Hoosier lore

This must be the day for astounding, unbelievable news. First up is the revelation that many of the same Democrats who ripped Republican senatorial candidate Dan Coats last year for being a lobbyist-- better sit down for this -- are backing Democrat gubernatorial candidate John Gregg, a registered lobbyist in Indiana. Gasp! Hypocrisy! In politics!

The furor isn't dying down over the Indiana Supreme Court's 3-2 ruling that Hoosiers don't have the right to resist if police officers illegally enter their homes. I can't remember the last time a court ruling in Indiana was so quickly and so roundly condemned. The consensus seems to be that the court pretty much gutted the Fourth Amendment, though not everyone puts it quite that strongly.

Indiana has among the laxest gun-permitting statutes in the nation. One restriction even a lot of staunch pro-gun advocates support, sensibly, is a firearms-instruction requirement. You can get a carry permit here without knowing diddly about how to actually use a gun safely. Such instruction might have been a help here:

Oh, goody, more lawyers:

Convinced that Indiana needs more lawyers, Indiana Tech plans to open the state's first new law school in more than a century.

"We haven't had a new law school open in Indiana since 1894," Arthur Snyder, president of the private Fort Wayne-based college, said Monday. "It's about time we did."

[. . .]

Looks like former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg will be the Democratic candidate for governor going up against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Pence next year. That means voters will have a choice between a mid-50s attorney and experienced politician who was once a poltical talk show host and opposes abortion and a mid-50s attorney and experienced politician who was once a political talk show host and opposes abortion. But not to worry if you're looking for real differences between them.

Not quite three hours back, and I already feel a fit of nitpicky pique coming on. The Terre Haue Tribune Star had a story about water quality --

Town residents hope to get to the bottom of well-water concerns affecting that northside neighborhood at a public forum Thursday evening.

Gail Phillips, president of the Terre Town Community Association, said the meeting will be hosted inside the Terre Town Elementary School at 6:30 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend.

The Justice Department doesn't have enough to do without messing around with college football?

The U.S. Justice Department wants to know why the NCAA doesn't have a college football playoff system and says there are "serious questions" about whether the current format to determine a national champion complies with antitrust laws.

Well, better hit the books then:

Conservative elites swoon over Mitch Daniels' fiscal conservative bona fides, but the Indiana governor says he's "probably not" ready for a foreign policy debate with President Barack Obama.

It's one thing to argue that our fiscal problems are so great that we should declare a truce on the "social issues." It's another to presume one's strengths on domestic issues

Whoops!

Indiana voters who had questions about mayoral primaries may have been surprised when they were offered "stimulating conversation" instead.

Mike Pence had planned to announce his gubernatorial intentions on Monday, but delayed it on the news of Osama bin Laden's death:

We thought it would be more appropriate to make that announcement later this week,” Pence said. “This is a day that every American ought to celebrate.”