Hoosier lore

One more reason to drive, or just stay home, for the holidays

Muncie wants to use money from the federal government's stimulus program to rehire five laid-off police officers. But the money comes with a catch -- it funds only three years, and the city has to prove it can handle a fourth year on its own. The city won't have enough property tax revenue for the salaries in year four, so it is considering some creative alternatives, including a "surcharge" on local traffic tickets:

Why Colts fans should be thinking "2," not "16":

It's the goal that counts and not what happens along the way.

The Indianapolis Colts will bring a 12-0 record and a 21-game winning streak into Sunday's National Football League home game with the Denver Broncos. Indianapolis has already notched a sixth AFC South crown and is getting closer to clinching home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The General Assembly's study committe on gambling has issued its report, and Fort Wayne's chances to get a referendum on a casino here, always slim, have been whittled even further. Among the report's points:

--An expansion of gambling to new cities or counties is not in the best interest of the state or industry.

Here's an interesting juxtaposition for you.

Trying to make "the shopping experience" appealing to men:

Willa Gillispie, a Jeffersonville woman who recently became a vendor for Silpada Jewelry, was thinking about Black Friday crowds and how many men spend the day avoiding stores.

So, she decided to come up with a shopping day for men. She calls it Black Monday.

“Men usually don't like to shop, so we thought we would put everything in one place and make it easy for them,” Gillispie said.

Local governments in Indiana say they are going to face extraordinary pressures because of property tax caps and an expected drop in income tax revenues, so they're asking legislators to be cautious about putting the caps into the state constitution:

Rep. Terry Goodin, D-Crothersville, said the confluence of pressures should force lawmakers to take some action to help local governments.

The Journal Gazette does not agree with my opinion that the comonly understood letter grades A, B, C, D and F, having been used for generations to rate school students' performance, would also be a logical way to rate the schools themselves:

Last week I mentioned three personal signs of the winter season: 1. The annual closing of Zesto's. 2. First wearing of the overcoat. 3. First time scraping the windshield. I should have mentioned a fourth -- PEOPLE BEING MORONS!

The early morning snowfall has led to slippery roads throughout the area and a number of accidents during the morning commute.

[. . .]

I remember writing about Indiana's hypnotist licensing requirement as one silly example of overregulation and too much credentialization. Kevin Carey, who worked for the General Assembly when the law was enacted, recalls an embarrassing side effect: