Indiana State News Roundup

 

The HEC is urging residents to voice opposition to the pending “more stringent” environmental legislation,  Rep. Young to stay on Indiana US Senate ballot, more mumps reported in the state…

 

HATE CRIME LEGISLATION

 

A hate crimes bill will likely need to hitch a ride with another bill if it’s going to pass this session:

Eric Berman reports.

 

 


 

 

HOUSE BILL 1082

The Hoosier Environmental Council is urging residents to contact their State Senators and ask them to vote no concerning House Bill 1082.  It basically says that the Indiana could not adopt environmental laws that are more stringent than the current federal laws.

The HEC’s Jesse Kharbanda (car-bon-duh) says the law is unneeded as it would not allow Indiana environmental regulators to act in a proper and efficient way in the event of an environmental crisis.

He gives the example of a federal law that states that if lead is found in a local drinking water system, the water, containing lead, can still be delivered to residents while a solution is being worked on.  He says the tainted water could continue to be used for years as each solution would only require a testing every six months.

House Bill 1082 is being considered by the Senate’s Environmental Affairs Committee early next week.  State Senator Eric Bassler of Washington is a member of the committee.  Kharbanda wants residents to tell Bassler the bill is a bad idea for state environmental policy.

 


 

MORE MUMPS REPORTED IN THE STATE

– An outbreak of the mumps has now moved from universities to an elementary school. Amy Beverland Elementary says it has confirmed a case of the mumps in an adult student teacher. The student teacher has been out of the building since Tuesday. Butler University, IUPUI, and Indiana University have all reported multiple cases of the mumps within the past month.


 

INDIANA-SENATE-BALLOT CHALLENGE

Republican U.S. Representative Todd Young’s name will stay on the ballot for Indiana’s open U.S. Senate seat after a tie vote by the state election commission.

The board voted 2-2 along party lines Friday after hearing arguments from attorneys for the state Democratic Party and tea party-backed GOP Rep. Marlin Stutzman that Young’s campaign didn’t submit enough petition signatures to meet state requirements to appear on the May primary ballot.

Republican board members said they believed Young’s campaign relied in good faith on counts of petition signatures submitted by county clerks and that they didn’t want to disenfranchise voters.

Democratic members said they believed Young didn’t meet the state’s requirements.


 

SUBWAY SPOKESMAN-APPEAL

 An attorney for former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle is asking a federal appeals court to shorten the more than 15-year prison sentence he received for possessing child pornography and paying for sex with underage girls.

The appeal filed Friday argues that the District Court judge in Indianapolis abused her authority by giving Fogle a sentence three years longer than the maximum term prosecutors agreed to pursue as part of his plea deal.

The appeal argues that the judge’s sentence is unreasonable and undermines the trust needed to negotiate plea agreements.

Fogle was sentenced in November on one count each of distributing and receiving child porn and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on Fogle’s appeal.

 


 

LOUISVILLE CRANE

 A crane removing temporary supports from the Louisville-area East End bridge has collapsed into the Ohio River. Dan Hartlage, a spokesman for the project contractor, tells The Courier-Journal that the crane’s collapse Friday afternoon might have been wind related, but he says it’s too soon to determine what caused it.