Did you ever wonder about your neighbors? What does that scary looking guy do behind closed doors, and why does he keep the lights on all night? Why do so many people come and go from that house on the corner? Do all those kids really live in the house across the street, or are some just visiting?
What about those two women in the house next door? Oh, them -- they're fine. They're sisters. And they're both special-education teachers. That's nice. What good neighbors to have:
OK, granted, this is a "complicated" story. Anybody who wants to put a Jesus statue or any other religious icon outside his patio door is free to do so. It's part of our heritage -- both of religious freedom and freedom of expression. But if you live in an apartment, the place isn't yours -- you have to abide by the landlord's rules, even if he says to keep your Jesus inside. What got my attention were the dictates of federal fair housing laws:
Unconstitutional as hell:
If you have a political sign on your property and live in Terre Haute continue reading!
There are a few rules you must follow. One, you can not have more than one sign per candidate on your property. Two, the sign can not exceed more than 32-square feet. Lastly they can not be up for more than three months at a time.
But if nobody challenges the rules, it doesn't matter. Where's the ACLU when we need it?
Faxes? People still send faxes?
Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter has filed suit against three companies that sent unwanted faxes offering clothing and discount health plans.
Carter filed suit in St. Joseph County against Five Star Advertising, Inc. and Sportex, Inc., seeking injunctions to stop the companies from faxing unwanted advertisements offering sports apparel.
The Richmond Palladium-Item jumps on the statewide smoking BANdwagon:
But as much as this newspaper traditionally champions local government and home rule decision-making on most issues, some issues simply command a wider, more uniform standard. Legislators have, for example, already said the time of day is one of those, weighing in mercifully a few years back to remove the state from a crazy-quilt pattern of time zones to embrace uniform, statewide daylight-saving time.
So a teenager without a license or insurance rams into the back of a guy's car. The teenager starts to flee the scene, and the guy takes his gun (fully permitted, and he'd been carrying for 28 years) and fires one shot into the air. The teen stops, and the guy holds him there until police arrive. Police don't arrest the teen -- they arrest the guy, for "pointing a firearm," a Class D felony. Ten months later, a jury acquits the guy, and, under state law, he was supposed to get his gun and license back. But the state won't give him either.
I guess this is supposed to be reassuring for parents:
Paroled sex offenders in the Evansville area - and across Indiana - will be required to attend a meeting during trick-or-treat hours on Halloween.
Dubbed Operation Safe Halloween, the Indiana Department of Correction is requiring sex offenders to attend the meeting to "remove them from the community streets during this traditional children's activity," according to a news release.
Those evil, clever religionists have found a diabolic way around the ACLU's heroic efforts to keep us safe from God's destructive influence:
Joining four other towns in Madison County, Pendleton now has a Ten Commandments monument on display.
The 7-foot long, 4-foot tall monument was unveiled Sunday near the intersection of East Water Street and Indiana 37, near the Falls Park Plaza shopping center, on land donated by Chuck Clevenger.
When the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the $86,000 in punitive damages against James Clark and Larry Biddle in a road-rage lawsuit, it noted that the defendants "could not pay them":
The three-judge panel cited a 2003 state Supreme Court ruling that stated, "An award that not only hurts but permanently cripples the defendant goes too far. A life of financial hopelessness may be an invitation to a life of crime."
You remember the woman arrested for cursing at her toilet because her neighbor, an off-duty cop, overheard her and was "offended"? I think I may even have mentioned it here. There is justice in the case:
When Dawn Herb's toilet overflowed, it cost her nothing to fix.
