Advance Indiana

• IBJ Expose On Fair Finance Likely Led To FBI Raid On Durham's Offices

  It now seems likely that FBI agents were prompted to conduct a raid on the Indianapolis and Akron, Ohio offices of Tim Durham's Fair Finance and Obsidian Enterprises after the IBJ's Greg Andrews expose' on how Durham was essentially using the Ohio-based finance company as a personal bank account to' [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:49am EST
  

• Tiger Woods A Victim Of Domestic Abuse?

  Tiger Woods' early morning crash following Thanksgiving Day into a fire hydrant and a tree while leaving his Isleworth, Florida home seemed a bit strange when it was first reported. Although he was taken to a local hospital for treatment of facial lacerations, police noted that his vehicle's airbags' [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:31am EST
  

• Durham Associates Have Homes Listed For Sale

  An observant Advance Indiana reader notes that three close business associates of Tim Durham all have homes listed for sale that can be accessed via the Internet. They include:
  
  Business partner David Tornek has a 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 5700 square foot home in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:21pm EST
  

• More Durham Fallout

  
  In the wake of this week's FBI raid of the offices of Tim Durham's Obsidian Enterprises and Fair Finance in Indianapolis and Akron, Ohio, respectively, one political candidate has dropped his candidacy and a congressman is calling on the federal government to seize Durham's assets in order to protect' [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:10pm EST
  

• Brizzi Took Seat On Fair Finance's Board Before IBJ Began Asking Questions

  The IBJ's Greg Andrews reveals that Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi had agreed to serve on the Board of Directors of Tim Durham's Fair Finance Company but abandoned the position after Andrews begin asking questions Fair Finance. Andrews reports:
  
  Marion County Prosecutor Carl [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  

• Durham Taken Into Custody By FBI In Los Angeles

  
  Fox 59 News is reporting that the FBI has taken Tim Durham into custody for questioning in Los Angeles today. See video above. Fox 59 News describes his business empire as being in a state of collapse. The report indicates that the feds visited restaurants owned by Durham [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:03pm EST
  

• FBI Raids Tim Durham's Offices

  Watch the local politicians start running for cover. The FBI raided the offices of one of their biggest benefactors, Indianapolis business tycoon Tim Durham, this afternoon. FBI agents began carting off files from Durham's top floor offices in the Chase Tower. A separate raid' [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:25pm EST
  

• Ballard Stacking CIB With More Conflicted Political Insiders

  There isn't a campaign promise Greg Ballard won't break. Since becoming mayor of Indianapolis, Ballard has basically been conducting a public auction selling off the City to the highest bidders. This is once again reflected in the opportunity he passed up to clean up the corrupt Capital Improvement Board. Instead [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:54am EST
  

• Mayor's Chief Of Staff Resigns To Go To Work For City Contractor

  More on "Pay to Play is the Ballard Way." Mayor Greg Ballard's Chief of Staff Paul Okeson has announced his resignation to take a job with Keystone Construction, another major city contractor that has contributed large sums to Ballard's campaign committee. Okeson told WTHR he couldn't afford to' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:23pm EST
  

• Zoeller Seeks To Recover Misspent Public Funds

  Attorney General Greg Zoeller has brought a lawsuit against five former Chesterfield, Indiana officials he says misspent more than $259,000 in public funds. The lawsuit is based on the findings of a October 26, 2009 audit by the State Board of Accounts. “The claim that the town’s former top [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 8:50pm EST
  

• Another Illinois Official Found Dead

  It's a tough time for Illinois officials. The head of the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk's passport and traffic division was found dead in Lake Michigan near Buckingham Fountain in Chicago. Matthew Dennison was attending an Association of Illinois County Officials meeting in Chicago with his boss, Sangamon County Circuit Clerk [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 7:54pm EST
  

• Ballard's Strange Set Of Circumstances

  During the recent "Mayor's Night Out for Indy Youth, a young man, Kellin Thomas, asked Mayor Greg Ballard, "When and why did you decide to become the mayor?" Ballard's rambling response to this simple question reminded me of that moment during the 1992 vice presidential debate when Ross Perot's running" [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:28am EST
  

• What's The Historical Significance Here?

  Some guy buys a house up in Kempton, Indiana and learns that it was once owned by the grandfather of Barack Hussein Obama's grandmother, Ann Dunham, and suddenly thinks he's found America's next historical landmark. WISH-TV's Jim Shallow fell for the scam:
  
  Shawn Clements loves showing off the [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 8:03am EST
  

• The Suburban Counties Better Wake Up Soon

  
  One of the most outrageous assertions I've heard coming from Indianapolis officials on a task force looking at the Capital Improvement Board's financial woes is that the problem lies in the suburban counties surrounding Marion County not paying their fair share for the sports stadiums and convention center.' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:17pm EST
  

• Yes, City Should Blow Up Veolia's Sweetheart Deal

  "Why shouldn't (the council) just blow this whole thing up?" the Star quotes City-County Councilor Ben Hunter, chairman of the Public Works Committee as saying during yesterday's meeting on the subject of the water company's 35% rate increase request. "You keep coming back and asking for more rate increases.'" [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:44pm EST
  

• Marla Stevens Indicted

   
  A federal grand jury in Des Moines, Iowa has returned a four-count indictment against Marla Stevens in connection with the embezzlement of nearly $6 million from Aviva by her spouse, Phyllis Stevens, a long-time employee of the company. The Des Moines Register reports that Marla has been charged [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:01pm EST
  

