In 1854, the Indiana Democratic Party was led by Jesse Bright, a man described as “hateful and extraordinarily ambitious.” He rose to power as a bully and apparently remained one. His pugnaciousness was no small part of the events that led to a two-year period in which Indiana had only one U.S. senator.
Justice John Paul Stevens retired in 2011 after 35 years of distinguished service on the U.S. Supreme Court. He has now published a book advocating adoption of six amendments to the Constitution.
It always was a little awkward entering a polling place during the primary and declaring to the poll judges which ballot I wanted. As a news reporter, I didn’t like having to declare my affinity for one party or the other.
The young woman called my law office, tearfully pouring out her story. As an 18-year-old at a graduation party, she had been arrested and charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana. She was booked and made bond, pleaded guilty, went through substance abuse evaluation, did community service, paid a fine, and went through probation for a year.
Have you ever seen a commercial for what looks like a fantastic product? Despite some convincing advertisements, after five easy payments and much anticipation these products often fail to deliver what they promise.
If you’re reading this, you are probably not buffeted by daily waves of physical terror. You may fear job loss or emotional loss, but you probably don’t fear that somebody is going to slash your throat or that a gang will invade your house come dinnertime, carrying away your kin and property. We take a basic level of order for granted.
his month, four presidents journeyed to Austin, Texas, to address the Civil Rights Summit and remark on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s legacy on the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
I am an optimist. I believe that America’s best days are still to come and today’s children will live a life far better than their parents and grandparents.
My mother was a diehard Democrat. She’s been gone for more than five years now, but I can still hear her telling me to be quiet when Ann DeLaney started to speak on “Indiana Week in Review.”
The new movie about Noah and his ark, combined with the antics of the General Assembly, led me to setting the fabled story here in the Hoosier state.
My congregation recently purchased a former day care in the middle of a business district to house our congregation and private school. Before purchasing this facility, we did our due diligence. We checked with zoning, had an appraisal and inspection, brought in the plumber and electrician. Satisfied with all the reports, we went ahead and purchased the building.
The North American Soccer League will have 10 members when Indy Eleven joins this year. Teams in the NASL play 12 games in the early season and after a four-week break in July play another 14 games. Fourteen are played at home.
After years of trying, mass transit advocates have finally steered a central Indiana transit bill through the General Assembly. It authorizes county councils and, in some cases, township boards to approve ballot referenda imposing up to a 0.25-percent transit income tax.
Something extraordinary happened in this year’s legislative session. But it might not be what you think.
Mitch Daniels made an almost iconoclastic observation about evaluating the value of a college (or university) education. He implied that the arbiter of its value is not reflected necessarily in grade point average or the number of Ph.D’s matriculating but in the degree of success students achieve as they find a career and then how quickly they advance in their chosen vocation.
Some things are just hard to measure.That’s the real message of the teacher evaluations the Indiana Department of Education released this month. Twenty-five percent of Hoosier teachers were rated highly effective and another 61 percent as effective. Less than half a percent were deemed “ineffective.”
After the educational community waited months for results to be released, the Department of Education made public its grades on teacher effectiveness in the 2012-2013 school year. Only 2 percent were rated “needs improvement” and even fewer—less than half of 1 percent—were “ineffective.”
I hope you will join me in observing Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is marked each April across our country.
Now that April has arrived, it’s time for spring cleaning. Let’s hope the growing stink surrounding state Rep. Eric Turner prompts the General Assembly to begin a cleanup of its own.
I get it. I understand why Democrats voted for the Affordable Care Act. I understand party loyalty and I understand that going against your party on such a key piece of legislation would be extremely difficult.
