Hoosier lore

Illinois is apparently thinking of going the toll-road-lease route, in a deal that could be worth $8 billion, even more than Indiana got for its lease, but after toll-road authorities have already started investing millions in it. Our own toll-road lease is already figuring in the debate in Illinois.

It's always kind of eerie and sometimes amusing when an ousider tries to figure out your psyche, even when it's something as transparent as the prevailing political culture. It may well be true that "understanding Indiana politics" could be "the key for national Democrats," but good luck to them on that undertaking.

Good gracious. People who are breaking the law by being in this country skip work to join a rally to demand that people who are in this country illegally be left alone and are fired as a result and then:

All you runners and swimmers and aerobics freaks, eat your hearts out. This Hoosier is my kind of centenarian:

CONNERSVILLE, Ind. -- George Blevins bowled his first frame when he was 7 years old _ and he says he hasn't stopped bowling in the 93 years since.

The 100-year-old Richmond resident has a 151 average and plays about three times a week. A few years ago he switched from a 16-pound ball to a 12-pound ball so he doesn't get as tired.

If there was ever a development about which it could be said I have mixed feelings, this is surely it:

Any time editorial pages start preaching the same sermon, it's right to be skeptical. But I think the Marion Chronicle-Tribune,  the Evansville Courier & Press and the South Bend Tribune all raise the right question.

Yesterday, I posted a link to a National Review article praising the efforts of Gov. Mitch Daniels in making Indiana more business-friendly. The headline on the article was "Open for business," which was meant, and I took to mean, as a compliment to the governor. Tracy Warner of The Journal Gazette (or perhaps I should have said "another newspaper in town" and made you guess), disagrees:

Nothing can possibly go wrong with Indiana's new law legalizing fireworks, right?

John Miller saw two people playing with the grenade Monday. He took it from them and brought it to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office.

For those who wondered how far public officials would try to go in eminent-domain seizures following the Supreme Court's outrageous Kelo decision, the case to watch is the one involving the exclusive Long island country club. Officials want to take it because they think it's a darn nice place and they want to run it themselves, as a public golf course.

Those who are annoyed with Gov. Mitch Daniels' speed-of-light changing of the natural order of things in Indiana AND distrustful of The National Review, that bastion of traditional conservatism, will just love this, a glowing National Review tribute to Daniels called "Indiana Is Open for Business":