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In the run-up to this week’s midterm election, it was not uncommon to hear Indiana political figures attack Muslims. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced his office would investigate two groups for connections to terrorism. The groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Students for Justice in…
Republican Daniel Elliott will continue serving as Indiana treasurer, one of the state's top financial officers.
Democrats gained a seat in Indiana’s congressional delegation Tuesday, while eight incumbent U.S. House members won reelection. The results leave Republicans with a six-to-three advantage in Indiana’s congressional delegation, down from the GOP’s previous seven-to-two edge. The biggest upset came in central Indiana’s…
WASHINGTON — In a stunning upset, Democrats ousted Republicans and flipped control of the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, effectively establishing a barricade for President Donald Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term. Democrats will now have the power to block many of Trump’s nominees, both executive and…
Indiana Democrats on Tuesday shattered the GOP’s 14-year supermajority in the state’s House of Representatives. More than a dozen additional Republican incumbents appeared in danger of losing their seats as vote-counting continued late Tuesday. This includes House Speaker Todd Huston, who was trailing his opponent…
A new generation of the Bayh family is a winner again for Indiana Democrats. Beau Bayh prevailed in the secretary of state’s race with about 51.4% of the vote in Tuesday night’s vote tallies over Republican candidate Max Engling’s 43%. About 90% of the vote had been counted statewide. “Today, Hoosiers voted for…
Hoosiers easily approved two constitutional amendments Tuesday, including one that will allow judges to hold more criminal defendants without bail. Public Question 1 — the bail change — passed with 59% of the vote. A second question allowing city and town judges to live outside the jurisdiction also passed with 63%…
A new casino won’t be coming to northeast Indiana after voters in those counties rejected a referendum to add gaming Tuesday. Public Question No. 3 in Allen, DeKalb and Steuben counties asked, “Shall inland casino gambling be permitted in (your) county?” According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, more than 58% — or…
Hoosier Democrat J.D. Ford won a major political upset Tuesday night, unseating three-term Republican U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District and flipping a seat the GOP had held for years. Ford, a two-term state senator from Indianapolis, defeated Spartz in a closely watched contest that…
Jeffrey Weisheit’s attorneys are asking Gov. Mike Braun to stop Thursday’s execution until Indiana provides evidence that the drugs it plans to inject are potent, pure and properly stored. The lawyers submitted additional materials Tuesday, a day after Braun denied Weisheit’s request to commute his death sentence to…
Hoosiers go to the polls today in Indiana’s general election. We have five journalists out and about tracking the key races. Keep up with all the news throughout the day and evening right here.
The waitlist for a childcare voucher in Indiana declined from 41,175 children in May to just 9,006 children at the end of October — a 78% decline Gov. Mike Braun credits to a major investment by his administration following a year-and-a-half hiatus for new sign-ups. “Making life more affordable for Hoosiers is a top…
As broad affordability concerns define elections across the country, voters in several states on Tuesday will have a say on their future utility bills. State utility regulators, who are facing heightened levels of attention and scrutiny amid high prices, are on the ballot in nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia…
A bevy of Indiana Republican leaders appealed at a party rally Monday for conservatives to keep up a final push for GOP secretary of state candidate Max Engling going into Tuesday’s Election Day.
Gov. Mike Braun denied clemency Monday to death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit, rejecting his request for life without parole three days before his scheduled execution for murdering two children. “I am accepting the Parole Board’s unanimous recommendation to deny clemency for Jeffrey Weisheit,” Braun said in a statement…
Lawyers seeking a reprieve for Jeffrey Weisheit ahead of his execution this week say Indiana purchased pentobarbital, the lethal injection drug it plans to use, from Pharmaneek Inc., an Indianapolis pharmacy on probation and facing possible suspension of its license. Weisheit’s attorneys asked Gov. Mike Braun on…
Voting is one of the most important duties you have as a citizen, but not everyone takes advantage of the opportunity. Hoosiers especially consistently rank low in turnout nationally. So, I decided to reach out and ask the Capital Chronicle’s former interns to tell us about their first voting experience. Maybe it will…
The final ballots will be cast Tuesday for an Indiana election in which voters are deciding whether Republicans will continue their political dominance in the state. Democrats are looking for secretary of state candidate Beau Bayh to provide a breakout victory over Republican Max Engling, while the GOP is aiming to…
Costs are soaring for people who care for their older parents and other family members, according to a new study. Out-of-pocket expenses are nearly 60% higher than they were just five years ago for family caregivers, who now spend an average of $11,508 a year on caregiving, according to a report released this week by
Republican secretary of state candidate Max Engling’s campaign says it will wait until after the election is over before filing a threatened lawsuit against Democrat Beau Bayh over a TV ad.
