Hoosier lore

Saigon, one of my favorite restaurants, gets a nice writeup by a Circle City couple whose Worth Your Attention blog is dedicated to "eating, drinking, shopping and exploring Indianapolis and beyond."

Gotta love a little playful use of the language:

A  planned festival to encourage unity and understanding of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex citizens is one step closer to reality.

The Lafayette Board of Works voted Tuesday to close a portion of Main Street for the upcoming OUToberFest.

Maybe they should come up with some music for the festival so the radio stations will carry it as part of Rocktober!

Not to be outdone by the federal government in meddling, Jeffersonville takes aim at a group of small businesses:

The Jeffersonville City Council is considering an ordinance that would make drivers pay before pumping gasoline -- an effort to reduce the number of people who speed away from gas stations without paying.

Don't you sometimes wish you had as much power as a judge? Grant County Superior Court Judge Randall Johnson says he has mold in his blood consistent with the mold in his courtroom, causing his health to deteriorate. So he's moving the court somewhere else temporarily and telling the county commissioners to fix the joint up:

It's been said that cockroaches might be the last living things left on Earth. I think that might almost be true -- the cockroaches will cavorting among the kudzu vines:

A fast-growing vine that's left parts of Indiana beneath tangles of greenery is coming under assault as the state ramps up its efforts to kill the leafy invader.

With all kinds of crime and corruption going high-tech, it's nice to know there's still room in the world for some good, old-fashioned petty improprieties:

Hooray for the South Bend Tribune, which joins the list of newspapers calling for the state to end one contradiction between the state constitution and state law. The constitution requires that a "free" education be provided for Hoosier children. But under state law, parents have to pay for textbooks, so that constitutional requirement isn't being met:

When the Indiana Constitution and the Indiana Code are at odds, which should take precedence?

Oh, well, as long as he had something important to do:

Police say a Carmel man faces child neglect charges after he left his children home alone twice on one day to buy liquor, withdraw cash and visit a massage parlor.

[. . .]

Fishers, Ind., is still a town, but at more than 60,000, it's already the eight-largest municpality in the state. It's long past time for the town to become a city, many say, which would involve having a mayor instead of just a council. Not everybody is happy about the prospect:

As a town, executive decisions are reached in the council form by a seven-member body.

I didn't know this, but it doesn't surprise me:

Under Indiana statute, law enforcement officers are exempt from having to buckle up when responding to an emergency. But police agencies can set their own policies.

The Fountain County Sheriff's Department does not require seat belts for its officers. Now, Sheriff Bobby Bass says that might change after deputy Terry Holt, 35, crashed on his way to a call.

Do as we say, not as we do. Yeah, that works for me.