Hoosier lore

It's one thing to realize there are still perverts out there dumb enough to get caught soliciting by Internet sting operations after all the publicity they've gotten, but there are cops who don't get it?

My first thought on seeing in the headline that a city council is going to tackle the deer problem, was, hmmm, good! Bet a lot of people will be enjoying venison on the grill. But this is Bloomington, after all. As the deer population has increased in the city, there are more conflicts between animals and humans. Residents are said to be worried about "deer-vehicle collisions, tick-borne illnesses and damage to gardens and safety." But heaven forbid they cause the deer any problems:

I'm not quite with former President George W. Bush on the topic of his speech in Indianapolis Thursday: 

Bush's Thursday night speech at Conseco Fieldhouse will be hosted by Life Centers, a nonprofit Christian ministry that helps women in unplanned pregnancies.

Life Centers' president and CEO Brian Boone says Bush's speech "will demonstrate his belief that every life counts."

The Indiana Supreme Court is now considering the case of the man kicked out of a casino for card counting. The casino says common law allows it to refuse anyone entrance, as long as it's not for "a bad rason." The man's attorney counters that gaming is "a statutory creature" that didn't exist in common-law times. Justice Frank Sullivan Jr.'s comments make sense:

Well, duh:

A new state-commissioned review of the lowest-performing schools in Indianapolis Public Schools paints a devastating portrait of unprepared teachers, overwhelmed and distracted principals and meddling central office edicts.

The most basic finding, though, was that at most of the schools many teachers either couldn't or didn't teach.

Rats. I coulda been a contenduh:

Story Inn bartender (and ballotkeeper) Danielle "Dani" Hamm took up the title this April Fool's Day as Story Inn's Village Idiot of 2010.

Hamm won election by consensus for unwittingly setting her hair on fire while driving to work.

A press release from her employer details the incident:

I visited my sister in Indy over the weekend, and the big news there was about the two Carmel 15-year-olds who died in a fiery crash after the driver, also 15, led police on a very short chase before running into a utility pole. Police had tried to stop the car for speeding. The time between the dispatch from the police car announcing the pursuit and the dispatch announcing the crase was two minutes.

A new survey shows folks in South Bend are just oozing optimism (so the headline says), with 70 percent of the people saying they are hopeful about the future. The city hired a firm from Alabama (what, no Hoosier pollsters available?) to "measure the effectiveness of South Bend Redevelopment Commission's contract with a firm hired to help promote Ignition Park and Innovation Park." That just sounds like a big waste of money, doesn't it?

No, no, don't think so:

Evan Bayh in February threw Hoosiers a curve ball, announcing plans to vacate his U.S. Senate seat.

But if you believe some Internet chatter, we may see him make another big splash in 2012, running for his old job as governor.

[. . .]

Can a member of Congress really be this clueless?

Rep. Baron Hill is making no apologies for giving his staff members tens of thousands of dollars in year-end bonuses, despite the tough economic times.

6News' Kara Kenney reported last month that Indiana congressmen doled out more than $600,000 in bonuses from 2006 to 2008.