the proceeds going to help fund the team's new stadium.\nIf plates don't prove popular, they are discontinued.\nIndiana requires at least 2,000 plates to be bought over a span of four years, or an average of 500 plates per year. Dropped plates in Indiana include ones that helped fund the Literacy Foundation, Indiana Mental Health Trust, and the Food Bank Trust, Cook said.
(05/05/06 4:15am)
INDIANAPOLIS - A new report found that Indiana ranks about average in how well it uses technology to advance K-12 education.\nWhile the state fared well in student access to computers, the way Indiana tracks some education data lags behind other states, according to the Technology Counts 2006 report released Thursday by Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.\nThe report gave Indiana an overall education technology grade of C-plus, which was the average nationwide.\nIndiana fared better than average in student access to computers, the report said. Nationally, schools have one instructional computer for every 3.8 students, while Indiana has one for every 3.4 students.\nThe state is working to get more computers to high school classrooms through a program called Indiana Access, said Mike Huffman, special assistant for technology at the Indiana Department of Education.\n"It is transforming these classrooms where we have it. Every student has a computer, so teachers can now fully integrate the technology into the curriculum," Huffman said. "We're making tremendous strides in Indiana."\nMany of the states that scored well for student access to computers were those with small populations, such as Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Such states may turn to technology for distance learning and other features that would particularly help states with vast geographical regions, the report's creators said.\n"It's often the less-populated, more rural states that have gravitated toward technology," said Chris Swanson, director of the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.\nIndiana scored higher marks in computer access and use of technology, getting a B-minus in both those areas.\nBut Indiana earned a C in its capacity to use such technology because teachers and administrators are not required to be proficient in technology as part of licensing and certification requirements.\nCaroline Hendrie, Technology Counts project editor, said it's important for teachers and administrators to know how to use technology to its fullest.\n"Technology access may be ahead of educators' ability to use it effectively," Hendrie said. "States are clearly seeing a need to do further work in this area."\nWest Virginia had the overall highest grade, with an A, followed by Virginia with an A-minus. Nevada received the lowest grade with a D-minus, and Minnesota, Oregon and Rhode Island scored a D.
(01/20/06 5:00am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Senate advanced a bill Thursday intended to prohibit protests within 500 feet of funerals -- legislation that stems from protests by a Kansas-based anti-gay group at Indiana military funerals.\nThe bill, which cleared the Senate 47-1, now moves to the House, where it could face changes because of confusion about what the legislation would actually do.\nSen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, filed the bill in response to a protest at the Aug. 28 funeral for Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Doyle, an Indianapolis native killed in Iraq.\nSteele said he wants to ban all protesters from coming within 500 feet of burials and funeral homes during viewings. But some lawmakers said the bill as written would only prohibit protesters who were causing a disruption, not those who were silent.\nSteele said he would work with House members to amend the legislation to prohibit even silent protests within 500 feet of funerals.\n"If you're 500 feet back, and it's orderly, that's fine," Steele said. "My intent is that you don't come within 500 feet of the grave."\nThe bill currently states that disorderly conduct within 500 feet of a funeral would be a class D felony carrying a maximum three-year prison term and $10,000 fine. Disorderly conduct, which includes fighting or making unreasonable noise, is also a class D felony if committed at an airport.\nDuring August's protest, six members of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church dragged U.S. flags on the ground and shouted insults at Doyle's surviving relatives outside a mortuary in Martinsville, about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis. They have staged similar protests at other funerals in Indiana and other states.\nThe Rev. Fred Phelps, the church's founder, contends that American soldiers are dying in Iraq as vengeance from God because the United States harbors gays. The church, which is not affiliated with a larger denomination, is made up mostly of Phelps' children, grandchildren and in-laws.\nSome senators were concerned that the bill could restrict freedom of speech. But Steele and other supporters said the bill was needed as a public safety measure to protect protesters.\n"When people are at their most frazzled moment emotionally, what little thing would it take for a loved one to tee off and go back there and hurt someone?" Steele asked.\nWhen Steele announced his intentions in October to file the bill, a Westboro member said the group would fight the move in court if necessary.\nSen. Anita Bowser, D-Michigan City, said she expected a challenge.\n"There will be a question, I'm sure, in the courts regarding freedom of speech, and I hope the court takes all kinds of things into consideration when it renders its decision," said Bowser, who voted for the bill.