It seems Indiana’s Republicans and Democrats are working to squeeze out all the Republican votes they can as Election Day approaches.
For the second year, statewide elected officials and top agency leaders in Gov. Mike Braun’s administration filed reports detailing their travel in the past year. We tallied up the days and cost of the trips and overall it was minor — about $132,000. Which is just as important as if it had been $1.3 million. It
A northern Indiana golf course could be forced to raise its protective netting or shut down its driving range if a homeowner prevails in a yearslong dispute over thousands of errant golf balls. Indiana Supreme Court justices heard arguments Thursday in a case between Mitchell Schultz and Sandy Pines Golf Club in…
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Led by members of the marching band and Aggie and Aggietha, the North Carolina A&T State University mascots, hundreds of students at the nation’s largest historically Black university walked 40 minutes from campus to the nearest early polling site on a recent afternoon. They started the journey with…
Gov. Mike Braun’s administration will not allow death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit to undergo additional brain scans before his scheduled execution next week. The decision follows weeks of legal efforts by his attorneys to obtain additional medical evidence for his clemency case. Braun’s general counsel, Stephanie…
Indiana has spent much of this summer debating electricity rates, utility regulation, and the future of our energy system. That debate has now entered another chapter. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission is reconsidering the recently approved AES Indiana rate increase. Every Hoosier should care deeply about…
The leader of Indiana's Medicaid program says the state must change up a widely used low-income health insurance program as the federal government slashes a key funding source over the next five years.
Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks. President Donald Trump wants year-round daylight saving time. The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats…
Two-dozen federal Department of Justice monitors will observe Election Day voting in two Indiana counties from outside the polling locations, election officials said Wednesday.
The Indiana Parole Board on Wednesday recommended that Gov. Mike Braun deny clemency to death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit following competing appeals from the parents of the two children he killed in a 2010 house fire. The unanimous recommendation came just eight days ahead of Weisheit’s scheduled Nov. 5 execution and…
High-ranking Republican politicians are pouring money into Max Engling’s secretary of state candidacy as the race comes down to the wire. U.S. Sen. Todd Young’s leadership PAC sent $50,000 to Engling for a total of $105,000. Attorney General Todd Rokita transferred $75,000 from his campaign committee for a total of…
Last year, Indianapolis parents were bombarded with text messages sharing a video that was critical of the superintendent. An unknown source had deceptively edited videos of public comments at school board meetings to criticize school leadership at a time when IPS was making its case for more funding at the state…
As days grow shorter and darkness arrives earlier across much of the country, a new study suggests that brighter streetlights may help reduce nighttime violence — at least temporarily. Researchers found that outdoor nighttime violent crime fell by about 46% in targeted areas of Newark, New Jersey, during the first six…
Gov. Mike Braun won’t direct the Indiana Election Commission to meet ahead of Election Day to review pending campaign misconduct allegations.
State officials on Tuesday revealed how they'll apply a new federal definition for medical frailty, a key but contested exemption to fast-approaching work requirements for tens of thousands of Medicaid expansion enrollees.
It was another financial institution’s commercial that motivated me to create something different. Two busy white, apparently nondisabled, suburban parents were standing on their carefully manicured lawn talking about how they needed to go to the bank to plan for the future of their adult son with Down syndrome. They…
Republicans are making big money drops in a handful of Indiana legislative races as they aim to secure their full General Assembly supermajority for an eighth straight election.
Special adviser Adam Krupp will likely wrap up his state employment by the end of the year after he completes a comprehensive evaluation of the state’s child welfare system. The report is a follow-up to a 2018 assessment, conducted by the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group, which was used to make key reforms…
Federal regulators are cracking down on the nonprofits responsible for coordinating organ donations, aiming to begin shutting down substandard groups by early next year. New criteria will score the organizations on donation and transplantation rates and will decertify the bottom tier, meaning their contracts with the…
The Indiana Election Commission doesn’t have to consider the validity of campaign misconduct allegations ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3, a Marion County judge ruled Monday.
