CARPENTER: The governor finesses controversial issues
To the Matador, we don’t matter. All he has heard so far when he bows ever so deep toward the grandstand is, “Olé!”•
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DOWD: Truth obligations are bigger than Bambi
I started speaking truth to power early. And my older brothers didn’t like it. They told me that archness in a 10-year-old was not welcome.
SOWELL: Facts challenge our beliefs about race
Depressing news about black students’ scoring far below white students on various mental tests has become so familiar that people in different parts of the ideological spectrum long ago developed their different explanations for why this is so. But both may have to do some rethinking, in light of radically different news from England.
FRIEDMAN: Another machine age is upending society
My favorite story in Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s fascinating new book, “The Second Machine Age,” is when the Dutch chess grandmaster Jan Hein Donner was asked how he’d prepare for a chess match against a computer, like IBM’s Deep Blue. Donner replied: “I would bring a hammer.”
TAFT: Just whose downtown is it, anyway?
Downtown Indianapolis was recently ranked No. 1 for livability among smaller cities by Livability.com—gratifying praise after $9.3 billion of reinvestment. Recent debates and plans, however, have raised a fundamental question: Whose downtown is this?
BOEHM: Solid reasons to build justice center now
Mayor Ballard proposes to create a judicial center that would bring the dispersed offices of the criminal courts, prosecutor, public defender and perhaps other agencies together with the county jail in one facility at a location to be determined, and free up the jail site for development.
WESTERHAUS-RENFROW: Diversity still has bad rap in Indiana
What “D” word is used most sparingly or avoided altogether by Hoosier political, business and civic leaders when sharing how to position Indiana for growth and success? a) debt, b) deflation, or c) diversity?
KETZENBERGER: With religion, to welcome one is to welcome all
I read recently that a proposed statue of a goat-headed figure of Satan, known as Baphomet, is a bad idea on the grounds of Oklahoma’s Capitol.
MADISON: Statehouse religion isn’t trending well
I’ve been listing to the Swan Silverstones. “Don’t blame it on the children,” this gospel group sings, which got me thinking about who’s to blame for the failure to regulate all our state’s child care facilities.
BOHANON: Cautious concerning government initiatives
Free-market economists are skeptical of government programs designed to promote economic development.
ODLE: State needs bold, imaginative leadership
I don’t think anyone can disagree we need a strategy for making the slogan “Indiana Works” a reality.
PARR: What Indiana should address in 2014
Compared with neighboring states, Indiana is doing well. For that, Hoosiers can be thankful.
SHELLA: Stars might align for old deals to happen
Dwayne Sawyer just set a new world record for quickest rise and fall of an Indiana statewide elected official. His tenure as auditor fell just short of four months.
SPEEDY: Private sector could put resources to better use
Each session, I work to find efficient and effective ways to streamline government functions. Bolstering our city’s infrastructure is vital for sustained economic growth.
MILLER: Local voters should be given shot at referendum
After reviewing the facts surrounding a proposed expansion of mass-transit services in central Indiana, gathering input from local officials, meeting with the public, and listening to concerns about establishing an expanded transit system, legislators are working to develop a plan that is both efficient and cost-effective.
GARRISON: Good ideas during the great storm, but bad policy
Folks in the business of passing laws and enforcing them must, of necessity, impose somebody’s idea of what is good on the rest of us.
LANOSGA: Got a warrant for my cell phone information?
I’ve written a fair bit in these pages about the pitfalls of official secrecy—the often unjustified withholding of information by public agencies at all levels of government.
SOUDER: Traditional conservatism is making a comeback
It would be easy to miss the significance of the seven Indiana House Republicans all supporting the 2013 budget deal.
KRUGMAN: Mild depression might be the new normal
Spend any time around monetary officials and one word you’ll hear a lot is “normalization.” Most such officials accept that now is no time to be tightfisted, that for the time being credit must be easy and interest rates low.
BLOW: Plenty of racism above, below the surface
In an interview with the BBC last month, Oprah Winfrey said of President Obama: “There is a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs, in some cases, and maybe even many cases, because he’s African-American.”