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Indiana’s monthly jobs reports tell an encouraging story: the state’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in years, while the labor force participation rate has outpaced the national average for more than a decade. That is good news for Indiana’s economy, but it also matters for the health and stability of…
Only a handful of races are truly competitive in this year’s Indiana Senate elections, with most of the money flowing to a northwest Indiana district and a suburban Indianapolis contest. Democrats are hoping to flip Senate District 1 and Senate District 31 in a national environment working against Republicans who now…
Democrats have used President Donald Trump’s unpopularity to expand the midterm map, and analysts project the party carries momentum heading into the final two weeks of the election cycle, even as Democrats are expected to flip fewer U.S. House seats than wave elections this century. The Cook Political Report with Amy…
The mother of two children murdered by Jeffrey Weisheit urged Indiana’s parole board Monday to reject his plea for mercy, saying her children deserved the futures he took from them. Her appeal came hours after Weisheit’s family and attorneys asked the five-member board to recommend sparing his life, citing his history…
Democrat Beau Bayh wants all four Indiana secretary of state candidates to participate in a televised debate later this week.
Republican Max Engling is threatening to sue Democrat Beau Bayh over a new television advertisement in their increasingly bitter Indiana secretary of state election campaign.
Max Engling was a twenty-something Republican staffer for an obscure congressional committee when Kevin McCarthy first encountered him more than a decade ago.
Early voting is now open in Indiana, and with that comes a powerful question on every Hoosier’s ballot about one of the most fundamental protections in our justice system: the presumption of innocence and right to remain free while awaiting trial: Public Question 1. Indiana lawmakers have proposed an amendment to…
The sheer size of investment in data centers is drawing concern as it surpasses all other historical booms and crowds out other more job-creating ventures. Until now, no industry had driven the U.S. economy with such force since the railroad expansion of the late 1800s, when titans battled one another to lay the…
CORYDON, Ind. — A former electrical company employee, a couple wearing frog hats and a Franciscan friar were among about 100 protesters at a Saturday “No Kings” demonstration in Corydon — against the backdrop of the state’s first capitol. The latest in a string of nationwide protests since the start of President…
Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh are the only candidates invited to a televised secretary of state debate set for next week.
Death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit asked Indiana’s parole board Friday to let him live out his life in prison, but repeatedly struggled to explain why anger at his girlfriend led him to kill her two young children. During 64 minutes of questioning at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Weisheit apologized for…
New poll results show Democrat Beau Bayh with advantages in name identification and voter support over Republican Max Engling going into the final weeks of the race for Indiana secretary of state. The poll, commissioned by the Free Press Indiana news organization, found 43% were likely to vote for Bayh and 35% likely…
Democrats are looking to ride a wave of widespread opposition to big data center projects across the state as they aim to pick up seats in the Indiana House.
Prediction markets are bending the common definition of gambling — and states across the nation are pushing back. Kalshi is the first federally regulated financial exchange in the United States dedicated to trading on the outcomes of future events. It handled billions in weekly contract volume. And it’s battling in…
Beau Bayh is still pulling off that rarest of feats for statewide Democratic candidates in Indiana — outraise and outspend the Republicans.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump Thursday announced that the execution of a man convicted of the Fort Hood shooting will not be livestreamed, a reversal after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad would be public. “I think streaming the execution for all to see might…
Lincoln Party secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard filed suit Thursday to force the Indiana Election Commission to rule on four pending campaign finance complaints against his opponents before the Nov. 3 election. Two complaints are against Republican Max Engling and two are against Democrat Beau Bayh. “The…
Hoosiers largely disapprove of how President Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Braun are doing their jobs and oppose early redistricting and data centers, according to a new poll conducted by Bellwether Research. Free Press Indiana commissioned the poll of 839 likely voters performed Oct. 8-11. It oversampled Republicans, in…
This is the second of four profiles in Indiana’s secretary of state race. Greg Ballard has overcome the odds before. As an unknown Republican in 2007, he forced a popular Democratic mayor out of the Indianapolis City-County Building by just 5,000 votes, despite being outspent 10-1. Ballard widened his reelection…
The father of Alyssa and Caleb Lynch is urging Gov. Mike Braun to spare Jeffrey Weisheit from execution, saying the man who murdered his children should remain in prison for life without the possibility of parole. Steven Lynch, whose children died in a 2010 house fire set by Weisheit, signed an affidavit urging mercy…
Indiana farmers facing steep increases in building assessments are calling for changes to the state’s property valuation system, warning lawmakers Wednesday that similar structures are being assessed differently across county lines. Indiana Farm Bureau representatives told the Interim Study Committee on Fiscal Policy…
As the nation’s physician shortage worsens, some fear the Trump administration’s immigration policies will dissuade or prevent doctors who earned their medical degrees in foreign countries from practicing in the United States. Among all U.S. doctors, an estimated one quarter were educated abroad. But they make up an…
The name, image and likeness brand deals prevalent in collegiate athletics are trickling down to high school athletes, but Indiana lawmakers appear unlikely to regulate the practice for now. The Indiana High School Athletic Association in May authorized its own version of the deals known as personal brand activities…
Groups disagree on whether a casino would help or harm their community's future — boosting revenue for local services but risking addictions.
