A look at some features of a budget bill passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels tonight: – Spends about $27.8 billion over the two-year budget cycle. – Public schools will see an average state funding increase of about 1 percent in the first year and 0.3 percent […]
The Indiana General Assembly passed a two-year state budget today, narrowly averting a large-scale state government shutdown that would have begun just after midnight. The Democrat-led House voted 62-37 for the $28.7 billion budget late this afternoon, and the Republican-ruled Senate passed it 34-16 about two hours later. The bill was quickly signed into law […]
A former pastor accused of bilking thousands of investors out of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme aimed at their Christian beliefs has been charged with securities fraud. The Indiana secretary of state’s office says warrants on 10 felony counts each were issued today for Vaughn Reeves of Sullivan and three of his sons. […]
The NCAA has rejected an appeal from former Indiana University men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. The Indianapolis-based NCAA said today that the NCAA Division I infractions Committee has upheld the violations stemming from more than 100 impermissible phone calls made while Sampson was coaching at Indiana. Sampson received five years of potential penalties when the […]
A 111-year-old home for troubled children in Indianapolis will remain open for at least one more year even though state officials plan to stop sending youths to the facility. The Indianapolis City-County Council last night approved $450,000 to keep the Marion County Children’s Guardian Home in operation with its director and a part-time worker as […]
Unemployment rates rose in all the largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month in May, the Labor Department said this morning. The unemployment rate in Kokomo jumped to 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percentage points from a year ago, the largest increase of all metro areas. The second-highest jump occurred in Indiana’s Elkhart-Goshen area. […]
A burst water main caused some downtown Kokomo streets to be blocked off and numerous businesses and offices to be warned about the safety of their drinking water. Indiana American Water crews worked overnight to repair the 12-inch line and did not immediately know what caused yesterday’s break. The company issued a warning for much […]
Federal authorities are pressing a probe of 10 associates of Bernard Madoff despite a sentence that means the mastermind of one of the biggest financial frauds in history will spend the rest of his days behind bars, The Associated Press has learned. A person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, […]
Leaders of the Democrat-controlled House and Republican-ruled Senate said last night that they were very close to agreeing on a new two-year state budget, and votes on the plan were expected today. Lawmakers must pass a new budget or a stopgap funding measure by midnight, when the current spending plan expires, or Republican Gov. Mitch […]
Indiana is running so short on prison space that it has just 26 beds available for its worst offenders. Inmates are already sleeping in beds stacked three high in one prison, and officials are considering renovating common areas like gymnasiums into cells. Department of Correction leaders thought their prison crowding problem would be alleviated – […]
Historic swindler Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison today for a fraud so extensive that the judge said he needed to send a symbolic message to potential imitators and to victims who demanded harsh punishment. Scattered applause and whoops broke out in the crowded Manhattan courtroom after U.S. District Judge Denny Chin […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to […]
Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentence in New York this morning.Prior to his sentencing, Madoff apologized and said he “will live with this pain, this torment, for the rest of my life.” Before the apology, numerous victims […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely […]
Indiana legislative leaders are back at the Statehouse today as they seek a budget agreement before the current budget expires at the end of tomorrow. House Speaker Patrick Bauer says he and fellow Democrats may be willing to accept a two-year budget instead of the one-year spending plan they previously proposed. But Bauer said today […]
Opening ceremonies are being held today for a new $336 million casino in southeastern Indiana. The new Hollywood Casino on the Ohio River at Lawrenceburg opened up to its first gamblers on Thursday, replacing the 13-year-old Argosy Casino. The new boat is more than twice the size of previous one and has about 4,400 gambling […]
Indiana University will tap into its savings account to keep classes running if lawmakers don’t pass a state budget by tomorrow and state government shuts down. IU officials say the school has $200 million to $300 million in cash reserves that it can use to continue operations in July and August if necessary. The university […]
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard has revised his plan to help the city’s struggling stadium agency out of a projected $47 million deficit for next year. The new proposal to rescue the Capital Improvement Board is similar to others brought to the Indiana Legislature, only this one does not include an additional $13 million in spending […]
The first round of budget negotiations between Democratic and Republican lawmakers got off to a slow start yesterday with less than a week to go before Indiana’s current spending plan expires. Democrats who lead the House and Republicans who control the Senate touched on a few differences in their budget plans during a public conference […]
Indiana House and Senate fiscal leaders are set to begin serious negotiations on a new state budget. Senate Republicans passed their version of a budget yesterday, setting the stage for House-Senate conference committee negotiations to begin during a public meeting today. House Ways and Means Chairman William Crawford says he hopes the committee will work […]
