I'm not a big fan of Futile Gestures That Make Grand Philosophical Statements, whichever end of the political spectrum they come from. Can anyone tell me what practical effect this proposal would have?
Women seeking abortions would have to be told that a fetus might feel pain under legislation approved by the Indiana House.
Woo-hoo, it's party time!
Governor Mitch Daniels has proclaimed today through April 18 "Indiana Wind Energy Week."
To celebrate, take a state legislator to lunch.
An Indianapolis woman warns propsective Hoosiers that "It only takes once to get hooked on the Indy 500":
Some South Bend politicians say the city shouldn't have to foot the bill for police overtime for protecting visiting big shots and handling such things as crowd control and traffic messes. So they have a proposal:
It would require any person or group who hosts a dignitary, like the President of the United States, to foot the bill for extra police protection.
Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead! Oh, wait. Never mind:
Governor to General Assembly: Please cut every state budget you can to save millions and get the state through this recession responsibly.
Senate Repblicans to governor: Nyah, nyah, nyah. We're going to use the federal stimulus money and keep spending and make everybody happy!
Republican Sen. Luke Kenley, acknowledging that the governor is "not fully on board with his own party's budget":
"While he applauds our effort, he wants us to do better," Kenley said.
There are good reasons to save some old buildings. They might have architectural significance or some strong historical connection. They might still have some use left in them. Being the place where a minor Hollywood star from more than 50 years ago nodded off in study hall isn't one of those good reasons:
Boy, the "this tax won't hurt a bit" crowd is not exactly unpredictable, is it? The state legislature is debating a proposal to save the Capital Improvement Board of Indianapolis that would, among other things, raise the room tax on Circle City hotels by 1 percent.
Despite protests from some in the hotel business, a 1 percentage point increase in the Indianapolis hotel tax would be unlikely to ruin the city's reputation as a low-cost host for conventions and other events.
Please, please, please, don't say it was a mugging. The man wasn't hurt, for goodness sake, so it was just a theft when the mayor of Indianapolis had his cell phone plucked from his pocket by some con artists on his way back to the hotel from the arena where the NCAA finals were played in Detroit. (One man pretended to be having a seizure, then others surrounded the mayor when he stopped to help.)
Iowa has now joined Massachusetts and Connecticut as states that recognize same-sex marriage. Nine states recognize some sort of domestic partnership. Vermont's governor has just vetoed legislation legalizing same-sex marriage, and legislators are looking to override. Voters in California have overturned the state Supreme Court's edict barring enforcement of a same-sex marriage ban. How can this issue not be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court?
