In the Capital City, Tension Over Use of the Public Square
For release June 24 and thereafter (700 words) Long before it was fashionable to advocate for parkland and civic space, Indiana’s founding fathers wrote the idea into our Constitution. The framers didn’t want future generations selling off prime public land: the Statehouse, Monument Circle or Military Park, in particular. So in Article 15, section Read the full article…

Dear Senator Boxer . . .
“If the title is so important to you that it trumps other polite forms of address, you are in politics for the wrong reasons . . .” Dear Senator Boxer . . .For immediate release (255 words)Andrea Neal could not believe Barbara Boxer’s arrogance when she demanded yesterday to be called “senator” during the testimony Read the full article…

The Inheritance Tax: Envy Institutionalized
For release June 17 and thereafter (635 words) The cartoon in the New Yorker shows a well-heeled couple on a busy city street sitting behind a sign. “Save the Hamptons,” it says. Cash-strapped Indiana legislators are in special session this week eyeing the most obvious sources of additional tax revenue. They should know, though, that Read the full article…

The Governor’s Apology: Mea Culpa or Ploy?
587 words Gov. Mitch Daniels’ speech apologizing for his generation was quoted in the Wall Street Journal this week. He and others of this year’s commencement honorees described the Baby Boom generation as selfish. But one expert on the cultural impact of the generation, Neil Howe, told the newspaper that the apologies sounded like a Read the full article…

Governor’s Budget Comes Close to Being Painless
For release noon June 10 and thereafter (655 words)Note: Graf 4 refers to start of special session Thursday. If they couldn’t agree on spending priorities in the regular session, it’s hard to imagine state legislators coming together to pass a budget by June 30, the end of the fiscal year — especially considering the histrionics we’ve Read the full article…

‘Perfect Storm’ in Education Will Hit Indiana in Three Years
For release June 3 and thereafter (549 words) It made a great movie. In October 1991, a northeaster created by three merging storms combined with other factors so rare that the situation could not possibly have been worse. This “Perfect Storm” created waves 10 stories high and winds of 120 miles an hour. Now, in Read the full article…