Most of the talk about artificial intelligence and work asks how many jobs will disappear. For the families United Way works with, a better question is which jobs, and what the ones left behind pay. Start with who is exposed. Nationally, about 54.5 million households, 41%, don’t earn enough to cover a basic household…
A series of infant and maternal deaths overseen by unlicensed midwives led Hoosier lawmakers to a conclusion in 2013: legalize and regulate the practice to make it safer. The deaths included a Columbia City mother who died with her baby in 2003 after the woman’s uterus ruptured during a delivery at her home, and the
WASHINGTON — Fewer than 5% of U.S. House races are seen by a top political analysis as truly competitive heading into November’s midterm elections, giving relatively few voters the ability to determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years. The other 414 of 435 House districts are viewed by the…
An attorney for the state argued Friday that the Indiana Election Commission has no obligation to consider campaign misconduct allegations ahead of Election Day.
Many of you will see a property tax referendum for your local school district on your ballot this year. And you have likely heard lots of concern from superintendents and school boards about cuts to their funding. I wanted to give you some important context before you make your decisions. A lot has been made
Gov. Mike Braun led Indiana’s top officials in reported travel expenses last fiscal year, narrowly outspending Secretary of State Diego Morales even as most of the governor’s travel kept him within Indiana. Other officials ventured farther. Their schedules included a White House Christmas reception, an Israeli…
Earlier this month, a 50-year-old man riding his personal electric scooter in Washington, D.C., was killed when he collided with a woman on a rideshare scooter. In June, a 12-year-old Massachusetts girl died after her electric scooter slammed into a school bus in a suburb of Boston. And in April, an Atlanta woman…
Democrat Beau Bayh and Republican Max Engling agree on one thing: Indiana’s next secretary of state must investigate Diego Morales, the scandal-plagued outgoing incumbent. But the candidates offered contrasting visions of who should lead such an investigation in the final secretary of state debate Thursday. Bayh wants…
Federal observers are coming to Indiana's Marion and Lake counties on Election Day as voters in the two heavily Democratic areas cast their votes.
Indiana’s highest court unanimously rejected death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit’s request Thursday to postpone his execution for brain scans, saying the governor’s administration can arrange the testing without a court order, should it choose to do so. “If the board or the governor finds the medical evidence relevant…
Republican Treasurer Daniel Elliott is touting nearly $1.8 billion in state investment earnings in his bid for a second term, while Democratic challenger Coumba Kebe is calling for greater transparency in how Indiana manages public money. The Nov. 3 election pits a former software engineer and local government…
When Patrice Jetter and Garry Wickham became engaged, the first decisions were of small, giddy consequence: where to hold the ceremony, whom to invite, what to wear. But soon enough, a far weightier question eclipsed them all: whether they could afford to marry at all. They learned that, as people with disabilities…
Farmers will be eligible to receive one-time payments from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide relief for high fuel and input costs. USDA and President Donald Trump announced Monday night at a rally in Kansas that farmers would have $8 billion made available in the Harvest Fuel Relief program. Farm groups…
Weeks after allegations of shoplifting broke, Republican state Sen. Ron Alting announced he will resign his Senate seat after 28 years if voters reelect him. “Over the past several weeks, I have been undergoing extensive medical evaluation for concerning changes in my judgment, behavior and cognitive functioning. That…
Criminal charges have been filed against a Terre Haute man on allegations that he voted illegally in Indiana elections as a noncitizen.
Former U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh has now handed over most of his stockpiled campaign cash by giving more than $1.7 million this month to Indiana Democratic Party accounts in the final weeks of his son’s run for secretary of state.
