Indiana

Welcome to Disturbia

Posted on January 22, 2009
There’s word on the street that some of the local activists folk may show up at the Mayor’s Community Luau this Saturday (1-4 p.m. at the IMS Pavilion ) and cause a stir.  Apparently they have some issues with the administration and who it uses to lobby and they think the “People’s Mayor” has forgotten the [...

Three Weeks & Pie

Posted on January 22, 2009
Three weeks into a legislative session full of some of the most important issues facing Indiana and you would have thought Indiana lawmakers would spend the day taking up the budget, property tax caps or  the economy. You would think. Today lawmakers talked about Sugar Cream Pie and its Hoosier heritage...

Anderson in ?11?

Posted on January 21, 2009
There’s more evidence that Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson is planning a run for Mayor in 2011. Anderson’s political action committee, Citizens of Frank J. Anderson, had a political fundraiser last night at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Indianapolis...

?Charter? a New Course? Not So Fast!

Posted on January 21, 2009
The new report is out on the Mayor-Sponsored Charter Schools in Indianapolis.  Here are the findings… 94 percent of the 2007-2008 Mayor-sponsored Charter high schools are now enrolled in either two or 4-year colleges. Students who usually come to a Mayor-sponsored charter school are academically behind their traditional public school counterparts...

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What Gives?

Posted on January 21, 2009
I’ve been glancing through the Mayor’s campaign finance reports this evening. For the 2008 cycle, an off-season for municipal elections, incumbent Greg Ballard raised more than $835,000 and had more than $530,000 in the bank by the end of the year...

Inaugural Thoughts

Posted on January 20, 2009
My thoughts on this Inauguration Day are real simple. For Black folks, there is now a new age of accountability!  The last thing I want to hear is how some white person kept you down.   For the young “brothas”, pull those pants up, turn that hat around and get a job or an education! For the national [...

So Much For ?Operation Chaos!?

Posted on January 20, 2009

MLK Day 2008

Posted on January 19, 2009
It’s become a tradition for me to reprint this column I wrote back in 1996.  And with the new age of accountability that’s coming,  it seems to be even more relevant this year. Recently I had a conversation with a black friend of mine and she told me something I found was a bit disturbing...

Teaching A Lesson

Posted on January 18, 2009
You guys know that in addition to the broadcasting and politics, I teach college part-time.  I had something interesting happen this past week. While in class Thursday and going over the course schedule, I had one student (a young African-American male) ask me if we had class on Inauguration Day?  I told him “yes, why wouldn’t [...

Saturday Morning Posts

Posted on January 17, 2009
I’m planning to relax today with a couple good cigars, martinis and the future Mrs. Shabazz, so today’s gossip will be short and to the point. Marion County Democratic Party Executive Director Adam Kirsch has been making the rounds lately speaking to township organizations...

Major Mistake?

Posted on January 16, 2009
Although I understand the need to create jobs in Indiana, I am totally confused at a move by Democratic State Representative Terri Austin to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars from the Department of Transportation to cities and towns to pay for local road projects...

?Stimulating? Conversation

Posted on January 16, 2009
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says based on the figures he’s seen, the state could possibly receive up to $3 billion from the federal stimulus package so there’s no need to dip into the state’s reserves to pay for education or other programs...

To Die For

Posted on January 15, 2009
Remember when I told you about how the Greater Clark County School Board gets taxpayer-funded health insurance and it only costs each board members a dollar? Well, get a load of this!  If you’re a member of the Warren Township Advisory Board in Marion County, you can get free life insurance...

State of the State Redux

Posted on January 14, 2009
Here’s some of  the reaction from Tuesday night’s State of the State address… House Speaker Pat Bauer ?Creating jobs is more important than extended philosophical debates over taking local government control out of the hands of the public...

Indiana Consolidated, LLC (Part II)

Posted on January 14, 2009
Here are the latest government consolidation bills introduced so far in the legislature. SB 184 - Consolidates Marion County Emergency dispatch functions. SB 379 - Creates a single county executive via local referendum. SB 444 - Consolidates Marion County Fire Departments...

Budget Battles

Posted on January 13, 2009
If today’s budget hearing in the House Ways and means Committee is any indication, it’s going to be a somewhat testy legislative session. Democrats chastised and at time raised their voices at Daniels administration officials over their proposed budget...

