Articles

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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For McCain, a cross-country farewell from public, presidents

Two former presidents are expected to speak at Sen. John McCain’s service and he will lie in state in both in the nation’s capital and Arizona as part of a cross-country funeral procession ending with his burial at the U.S. Naval Academy. McCain died Saturday after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

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Ex-West Virginia Supreme Court justice pleads guilty

A retired West Virginia Supreme Court justice is now a convicted felon. Menis Ketchum pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to a felony count of fraud related to his personal use of a state vehicle and gas fuel card in a scandal that has led to upcoming impeachment trials for the remaining justices.

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Indiana’s election security plans don’t include new machines

Indiana’s top elections official is planning to use more than $7.5 million in federal funding to improve the state’s election security, but not to upgrade its voting machines. Indiana was among the states and territories to receive money from the $380 million approved by Congress amid ongoing threats from Russia and others.

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Prosecutors grant immunity to longtime Trump finance chief

President Donald Trump’s finance chief, a confidant who has worked for the family’s real estate business since the early 1970s, was granted immunity in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday.

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Indiana had record number of drug overdose deaths in 2017

A preliminary federal report finds Indiana had a record number of drug overdose deaths last year, as more than 1,800 people succumbed to overdoses. Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and New Jersey saw some of the nation’s biggest spikes in drug overdose deaths last year.

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