A federal judge ordered preliminary protections Tuesday for a Bloomington man who was confronted at his home by an investigator for Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita over an “86 Todd Rokita” Facebook comment. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker found Lee Lawmaster likely to succeed on his claim that…
Hoosier students are slowly returning to their pre-pandemic attendance patterns: Indiana’s K-12 chronic absenteeism rate declined for the fourth consecutive year to just shy of 15% in 2026, the State Board of Education learned Wednesday. Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% or more of the school…
Lauri Shillings presents herself as a homegrown everywoman aspiring to statewide office.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, some local newsrooms across the country started to make changes in how they cover people of color. Many promised to use fewer mugshots in their reporting. Journalists acknowledged that they were part of the problem. By publishing mugshots, which were disproportionately of…
For decades, manufactured home builders have been working to shed the old image of boxy trailer homes reserved for the outskirts of cities and suburbia. Now, a small change in federal regulations could open the door for architecture welcomed in more neighborhoods. This summer’s sweeping housing bill, the 21st Century…
A key state legislator says he’s ready to push a crackdown on so-called chameleon trucking companies that’s been championed by Republican secretary of state candidate Max Engling.
Indiana’s monthly jobs reports tell an encouraging story: the state’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in years, while the labor force participation rate has outpaced the national average for more than a decade. That is good news for Indiana’s economy, but it also matters for the health and stability of…
Only a handful of races are truly competitive in this year’s Indiana Senate elections, with most of the money flowing to a northwest Indiana district and a suburban Indianapolis contest. Democrats are hoping to flip Senate District 1 and Senate District 31 in a national environment working against Republicans who now…
Democrats have used President Donald Trump’s unpopularity to expand the midterm map, and analysts project the party carries momentum heading into the final two weeks of the election cycle, even as Democrats are expected to flip fewer U.S. House seats than wave elections this century. The Cook Political Report with Amy…
The mother of two children murdered by Jeffrey Weisheit urged Indiana’s parole board Monday to reject his plea for mercy, saying her children deserved the futures he took from them. Her appeal came hours after Weisheit’s family and attorneys asked the five-member board to recommend sparing his life, citing his history…
Democrat Beau Bayh wants all four Indiana secretary of state candidates to participate in a televised debate later this week.
Republican Max Engling is threatening to sue Democrat Beau Bayh over a new television advertisement in their increasingly bitter Indiana secretary of state election campaign.
Max Engling was a twenty-something Republican staffer for an obscure congressional committee when Kevin McCarthy first encountered him more than a decade ago.
Early voting is now open in Indiana, and with that comes a powerful question on every Hoosier’s ballot about one of the most fundamental protections in our justice system: the presumption of innocence and right to remain free while awaiting trial: Public Question 1. Indiana lawmakers have proposed an amendment to…
The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures. Until now, no industry had driven the U.S. economy with such force since the railroad expansion of the late 1800s, when titans battled one another to lay the…
CORYDON, Ind. — A former electrical company employee, a couple wearing frog hats and a Franciscan friar were among about 100 protesters at a Saturday “No Kings” demonstration in Corydon — against the backdrop of the state’s first capitol. The latest in a string of nationwide protests since the start of President…
Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh are the only candidates invited to a televised secretary of state debate set for next week.
Death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit asked Indiana’s parole board Friday to let him live out his life in prison, but repeatedly struggled to explain why anger at his girlfriend led him to kill her two young children. During 64 minutes of questioning at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Weisheit apologized for…
New poll results show Democrat Beau Bayh with advantages in name identification and voter support over Republican Max Engling going into the final weeks of the race for Indiana secretary of state. The poll, commissioned by the Free Press Indiana news organization, found 43% were likely to vote for Bayh and 35% likely…
Democrats are looking to ride a wave of widespread opposition to big data center projects across the state as they aim to pick up seats in the Indiana House.
Prediction markets are bending the common definition of gambling — and states across the nation are pushing back. Kalshi is the first federally regulated financial exchange in the United States dedicated to trading on the outcomes of future events. It handled billions in weekly contract volume. And it’s battling in…
Beau Bayh is still pulling off that rarest of feats for statewide Democratic candidates in Indiana — outraise and outspend the Republicans.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday announced that the execution of a man convicted of the Fort Hood shooting will not be livestreamed, a reversal after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public. “I think streaming the execution for all to see might…
Lincoln Party secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard filed suit Thursday to force the Indiana Election Commission to rule on four pending campaign finance complaints against his opponents before the Nov. 3 election. Two complaints are against Republican Max Engling and two are against Democrat Beau Bayh. “The…
Hoosiers largely disapprove of how President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Braun are doing their jobs and oppose early redistricting and data centers, according to a new poll conducted by Bellwether Research. Free Press Indiana commissioned the poll of 839 likely voters performed Oct. 8-11. It oversampled Republicans, in…
The former red mayor of a blue Indianapolis shocked the state with an unlikely win two decades ago. Can he do it again?
