We have an interesting column on today's page from Eleanor Marine, chair of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic board, about the ongoing search for a new music director for the orchestra. It's a lot bigger and more complicated process than you might imagine for a philharmonic in a city this size. They got more than 275 applications.
My sister says everybody in Indianapolis is talking about the bus stop bandits. On Thursday, at least four high school students were victimized at four separate bus stops and robbed of MP3 players and cell phones and probably even their lunch money. Now, two 13-year-old middle school brothers have been attacked at their bus stop. It doesn't even seem to be the same set of attackers -- the dirtbags are copying each other in this lowest-of-the-low crimes:
Mark Souder is being a pouty, whiny Republican obstructionist again. Just because a few fat-cat TV station owners are complaining about the extra expense of sending out dual signals for four months, Souder is refusing to go along with the unanimous vote of the Senate in delaying the Feb. 17 switchover to digital (mandated by Congress) until June 12:
Harrison Square is in trouble. The baseball field is moving right along, but there are growing doubts about the condos and the hotel and the shops. Boy, if we could just turn the corner and get that thing finished. Then the tourists would come and the money would flow and the downtown renaissance would begin. Well, maybe. Let's consider Indianapolis, where sports promoters have been more successful in getting projects off the ground:
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard says he isn't making a power grab, but others aren't so sure. Senate Bill 482, one of those limited-jurisdiction pieces of legislation that invite immediate suspicion, would eliminate townships and give the mayor control of many county government functions:
Opponents question the wisdom of putting too much power into the hands of a single office.
There's been a lot of chatter on libertarian and libertarian-leaning blogs about the "loss or rights" in this Supreme Court decision:
I'm struck by the sympathy being shown for those who suddenly find themselves unemployed:
"These are not just numbers on a page," Obama said. "These are working men and women whose families have been disrupted and whose dreams have been put on hold. We owe it to each of them and to every single American to act with a sense of urgency and common purpose."
A bill in the General Assembly would have Indiana follow some examples from California and New York and require chain restaurants to make nutritional information available to customers at each location. Republican Tim Brown of Crawfordsville, a physician, tells why he voted against the bill in committee:
He said the costs of complying with such a law would lead to job cuts in an industry that was suffering like so many others during this recession.
The sponsor of this alcohol-conrol bill to allow the sale of booze on Election Day won't be heard until the next legislative session, but some liquor store managers already offer a valid argument for it: We have early-voting provisions now, so what's the point of banning sales of that one "official" day?
The Miss America beauty pageant scholarship competition has seemed on its last legs for years now, so I'm glad it lasted long enough for Indiana to get its turn:
Stam overcame 51 other contestants, a throat infection and laryngitis Saturday night to win the crown. She's the first winner from Indiana in the 88-year pageant.
"My state deserves it," said Stam, whose hometown is Seymour.
Just so you don't feel so bad -- Fort Wayne, as the second-largest city in Indiana, a place with no special geographic or cultural feature, is not alone in feeling insecure and in need of a special "brand" to sell itself. The largest city in Canada, with more than 2.5 million people, has an inferiority complex, too:
Others were whimsical: Why, asked one participant, is Toronto afraid to market itself as a great place to come in the winter?
Here's one difference in the Bush and Obama approach to the White House:
An air of informality surrounds the Obama White House that might leave Bush advisers aghast. On Wednesday morning, Mr. Obama was seen in the Oval Office without a suit jacket
The didn't escape or even try to, so this seems like a sensible decision:
BLOOMFIELD, Ind. -- An inmate at a southern Indiana jail who was part of a group that found a way to sneak between cell blocks for sex isn't guilty of escape because he never left the jail.
Greene Superior Court Judge Dena Martin's ruling means escape charges against other inmates likely also will be dismissed.
It's one of my favorite times of the year again, when -- oh, no, another sign the economy is really, really bad:
If you seem to be tearing through those Girl Scout Thin Mints a little faster this year, you aren't imagining things.
Fewer cookies were packaged into Thin Mints, Do-si-dos and Tagalongs boxes this year, and the Lemon Chalet Crème cookies were resized to compensate for the rising cost of baking staples.
Blast those rotten Republican obstructionists!
Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of "petty grievances," President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition yesterday to an economic stimulus plan that he had hoped would receive broad bipartisan support.
What's that saying? If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting:
We all know how we got into this economic mess. We spent too much, borrowed with abandon, and acted like the bills would never come due. So what's the prescription for getting out? Spending more, borrowing more, and acting like the bills will never come due.
Saw two stories seemingly unconnected but interestingly relatable to each other. First, a story about helping us old fogies who wander off:
A state Senate committee voted Wednesday in favor of establishing a Silver Alert system. Similar to Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts would be issued by police, voluntarily broadcast by TV and radio stations and posted on Web sites when an adult is believed to be in danger.
Never mind Barack Obama's pledge to close Gitmo. Could this be the sign that the War on Terror is really over?
Boulders surrounding the Marion Municipal Building that were installed shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, to protect against attackers will now be used as landscaping Matter Park.
Suddenly I like New York Gov. David Paterson a lot more:
New York Gov. David Paterson has chosen Democratic Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton as U.S. Senator from New York, multiple Democratic sources told CNN Friday.
Gillibrand, 42, represents New York's traditionally Republican 20th district.
Most observers thought the General Assembly would be so consumed with passing a balanced two-year budget in the midst of a recession that no other substantive issues would be addressed. Guess all those cynics will now have to eat crow, or, er, well, something else:
The Indiana State Senate this afternoon passed a resolution urging that the sugar cream pie be named the state's official pie.
