Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. A few weeks ago the Indianapolis Star reported that a bill passed out of committee prohibiting trans women from entering women’s collegiate athletic competition. The bill “requires, for purposes of interscholastic athletic events, state educational institutions and certain private postsecondary educational institutions to expressly designate an athletic team or sport as one of the following:…

by Mark Franke Sometimes, things just don’t make sense. The news has been full of stories of local government taxing districts unhappy with Gov. Mike Braun’s proposal to reduce property taxes for Hoosiers. It seems these units will find it stressful to operate with a reduction in tax revenue, regardless how small. That’s standard operating procedure.…

by Mark Franke Donald Trump and Elon Musk must be accomplishing something, given the howls coming out of the Washington establishment. Could Trump actually be making good on his 2016 promise to drain the swamp? Still, I am not sanguine about his ultimate success. The root problem will still be there no matter how much…

by J.D. Wong Founded in 1971, Amtrak began as an “experiment” to see if passenger trains could make money. Yet, with routes drawn for political gain rather than public need, it has lost money ever since. Instead of throwing good money after bad, Congress should cut Amtrak’s subsidies to zero in the next 180 days. To…

Update: Municipal Grocery Stores A CITY-RUN GROCERY STORE in a food “desert” — it seemed the perfect opportunity for our new mayor to demonstrate in microcosm how her economic-development vision could be realized. It was a pity the opportunity was missed. The grocery, small enough for people to see the workings for themselves, Could have taught us all…

by Nathanael Snow, Ph.D. I just received information of a call for an economic ‘blackout’ on Feb. 28, There is no reason to be opposed to participation in a blackout, but the reasons given for this one have shaky foundations, even in the legitimate context of “voice and exit” in political theory. Voice and exit comes up in discussions of…

by Mark Franke Having just dealt with multiple winter storms in the last fortnight, my subconscious has drifted to thinking of spring. Given northern Indiana’s reputation for unpredictable weather, an early spring breakthrough is not beyond the realm of possibility — that’s possibility, not probability. Still, it got me thinking of spring despite the risk of disappointment…

Democracy at Ground Level APPLAUD AS WE DO the preference cascade that was the recent presidential election, a historic validation of the common sense of the common American, but at the local level, ironically, democracy still is problematic. Any Indiana citizen can sign up for a tour of the Statehouse. These are scheduled through your district representative…

Build it and They Will Come — Maybe MY CITY has been operating with a “build it and they will come” strategy for a couple of decades now. The thing is we have no independent verification that people are actually coming — or coming in greater numbers than otherwise — so we’re not sure why we…

by Nathanael Snow, Ph.D. Sir Walter Scott in the first of his “Waverly” novels describes the early adolescence of young Edward Waverly. Edward is too “indolent and impatient,” to enjoy fishing. He is lacking what he needs to move forward in his life. “Society and example, which, more than any other motives, master and sway the…