Articles

Indiana survivor’s suit seeks to halt duck boats

An Indiana woman whose husband and three children drowned when a duck boat sank in a Missouri lake has filed a federal lawsuit in Kansas City requesting an end to the manufacture and operation of the amphibious vehicles in the U.S. and elsewhere until they are redesigned for safety.

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Demonstrators again disrupt Kavanaugh confirmation hearings

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley attempted to gavel in the second day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday when shouting protesters began disrupting the hearings. Grassley said 70 people were arrested during the first day of hearings on Tuesday.

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Chaos marks start of Kavanaugh confirmation hearing

Quarreling and confusion marked the Senate hearing Tuesday for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, with politically charged arguments about White House documents and confirmation rules getting as much attention as the role the conservative judge will likely play in shaping rulings on abortion, executive power and other national issues.

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What to watch for as senators consider Kavanaugh nomination

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is set for a week of marathon hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans are focusing on Kavanaugh’s 12-year career as an appellate court judge, while Democrats are expected to grill the 53-year-old conservative on hot-button issues that could swing the court’s majority rightward.

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Family of victims in Indiana cold case look to TV show for justice

Relatives of two pregnant sisters who were killed decades ago in northwestern Indiana are hoping a television program on the cold case will finally bring justice. The family of the sisters took the case to Lisette Guillen of “Case Files Chicago,” a program that highlights unsolved homicides, violent crimes and missing persons in and around Chicago.

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Indiana attorney: More senior citizens filing for bankruptcy

A northeastern Indiana attorney says a growing number of senior citizens are filing for bankruptcy protection after falling into debt, often for medical expenses. Similarly, a study by the Consumer Bankruptcy Project found the rate at which seniors file for bankruptcy has tripled from 1991 to 2016.

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Indiana’s sheriffs push for more funding to house felons

Indiana’s sheriffs say they need more state money to cover the costs of holding low-level nonviolent felons in county jails. Indiana’s county jails currently get a $35 per-day payment for every Level 6 felon they house. But it’s been at least 30 years since that amount changed, according to the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association.

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Longest-serving federal U.S. judge in history dies

The longest-serving U.S. district judge in the nation's history has died. Judge William Nealon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, died Thursday. He was 95 and had been appointed to the federal bench in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.

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Concern in White House over shortage of lawyers, press aides

Increasingly convinced that the West Wing is wholly unprepared to handle the expected assault from Democrats if they win the House in November, President Donald Trump’s aides and allies are privately raising alarm as his circle of legal and communications advisers continues to shrink.

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John Dean of Nixon fame to testify at Kavanaugh hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee has added former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and former White House counsel John Dean to the list of witnesses who will testify next week in the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court.

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Indy archdiocese to follow Gary, list of priests accused of abuse

The Indianapolis Catholic archbishop plans to publicly release the names of all the priests in his diocese who’ve faced substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse. The archdiocese of Gary on Tuesday released a list of 10 ex-priests deemed guilty of sexually abusing children.

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White House Counsel McGahn leaving; key man in legal storms

White House Counsel Don McGahn, a consequential insider in President Donald Trump’s legal storms and successes and a key figure in the administration’s handling of the Russia investigation, will be leaving in the fall, the president announced Wednesday. Trump praised McGahn as “a really good guy” who has done “an excellent job.”

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Prosecutors: Possible negligence in Missouri boat sinking

The U.S. Coast Guard has found probable cause that the sinking of a tourist boat on a Missouri lake last month that killed 17 people “resulted from the misconduct, negligence, or inattention to the duties” by the captain of the boat, according to a court motion filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors. The July 19 incident claimed the lives of nine members of one Indiana family. 

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1993 World Trade Center bomber sues over prison faith rights

A Muslim man serving a life sentence in Terre Haute for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center wants a judge to determine that federal prison officials violated his religious rights by failing to provide meals strictly conforming to his beliefs and access to an imam of the same denomination.

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Poll: Many indifferent to Kavanaugh nomination

Does Brett Kavanaugh belong on the U.S. Supreme Court? It’s a question that may be consuming Washington, but one that elicits a shrug from many Americans. And there’s also no nationwide consensus on whether the Senate should vote on his nomination before Election Day, according to a new poll.

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