Articles

Indiana residents face long wait for newly available adoption records

Indiana residents who were adopted as children are waiting longer than expected to get access to previously closed adoption records as one state agency struggles to handle thousands of requests. The state Department of Health has received more than 3,300 requests for adoption records since a July law made such information available to adoptees.

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Shutdown goes on as Trump offer doesn’t budge Democrats

Thirty-one days into the partial government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans appeared no closer to ending the impasse than when it began, with President Donald Trump lashing out at his opponents after they dismissed a plan he’d billed as a compromise.

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Supreme Court inaction suggests DACA safe for another year

The Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation and that President Donald Trump has sought to end seems likely to survive for at least another year. That’s because the Supreme Court took no action Friday on the Trump administration’s request to decide by early summer whether Trump’s bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was legal. 

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South Bend police wiretapping dispute continues

A long-running dispute over wiretapping within an Indiana police department will continue and could go to trial after city officials rejected a proposed agreement with officers who want to block the tapes’ release. The South Bend Common Council last week unanimously voted to reject any settlement agreement that may have been reached in mediation.

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Parents surrender on charges in 4-month-old’s heroin death

The parents of a 4-month-old boy who are facing neglect charges after the child died last February of heroin intoxication in Madison County have turned themselves in to authorities. The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office this month charged 28-year-old Daniel E. Jones and 29-year-old Tiffany McNutt of Alexandria with felony neglect of a dependent.

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Justices appear ready to void Tennessee alcohol sales law

The Supreme Court appeared ready Wednesday to strike down a Tennessee provision that requires people to live in the state for two years before obtaining a license to sell alcohol. But 35 states, including Indiana, and the District of Columbia, are urging the court to uphold the two-year residency requirement.

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Nonprofit reapplies to open South Bend abortion clinic

A nonprofit group that had been denied a state license to open a South Bend abortion clinic reapplied for one Thursday instead of challenging the decision in court. Texas-based Whole Woman’s Health Alliance reapplied for the license Thursday, avoiding what it feared would be a lengthy legal battle.

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Trump’s AG nominee Barr asserts his independence

President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general asserted independence from the White House on Tuesday, saying he believed that Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, that the special counsel investigation shadowing Trump is not a witch hunt and that his predecessor was right to recuse himself from the probe.

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Congress to face same question: When will shutdown end?

Congress returns to Washington for its first full week of legislative business since control of the House reverted to Democrats, but lawmakers will be confronted with the same lingering question: When will the partial government shutdown end?

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Barr as attorney general: old job, very different Washington

When William Barr was attorney general in the early 1990s, his rhetoric reflected his deep-seated personal beliefs and was typical talk at a time when family values and tough-on-crime stances defined the party. Now, as President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Barr is poised to return to the same job in a dramatically different Washington.

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Tow operator pleads guilty to bribing Portage mayor

A northwestern Indiana towing operator has pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge alleging he paid a mayor $12,000 for a towing contract. John Cortina, 79, of Kustom Auto Body in Portage entered the plea Friday, three days before the public corruption trial of Republican Portage Mayor James Snyder is set to begin.

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