Free Republic

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) likes to present itself as the champion of the little guy. But officials of SEIU Healthcare—“the fastest-growing union of healthcare, child care, home care and nursing home workers in the Midwest”—aren’t averse to a little high-living. For example, in FY 2013 officials of SEIU’s Illinois-Indiana healthcare division (SEIU-HCII) chalked up more than $1.1 million in travel expenses—$13,000 of it on D.C. hotel expenses rung up at President Obama’s second inaugural. The union designated all that travel as “representation activity.” Also claimed as a “representation” expense: a $6,000 liquor store tab for “beverages for...

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – In direct response to questions about the Malaysia Airlines crash that killed nearly 300 people, U.S. Senator Dan Coats, R–Indiana, suggested Friday that the United States and other world leaders should condemn President Vladimir Putin and Russia by imposing even tougher economic sanctions that would “cripple” that nation’s economy. “I think we need to send the message that you are not going to get away with this without a paying a real price. And that real price needs to be ratcheted up now – not later,” Coats told 24-Hour News 8, referring also to the country’s continued...

FULL TITLE: High school teacher, 27, charged with child seduction after she 'made out with and fondled' male student A former teacher has been accused of seducing one of her students and engaging in 'touching, fondling and kissing' during two dates. Brooke Wilson was charged with child seduction following a police investigation in Goshen, Indiana. The 27 year old is alleged to have gone on two dates with the student who was aged between 16 and 18. A probable cause document filed in Elkhart Superior Court reveals that the Spanish teacher admitted she had 'made out' with the student. The...

The 4th of July is starting out with a real bang! Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky announced July 2 it is closing three Indiana clinics this summer, in Bedford, Madison, and Warsaw. None of the three are abortion clinics; they are all feeders. On its website the Planned Parenthood affiliate indicates the Bedford and Warsaw clinics will shutter on July 25. No date is listed for Madison’s closure. Planned Parenthood’s demographic winter According to the Indiana Economic Digest, Planned Parenthood unwittingly admitted partial responsibility for the Bedford clinic’s demise - “a decline in patients coming to Planned Parenthood. It...

I didn’t expect to wake up this morning. Why? Because I thought the world was going to come to an end yesterday. At least that’s what i was led to believe after listening to the wailing and gnashing of teeth over federal Judge Richard Young’s common sense ruling that Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage, like bans in most jurisdictions, has no rational basis so it was thrown out as unconstitutional. Hundreds of people lined up at the Marion County Clerk’s Office to tie the knot. A number of them had been together longer as partners than most heterosexual couples have...

The Rev. Peter Gregory of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne said he’s not surprised by Wednesday’s court ruling that overturns Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriages. “It’s a disappointment, but not a surprise the judge ruled in this way,” Gregory said. “The disappointment is that he failed to recognize what marriage is – a union between one man and one woman – and the unique social good that marriage between a man and a woman is.” While the courts may be sending the nation in a headlong rush toward gay marriage, Gregory said they will not be the final...

Utah and Indiana became the latest U.S. states to see their bans on same-sex marriage struck down following separate rulings in federal court on Wednesday. "It is wholly illogical to believe that state recognition of love and commitment of same-sex couples will alter the most intimate and personal decisions of opposite-sex couples," a three-judge panel in the Utah case said while upholding a lower court ruling, NPR reported. Back in December, Utah briefly became the 18th state where gay couples received the right to marry, after a federal district judge ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. The...

federal judge struck down Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday in a ruling that immediately allows gay couples to wed. U.S. District Judge Richard Young ruled that the state's ban violates the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause because it treats couples differently based on their sexual orientation. "Same-sex couples, who would otherwise qualify to marry in Indiana, have the right to marry in Indiana," he wrote. "These couples, when gender and sexual orientation are taken away, are in all respects like the family down the street. The Constitution demands that we treat them as such."

In a decision coming from Utah, a federal appeals court on Wednesday for the first time backed gay marriage. The Denver-based U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court decision that struck down the state's bans on same-sex marriage. The ruling, which was stayed, sets the stage for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which touched off the current round of legal fighting on the issue when it struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act last year.

A federal judge struck down Indiana's ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday in a ruling that immediately allowed gay couples to wed. The court clerk in Marion County, home to Indianapolis, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couple about an hour after U.S. District Judge Richard Young ruled that the state law violates the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause. "Same-sex couples, who would otherwise qualify to marry in Indiana, have the right to marry in Indiana," he wrote.

State Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte, will join some 105 delegates from 33 states at the Indiana Statehouse on Thursday and Friday for the second meeting of the Convention of the States planning group dubbed The Mount Vernon Assembly. Arnold did not attend the group's first session in December at George Washington's Virginia estate, but said he jumped at the chance to participate this time when Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, an organizer of the planning group, asked Arnold to join him and state Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, as Indiana's delegation. However, because an Article V convention never has been...

[ snip ] ... Ohio ranks first for schools using Indian nicknames and mascots, with 219. The roll call of individual Ohio schools is right there on the website for your scrutiny. For comparison's sake, [ snip ] (coming in at #8) Indiana, 112; ... [ snip ] Finally, and perhaps taking their cue from the professional team in Cleveland, Ohio ranks first for total number of schools using the nickname "Indians," with 122 offenders. [ snip end of excerpt ]my 2 cents below... With the Great State of Indiana and its capitol as Indianapolis, I think that both of...

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan can threaten us all he wants; we’re finished with Common Core in Oklahoma. Last week Governor Mary Fallin made it official, signing into law legislation repealing the law’s impact on our state’s education standards. As a state representative, I was proud to have voted to stop Common Core. As a conservative, I’m outraged I had to in the first place. We need to be standing up for school choice, not whitewashing standards that are better for bureaucrats than parents and children. At any rate, the Obama administration is none too happy with us. “We partner...

Education: Oklahoma joins South Carolina and Indiana in opposing one-size-fits-all U.S. education standards that have turned schools into leftist re-education camps, with political statements masquerading as instruction. Not as much attention has been paid to Common Core as has been paid to ObamaCare. But like the faux Greek columns in Denver at Barack Obama's nomination in 2008, they were supposed to be the twin pillars of his legacy. Both, however, are fake promises, Trojan horses for government control of key sectors of American society and our economy. Five years ago, 46 states gave up a big chunk of their sovereignty...

Indiana treasurer Richard Mourdock warned that the possibility of U.S. bankruptcy will push the country the way of Nazi Germany during a speech on Saturday. "The people of Germany in a free election selected the Nazi party because they made great promises that appealed to them because they were desperate and destitute. And why is that? Because Germany was bankrupt," Mourdock said to a crowd gathered at the Indiana Republican Convention on Saturday... The term-limited Mourdock made his remarks as part of a farewell speech...

Republican Representative Jackie Walorski of Indiana almost drove a witness to tears during a meeting of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two men in bright yellow safety vests stroll through a rundown neighborhood where boarded-up houses and padlocked storefronts stand as silent witnesses to a wave of street violence that threatens to taint the reputation of Indiana's capital city. As they trade small talk with women and children sitting on their porches, the men from the Ten Point Coalition aren't just being friendly. They're trying to keep people from killing each other - part of a broad effort to tamp down the bloodshed using methods old and new, proven and unproven. The number of homicides in Indianapolis is...

Cops use catheter in invasive procedure against Indiana motorist whose blood alcohol level was below the legal limit. A motorist whose blood alcohol level was below the legal limit earlier this month filed a $11 million federal lawsuit against Schererville, Indiana for allowing its police force to use a catheter to forcibly obtain a urine sample from him two years ago. On May 20, 2012, William D. Clark and Alyssa Madson were driving through Schererville on US 30. At around 11pm, Officer Matthew Djukic hit the lights on his squad car and pulled Clark for allegedly speeding. Smelling alcohol, Officer...

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Michael Petrilli. Ever since election results from May 5th were finalized, a number of voices have loudly touted cherry-picked upsets—namely, the primary defeats of two incumbent Republicans in the Indiana legislature—to build what they want to present as a larger narrative of rising opposition to Common Core. This narrative is misleading. In fact, the GOP primary results from throughout this month showed, if anything, that opposing Common Core is not a ticket to office for a right-flank challenge to an incumbent, and the efficacy of attempts to take out Republicans from the right...

<p>An Indiana judge came under heavy criticism Tuesday after he ordered no prison time for a man convicted of charges related to repeatedly drugging and sexually assaulting his wife.</p> <p>On Monday, the Los Angeles Times wrote about the April conviction of David Wise, 52, of Indianapolis, on six felony charges of rape and deviate conduct that normally carry prison terms of six to 20 years apiece.</p>

A student group at the University of Notre Dame advocating traditional marriage has been denied official recognition as a campus club at the iconic Catholic institution, although members vow to appeal the decision. The group, Students for Child-Oriented Policy (SCOP), was rejected in an April 30 letter from the university’s Student Activities Office to Tiernan Kane, the club’s proposed president. The decision was based on a recommendation by the university’s Club Coordination Council, a division of student government, that found the club’s mission “closely mirrored” that of other undergraduate student clubs at the 12,000-student university.

