Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Indiana last week reignited a partisan clash over redistricting, with Republican leaders welcoming his support for the effort and Democrats accusing the GOP of trying to undermine voting rights. The visit, which included discussions on redistricting with Gov. Mike Braun and state lawmakers, drew swift criticism from Indiana Democrats, […]
Indiana
Posted inElections, Health, Indiana Black Legislative Caucus, Mental Health, Politics & Policy
New Indiana Laws Could Strip Health Coverage, Voting Access in Gary
New state laws that took effect July 1 are drawing attention across Indiana, particularly in places like Gary, where access to health care and the ballot box is already uneven. In a city like Gary, where voter turnout is often low and civic trust is fragile, the new laws raise the stakes ahead of the […]
Posted inExtreme Weather
Hotter Days, Higher Electric Bills: How Climate Change Is Impacting Gary
Climate change is causing significant and far-reaching impacts on the Great Lakes region, a new study finds. Gary is no exception. As triple-digit temperatures bring record-breaking heatwaves to the area, and higher electricity bills, a new report shows how hot it is now and predicts how much worse things could get. Since 1951, annual average […]
Posted inHealth, Politics & Policy, State Government
Indiana Medicaid Changes Could Leave Gary Residents Without Coverage
New state legislation in Indiana could significantly change how Medicaid and the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) are managed. Signed by Gov. Mike Braun last week and set to go into effect on July 1, these changes are expected to affect low-income residents, including those in Gary, by tightening eligibility verification, imposing new financial requirements, and […]
Posted inEducation, Partner Content, Politics & Policy
‘A Giant Leap Backwards’: Indiana Opts Out of Summer Program for Hungry Schoolchildren
This story was originally published by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Last summer, hundreds of thousands of Hoosier families who qualify for food benefits and reduced-price school meals got a summertime boost: $120 per child monthly for food while schools were closed. But relief for those 669,000 children may only have been a one-time blip. Indiana […]
Posted inEducation, LGBTQ, Partner Content, Sports
Bill Banning Transgender Female Athletes From Women’s College Teams Clears Senate
This story was originally published by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. A bill that would prohibit transgender female athletes from playing on college teams that align with their gender identity passed the Indiana Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support on a 42-6 vote. It now goes to Gov. Mike Braun for his signature. Sen. Stacey Donato, […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
Braun’s Executive Order Sparks Alarm in Polluted Communities Like Gary
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s latest executive order eliminating environmental justice protections is sparking concern in communities like Gary, a city long plagued by industrial pollution. Environmental advocates warn that gutting oversight will leave vulnerable residents with fewer safeguards against toxic emissions and hazardous waste. Earlier this week, Braun signed an executive order eliminating “environmental justice” […]
Posted inPartner Content, Politics & Policy
Where Do Federal Funding Cuts Leave Indiana?
This story was originally published by the Indiana Capital Chronicle. The state of Indiana receives more than $20 billion from the federal government annually, or 44% of its budget, and is the third-most reliant state — behind only Louisiana and Mississippi, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under President […]
Posted inHealth, Partner Content, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health, State Government
Condoms, IUDs removed from Indiana bill seeking to expand birth control access
This story was originally published in the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Republican lawmakers on Tuesday removed condoms and long-acting contraceptives from a proposed Indiana program that seeks to increase access to birth control, instead replacing those options with “fertility awareness based methods” like menstrual cycle tracking — also known as the rhythm method. The underlying legislation, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Indiana Man Seeks Clemency With Help From Jury Foreperson
After spending more than three decades in prison, Kofi Modibo Ajabu believed he had exhausted all legal avenues to reduce his 240-year sentence. Ajabu was a college student when he was convicted along with two other men in the March 1994 stabbing deaths of two Indiana teenagers and one of their friends in what prosecutors […]