Counties could be required to have paper trail for voting by 2024
A bill that would require counties using electronic voting systems to also maintain a paper trail is moving forward at the Indiana General Assembly.
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Trump says release of Mueller report up to attorney general
President Donald Trump says it’s “totally up to” his attorney general whether the public gets to read special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said last week the probe is “close to being completed.”
Indiana, Kentucky join Planned Parenthood’s western alliance
Planned Parenthood’s affiliate overseeing Hawaii and three western states announced Friday that it was adding Indiana and Kentucky, a first-of-its-kind consolidation based not on geography but on reallocating resources to fight new abortion restrictions in the Midwest and South. The arrangement places Indiana and Kentucky under a Seattle-based affiliate that currently oversees clinics in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho and Washington.
COA: ‘Significant’ DCS failures made termination of parental rights erroneous
A mother won her appeal to reverse an erroneous order terminating her parental rights when the Indiana Court of Appeals found the Department of Child Services committed ‘significant procedural irregularities’ in her case.
Trump, Pelosi remain far apart on border wall issue
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has declared that there’ll be no “wall money” in any compromise border security deal as she and President Donald Trump signaled congressional negotiators may never satisfy his demands for his Southwest border proposal.
Prosecutor: New charges possible in Russia probe leak case
New charges and arrests are possible in the prosecution of a U.S. Treasury Department employee accused of giving a journalist confidential banking reports related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Treasury worker Natalie Edwards, 40, is awaiting trial on charges she gave a BuzzFeed journalist reports about wire transfers made by Paul Manafort and other suspects in Mueller’s investigation.
Stone heads to court; Mueller cites potential evidence trove
Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone is due back in court Friday in the special counsel’s Russia investigation as prosecutors say they have recovered “voluminous and complex” potential evidence in the case, including financial records, emails and computer hard drives.
Pursuit of happiness can’t blunt man’s marijuana conviction
A man arrested for smoking a blunt in Indianapolis failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that his misdemeanor conviction violated his constitutional rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The appeal also raised the issue of the Hoosier State now being among a minority of states that have yet to legalize marijuana in some form.
EPA expands public comment period on East Chicago lead cleanup
Federal regulators are expanding the public comment period for a proposed cleanup of the site of a former housing complex in northwestern Indiana.
Senator decides to send child labor law bill to summer committee
A state senator accused of having a conflict of interest over a bill he filed that seeks to eliminate the state’s child labor laws has essentially withdrawn the proposal from consideration this year.
Lawmakers considering property tax amnesty period
Indiana legislators are considering creating an amnesty period for homeowners and businesses to pay overdue property taxes without the penalty fees and interest.
Split justices uphold ruling for insurer in truck crash that killed 3
Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court decided in a 3-2 vote last week to let stand a ruling that an insurance company owes no duty to victims of a truck crash in which the driver knowingly operated the vehicle with faulty brakes.
Acting AG Whitaker says Russia probe ‘close’ to being completed
The special counsel’s Russia probe is “close to being completed,” the acting attorney general said in the first official sign that the investigation may be wrapping up. Meanwhile, the sixth former Trump aide indicted in the probe is due to make his initial court appearance today.
Indiana lawmaker seeks to eliminate state child labor laws
An Indiana lawmaker’s efforts to eliminate the state’s child labor laws have raised conflict of interest concerns because he employs hundreds of minors at a ski resort.
Stone accused of lying and witness tampering, but not collusion
Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone may be accused of lying and tampering with witnesses, but it’s equally notable what he’s not charged with: colluding with the Kremlin in a grand conspiracy to help Trump win the presidency in 2016. The case is the latest in a series brought by special counsel Robert Mueller that focuses on cover-ups but lays out no underlying crime.
Senate panel set to take up nomination of Trump’s AG pick
The Senate Judiciary Committee this week is set to take up the nomination of William Barr, President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. The committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said the panel will vote on Barr on Tuesday, though it’s likely Democrats will seek to postpone it.
Trump, Congress leaders reach deal to end shutdown
Yielding to mounting pressure and growing disruption, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders on Friday reached a short-term deal to reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations continue over the president’s demands for money to build his long-promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Walgreens agrees to pay government $269M in fraud settlement
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay $269.2 million to settle U.S. claims that the drugstore chain defrauded a federally funded health care program over insulin drugs and a consumer-discount initiative.
DCS reform bill passes House
The Indiana House of Representatives has unanimously signed off on a bill implementing reforms in the Indiana Department of Child Services – a bill that is just one of several designed to assist the troubled state agency.
Rallies at Statehouse show divide over Roe still wide after 46 years
On the 46th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, supporters and opponents scheduled rallies at the Indiana Statehouse, underscoring the deep divide over the ruling that remains more than four decades later. Advocates of reproductive rights gathered on the fourth floor of the Statehouse Tuesday to begin their push for Senate Bill 589, while Indiana Right to Life had a rally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.