NY Daily News: Third case of MERS confirmed in Illinois resident The unnamed resident tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome after having contact with the first patient in Indiana, who contracted the virus while traveling in Saudi Arabia. The second case was reported in Florida, but is not linked to the other two

It looks as if Indiana may soon join the list of red states signing up for the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. Republican Gov. Mike Pence, after months of discussions with the Obama administration, offered a plan Thursday to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income uninsured Hoosiers. About two dozen states still haven't joined the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion, which extends coverage to low-income adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Some states like Texas and Louisiana appear entrenched in their opposition to major elements of the health care law. Other Republican states, however, are still...

And Another Republican Governor Embraces ObamaCare's Medicaid Expansion Yesterday we covered how Arkansas Republicans went along with ObamaCare, today another GOP Governor drinks the Kool-Aid. Et tu, Mike Pence? More than a year in the making, HIP 2.0, as his staff has nicknamed it, would replace traditional Medicaid for all non-disabled Hoosiers ages 19 to 64 with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. If accepted by the Obama administration, it would expand coverage to an additional 350,000 Hoosiers who now lack a viable health insurance option, the governor's staff estimates. ... If approved, the move could...

When someone hears bureaucratic terms like “compliance, mandates and penalties,” they might think of the EPA, the IRS, or these days, the Department of Health and Human Services. But another federal government department is fast adopting the language of strict and onerous regulation. Annoyed that Indiana wants to extricate themselves from the Common Core education standards, the U.S. Department of Education is erecting procedural obstacles to make this as difficult possible. At stake for Hoosiers is $200 million in federal education funds. The Obama Administration is using “No Child Left Behind” waivers to warn Indiana officials of the penalties they...

I’m old enough to remember when people thought the GOP had a strong field lined up for the next cycle, with no need for dark horses. Which is to say, I’m more than six months old.Pencemania? Mike Pence is also quietly cultivating influential Washington figures such as Bill Kristol and Gary Bauer, while becoming one of the loudest voices attacking Common Core, a set of education benchmarks that has sparked a revolt among tea party activists.The moves all bear the hallmarks of a potential run for president in 2016 — and some Republican leaders have begun talking up Pence as...

DIANAPOLIS, IN, May 8, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- Pro-family and religious groups showed their clout in Indiana politics Tuesday, ousting two Republicans who opposed a marriage amendment earlier this year and successfully defending several vulnerable allies. Two Republican members of the state House, Kathy Heuer and Rebecca Kubacki, lost their races after opposing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex “marriage” in the state. In addition to ousting Heuer and Kubacki in favor of Christopher Judy and Curt Nisly, respectively, family groups made sure Rep. Eric Turner won against a challenger despite an ethics controversy.

On Tuesday, two nationally-eyed primaries here in Indiana had Tea Party challengers knocking out sitting state representatives over two major issues: National Common Core education mandates and GOP leaders’ refusal to protect natural marriage despite supermajorities in both houses. Curt Nisly and Christopher Judy beat Reps. Rebecca Kubacki and Kathy Heuer handily with 65 percent and 57 percent, respectively, of the votes tallied by the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette’s press time Tuesday. Dozens of motivated moms, dads, and grandparents had spent Saturdays canvassing quiet suburban neighborhoods on Judy and Nisly’s behalf, passing out flyers while wearing navy shirts that read, “Common...

On Friday, the U. S. Department of Education sent a letter to Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, threatening to revoke the state’s waiver from No Child Left Behind – because Indiana exited the Common Core national standards last month. The letter states: “IDOE (Indiana Department of Education) met ED (Department of Education) requirements in its approved ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act/[No Child Left Behind]) flexibility request through the 2013-14 school year by adopting and implementing standards common to a significant number of States. Because the IDOE will no longer implement those standards, IDOE must amend its ESEA flexibility request and...

I voted at 7:15 and there were already 15 votes. Voted for Brannon in NC. Please use this thread to note activity, etc. for this day of primaries.

