I know there have to be government policies, and I know those policies have to be followed. Those of us who write about accountability for public funds even insist on it. Still, the bean-counting bureaucrats should use a little common sense. If I understand this story correctly, this is what happened:
1. County employee attends a conference in Chicago. Instead of paying $40 a day for parking , she has her husband drop her off and pick her up.
Yes, we are caught in the mortgage crisis when it comes to subprime loans and the rate of foreclosures. But there is this side to Indiana real estate, too:
Riding the housing boom that started in 1991, prices for all houses here and across the country have climbed from a time when a "luxury home" was in the $300,000 to $500,000 range, says Briscoe.
In 1990, the U.S. Census report for Indiana listed 5,961 homes valued at $300,000 or more.
Indiana may soon stand alone:
BOISE -- Two women are among the final four candidates to take the seat on the Idaho Supreme Court left vacant by the August retirement of Linda Copple-Trout, who was the first woman on the state's highest court when she was appointed by former Gov. Cecil Andrus in 1992.
State Sen. Tom Wyss was quoted recently giving an honest assessment of why Indiana requires seat belts but not motorcycle helmets: Car drivers don't organize, but any legislator who proposes helmet laws will suddenly find scores of motorcycle riders circling his block in protest. Wonder what the senator thinks of this:
Easy access to the beach seems to be a key factor in deciding which state people would choose to live. According to a new Harris Poll, California remains number 1 this year, followed by Florida, which moved up from number three and Hawaii, which has dropped from number two. Florida has been in the top three ever since this question was first asked in 1997.
Dan Carpenter, the Indianapolis Star columnist who sneers at everybody who is not as liberal and enlightened as he is, might have gone a sneer too far for patient Star readers:
A state that names a hospital after a football player and a university building after a comedian would seem pretty safe from any suspicion of putting on airs.
What typical problem of behavior-modifying education efforts does this campaign typify?
Indiana is among eight states running public service announcements offering personal testimonials about how methamphetamines affect the lives of the users and their families.
The federally funded media blitz targets mainly young adults.
The Crime Library Web site has a long story on the suspicious deaths of two Centerville (Wayne County) teenagers days apart in their own homes. After the first girl died on Saturday, Sept. 1, police said nothing. Only after her sister died five days later did police list the first death as a homicide and the second as suspicious. Local authorities still aren't talking much, and the mainstream media outlets seem to be taking to their cue from that.
Should teens be banned from using cell phones while driving? Of course -- do we really even need a debate?
But in light of California's potential ban on teens using the electronic devices while driving, is something similar on the horizon for Hoosiers?
Wagner's initial response was somewhat skeptical.
"You've got to remember," he said. "We live in Indiana. It's not going to happen here."
Here's somebody's idea of the top 10 "most evil women" in history. I don't know enough to judge its accuracy, but note the number of serial killers, for those of you who think that is exclusively a male enterprise. One of them is Belle Gunness of LaPorte, Ind., whom I read a lot about when I lived in Michigan City:
