Hoosier lore

The New York Times has taken note of the "gathering storm" over the coming right-to-work legislation in the General Assembly:

Impressive:

Gov. Mitch Daniels is placing his early endorsement of a company that makes giant, mobile LED screens on his "oops list."

Daniels stood with Mayor Greg Ballard in October -- two weeks before Ballard's re-election -- to tout the company, Litebox, whose founder, Bob Yanagihara, had promised to employ 1,100 Hoosiers.

Apparently, the General Assembly won't have enough to do in the coming session, so Republican state Sen. Vaneta Becker of Evansville is helping fill the void. A constituent told her of being upset over the "disrespectful" changing of words in the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner"at a school program. Now Becker has introduced a bill proposing that the state set standards for singing and playing the national anthem. I find myself in rare agreement with the ACLU:

Indiana is among the states with the toughest ballot-access requirements for third parties and independent candidates, a fact discussed here a few times. Virginia also belongs to that elite group, with requirements that make it tough even on major-party establishment types, and Rick Perry failed to get enough valid signatures to have his name put on the ballot.

You have to feel sorry for the people at Kroger who must make the decision on what to do about this. They're going to make thousands mad no matter which way they go (just different sets of thousands):

The actions of a Kroger store manager who shot and killed a would-be robber inside the grocery store are being hailed by many as heroic.

So, want to talk about the "1 percent"? Indiana has one member on this list of congressmen who haven't been corruped by money -- the "25 members of Congress with lowest net worth" compiled by the Washington Post:

19. Rep. Marlin A. Stutzman (R-Ind.)

Stutzman had an average net worth of -$84,495 in 2010.

Poor Colts. Not only can't they win when they're supposed to. They can't even lose when they should:

Circuit Judge Marianne Vorhees has rejected a legal challenge by Delaware County bar and tavern owners, who contended the ban on public smoking in the county had hurt their business. That's not that surprising or interesting -- as this Muncie Star Press editorial notes, there have been similar rulings outside Indiana. But her ruling contained some words of wisdom every politician and public official in the state should read.

Ah, who doesn't have fond memories of partying on the bar circuit till 2 a.m., then topping off the night at a greasy spoon for burgers and fries before stumbling home to get sick and wake up with a hangover? Now, we can do it all in just one place!

The White Castle hamburger chain is sipping on the idea of selling alcoholic beverages at its restaurants.

All right, troops. Tenhut! All those ready to get your Indiana automatic refund, take one step forward. Not so fast there, silly Hoosier!