Madison Circuit Court Division 3 Judge Thomas Newman Jr. said during the sentencing of Iquise Taylor, 17, that the assault ended the 93-year-old Rudolf’s dream of continuing to live in the Anderson home built by her husband. “The age of the victim is an aggravating circumstance,” Newman said. “It affected her lifestyle.” Taylor was handed a 50-year sentence on charges of burglary, criminal deviant conduct, criminal confinement and strangulation. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. Taylor entered pleas of guilty but mentally ill last month. “We’re pleased he got the maximum,” Rudolf’s daughter, Tresa Hale, said following the...

This weekend on “Fox News Sunday,” anchor Chris Wallace credited his guest, Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, with leading the nation as the “first state to fall out of the Common Core national education standards.” If only it were true. Wallace didn’t do his homework. And presidential aspirant Pence was too busy daydreaming about 2016 to correct him. Reality check: Last week, Pence faced the anger of hundreds of Indiana parents, educators and activists at a public Indiana Business Roundtable meeting to discuss his phony charade. The protesters openly booed Pence’s derision of critics as out-of-staters and elitists. They roared...

It used to be that if you went to a college-level debate tournament, the students you’d see would be bookish future lawyers from elite universities, most of them white. In matching navy blazers, they’d recite academic arguments for and against various government policies. It was tame, predictable, and, frankly, boring. No more. These days, an increasingly diverse group of participants has transformed debate competitions, mounting challenges to traditional form and content by incorporating personal experience, performance, and radical politics. These “alternative-style” debaters have achieved success, too, taking top honors at national collegiate tournaments over the past few years. But this...

A virus that has killed more than 100 people in the Middle East has been found in the United States for the first time, in an Indiana health care worker who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, federal health officials said on Friday. The man, whose name, age and exact occupation have not been released, is in stable condition in an Indiana hospital, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of respiratory diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is in isolation and receiving oxygen. A single American case of the virus — called MERS, for Middle East respiratory syndrome...

The first U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus has been reported in Indiana, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The patient is a health-care provider who recently traveled to Saudi Arabia to provide health care, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service and director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The person, an American male, traveled on April 24 from Riyadh to London, then to Chicago, and took a bus to Indiana, officials said. He began experiencing shortness of breath, coughing, and fever on April...

Updated 6:37 p.m. | Sen. Ted Cruz gathered a group of House conservatives in his office Tuesday night, talking about immigration and House GOP leadership elections slated for after the midterm elections. As CQ Roll Call first reported last October, Cruz held a secret meeting with members at Tortilla Coast during the height of the government shutdown drama. Many of these same Republicans are the agitators who aren’t happy with Speaker John A. Boehner. The Texas Republican gathered roughly 10 members of the GOP Conference at 8 p.m. Tuesday for a 90-minute session that included candy bars, crackers and soda....

Frustrated with President Barack Obama’s reaction to Russian action in Ukraine, a group of Republican senators said Wednesday they will introduce legislation outlining a more muscular response. “What we’ve seen from the administration is a lot of rhetoric,” Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. The White House has been dealing “with the situation after something bad has already occurred,” he said. Earlier this week, violence flared up in another area of Ukraine that hugs the Russian border, as the new government in Kiev criticized local police...

The slaughter of Democrat sacred cows continues and writing it off as mere coincidence becomes harder. It started several weeks back with a series of FBI raids; on the Speaker of the Rhode Island Assembly, an openly Gay married bi-racial man. From there in rapid succession there were FBI raids/arrests and/or indictments of the Black mayor of Charlotte North Carolina – bribe taking; a White Illinois State Senator – child pornography; a Black New York State Assemblyman – padding his expense account; a Black female Indiana County treasurer – stealing county funds; a Chinese American California State Senator- gun running...

One summer day last July, a six-year-old boy was walking across a dune when he disappeared, falling into a deep, narrow hole in the sand. This and two other holes that have since appeared at Indiana's Mount Baldy are unlike anything scientists have seen before—it could be an entirely new geological phenomenon. After being buried for three horrifying hours in the eleven-foot-deep hole, the boy was fortunately rescued. But the incident left an impression on geologist Erin Argyilan, who happened to be doing research at Mount Baldy that day and heard his parents' terrified screams. "I couldn't help in the...

