The Elkhart school corporation, looking to save money like everybody else, is considering reducing the number of buses running each day:
The other option was to tighten restrictions on walk zones. That idea passed Tuesday night. It will reduce the number of buses running by having more students walk to school. Fourteen-hundred students will be affected.
The legend of the deadly brown recluse spider grows, courtesy of several news organizations, including The Associated Press:
A coroner says a 42-year-old Evansville man may have died from a bite from a brown recluse spider.
Generally, job discrimination complaints do little for those who aren't in a protected class. In fact, those non-protected workers even come off sounding like privileged elites who don't care about the downtrodden masses -- beneficiaries as they are of a "disparate impact" that is said to prove discrimination against a minority. But here's one kind of case that can benefit all workers (or at least screw them all equally, depending on the employer):
Has anybody ever gotten more out of brief moments at sporting events than milk producers through the Indianapolis 500? (Possible exception: the "I'm going to Disneyland" crap at the end of Super Bowls.) This year, Hooser Ag Today even trots out an "Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian" to tell us happened that one fateful year when an Indy winner balked and didn't drink his milk:
Looks like Indiana was on the cutting edge with its "no-smiles" policy for driver's licenses:
Stopping driver's license fraud is no laughing matter: Four states are ordering people to wipe the grins off their faces in their license photos.
Looks like Sonia Sotomayor is getting the nod for the Supreme Court. In the coming days, I'm sure, we'll all be writing about how what a brilliant/clueless jurist she is and how blessed/screwed the country will be with her on the court. Let's just start by noting once again the much-noted observation that:
Obama had said publicly he wanted a justice who combined intellect and empathy - the ability to understand the troubles of everyday Americans.
Honest, I wasn't going to post about this. But I just can't get the image out of my head:
Covered with a carpet, a 750-pound woman who died Tuesday was taken from her home on a flatbed wrecker, outraging her loved ones and leading the Marion County coroner to concede that his office could have handled the situation better.
Teresa Smith's boyfriend remains distraught over her death and the incident.
A community activist in Muncie whose two firefighter brothers died in the line of duty many years ago says the mayor's announced plans to lay off 40 firefighters because of a budget shortfall is "pretty dirty." Call me a cynic, but I agree with him. Just consider that this isn't an isolated case but part of a trend:
It is not surprising in the face of reality of the economy and revenue shortfalls that all communities are facing," said Hiatt.
If you're planning on doing a lot of driving over the weekend, count yourself lucky for living in Indiana. According to research by the National Motorists Association, only seven states rank better that ours when it comes to treatment of motorists:
Bet this moron can't even spell autism:
A Paoli man convicted of battery and criminal confinement after trying to exorcise demons from a 14-year-old boy with autism was sentenced to house arrest on Thursday.
Monroe Circuit Judge Teresa Harper sentenced Edward Uyesugi to three years in jail, with all but six months suspended. He will serve those six months under house arrest at parents' home in Orange County.
You probably like our Main Street. In fact, you might even think our Main Street is pretty hot stuff. Vehicles can move back and forth on it. Pedestrians can stroll beside it on sidewalks, even cross it! There are storefronts facing it that people can go inside. What more could we possibly ask of a Main Street? Well, it's not accredited, for goodness sake:
Well, aren't we all just stunned and amazed. With nearly 100 million votes case, underdog Kris Allen has won the eight season of "American Idol"! Phhht.
I have a book recommendation for all you true "make no apologies for it" geeks and nerds out there. It's "Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog," which has been out a few years but which I just discovered. It's about -- are you ready? are you ready? -- diagramming sentences, which those of you of, um, a certain age might remember actually doing in school.
Indiana's stimulus money for education has been tallied up, sort of, and -- wow:
It's nice to know the youth of today are still enterprising and creative enough to live by the "necessity is the mother of invention" principle:
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - The Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department arrested two men Tuesday for allegedly using counterfeit money.
"They were low on money so they decided to print money," Detective Chad Hill of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department said
This probably isn't a good time to be overbuilding hotel capacity, huh?
Call it the frugal fan 500.
Ticket sales for Sunday's Indianapolis 500 are holding steady, but race fans and sponsors appear to be cutting corners this year, opting for cheaper choices that could put a pinch not only on local hotels but on the economic impact of the city's most significant tourism event.
Taxpayer-funded study of the week (this one in England, thank goodness):
The assumption has always been that rainy weather is good for ducks. Now a three-year study funded to the tune of £300,000 by the taxpayer has proved it.
It's not just the rich and famous who are saddling their kids with dumb names:
Apple, Suri and Shiloh may be household names because their parents are stars, but a new study of millions of babies finds it's not just celebrities who seek out distinctive names for their kids.
Regular folks do, too, driving down the percentages of those who pick popular names.
A warning shot in California:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted to permanently fix California's "broken budget system." But three times now he has tried and failed to smooth out the state's roller coaster revenues.
Voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected his latest effort, a package of budget-balancing measures that he promised would provide a short-term patch for the current financial crisis and prevent further catastrophe in the future.
The fight over closing the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home always seemed to be about money. The facility was aging, the enrollment was shrinking, and spending millions a year on the place, it was argued, didn't make a lot of sense. The state didn't really respond to the arguments of home supporters, who said it was much more effective for troubled youth than the dismal foster-care system or those mythical community-based solutions that are always promised.