Love it or hate it, digital news outlet Black Indy LIVE has more social media followers than the city’s 131-year-old Black press. The outlet, which focuses on Indianapolis’ Black community, is hard to ignore given its popularity, which is why I’ve decided to take a closer look. The platform has significant influence…
In the course of a single election cycle, the backlash against data centers has grown from an issue at local planning commission and city council meetings to become a flashpoint in state and federal races across the country. Candidates who once touted data centers as an economic boon have backtracked, and voters in at…
About 200 Hoosiers remain in Indiana’s emergency shelter program two months after August’s storms, and officials are urging anyone impacted to apply for federal aid before an Oct. 25 deadline. Gov. Mike Braun announced Tuesday that the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will lead a transition from state-funded…
The leader of Indiana’s business recruitment efforts is traveling to Japan for talks with executives of major automakers and other companies operating in the state.
Indiana death row inmate Jeffrey Weisheit is asking the state’s highest court to move his execution from Nov. 5 to Nov. 19 so experts can analyze brain scans his attorneys say would give Gov. Mike Braun a fuller account of his impairments before deciding clemency. A federal judge approved funding for the testing but…
A little-known statewide office responsible for disbursing and reporting how Indiana’s state tax dollars are spent is on the ballot this election season. Three candidates are vying to be Indiana’s next comptroller: Incumbent Elise Nieshalla, a Republican, is seeking re-election against Democratic nominee Jessica…
Medicaid dollars intended for vulnerable children and families are not a slush fund. Every dollar lost to fraud, waste, inflated billing, or care that was never properly delivered is a dollar taken from a child who genuinely needs help. And when government fails to protect those dollars, honest providers are undercut…
As Hoosier voters head to the polls this election, they will find on their ballots the Court of Appeals of Indiana judges and the Indiana Tax Court judge who are up for retention, but many of those voters may struggle to decide whether to retain them or not. Retention questions are difficult for the electorate,
The Trump administration’s order to allow import of Russian diesel violates a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports while the country’s war with Ukraine is ongoing, according to a bipartisan group of U.S. senators. Following an Oct. 9 call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the U.S…
They'll deploy to southern Texas for a nearly yearlong immigration enforcement boost, relieving another mobilization from Monticello.
It felt like a gut punch when Jacob Coxon, a researcher with Anthropic focused on expanding artificial intelligence capabilities, publicly resigned to underscore the threat to humanity AI posed and the reckless nature in which the U.S.’s largest tech firms are advancing it. Rather than disputing those claims…
Beau Bayh professes unconcern about any weight upon him for lifting Indiana Democrats from the political woes they’ve suffered for more than a decade.
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith’s office attempted to intervene in a criminal case involving a years-old hit-and-run but the reason is a mystery so far. The judge informed attorneys in the case and refused to consider the correspondence. “The Court finds that the correspondence constitutes an ex parte communication concerning…
On Friday morning, the prediction market platform Kalshi gave the Democratic candidate in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race an 87% chance of winning. The volume of trading on the outcome exceeded $1.8 million. This is exactly the type of activity Minnesota and numerous other states want to shut down. “They jeopardize…
It was a good week for the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The agency is hauling in money from a popular “blackout” plate design and received top rankings nationwide in an analysis of branch Google reviews. I still have a bone to pick with BMV. But first, let’s focus on the good stuff. We reported
All nine Indiana members of the U.S. House are defending their seats this fall, with challengers offering competing plans for healthcare, household costs and federal spending as voters help decide control of Congress. Seven Republicans and two Democrats are up for reelection under the same district boundaries…
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s plan to restore performance funding for the state’s seven public colleges and universities is premature, Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns told the commission Thursday. Outcomes-based performance funding accounts for a small portion of Indiana’s higher…
WASHINGTON — Rebecca Myers lives in one of the nation’s most hotly contested congressional districts, and tariffs were on her mind as she voted early and in-person in Suffolk, Virginia in late September. The 44-year-old trained social worker said she and her husband, who recently retired after 25 years in the U.S…
Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard will soon make it three campaigns with television ads on the air in the Indiana secretary of state’s race.
For millions of Americans living in poverty, rising prices are a threat to their wellbeing and the wellbeing of our communities. These prices often result in painful choices — like rationing groceries, skipping meals, or not sending your children to extracurricular activities. Those choices are everywhere these days…
There’s a saying at the Indiana Department of Administration: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The stack of broken chairs in storage at the IDOA State Surplus Warehouse may be useless to the 30,000 state employees who once sat in them, but the chairs are a popular item with recyclers. IDOA routinely…
With Election Day less than a month away, lawmakers in several states are suspending gas taxes or rolling back regulations on diesel fuel as voters grow increasingly frustrated with rising fuel costs amid President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. On Tuesday, Trump issued an executive order to expand access to tax-free…
Republican Max Engling leaned into blocking noncitizen voting as a top priority as he and the other three Indiana secretary of state candidates debated Wednesday night.
After facing criticism for lacking any policy platform, Indiana’s fledgling Lincoln Party released Wednesday what it called a statement of principles.
Voting in Indiana is not an easy process. Doing your civic duty requires optimism and nimbleness. There’s very little state voter education, and registration deadlines fall almost a month before the Nov. 3 election. We have one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the country because most races are not competitive…
Big-money contributions from out of state have poured fuel into this fall’s expensive campaign for Indiana secretary of state.
Fifteen years after agreeing to acquire a large swath of the former Newport Chemical Depot for conservation, Indiana is still working to complete the $10 transfer — and planning to manage the additional land without more money or staff. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has not yet acquired the roughly 1,705…
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis. The environmental advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch analyzed water bill data among the nation’s 500 largest community water providers. Those systems serve a collective 155 million people — nearly half the nation’s…
Scores varied widely in the analysis of reviews about public vehicle registration and driver's license offices.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration quietly paused determinations for disability Medicaid waivers in August to review how case managers were implementing the agency’s new interRAI assessment system, as advocates raised alarm about the tool’s accuracy. But after a break, the system is already back in…
President Donald Trump wants to sharply curtail mail ballots. He’s called them “inherently corrupt” and baselessly condemned them as a major source of fraud. But with Republicans falling behind in the polls, the president is now urging his supporters to vote in the midterm elections any way they can, including by…
Lincoln Party secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard picked up a notable endorsement Monday from former Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann. “I’ve always been about good governance, and that has to be the top priority, even above a party. It has to be about good people who will do the right thing for Hoosiers,” Ellspermann…
Indiana's Bureau of Motor Vehicles has sold more than 380,000 "blackout" license plates in the year since the minimalist design launched.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration shared internal estimates Monday showing 58,000 Hoosiers insured through the Healthy Indiana Plan are not in compliance with federal Medicaid work rules set to take effect next year. Estimates suggest as many as 12% of current HIP members are at risk of losing…
Indiana judges may soon have the ability to deny bail for more defendants they believe pose a danger to the public. Defendants are guaranteed the right to bail under the Indiana constitution except in cases of murder or treason — even when a judge believes the defendant may reoffend while awaiting trial. Hoosiers will…
Walk into almost any public library in Indiana, and you’ll find much more than just the books on the shelves. You’ll find reliable internet access, a place to escape the heat, and often, a staff member who has quietly become the first person to which a struggling neighbor turns. Librarians have become a mental health
State officials are planning to launch an anonymous tip line regarding safety concerns that will be available for all K-12 schools starting in January.
Kalshi, Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent at least $3 million this year on lobbying and campaign contributions across the federal and state levels, according to a new report from the government watchdog group OpenSecrets. Prediction market platforms say they are like commodity markets that…
Political polls are backing up what extensive campaign advertising indicates — that the Indiana secretary of state race is tight as early voting starts next week.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sued current and former members of the state’s attorney disciplinary commission Thursday, alleging years of retaliation and asking a federal judge to block a demand that he answer an ethics grievance tied to his personal jet ski transaction. The 34-page complaint, filed in the U.S…
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun selected a new chief for public access requests and grievances, after months of complaints about his previous pick's responsiveness.
Indiana prison officials plan to proceed with Jeffrey Weisheit’s Nov. 5 execution after a botched lethal injection in Tennessee prompted that state’s governor to halt executions and order an independent review. The Indiana Department of Correction said Thursday that it remains confident in its procedures despite using…
Property taxes are a perennial thorn in the side of Indiana lawmakers. The state doesn’t receive any of the revenue, but legislators write the rules that infuriate citizens. Many residents agree on one thing: the assessment system for properties needs to be revamped. Hoosiers deserve some stability in these values…
Indiana is building additional interstate capacity where other states are focused on road maintenance or federal bridge funding.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to kick off a month-long blitz of campaign stops with a Thursday rally in deep-red Oklahoma before heading to other states with strong Republican leanings. The first events in the closing stretch of the midterm election campaign suggest his strength with swing voters is limited, as…
Children with autism learn to accomplish some of life’s most important skills through highly effective, evidence-based therapies like applied behavior analysis. I’ve seen it throughout my career, and it never becomes less remarkable to me. Seeing the profound impact that meaningful care can have on the life of an…
Denouncing political activity by Indiana’s top elections officer, secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard is calling for a ban on partisan actions by whoever holds the office.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans did not gain any support Wednesday from Democrats as they attempted to advance a bill that mashed together two hot-button midterm issues: requiring voter ID in federal elections and limiting stock trading for members of Congress. The Republican-led bill, titled the Stop Insider…
Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday renewed Indiana's gas tax suspension for another 30 days — until early November — and issued a new order lifting restrictions on the sale of untaxed diesel fuel for semi-trucks operated by farmers and timber harvesters, citing continued disruption to global oil supply.
Black journalists on TV have had to think about their appearance on air in ways that other journalists do not. In August 2020, broadcast journalist Jalea Brooks knew she needed to have an uncomfortable conversation with her news director about her hair. She had been working in Montgomery, Ala. for nearly four years…
No Indiana retailers have been fined since the state banned the purchase of candy or soda using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Administration said the agency has taken action 61 times this year against Indiana retailers for…
In the early months of 2022, Democrats in Congress came close to passing an appropriations bill that did not include a provision barring federal funding for abortions — maybe the closest it had ever come in more than 40 years. But those who wanted the Hyde Amendment included won the battle in the end. Three
WARSAW, Ind. — About 300 Hoosiers showed up Tuesday night in Warsaw to hear a pitch headlined by three high-ranking legislators about ending “property taxes on the home you live in.” Another dozen lawmakers also attended. The room also had local government officials worried about revenue cuts and homeowners worried…
NIPSCO defends storm outage performance as lawmakers crowdsource ideas for fixes next session.
Lawmakers want Hoosier farmers to be allowed to use off-road diesel fuel in their semi-trucks this harvest season to offset record diesel prices. The fuel, often called red or dyed diesel, is a tax-exempt version of diesel used by tractors, bulldozers, portable generators and other off-road equipment. State Rep. Jim…
Indiana’s governors are moving out of their offices — at least on canvas. Official gubernatorial portraits that have hung inside state offices or spent time in storage are being gathered for a long-term display in the Statehouse’s public hallways, giving visitors a chance to see the former Hoosier leaders without…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has, once again, infuriated lawmakers from both political parties by using a controversial maneuver to cancel funding previously approved by Congress. The $810 million in the “pocket rescission” would have gone to refugee assistance programs at the Department of Health and Human…
Leaders talked about their bid for the academy before approving $5 million for a separate collaboration with Nvidia.
More than 10,000 expungement cases were filed in Indiana courts last year, continuing a decade-long rise in the number of people asking judges to restrict access to old arrests and convictions. Courts opened 10,156 expungement cases in 2025, up 52% from 6,660 in 2016, according to state court data obtained by the…
Many smart people have been spending time thinking about how state leaders might invest Indiana’s growing revenue and robust reserves. This is especially of interest as monthly revenue collections continue to outperform forecast estimates (revenues have exceeded estimates for the last ten consecutive months). We…
For more than 35 years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has surveyed American high school students every two years about their health and behavior. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, established in 1991, draws a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9 through 12 at public and private…
State officials say a $1 billion annual payment to an Indiana teacher pension fund won’t be needed within the next couple of years.
What do school referendums and data centers have in common? They are all unpopular but not all of them are bad. That’s why I hope Hoosiers consider each proposal on their individual merits instead of automatically opposing all of them. And there are key things you should think about when weighing the pros and cons…
Voters in nine states will weigh changes to their criminal legal systems and drug policies this fall. The Nov. 3 ballot measures include questions about pretrial release, fentanyl and human trafficking penalties, immigration enforcement, traffic cameras, drug cartels and marijuana regulation. The measures reflect a…
The project will unlock 2,000 to 4,000 megawatts of transfer capacity for an Indiana grid interconnection that Gov. Mike Braun dubbed a "choke point."
Indiana’s centuries-old paper trail — from the state’s original constitutions to governors’ correspondence and millions of agency records — is back downtown after a quarter-century in a temporary warehouse. State officials marked the opening of the new Indiana State Archives with a ribbon-cutting Thursday, celebrating…
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit against the Indiana High School Athletic Association in a bid to eliminate a race-based quota for the association’s board of directors, which reserves two of its 19 seats for minorities. The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Superior Court Wednesday, alleges the IHSAA…
Indiana businesses are experiencing what many homeowners have seen in recent years: dramatic jumps in the assessed values of their real property. In 2026, the statewide assessed value of all types of property is going up 9.7% compared to 2025. Residential property, which is just over half of the assessed value in…
The birth of Beau Bayh and his twin brother was headline news across Indiana in 1995 as the first children born to a current governor and first lady in more than a century. That hasn’t inoculated Bayh from political attacks over his Hoosier ties as he runs as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state,
State officials want to establish a second short-term residential facility to stabilize intellectually disabled adults who need temporary around-the-clock supervision, following the 2024 closure of a co-ed facility in Marion. The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration recently issued a request for proposals…
WASHINGTON — A vast and growing network of artificial intelligence-driven Flock cameras could violate constitutional privacy rights, U.S. senators on a Judiciary Committee subcommittee said during a Wednesday hearing. GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, the chair of the Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, said the…
Indiana officials don’t expect many more counties will be added to the 21 already approved for federal disaster aid from last month’s severe storms and flooding.
The two agencies often play conflicting roles in the rate cases that determine utility prices for most customers.
Dozens of Indiana’s public school superintendents say their districts will cut teaching and support staff in the coming years to contend with the financial fallout of property tax reform, according to a new survey from the Indiana Coalition for Public Education. This is the second year the volunteer advocacy group…
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. The mistrial in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial earlier this month places her future in doubt, three years after she killed her three children…