Governor Brewer has been considered a friend of second amendment supporters.   When she was under threat of reelection, she signed constitutional carry into law.  Under her watch, Arizona has taken the lead as the most advanced state in the union when scored on restoring second amendment rights. Other states are striving to catch up.  Kansas passed a bill to make sure that public buildings would only ban people carrying guns if they effectively did so for legally armed citizens and criminals alike.  Indiana passed a law ending their "roaming school zones", where legally armed citizens could be turned into...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest said Wednesday that he asked coach Rick Carlisle for time off because of a busy schedule that included promoting a soon-to-be released rap album, which led to his two-game benching. Artest held a short news conference before Wednesday night's 102-68 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, and in his usual ambiguous manner, tried to explain why he was benched. Artest said that he asked Carlisle for as much as a month off to heal his aching body and recover from a particularly busy schedule. "My body has been aching, I was going...

Spring seems to be taking forever to arrive, but we are not really seeing the worst of the late spring. The Great Lakes, and Lake Superior is holding on to their ice. As a result the freighters that normally travel the Great Lakes are having their fair share of problems. This has been a very long winter season, beginning with the Great Lakes freezing on December 6th, not allowing Northwest Indiana steel mills to stockpile materials. Glen Nekvasil, vice president for Lake Carriers' Association explained that lake freighters are struggling to make the voyage across Lake Superior despite the thick...

When Indiana recently announced that individual health insurance costs in Indiana will rise 72 percent on average because of new Affordable Care Act requirements, an immediate outcry followed from some ACA supporters, who accused the Department of Insurance of misrepresenting these numbers in a deliberate attempt to mislead Hoosiers. The DOI provided a lengthy testimony about these numbers before the Indiana Health Finance Commission on July 22, and the DOI stands by its numbers. The fact remains that the Indiana individual health insurance market will see significant increases next year because of ACA. The following is some background about how...

Can a group of passionate mothers defeat the nation’s largest pro-gun institution and persuade elected officials to enact laws that will reduce gun violence and save lives? It’s too early to tell, but this weekend the two groups will come face to face outside the NRA’s annual convention. On one side of this version of the classic David versus Goliath battle, we have “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense.” This small, but passionate group is led by Shannon Watts, a 43-year-old mother of five who started the organization via a simple Facebook page after the horrific shooting at the Sandy...

Virginia Fryback of Fort Wayne couldn't believe she was being contacted about her lost cat Charlie. He disappeared from home five years ago, and although she searched, he seemed to have vanished. That is until 10-year-old Charlie showed up at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control on Monday. Animal Control officials scanned the cat and discovered Charlie has a microchip that identifies Virginia Fryback as the owner. “We routinely scan all lost pets for a microchip and it's wonderful when we find one and can notify an owner that we have their lost pet. The chip has likely saved Charlie's...

UPDATE: The headline in this story has been updated to reflect that Latham did not take the girl for the abortion. It appears her mother took her for the abortion. In September, Allen County Right to Life filed a consumer complaint with the Indiana Medical Licensing Board against the abortionist, Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, in Fort Wayne, because Klopfer performed an abortions on a 13-year-old girl and didn’t report the abuse as required by Indiana Law. The statute is clear that all abortions being done on individuals under 14 years old must be reported to Indiana Child Protective Services and the...

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Lafayette man who pleaded guilty to repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl has been sentenced to a full 42 years in prison under his plea agreement in the case. (snip) Stansberry's child molesting sentence won't be eligible for one day of credit for each day served. Harrington says that means he'll serve a total time on that charge of 42 years.

In the small town of Lake Station, Ind., the news that the mayor, his wife and stepdaughter have been indicted on federal corruption charges this week came as little surprise. Residents in Lake Station, one of many working-class towns that fringe the northwest Indiana industrial centers of Gary and Hammond, have seen FBI agents leaving the town hall several times in recent years. On Thursday, Keith Soderquist and his wife and personal secretary, Deborah, were in federal court in Hammond to face charges of wire fraud and filing false tax returns, after allegedly using money from Soderquist’s campaign fund and...

If you’re wondering why this otherwise prosaic Bloomberg piece about Pence’s national future begins with a mention of the Koch brothers, it’s probably because the guy who wrote it worked for Paul Sarbanes and, briefly, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz before resuming his career as an impartial reporter.But never mind that. Is Pence the dark horse? “I have no doubt that he would make a great president,” said Steven Chancellor, the chief executive officer of Evansville, Indiana-based American Patriot Group, the parent of a company that makes ready-to-eat rations for the Pentagon. “He certainly distinguished himself in the House” and is “off...