Hoosier lore

Could it be that Indianapolis is even more prudish than Fort Wayne? The Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board unanimously voted against a permit for the Show-Me restaurant and sports bar:

Lot of people in the news lately because they feel their rights aren't being respected. In Fort Wayne, some Burmese are mad because a laundromat put a sign on the door telling them to keep out, and a city councilwoman is upset because she can't get her proposal introduced to add the transgendered to the city's anti-disctrimination ordinance. Elsewhere in Indiana, a high school valedictorian wants to stop a student-led prayer at graduation because it would violate his First Amendment right to be free from religion.

Somebody apparently forgot to tell Judge Jennifer Evans-Koethe of LaPorte about the need for dignity and decorum and that "I'm sorry" doesn't cover everything.

Evans-Koethe's troubles began in December 2008, shortly before she was to be sworn in as judge.

After a night of drinking, Evans-Koethe and her husband, Stephan Koethe, got into an argument.

She said she accidently shot herself after retrieving a gun to make her husband think she was contemplating suicide.

How the mighty have fallen:

Not a good milestone to reach:

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - For the first time since before the Civil War and perhaps ever, more people in Indiana work in government than in all the factories in the state.

Rocked by layoffs, imports and automation, workers in Indiana plants numbered 430,800 in January, while government at all levels, including schools and publicly owned hospitals, employed 442,800 workers.

Guess newspapers aren't quite ready for the morgue if a couple of them have enough life left for an old-fashioned turf war. The Post-Tribune and The Times of Northwest Indiana (note the, um, lack of a city name in either title) are duking it out over which is the "real" local paper for Gary:

We might or might not have God on our side, but it's OK (so far) to have him in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our money.

The federal court that touched off a furor in 2002 by declaring the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance to be an unconstitutional endorsement of religion took another look at the issue Thursday and said the phrase invokes patriotism, not religious faith.

[. . .]

I wonder if Elmhurst parents and students would feel better or worse if theirs weren't the only high school being considered for closing. We can all be happy, though, that we're better off here than in Kansas City:

Superintendent John Covington called for the closing or consolidation of almost half of the schools in the Kansas City, Missouri, school district, and a school board voted Wednesday to approve the downsizing.

[. . .]

In its budget-cutting efforts, Indiana is considering both shutting down the Indiana Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Board (ITPC), which could save $1.5 million in overhead and administrative costs; and laying off some of the state's 52 meat inspectors, the savings from which would depend on how many were let go.

You can't say Fred Phelps and his merry band of 70-some pranksters at the Westboro Baptist Church are an inconsequential group. After his church picketed some soldiers' funerals in Indiana (to make the point that our soldiers are getting killed as divine retribution because "God hates fags"), the state legislature approved a law making disorderly conduct within 500 feet of a funeral a felony. Now the group has the attention of the U.S.