Whenever there's gun violence in Indiana, Paul Helmke can usually be counted on to blame the state of the law more than the actions of the shooter:
When Daniel Mola shot Christopher Elkins outside a Winfield bar last month, the killing became the town's first homicide.
The president of a national gun-control group says Indiana's lax laws could be part of the problem.
For the "sometimes you can't win" file: Some of the bars in Franklin have a special liquor license that allows customers to buy a closed container of alcohol inside and then take it outside to drink. More people than ever are apparently taking advantage of this ability since the city's smoking ban went into effect earlier this summer. And -- surprise, surprise -- this doesn't please some people:
You know that governor we have in our heads that tells us when we've talked enough and it's time to listen and also frequently advises us not to speak at all? Well, Antonin Scalia's wasn't working this week:
This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is
How could I not comment on Bob Dylan getting questioned by police and escorted out of the area? Most of the articles get a good chuckle out of the fact that these young punk cops had no idea who Dylan was and treated him like some little old man who looked suspicious and acted strange:
Illinois, where it sometimes seems political corruption was invented (it surely was perfected there), gets a little more serious about transparency in government:
The measure will plug many loopholes in the FOIA law and establish a public access counselor under the attorney general to issue binding opinions in records disputes.
[. . .]
Defense lawyers know it is risky to put the accused on the stand and many often recommend against it. Eugene Echols, 44, of Indianapolis, is Exhibit A. He admitted that he performed oral sex on a 5-year-old child and even told police what he did was "not right." But he apparently thought he could get the jury's sympathy with an explanation of his actions:
“My intention was not to harm or hurt.”
[. . .]
Good old Hoosier family values:
Here's a tip for would-be marijuana cultivators.
Don't display your plants in the open windows of houses visible from heavily traveled streets.
Winchester residents Glenn E. Younker, 51, and his son, Jeremiah J. Younker, 26, were arrested Saturday after city police saw marijuana plants, some of them as high as five feet tall, "in plain view" through a second-story window of their apartment in the 500 block of North Main Street.
Not in the running for Mother of the Year:
A Vincennes mother is facing charges for allegedly leaving her 2-year-old daughter alone at home early Sunday morning.
[. . .]
Authorities reportedly went to the tavern and paged Winters, at which time she ran out the back door. Police say she never returned home but was located later that morning in the 600 block of south 13th Street.
You have to admire tenacity in someone:
Authorities said an 86-year-old woman charged with shoplifting wrinkle cream and other items from a Chicago grocery store has been arrested 61 times since 1956. Ella Orko was arrested Sunday afternoon on the North Side after she allegedly stuffed $252 worth of groceries into her pants, including cosmetics, salmon, batteries and instant coffee.
The headline on the story says, "Nude, intoxicated man tough to nab, cops say." Yeah, that's been my experience, too. It took up to 10 police officers to nab the 18-year-old man in question, who had started several fights in a campground and who continued struggling "despite being bitten by a police dog and hit several times with a stun gun."
