The punishment seems a little harsh for the crime here, wouldn't you say?
- A Dillard's employee who was fired after being labeled a "hot dog thief" should not have been denied his unemployment benefits, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled.
Nolan Koewler was fired after Dillard's Fourth of July picnic in 2010 for eating two leftover hot dogs from the refrigerator.
Today's fuddy-duddy, "Dang it, why do they keep replacing the stuff I like with all this newfangled nonsense?" moment:
Walk into any school these days and the kids aren't working on their loops. They're in keyboarding class.
Cursive writing and handwritten letters are the past. Keyboarding, emails and texts are the now -- and the future. Indiana's school curriculum now reflects that.
Beware of the Sign Police:
INDIANAPOLIS -- From banners to flags and full building wraps, a citizens group is raising concerns about the visual impact the 2012 Super Bowl may leave behind on the city.
Indianapolis leaders are considering an ordinance that would allow for an array of temporary signs, including inflatables, cold air balloons and projected image signs, 6News' Kara Kenney reported.
I notice that while I was on vacation, Republican City Councilwoman Liz Brown proposed an ordinance that would prohibit companies from contributing to the mayor's campaign while they are being paid by the city or participating in a city bidding process. An Indiana Election Division official says the ordinance would be illegal because rules on campaign finance are governed by state law.
Hoosier conservatives were dominant and victorious in the General Assembly during the recent session, but now their three major pieces of legislation are on shaky ground. The laws cracking down on illegal immigration and defunding abortion clinics have received rebukes from federal judges, and the sweeping new school voucher law is facing a teacher-backed lawsuit. Questions are being raised about how laws are vetted for legal issues, since so much legislation seems to have flaws this year.
Oh, dear. Indiana is becoming famous again:
An Amish man accused of sexting a minor with graphic photos was arrested after arriving in a horse-drawn buggy for what he thought was a sexual encounter with the 12-year-old girl, WRTV reports.
The nation's largest newspaper publisher is laying off another 700 employees to cope with an unrelenting advertising slump.
Gannett, the owner of USA Today and more than 80 other daily U.S. newspapers, hoped to complete the cuts Tuesday. The layoffs are occurring at most Gannett newspapers but not at USA Today.
Will the last person to leave the profession please turn out the lights?
This does not compute:
South Bend is now an All-America City. The award is presented by the National Civic League to 10 cities each year that demonstrates innovation and describes successful efforts to address local challenges.
This comes only months after South Bend was labeled a dying city by Newsweek Magazine. So how can a city be so good and so bad at the same time?
I don't have much sympathy for Secretary of State Charlie White's excuse for his voting-irregularity problem -- that his complicated personal life made him "practically homeless" for a year and thus confused about where he should vote. That's in the same league as "the dog ate my homework" and "I never would have misbehaved if I'd been sober," not something the state's chief election officer should be saying.
Liberal Washington Post columnist (but I repeat myself) E.J. Dionne Jr. picks on Indiana -- and all the states that followed our example by instituting voter ID laws:
