Last Update Sunday, May 11, 2008 09:31:44 PM

In the May 12 issue of INDIANA LEGISLATIVE INSIGHT:
Next issue: May 19, 2008

• The primary detritus
• Indiana acquits itself well
• The gubernatorial race shapes up
• Son of Voter ID case: no injunctions
• Bopp reigns supreme in first round of judicial canons case
• The turnout: who, how much, where, and what it portends
• Zoeller first candidate in the AG's race
• Indiana's two senators upset with a pair of different Administration foreign policy initiatives
• Property tax details still bedevil
• Some unions unhappy with Speaker Bauer
• Ron Paul campaign alive and kicking in Indiana
• Indiana Code sections translated into Español by court
• Mixed economic news
• Indiana business and economic news and numbers, and people moving to and fro

In the May 5 issue of INDIANA GAMING INSIGHT:
Next issue: May 19, 2008

• Lottery immunity case has immediate impact
• Paper-game parity: the next steps toward implementation
• Appeal filed in JPMorgan Chase casino marker case
• Majestic Star hits some hard financial times
• Racinos ready their product
• Lottery revenues up despite gas prices
• Hoosier Lottery readies new strategies
• Ohio casino push attracts Pokagons' partner
• Ameristar - Resorts tax bill bickering: what's at stake?
• Blue Chip tops off hotel as Horseshoe ahead of sked
• The results of the French Lick casino bond redemption offer
• Lots of riverboat and horse racing news and the latest legislative info

In the May 12 issue of INDIANA EDUCATION INSIGHT:
Next issue: May 26, 2008 

• Appellate court addresses school funding
• Review of 21st Century Scholar data reverses initial conclusions
• HEA 1001 continues to frustrate schools
• FDK plans still bandied about locally
• Construction plans change as schools cope with cost constraints
• IU, Ivy Tech reach agreement on program offerings and collaboration
• State Board of Accounts slams another school corporation
• Capital projects approved for several institutions
• USI readies its presidential search
• IU baffled by surge in download complaints
• More student loan changes at IU campuses
• Ball State concerned over one charter's management
• School technology news, court news, personnel changes, building plans, and more
   
  
   

• IN the Air
   

• (MON) On the Garrison show from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on WIBC 93.1-FM, Greg Garrison hosts a show that should include U.S. Reps. Dan Burton (R) and Mike Pence (R), and Indianapolis City Councilmember Mike Speedy (R).
  
   

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Heads Up
 

• (MON) The dissatisfaction with the assessment situation builds in LaPorte County, and the Governor's Office is asked by a legislator to intervene with the Department of Local Government Finance. Details in the May 19 issue of Indiana Legislative Insight.
   

• (FRI) To clarify an item in the May 12 issue of Indiana Education Insight, Dr. Stephen T. Heck has voluntarily resigned from the Indiana Association of School Principals.
   

• (THURS) Clinton, Long Thompson, all of our incumbent members of Congress, and all senators, and all legislators save Reps. Simms and Ulmer survive the primary. The fun stuff coming in Monday's issue of your favorite newsletter.
   

• (THURS) The most "Googled" terms on Wednesday morning included (2) Lake County Indiana; (4) Gary Indiana; (5) Indiana primary results; and (7) Rudy Clay.
   

• (THURS) Former Indiana Democratic Party chair Joe Andrew, a superdelegate as a former Democratic National Committee chair, appeared live Thursday on CNN's American Morning opposite James Carville to talk with host John Roberts about the next move in the presidential race for the candidate he is now backing: U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
   

• (WED) Your complete primary wrap-up coming in Monday's issue of Indiana Legislative Insight. As of late Tuesday, Rep. John Ulmer (R) had gone down to defeat by a wide margin, results from Indianapolis were spotty, and while Rep. Greg Simms (D) was trailing in preliminary returns, voting problems in Porter County were expected to delay final returns until this morning. All congressional incumbents were safe, and the Democratic gubernatorial contest was still too close to call Tuesday night. With more than 85% of the vote in statewide (but not the bulk of Lake or Porter counties), there were more than 950,000 total votes counted, and the candidates were separated by only about 9,000 votes. An unprecedented number of absentee and early-voting ballots was slowing the vote count in Lake County election, with only about one-half of the 11,370 such ballots (almost three times the 2004 level) counted by shortly before 10:00 p.m. Indianapolis time, keeping analysts at CNN and Fox News up late.
   

• (WED) The Indiana State Board of Education meets this morning at 10:00 a.m., and will be asked to approve school loans for property tax shortfalls in Lake County. The Board will also discuss assistance for school corporations that have been placed on academic probation. Prior to the meeting, the Board will hold the sixth and final public hearing on a proposed amendment to the state's special education rules. The Department of Education posts a brief podcast explaining the rule changes on iTunes.  
   

• (WED) U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D) appeared live at noon Tuesday on MSNBC with Brian Williams, outside in downtown Indianapolis. He talked about the state's political history and composition, the potency of the gas tax issue ("some help's better than none"), and Williams noted that Sen. Bayh has "a lot on the line" personally in this contest. His appearance was followed by a live stand-up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by Andrea Mitchell, who followed a stop there U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). "This was fun," said Mitchell of the morning's events at IMS, before describing the "Zen moment" for Sen. Clinton talking in a "wistful" manner about the campaign. Just one hour later, Mitchell anchored coverage for MSNBC from the Circle City. Sen. Bayh appeared later in the afternoon live on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
   

• (TUES) From NBC News' Brian Williams: "A word about our coverage tomorrow night, for those of you who see the first feed of Nightly News at 6:30 Eastern time: while the polls will not be closed in all of Indiana (80 of the 92 counties will be closed – but polls in Gary and Evansville will still be open), we will be able to report the raw vote tallies from the rest of Indiana as early as 6:30 ET. That is because the State of Indiana puts the numbers out – posts them on the web. I didn't want anyone to think we were violating any agreement, principle or policy when those numbers pop up on the screen tomorrow night... the state itself will be reporting the early (albeit incomplete) raw vote."
   

• (TUES) Secretary of State Todd Rokita (R) says he expects today's voter turnout to be as heavy as that for a General Election. A total of 159,462 Hoosiers had cast absentee ballots in the 2008 Primary Election as of Monday, more than double the number (56,521) in the 2004 primary. To date, 76% of requested absentee ballots have been for the Democratic Party. The 10 counties with the most absentee voters so far: Marion (15,385), Lake (10,953), Monroe (9,689), Vanderburgh (9,395), Allen (8,316), St. Joseph (8,353), Vigo (7,753), Hamilton (5,208), Madison (4,081), and Delaware (3,821).
   

• (TUES) U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) brought Stevie Wonder to Indianapolis for an Election Eve concert on the American Legion Mall..
   

• (TUES) U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh (D) earned some face time on CNN Monday campaigning with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) in South Bend . . . including a scene that reprised his days on the campaign trail with his father: a stop at a local Dairy Queen, a staple of life on the road back in the day with then-U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh (D).
  
                                        
  
                                                                                                

• (WED) Early Tuesday afternoon, the top search term on Google was "Indiana exit polls."
   

• (MON) Sens. Lugar, Bayh express displeasure with Administration on foreign policy issues; details in today's issue of Indiana Legislative Insight.

• (FRI) The Office of the Attorney General files a lawsuit against book publisher and promoter Airleaf, LLC for taking money without providing the promised services in return. The lawsuit is seeking consumer restitution for at least 120 customers. More than 120 people are named in the lawsuit, including many from Indiana who lost thousands of dollars. The lawsuit, filed in Morgan County Circuit Court, alleges Airleaf, formerly known as Bookman Marketing, LLC, and its owner, Carl Lau, violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. The State claims  that the company advertised that it would provide book publishing, royalty reimbursement, and promotional services to consumers in exchange for payment. The promotional services included in-person participation at book fairs; presentations to Hollywood movie producers; and newspaper, radio, and television advertisements. The lawsuit alleges that Airleaf accepted payment but failed to honor all, or part, of the Client Service Agreements and other agreements, dating back to at least January 2006. Lau is also alleged to have used Airleaf assets and consumer payments to cover expenses unrelated to the business, and that Lau continued to solicit business and accept payments months after he indicated that Airleaf was insolvent. In addition to consumer restitution, the OAG is seeking civil penalties of up to $5,500 per violation, as well as investigative costs.
   

• (THURS) The Wall Street Journal examines how economic progress is slow in coming to Gary, hard-hit in previous tough times. "Decades after deep job cuts in the steel and manufacturing plants, the Rust Belt city's residents and real estate still bear the scars."
   

• (WED) A federal court grants a preliminary injunction allowing judicial candidates in Indiana to answer certain candidate questionnaires; details in Monday's issue of Indiana Legislative Insight. Responses to the Indiana Right to Life questionnaires are available on-line.
   

• (TUES) Judge James T. Moody of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana denies a judgment of acquittal or a new trial to former Rep. Jewell G. Harris, Sr. (D), a long-time City of Gary insider and lobbyist. He was found guilty of two counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering in  a scheme involving excavation work at Gary's minor league baseball stadium. The government alleged, and the jury found, that Harris' company wrongly billed the City $1.5 million for work another contractor also paid it $90,000 to do. "Defendant claims that in fact the City was correct to pay him, and that the actual error was receiving $90,000 from Reith Riley. While creative, the evidence does not support this argument .... In short, there was substantial evidence that the City was erroneously billed for the work at the stadium site .... Defendant also claims that there was insufficient evidence that he knew of the double billing. However, the court believes the government presented strong evidence of defendant’s knowledge and direction of the double-billing scheme .... Defendant also alleged in his motion that the government had lied about its reasons for opposing further continuances, and that he intended to file a motion requesting the court to order the government to provide him with information, presumably its “true” reasons for opposing further continuances. However, defendant failed to file any such motion .... Defendant also argues for an acquittal or a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel, claiming that his counsel did not have adequate time to prepare for trial due to the government opposing his requests for additional continuances .... Defendant complains that his counsel did not have adequate time to prepare, but fails to explain what counsel would have done with more time and why the lack of additional time prejudiced his defense. From this court’s perspective, defense counsel did an admirable job in attacking the government’s case, especially here, where there was substantial evidence of the core criminal act .... Further, as the government notes, defendant’s acquittal on one count of mail fraud belies his ineffective assistance claim. This claim also falls far short of meriting an acquittal or a new trial."
  
   

IN Education

• (THURS) Indiana State University plans to spend $2.6 million for an asbestos abatement project at the Hulman Center. The school will remove asbestos-contaminated structures used in the original construction of the home of ISU basketball, and will replace ceiling and lighting fixtures as a result of the project.   
   

• (MON) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5 office issues a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) that resolves a violation of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) at the Crosbie Foundry Company in Elkhart, Indiana. Crosbie generates hazardous waste in the form of spent foundry sand containing lead. Inspections conducted by Region 5 and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management found that Crosbie failed to comply with RCRA storage and emergency preparedness requirements. The CAFO requires Crosbie to certify its return to compliance and to pay a fine of $1,000.
   

• (THURS) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 office issues Consent Agreements and Final Orders (CAFOs) in the Black Beauty Coal Company (BBCC) Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 Mining Case. BBCC will pay a $75,000 fine (divided evenly in 3 CAFOs), and perform a Supplemental Environmental Project creating a 41.8 acre forested wetland and establishing a permanent environmental restrictive covenant on the wetland, valued at $292,345 (divided evenly in three CAFOs). Between March and August 2006, BBCC applied for 4 CWA Section 404 permits involving a significant amount of after-the-fact impacts on streams and wetlands at 4 of its surface coal mining operations: Cottage Grove/Wildcat Hills mine (Gallatin and Saline counties, Illinois); Farmersburg mine (Sullivan and Vigo counties); and, Somerville North and Central, and Somerville South mines-combined for purposes of settlement (both in Gibson County). U.S. EPA is enforcing the CWA for BBCC’s unpermitted mining activities beginning in approximately 2000 that have impacted waters of the United States. BBCC has directly or indirectly impacted or will impact approximately 164,179 linear feet of ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams, as well as approximately 16.69 acres of wetlands.
   

