My city councilman is quiting:
Tim Pape, a Democrat who has represented City Council's 5th District since January 2000, will not seek re-election this year.
In a statement released today, Pape alluded to the “great personal involvement” public service demands
Yeah, well, sure:
Mayoral candidate Paula Hughes continued her criticism of city budgeting by saying she'd cut the pay of the job she hopes to win in November.
Hughes, one of the Republicans competing for the chance to run for mayor this year, said the mayor of Fort Wayne shouldn't be paid more than the governor of Indiana. Democratic Mayor Tom Henry's salary is $124,665; Gov. Mitch Daniels earns $95,000.
Under the current child care system, churches don't have to meet all the health and safety requirements that home day cares, licensed centers and other facilities do. A proposal before the General Assembly would change that, and some people are upset with what they regard as a violation of the separation of church and state:
Eric Miller with Advance America said Wednesday the legislation could affect day camps, Christian schools, vacation bible schools and Sunday schools.
Stat Rep. Cindy Noe, R-Indianapolis, is pushing a bill that would require couples planning to marry to take "premarital classes" on such things as communication, conflict resolution and parenting or else pay four times the standard fee for marriage license and certificate. This is either, A) Government going where it shouldn't be going or, B) a symbolic gesture that will have no real effect (I tend to lean toward the latter).
Reaction to Joe Biden's "Hey, let's spend $53 billion on high-speed rail" contribution to the latest "boondoggle in the name of Progress":
Richard Lugar to Tea Party: I dare you to challenge me.
As the Washington Post notes, Lugar, who has amassed a $2.5 million war chest, is “effectively daring someone to beat him under the belief that the same coalition that has re-elected him time and time again will do so again in 2012.”
The city's difficulties with a certain mayor's name have gone national. Here's the Associated Press version of the story on the MSNBC site:
A former Indiana mayor who won four terms in the 1930s and 1950s is proving less popular with modern-day city leaders, who say they probably won't name a new government center for him because of the jokes his moniker could inspire.
Juxtaposition of the day. First, a report from Indianapolis:
More than 1,000 teachers, waving signs with slogans such as "Save Public Schools" and wearing "Respect Educators" stickers, packed the marble hallways of the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday.
I've been hearing these annoying ads for the 5-Hour Energy drink on radio lately, going on and on about what a hassle coffee is -- you have to brew it or buy it, wait for it, fix it up and blah, blah, blah. But, instead, we could just be throwing down a shot of this booster and be good to go instantly, just like people do 7 million times a day! But I don't consider coffee a hassle -- it's a ritual, and I like my rituals. It makes a nice sound while it's brewing, and it smells wonderful.
Good call, Simon! Me, either:
Simon Cowell says he has not watched an episode of Fox's American Idol since he left the show.
Oh, wait. I didn't watch the version with you in it, either. Never mind.
This is pretty amazing
All counties could centralize their voting operations into fewer locations to save money and reduce the number of volunteers needed on Election Day under a bill the House passed and sent to Gov. Mitch Daniels on Monday.
Today's well, duh research grant:
An Indiana University researcher is joining cohorts from three other universities in a study that will look at why children's grades often suffer when their families lose their homes to foreclosure.
This sure seems like the wrong project at the wrong time:
Officials in Crown Point hope to break ground on a $12 million library on the north end of the downtown square in May.
Library Director Lynn Frank tells The Times of Munster that a lot has to happen between now and then for that to occur, including some tweaks to the design. Frank says the library will have a courtyard design.
Don't know if Hammond residents will be safer, but the city is at least making the effort:
While other police departments are downsizing, Hammond is looking to hire more police officers.
The northwest Indiana city's Board of Public Works and Safety recently gave the police chief the go-ahead to start accepting applications for 10 permanent positions.
[. . .]
My friend and I were going to watch the Super Bowl with a certain amount of detachment. Since neither my Colts nor my Bears made it in, and her Lions continued their streak of never being in the big game, who cared who won? This was especially true because we had a dislike bordering on the pathological for both the Steelers and the Packers. Maybe it would be fun to watch the game without rooting for either team, or even actually rooting against both of them. That way we could just enjoy the commericials without the silly distraction of a football game.
Rick Santorum ripped Mitch Daniels on Thursday, admonishing the Indiana governor's reluctance to engage the social issues that are catnip to the party's conservative wing.
This is maddening, but not exactly a big surprise:
The Defense Department and the FBI should have recognized that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan had become an adherent of “violent Islamist extremism” before he went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 people, two US senators said Thursday in a special report.
[. . .]
A budding crime career is nipped in the bud:
Hey, it's "big numbers to make your head hurt" Friday!
I don't get the distinction:
House Republicans plan to sidestep a charged debate over the distinction between “forcible rape” and “rape” by altering the language of a bill banning taxpayer subsidies for abortions.