Crime & Punishment

Posted on January 13, 2009
They’re not out yet, but when they are the latest Indianapolis crime stats will show a modest decrease in crime, but city officials say burglaries are still a major problem.  The city saw a decrease in aggravated assaults and murders stayed about the same, however there was a sharp increase in burglaries...

A ?Sober? State of the State

Posted on January 13, 2009
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels spelled out a State of the State tonight which he called sobering, but also held opportunities. In the 30-minute speech Daniels advocated education, a balanced budget and government reform.  The speech did not directly refer to Indiana’s jobs situation, however in a pre-State of the State briefing, administration officials said the speech [...

Submit, Please?

Posted on January 12, 2009
I’m compiling a list of local government entities across Indiana that provide health insurance or other benefits to their part-time board members.  If you could be so kind as to let me know if your school district, township board, etc., offers its members taxpayer-funded health insurance that would be great...

Assess This

Posted on January 12, 2009
Capping property assessments could become the big “sleeper” issue in this session of the Indiana General Assembly.  Already there is Senate Bill 40, which would cap assessments at 5% of a home’s value over the previous year unless there was a sale or other improvements which clearly showed the home had increased in value...

News Day

Posted on January 12, 2009
Okay folks, which deserves tomorrow’s top headline? A.  Tony Dungy resigns. B.  Mitch Daniels sworn in for second term. C.  Bush holds last news conference. D.  Bernie Madoff remains free on bail. E.  Thursday’s high temp will be nine degrees...

Am I The Only Person Who Sees This?

Posted on January 11, 2009
It’s no big secret that I’m a big fan of government consolidation and property tax caps.  I think if done properly there is more efficiency, accountability and eventually savings.  It’s good for political parties because there are now fewer offices to fight for and they can make better use of their resources...

Is This What You?re Defending?

Posted on January 10, 2009
For the people who are opposed to government restructuring and reform, let me ask you three questions? Are you defending the school district in Southern Indiana where the school board voted to give itself the same taxpayer-funded health insurance its teachers and administrators have? Are you defending the Mayor of one of the largest cities in Northern [...

School Daze

Posted on January 09, 2009
Legislation has been introduced in the Indiana Senate that would have school start after Labor Day and end by mid-June. I have never been a big fan of school starting before Labor Day and now with ISTEP taking place in the Spring I can’t think of any real, logical reason for school to start in mid-August...

Don?t Give, It Hurts

Posted on January 08, 2009
I’ve known about this for a while and now it’s official, the City of Indianapolis is stepping up its efforts to crack down on panhandlers.  It’s going to ask the Legislature to pass a law restricting where panhandlers can beg for change;  including banning panhandling  within 25 feet of any ATM or active parking meter...

Budget Battle Lines (Part Two)

Posted on January 07, 2009
Indiana Lawmakers continue to chime in on the state’s current budget situation.  Here are some of their positions.. Republican State Senator Luke Kenley While he opposes tapping into the state’s savings account, the real wild card in all this the federal economic stimulus package...

Local Government, Schmocal Government

Posted on January 06, 2009
A new poll by Ball State University shows Hoosiers don’t have much faith in local government.   The poll by the Bowen Center for Public Affairs shows 67 percent of Hoosiers want government to run more efficiently.  In addition the poll showed Hoosiers were willing to pay more for services, but only if the money went [...

Bills, Bills, Bills

Posted on January 06, 2009
In addition to the budget and government consolidation, there are a lot of other pieces of legislation that will try to work it’s way through the Indiana General Assembly.  Here are a few that I’ll be paying attention to. Hat tip to Doug Masson, his web blog gives a pretty good summary of a lot [...

Put On Your Property Tax Caps

Posted on January 06, 2009
For anyone who thinks tax caps are still a bad idea, allow me to share this bit of information with you. Monday was a meeting of the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board, it’s the body that allows local governments to raise their property tax caps if they can prove a sufficient enough hardship case...

Budget Battle Lines (Part One)

Posted on January 06, 2009
Although Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and House Speaker Pat Bauer aren’t married, you would think the upcoming debate in the General Assembly over what to do with the state’s budget surplus sounded like a dispute married couples have during hard times...

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