News
- 03/17/10 - Van Haaften backs reform, backs away from pending reform bill (Courier & Press)
He's not sure he would vote for health care reform legislation now in Congress, but state Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, told a friendly audience Tuesday night that insurance companies should be reined in. "How can we allow a simple middle-class family that can't buy health insurance, or get health insurance because insurance companies raise premiums beyond the cost?" said Van Haaften, the presumptive 8th District Democratic congressional nominee this year. "... How can we stifle small business by not making sure health insurance is affordable? So we have to do things basically to make sure it's affordable, make sure insurance companies don't control (medical decisions between) the doctor and the patient, make sure those that are getting care — the seniors in particular, that Medicare is not cut." Van Haaften, who hopes to succeed Senate candidate Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., was speaking at a public meet-and-greet event offered by University of Southern Indiana's College Democrats club.
MORE - 03/10/10 - Mayor Weinzapfel touts success, vision for merger (Courier & Press)Evansville Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel rhapsodized in his State of the City speech Tuesday about Evansville's planned Downtown arena and trumpeted government cost-cutting and economic development victories. Much of it the mayor had said before. What was not as widely known was the vision he articulated for a finely detailed proposal for consolidated Evansville-Vanderburgh County government. A new 12-member committee has begun meeting to craft a proposal as a result of the League of Women Voters of Southwestern Indiana's signature campaign that kicked off a drive toward a ballot referendum on consolidation. Speaking to the Rotary Club of Evansville, Weinzapfel made it clear he prefers not to follow the 2005 City-County Unification Study Committee's vision of creating a framework for government with details of public safety to be decided by an elected body. MORE
- 03/08/10 - Outsider vibe driving the “Draft Mellencamp” Facebook group (CNN)To hear leaders of the "Draft John Mellencamp for Senate!" Facebook group tell it, this is a story about "insider" politicians, "street-level voters" and whether a likeable rock star with strong grass-roots appeal will run for the U.S. Senate. The "movement," as the group calls it, was born less than three weeks ago with Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh's stunning announcement he would not not run for re-election. The next morning, Gabrial Canada, 21, was at home watching cable news reports about a Facebook page aimed at bringing Mellencamp, 58, into the race. MORE
- 03/08/10 - Seven-year Statehouse run ending for Van Haaften (Courier & Press)
As he prepares a run for Indiana's 8th District seat in the U.S. House, state Rep. Trent Van Haaften will close out his seven-year Indiana General Assembly career when the current legislative session wraps up this week. It's a career that started in 2004, when Van Haaften, then the Posey County prosecutor, was appointed to complete the two-year term of Jonathan Weinzapfel, who had just been elected mayor of Evansville.
MORE - 03/05/10 - Where are the jobs? (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette)
It will come as no surprise to northeast Indiana residents that the thousands of new jobs touted by the Daniels administration have not come to fruition. But an Indianapolis TV news report on inflated economic development success figures should prompt more honest reporting from the state. WTHR-TV examined the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s claim that the state gained more than 100,000 jobs and found it came up far short.
MORE - 03/02/10 - McDermott Out, Washington Back In for Senate Seat
As one Lake County Democrat bowed out of seeking Evan Bayh's U.S. Senate seat on Saturday, another jumped back in. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. will no longer seek the state Democratic Party's nomination for the congressional seat after Bayh retires, said Keith Clock, chairman of the 5th District Central Committee, who spoke with McDermott on Saturday morning. McDermott, also the chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party, could not be reached for comment as of press time. However, Darren Washington could emerge as a candidate from the region. "Northwest Indiana cannot afford to not fight for the opportunity to have representation in Washington, D.C., and represent the state of Indiana in the U.S. Senate," Washington said.
MORE - 03/02/10 - Ellsworth looks for outsider status in Senate race
Indiana Congressman Brad Ellsworth has hit the ground running for the US Senate being vacated by Evan Bayh. The Democrat spent part of the day touring an Indianapolis factory. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, touring Thomas & Skinner of Indianapolis makes perfect sense for Congressman Brad Ellsworth. The magnets made at the company go into the Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MORE - 03/02/10 - Reality Check: Indiana job numbers don’t add up (WTHR)
State leaders boast of 100,000 new Indiana jobs in the past five years, but an Eyewitness News investigation finds many of the state's "economic successes" are actually empty fields and deserted factories where thousands of promised jobs never showed up.
MORE - 03/01/10 - U.S Rep. Baron Hill won’t run for Senate, endorses Ellsworth “My focus has been, and will remain, on fulfilling my job as the congressman from Southern Indiana and continuing to address the most pressing issues our nation and great state face, like deficit reduction, health care reform, energy independence and entitlement spending,” Hill said in a statement. MORE
- 02/28/10 - McDermott out, Washington back in race for Senate seat (Post-Tribune)
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. will no longer seek the state Democratic Party's nomination for the congressional seat after Bayh retires, said Keith Clock, chairman of the 5th District Central Committee, who spoke with McDermott on Saturday morning. However, Darren Washington could emerge as a candidate from the region.
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