Panel backs moving up appointment of Indiana schools chief
Indiana voters wouldn’t decide anymore who serves as the state schools superintendent under a proposal being pushed by legislative Republicans.
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Lake County commissioners shoot down broader gunfire limits
The Lake County commissioners in northwestern Indiana have defeated a new ordinance that would have enlarged areas where guns cannot be fired.
Former Rep. Messer joins Faegre Baker Daniels
Former Indiana Congressman Luke Messer has joined Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting as a principal in Washington, D.C., where he will advise businesses and other entities across the nation on federal regulatory and policy developments.
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?
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.
State court suit aims to ban Indiana death penalty
A lawsuit naming Gov. Eric Holcomb filed on behalf of a prisoner on Indiana’s death row urges a state court to issue an injunction halting capital punishment and rule that the state’s ultimate criminal penalty violates the Indiana Constitution.
Lake County widens ban on discharge of firearms
Officials in Lake County in northwestern Indiana are widening a ban on the discharge of firearms in parts of the county despite protests from gun owners.
Indiana Forward campaign rallies for hate crimes law
As they did in January 2018, supporters of hate crimes legislation rallied Tuesday in the Indiana Statehouse to again push lawmakers to add a bias-motivated crime statute to the Indiana law books. Advocates from a broad array of groups, including business, education, nonprofits and faith-based organizations, were on-hand to applaud and cheer as legislators and community leaders called for Indiana to join the 45 other states with hate crimes law.
Trump to take case for border wall to prime-time audience
President Donald Trump will argue to the nation Tuesday night that a “crisis” at the U.S.-Mexico border requires the long and invulnerable wall he’s demanding before ending a partial government shutdown that has hundreds of thousands of federal workers fearing missed paychecks on Friday.
Senators renew attempt to protect special counsel Mueller
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are renewing their attempt to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s job, sending a signal to President Donald Trump as he keeps up his criticism of Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Indiana’s abortion petition relisted at U.S. Supreme Court
Indiana’s petition for a review of its 2016 abortion law is still pending at the Supreme Court of the United States after the justices relisted the Hoosier state’s writ of certiorari for this Friday’s conference. The state is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of a law that limits when a woman may terminate her pregnancy and mandates how fetal remains should be handled.
Northern Indiana District Court awaiting re-nomination process
With the start of the 116th Congress, Indiana’s two remaining federal judicial nominees have stalled and the vacancies in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana continue. However, Indiana’s senior senator expressed confidence they will come back to Capitol Hill.
Judge extends grand jury used by Mueller’s Russia probe
The chief federal judge in Washington has extended the term of the grand jury used by special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. The extension by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is the latest sign the Mueller probe will continue for at least the next several months.
High court to take new look at partisan electoral districts
The Supreme Court is plunging back into the issue of whether electoral districts can be too partisan. Disputes have arisen in cases involving North Carolina’s heavily Republican congressional map and a Democratic congressional district in Maryland, and the justices said Friday they will hear arguments in March.
Appeals court sides with Trump in transgender military case
A federal appeals court sided with the Trump administration Friday in a case about the Pentagon’s effort to restrict military service by transgender people, but the ruling won’t change who can serve or enlist at this point.
Day 13: Dems pass funding plan without wall, Trump digs in
On their first day in the majority, House Democrats on Thursday night passed a plan to re-open the government without funding President Donald Trump’s promised border wall. The largely party-line votes came after Trump made a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room pledging to keep up the fight for his signature campaign promise.
Low-key days at Supreme Court may be ending soon
The Supreme Court began its term with the tumultuous confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, followed by a studied avoidance of drama on the high court bench — especially anything that would divide the five conservatives and four liberals. But when they gather in private on Friday to consider new cases for arguments in April and into next term, the justices will confront a raft of high-profile appeals.
Latest hate crimes proposal leaves out specific protected classes
In an effort to remove Indiana from a list of five states without hate crimes legislation, lawmakers have filed three separate bills so far in the Indiana General Assembly, but the latest measure does not specify the classes of individuals and groups who would be protected.
Holcomb remains against legalizing marijuana
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb remains opposed to efforts by state lawmakers to allow medical or recreational marijuana in the state, even as such uses are becoming legal in a growing number of other states.
No solution to shutdown in sight before Dems take House
The partial government shutdown will almost certainly be handed off to a divided government to solve in the new year — the first big confrontation between President Donald Trump and newly empowered Democrats — as agreement eludes Washington in the waning days of the Republican monopoly on power.