Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Between 1992 and 2005, U.S.  government spending on K-12 education, adjusted for inflation, doubled. However, per-pupil spending in the nation’s public schools fell for each year between 2012-13. In Indiana, during that same period, real spending per pupil declined 8.5 percent..   In 2014, New York spent in about $20,000…

by Leo Morris My brother and sister-in-law buy Peeps by the carload. They don’t eat the goofy marshmallow critters or give them out as party favors or use them as Halloween decorations. Periodically, they haul a bunch of them down to the shooting range they’ve built on their property, line them up against the wall…

by Leo Morris In 30-some years of writing about Indiana politics, there is one race that I miscalculated so badly it embarrasses me to this day. No, not Donald Trump’s romp through the 2016 presidential race. I’ll defer to the geniuses in the national press corps for that one.. It was the 2014 Republican primary…

America has an appalling history of racism and brutal subjugation, and we should always be vigilant against any recurrence of that history. But the most influential sectors of our economy today practice preferences in favor of blacks. The main obstacles to racial equality at present lie not in implicit bias but in culture and behavior. — Heather…

“Peyton Manning was immortalized on Saturday. His likeness will tower some 13 feet over the northern entrance of Lucas Oil Stadium after the long-promised bronze statue was unveiled in a ceremony attended by an estimated 10,000 fans.” — Stephen Holder in the Indianapolis Star by Fred McCarthy “Immortalized”? Now really, a 13-foot bronze statue of a football player…

by Leo Morris I am the oldest of the three children who lived. Between my younger brother Larry and my younger sister Judy were the twins, Darryl and Dianne. I always assumed they were stillborn, so my thoughts rarely dwelled on them specifically but centered mostly on those left behind. The unbearable sadness my mother…

by David Penticuff Fifty years ago the great character actor Strother Martin uttered what could be the epitaph for the relationship of my city council and the city administration. It was in the movie “Cool Hand Luke.” Martin, who played a prison warden, knocked prisoner Paul Newman, wearing chains, down a tall hill after Newman’s character…

by Craig Ladwig There were howls of anguish when a proposal was made to change municipal bidding practices in Indiana to limit the influence of campaign donations. One mayor called the plan disrespectful. A development official took umbrage that anyone would use the word “corruption” in connection with his city. Today, though, David Penticuff of the…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Death and taxes may be inevitable, but there’s no need to make them any more painful and unjust than necessary. Taxes are required to finance government spending. (The types and the extent of government spending are important too, but those are topics for another day.) Revenues can come through various taxes.…

(For the use of the membership only; not for publication, distribution or reproduction.) “As Indiana universities tout their diversity awards, initiatives and inclusiveness, some black faculty members are bringing lawsuits saying they were denied opportunities because of discrimination. — Dwight Adams, the Indianapolis Star THE STAFF of the Indianapolis Star in connection with its ongoing campaign…