Hoosier lore

This is no big issue -- I just don't get it:

Police said Sunday that an “America's Most Wanted” television show segment about a missing Indiana University student generated numerous tips, but so far none of them have led to major breakthroughs.

Democrats and Republicans must be quaking in their boots, huh?

Though the Indiana Libertarian Party has not landed a candidate for the 2012 governor's campaign, it has identified an opening to influence the race.

Alert! Alert! It will be safe to open your front door for a few days:

The Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau is spreading the word to local restaurants, businesses and residents that attendees for the first of two consecutive weekends of the Jehovah's Witness Annual Convention will begin arriving today. Organizers expect 5,000 to 6,000 attendees here each of the two weekends. They travel from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The state has announced a sensible policy on immunizations based on the fact that there isn't an unlimited pile of money available to pay for them -- starting now, it will no longer allow county health departments to provide low-cost immunizations to children who have insurance. But the panic is already settling in. This is a move that "some fear will lead to fewer children receiving critical vaccinations."

Juxtaposition of the day -- make your own decision about what it means.

First, some people are working on $135,000 to, among other things, erect a 13-foot statue of Larry Bird at Indiana State University.:

The General has a point:

Bob Knight criticized the NCAA and called the rule Ohio State football players broke when they sold and traded their personal memorabilia "idiotic."

The former Indiana and Texas Tech basketball coach, and an Ohio State alum, spoke to reporters Monday night before the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards ceremony, where he was scheduled to deliver the keynote address.

High-speed-rail advocate Geoff Paddock reaches for common sense and almost makes it:

Before rail supporters set their sights on a sleek, new rail system to Chicago, they should focus on bringing Amtrak back to Fort Wayne for the first time in more than 20 years, said Geoff Paddock, co-founder of the Northeast Indiana Passenger Rail Association.

Professors William Ruger and Jason Sorens have just released their "Freedom in the 50 States" Index and -- wait for it, drum roll please -- Indiana is one of the five freest states, along with New Hampshire, South Dakota, Idaho and Nevada. The least free were New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Too bad:

As graduation day arrives, students will say goodbye to their classmates and teachers. And many are departing without a traditional yearbook to preserve those memories.

State budget cuts and the weak economy are causing elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country to either do away with yearbooks or look for more cost-effective publishing options.

The great star-spangled experiment is over at Goshen College. The college has decided to stop playing an instrumental version of the national anthem at sporting events, followed by a peace prayer:

Some were upset with the school's decision last year because the song's lyrics contain references to using war and military might to defend the country.