The father of Alyssa and Caleb Lynch is urging Gov. Mike Braun to spare Jeffrey Weisheit from execution, saying the man who murdered his children should remain in prison for life without the possibility of parole. Steven Lynch, whose children died in a 2010 house fire set by Weisheit, signed an affidavit urging mercy…
Indiana farmers facing steep increases in building assessments are calling for changes to the state’s property valuation system, warning lawmakers Wednesday that similar structures are being assessed differently across county lines. Indiana Farm Bureau representatives told the Interim Study Committee on Fiscal Policy…
As the nation’s physician shortage worsens, some fear the Trump administration’s immigration policies will dissuade or prevent doctors who earned their medical degrees in foreign countries from practicing in the United States. Among all U.S. doctors, an estimated one quarter were educated abroad. But they make up an…
The name, image and likeness brand deals prevalent in collegiate athletics are trickling down to high school athletes, but Indiana lawmakers appear unlikely to regulate the practice for now. The Indiana High School Athletic Association in May authorized its own version of the deals known as personal brand activities…
Groups disagree on whether a casino would help or harm their community's future — boosting revenue for local services but risking addictions.
Love it or hate it, digital news outlet Black Indy LIVE has more social media followers than the city’s 131-year-old Black press. The outlet, which focuses on Indianapolis’ Black community, is hard to ignore given its popularity, which is why I’ve decided to take a closer look. The platform has significant influence…
In the course of a single election cycle, the backlash against data centers has grown from an issue at local planning commission and city council meetings to become a flashpoint in state and federal races across the country. Candidates who once touted data centers as an economic boon have backtracked, and voters in at…
About 200 Hoosiers remain in Indiana’s emergency shelter program two months after August’s storms, and officials are urging anyone impacted to apply for federal aid before an Oct. 25 deadline. Gov. Mike Braun announced Tuesday that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will lead a transition from state-funded…
The leader of Indiana’s business recruitment efforts is traveling to Japan for talks with executives of major automakers and other companies operating in the state.
Indiana death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit is asking the state’s highest court to move his execution from Nov. 5 to Nov. 19 so experts can analyze brain scans his attorneys say would give Gov. Mike Braun a fuller account of his impairments before deciding clemency. A federal judge approved funding for the testing but…
A little-known statewide office responsible for disbursing and reporting how Indiana’s state tax dollars are spent is on the ballot this election season. Three candidates are vying to be Indiana’s next comptroller: Incumbent Elise Nieshalla, a Republican, is seeking re-election against Democratic nominee Jessica…
Medicaid dollars intended for vulnerable children and families are not a slush fund. Every dollar lost to fraud, waste, inflated billing, or care that was never properly delivered is a dollar taken from a child who genuinely needs help. And when government fails to protect those dollars, honest providers are undercut…
As Hoosier voters head to the polls this election, they will find on their ballots the Court of Appeals of Indiana judges and the Indiana Tax Court judge who are up for retention, but many of those voters may struggle to decide whether to retain them or not. Retention questions are difficult for the electorate,
The Trump administration’s order to allow import of Russian diesel violates a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports while the country’s war with Ukraine is ongoing, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. Following an Oct. 9 call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S…
They'll deploy to southern Texas for a nearly yearlong immigration enforcement boost, relieving another mobilization from Monticello.
It felt like a gut punch when Jacob Coxon, a researcher with Anthropic focused on expanding artificial intelligence capabilities, publicly resigned to underscore the threat to humanity AI posed and the reckless nature in which the U.S.’s largest tech firms are advancing it. Rather than disputing those claims…
Beau Bayh professes unconcern about any weight upon him for lifting Indiana Democrats from the political woes they’ve suffered for more than a decade.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office attempted to intervene in a criminal case involving a years-old hit-and-run but the reason is a mystery so far. The judge informed attorneys in the case and refused to consider the correspondence. “The Court finds that the correspondence constitutes an ex parte communication concerning…