Category: Indiana Writers Group Archive

Andrea Neal column for Dec. 7 and thereafter740 words INDIANAPOLIS – When Joel Silverman agreed to serve as commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, he had a pretty good idea what might lie ahead. The challenges have been hammered home in recent days by the comments he’s heard from well-wishers: everything from "You’re crazy"…

Andrea Neal column for July 20 and thereafter670 words (Note to editors: This is an updated version of this week’s column for newspapers that publish it later in the week). An Indiana congressman has emerged as the leader of the latest effort to block gay marriage. Instead of changing the Constitution with an amendment, he’s…

Andrea Neal column for Nov. 26710 words Look for a lawsuit any day now challenging the President¹s authority to declare a national day of thanksgiving and prayer. If people take offense at the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, they surely won¹t stand for a holiday whose purpose is to thank the Almighty…

Andrea Neal column for Dec. 14 and thereafter730 words INDIANAPOLIS — Remember the old definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? The description comes to mind with the release of Indiana ISTEP results. Every year, schools spend more time and money on test preparation, remediation and analyzing…

Andrea Neal column for Nov. 23 and thereafter710 words INDIANAPOLIS – If you’re one of the many Hoosiers hoping for big property tax relief in 2005, prepare for disappointment. The Property Tax Replacement Study Commission, after six months of research, has decided now’s not the time to dramatically reduce our reliance on what many consider…

Andrea Neal column for May 11 and thereafter745 words INDIANAPOLIS — Help wanted. Applicants must be willing to work long hours for low pay for just two days a year. The successful candidates will be good communicators, patient with the public and willing to buy donuts on their way to the job site. Indiana needs…

Andrea Neal column for Nov. 12, 2003710 words INDIANAPOLIS — Fellow parents of Indiana teen-agers: We need to talk. We all know that the tragedy that occurred in Morgan County could have happened anywhere. We all realize that the Mooresville football player killed in a crash after drinking could just as easily have been one…

Andrea Neal column for Aug. 17 and thereafter740 words INDIANAPOLIS — Are books essential to a child’s education? The answer could spell the end to Indiana’s textbook rental fee. Each year about this time, parents whip out the checkbook to cover what might be the most unpopular fee in Indiana. The amount due can range…

Andrea Neal column for release Nov. 17 and thereafter. INDIANAPOLIS – The arrest of a former security officer for conspiring to rig a scratch-off game may sound like small potatoes in the $664 million business that is the Hoosier Lottery. But with the legislature poised to consider even more gambling expansion in the 2005 session,…

Andrea Neal column for May 4 and thereafter700 words INDIANAPOLIS — Let’s hope the Indiana Gaming Commission is less impressionable than some Orange County residents, who’ve been hypnotized by Donald Trump’s grand vision for a casino complex in French Lick. "We’re not supposed to say, but we want Trump," one of those residents, Geneva Street,…