I've always been taught that an instituion can't be defamed; only individuals can be. What is "defamed," after all, is a person's good reputation. But perhaps they do things differently in northwest Indiana, or maybe the stories are just being sloppily written:
An emergency room incident involving alleged patient abuse at a Crown Point hospital has escalated into dueling lawsuits between the region's largest hospital system and the patient's daughter-in-law.
This will drive the Hoosier road warriors insane:
Bucking a tide of resistance in state capitals and a free-spirited breed of motorcyclists, the National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday said states should require riders to wear federally approved helmets.
Man, that's a lot of White Castles
The Indiana State Board of Accounts says East Chicago Police Chief Augusto Flores and Human Resources Director Hector Rivera must repay $1,340 to the police department's petty cash for disallowed expenses -- including a run to White Castle, known for its hamburgers called "sliders."
I'm not sure I quite understand the hysteria over Four Loko. Four states have banned the caffeinated malt beverage, and the Chicago-based manufacturer has bowed to pressure and agreed to stop shipping it to New York. And in Indiana, beverage retailers are trying to get out in front of lawmakers:
Taking big steps on important issues for the wrong reasons. A statewide smoking ban, for example:
Even the lobbyist who represents some of the principal opponents of a statewide ban said it's just a matter of time before smoking is prohibited across Indiana.
I had cereal for breakfast this morning. Yesterday, I had eggs and bacon. Before that, I had sausage gravy and biscuits, and before that, pancakes swimming in Log Cabin syrup. (And some of you suspected I wasn't capable of having an adventurous vacation!) Alas, only today's breakfast would win approval in San Francisco:
There might be an interesting evolution of "American opinion" unfolding:
While California's marijuana ballot initiative is garnering a lot of attention this election cycle, Gallup finds that nationally, a new high of 46% of Americans are in favor of legalizing use of the drug, and a new low of 50% are opposed. The increase in support this year from 44% in 2009 is not statistically significant, but is a continuation of the upward trend seen since 2000.
Steven R. Farrell, standing trial in Benton County on an accusation that he murdered his fiancee on the day they were to have been married, could have chosen his words just a bit more carefully:
The prosecution submitted as evidence a letter that Farrell wrote to a friend. In this letter, Farrell wrote that a second friend had given him a lot of ways "to do away with Christine."
When given the opportunity to respond to this letter, Farrell said, "I never wanted to kill her. I loved that woman to death."
The public drunkenness arrest of the Colt's punter has generated enough publicity that people may be learning some things about public intoxication law they didn't know before:
It's not an uncommon scene for officers, but deciding who is simply intoxicated, and who presents a public problem can be tricky.
The debate over illegal immigration isn't gone, it's just simmering below the surface, and "simmering" is exactly the right word. There's still a lot of anger out there over the possibility of amnesty, and it will bubble up again when those pushing for it inevitably bring it up again. And the issue of birthright citizenship is not going to remain a "crackpot idea of the fringe right" much longer. Lawmakers in 15 states have announced a nationwide effort to change the way the 14th Amendment is interpreted.
