Articles

Indiana Senate panel hearing state hate crimes bill

Opponents and supporters of a proposed Indiana hate crimes law are arguing their positions before state legislators. A state Senate committee opened a hearing Monday morning on a bill that would create a law specifically against crimes fueled by biases regarding traits such as race, religion and sexual orientation.

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Trump says he’s declaring emergency to build border wall

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will declare a national emergency to fulfill his pledge to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump said he will use executive powers to bypass Congress, which approved far less money for his proposed wall than he had sought.

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Report: Indiana lawmaker may have violated lobbying laws

A former Indiana lawmaker’s contract with the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs may have violated state lobbying laws, according to a newspaper investigation. Allen Paul received more than $150,000 from July 2015 to December 2018 after signing a lobbying contract with the department nine months after the former Republican senator retired in 2014.

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Portage mayor convicted of bribery, tax charge

A jury has convicted a northwestern Indiana mayor of one count each of bribery and tax obstruction while acquitting him of a second bribery count. The jury returned the verdicts Thursday against 38-year-old Portage Mayor James Snyder.

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Impeachment investigation sought of Indiana attorney general

An Indiana legislator wants an investigation into the possible impeachment of state Attorney General Curtis Hill over allegations he drunkenly groped a female lawmaker and three female legislative staffers at a bar. Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis said he submitted the request Thursday asking that the House Judiciary Committee investigate Hill’s conduct and whether he should remain in office.

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Senate confirms William Barr as attorney general

The Senate on Thursday confirmed William Barr as attorney general, placing the veteran government official and lawyer atop the Justice Department as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates Russian interference in the 2016 election.

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No action coming on Indiana attorney general removal bill

Legislative Republicans are not going to take any action on a proposal that aims to make it easier to remove some state officeholders from their positions, which was filed by an Indiana legislator who says she was groped by Attorney General Curtis Hill.

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Lake Michigan public access bill advances; SCOTUS to confer on appeal

A bill that defines the shore of Lake Michigan as belonging to the public and spells out public recreational uses of the shoreline has moved to the full Indiana Senate. Meanwhile, a petition seeking to privatize Indiana’s Great Lakes beaches will be before justices of the Supreme Court of the United States this week.

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Whitaker: There’s been no change in Russia probe management

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will tell lawmakers on Friday that there has been no change since his arrival on the job in the “overall management” of the special counsel’s Russia investigation. He also will say that he has run the Justice Department to the best of his ability, with “fidelity to the law and to the Constitution.”

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