Hoosier lore

If a school system has to adopt a "show up or else" policy, it's a good sign things have gotten out of hand. At IPS, they plan to start firing teachers who fail to report absences or tardies, flunk students who don't show up regularly and on time, and even report parents to Child Protective Serives if their children rack up too many absences or tardies. This is how bad it's gotten:

A public intoxication charge was dropped against Indianapolis Colts reserve defensive lineman John Gill though he was obviously seriously drunk when he was picked up:

Elena Kagan is a liberal replacing a liberal, so she's not likely to make a difference on the Supreme Court in the short term. Still, she's going to be there a long time, and we shouldn't forget what her tenure is likely to be like:

Some law enforcement groups want Indiana to go further than it does in restricting sales of products with ingredients used by meth cookers. Cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine are now required to be behind the counter, and there are restrictions on how and to whom it can be sold. What is proposed is that we make such products prescription only, and a proponent makes use of a good analogy:

Think he'll pick the chick?

Public Access Michiana Inc. wants a share of cable franchise fees collected by South Bend so it can bring back Channel 99, the public accesc channel they once had there. Fort Wayne gets a good mention:

Democratic State Rep. Linda Lawson of Hammond is part of a group transporting rescued dogs to New England because, she says, Indiana suffers from "extreme pet overpopulation," and the dogs are more likely to find a good home in New England since there's more demand there for adoptable pets. That sounds like a fine effort for a good cause -- if only she'd left it at that. But she apparently wants to stay busy:

Despite calls from some parents and legislators for a later start of the school year, educators are having none of it:

Last year, the most popular start date was Aug.18, the third Tuesday of the month. Thirty-eight districts started on that date, while 119 started before that and 24 started after.

This year, the most common date is Aug. 17, also the third Tuesday, with 44 districts starting classes then, 107 starting before and 52 starting after.

How to kill competition and drive up the cost for consumers -- just try a little overregulation, the way a Republican administration in Indianapolis is doing:

Seven cab companies are no longer able to operate in Indianapolis after their licenses were not renewed by the city's Department of Code Enforcement for a slew of major violations.

Kinda scary for a Colts fan:

Jim Irsay won't let Peyton Manning walk away from the Colts next season, no matter the cost.