• (WED) From the Boston Globe: "For more than four months, perplexed scientists have struggled to understand why upwards of a half-million bats may be at risk of dying in the dark caves and mines of Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, and New York. Last year, thousands of dead bats were found in four caves within 7 miles of one another. This year, at least 25 caves and mines spread across 135 miles were found to have sick or dying bats. Homeowners from Hanover, N.H., to East Canaan in northwest Connecticut have reported dead bats on lawns, decks, and roofs, a sign the animals might be affected in an even wider area. But so far, no one has found an infectious agent or any other cause .... Six species of bats appeared to be affected, though little brown bats seemed hardest hit. Not all the dead bats had white noses, but enough did for scientists to dub the sickness "white nose syndrome." Most had virtually no fat on their body, indicating they had starved. But even some live bats that were a healthy weight and lacked white fungus were acting strangely by flying out in the middle of the day. Mortality in some caves was nearing 100 percent. No one had seen anything like it. 'We hope that our concern is overblown and that in a short time people are laughing at us for saying, `The sky is falling, the sky is falling,' ' Virgil Brack Jr., a bat consultant and assistant director of the Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation at Indiana State University, wrote in an e-mail to the group in January. 'But until that proves to be the case, this . . . scares the hell out of us.' "
   

IN Business, the Economy, Energy, and Infrastructure
 

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• (WED) U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar (R) receives the Dale E. Kildee Civitas Award from the Center for Civic Education, which recognizes members of Congress for their dedication to civic education. 
   
  
  
  
   

• (MON) Kevin Lilly, a three-year veteran of the Logansport Pharos-Tribune, is named news editor of the paper.
   

• (FRI) The Philadelphia Daily News' media writer reports that "6ABC sports anchor Keith Russell has reportedly supplied wholly unsubstantiated details to a Florida radio station about last week's shooting linked to Marvin Harrison, the Indianapolis Colts and Roman Catholic football star. Harrison is being investigated by Philadelphia police following the April 29 shooting in which a gun he owns was used to shoot a man who had just beaten him up. According to ProFootballTalk. com, Russell appeared with Jason Jackson on Miami's WQAM, and said his sources told him that the man who was shot had come to carry out a gangland-style hit on Harrison. According to the Web site, Russell said during the segment that the issue relates to Harrison's father, who Russell told! the radio station was incarcerated. According to a Sporting News article from 1999, Harrison's father died when he was 2."
   

• (FRI) According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, former WTHR-TV meteorologist Rob Guarino "will be working weekends in Seattle. Guarino, 44, who left Fox29 in December after his contract was not renewed, auditioned last weekend on the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at KIRO-TV, a CBS station. Guarino told The Inquirer that he will be on again this weekend. If he gets the job, he said he would shuttle to the Philadelphia area, where his two children live."
   

• (FRI) WTWO-TV General Manager Duane Lammers will leave Terre Haute Channel 2 after 11 years to move to the St. Louis area, where he will be taking an as-yet unidentified post within the TV industry that will not include actually running a TV station.
   

• (FRI) Ball State University alum Stephanie Soviar, a former WTHR-TV entertainment reporter and WRTV-TV traffic reporter, will host Great Day St. Louis beginning in September on KMOV-TV there under her married name, Stephanie Simmons.
   

• (FRI) The Rochester Sentinel becomes the second Indiana newspaper in recent weeks to shift subscribers to U.S. mail from carrier delivery.
   

• (TUES) TVNewser reports that "Based on the available household data for Indianapolis, Meet the Press delivered 91,000 homes (8.5 rating/21 share), up 94% versus the prior week. ABC's This Week delivered 14,000 homes (1.3 rating/4 share), down 26% versus the prior week. The Russert-Obama hour on NBC affiliate WTHR beat the Stephanopoulos-Clinton hour on ABC affiliate WRTV by +550%. This was the best homes delivery for Meet the Press on WTHR in at least 14 years (Feb. 1994), when Indianapolis became a metered market."
   

• (TUES) Ball State University grad Jim Ottolin becomes the new vice president/general manager for CBS4, WHBF-TV in Rock Island, Illinois. Ottolin has been general manager of ABC's WCTI-TV in Greenville/New Bern, North Carolina.
  
   

“Now that the Supreme Court has resolved this matter, wouldn't it make sense for everyone to work together to get an ID into the hands of those who need them? Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor, believes that in an era when people have to show ID to rent a video or buy an Amtrak ticket, "requiring ID can help poor people." He expressed support for deploying mobile buses to issue free voter IDs and allowing groups like the NAACP to arrange for visits to specific sites and neighborhoods. One stop ought to be St. Mary's Convent in South Bend.”