• Judge David Hamilton Confirmed To Seventh Circuit

  U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton has just been confirmed for a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 59-39 vote per the Indiana Law Blog. Here's the roll call vote. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) was the only Republican [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:37pm EST
  

• Public Safety Director Candidate Resigns Job In White Plains New York

  One of the four candidates rumored to be under consideration for Public Safety Director in Indianapolis, White Plains New York Public Safety Commissioner Frank Straub, resigned his job there late last week. The White Plains city council had planned to fire him at a special meeting scheduled for [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:08pm EST
  

• Lugar's Wife Busted For DUI

  Charlene "Char" Lugar, wife of Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar (R), has been charged with driving under the influence following an automobile collision in which she struck a parked car in McLean, Virginia last night near the couple's suburban D.C. home. Nobody was injured in the accident. Initial reports didn't' [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:25pm EST
  

• Cultural Trail $13 Million Short

  The costs of Indianapolis' downtown cultural trail have skyrocketed, now approaching $55 million. Over $28 million of the costs have been absorbed by private donations, including a $15 million donation from Gene and Marilyn Glick. A federal transportation grant has provided another $14.4 million of the funding to date. Another' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:54pm EST
  

• Obama Administration Touts Federal Stimulus Spending For Non-Existing Indiana Districts

  State GOP Chairman Murray Clark has a little fun with the discovery that Indiana has been awarded $5 million in stimulus spending for congressional districts that don't even exist. Clark quips in a press release:
  
  Earlier this year, Democrats promised America that the unprecedented level of spending in the' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:55pm EST
  

• Grant Rejection Leaves City Budget $1.7 Million Short

  Here's a perfect example of why truth in budgeting is so important. The City of Indianapolis' 2010 budget includes $1.7 million to cover the cost of purchasing police cars for 50 new police officers, who are being funded by a federal grant, along with their uniforms, hand-held radios, training and' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:35pm EST
  

• Mother Of Wandering Toddler Works For FSSA

  As if the Family & Social Services Administration didn't need another public relations nightmare, it turns out the mother of a one-year-old toddler who was found wandering a neighborhood alone over the weekend and unclaimed for nearly a day works as a clerk for FSSA. Tuesday House apparently had more' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 7:38am EST
  

• May Calls Carson's Priorities On Fort Hood Attack Wrong

  Seventh District Republican congressional candidate Carlos May criticized U.S. Rep. Andre Carson's recent suggestion in an Associated Press interview following the Ft. Hood attack by Maj. Nidal Hasan that left 12 Army soldiers and one civilian dead that the focus should be on Hasan's "mental health issues." "This" [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 9:46pm EST
  

• Rash Of Suicides Hits Chicago Politicos

  There is a pattern developing. A big shot political insider draws the scrutiny of federal prosecutors combating the corrupt Chicago political system. This is followed by the big shot political insider choosing to end his life. Today, long-time Chicago School Board President Michael Scott's body was found floating in [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 4:26pm EST
  

• Limbaugh In Town For Colts-Pats Game

  WRTV's Dave Furst caught an interview with Rush Limbaugh during last night's Colts-Patriots game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Limbaugh was a guest of NBC's Al Michaels. Limbaugh and Michaels dined together at The Capital Grille Saturday night. Furst asked Limbaugh about the rift between him and Colts' owner Jim' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 1:32pm EST
  

• Another Odd Twist In DeLaney Versus Mendenhall

  The Indiana Lawyer's Jennifer Nelson reveals a new fact in the decades old dispute between the DeLaney family and the Mendenhall family, which culminated in an attack by 38-year-old Augustus "Gus" Mendenhall on State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) on Halloween Day that left DeLaney with serious bodily injuries. When' [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 3:24pm EST
  

• Obama Still Covering Up Fort Hood Muslim Terrorist Attack

  President Barack Hussein Obama continues to demonstrate that he is more interested in not hurting the feelings of Muslims than protecting our soldiers. This means pretending that Maj. Nidal Hasan's execution of 12 Army soldiers and one civilian employee last week at Ft. Hood was something other than a Muslim' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:53pm EST
  

• Ballard Taking Another Junket

  He's been in office less than two years, and that's been long enough for us to discover who the real Greg Ballard is. He's not a man of the people. He's a typical politician using his office for personal gain. When he's not selling private dinners with him and his' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 4:13pm EST
  

• Mayor Tom Henry's $45,000 Letter

  Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry (D) has apparently concluded that nobody reads the newspaper or watches local news broadcasts any more. Instead of holding a press conference or relying on guest editorials in the newspaper to explain the City's ongoing dispute with Indiana Michigan Power over the value of' [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 11:16am EST
  

• Bad Cases Make Bad Law

  COURT TAKES IT UPON ITSELF TO DEFINE A "NATURAL BORN CITIZEN"
  The Indiana Court of Appeals today confirmed a common saying in the legal community that bad cases make bad law. A couple of pro se plaintiffs brought a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court in December, 2008 challenging the "natural" [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:11am EST
  

• Mayor's Crime Prevention Grants Yielding Great Results, NOT

  
  Mayor Greg Ballard has been passing out about $5 million a year since taking office in crime prevention grants. The money comes from the 65%, $90 million a year local income tax increase you began paying in 2007. "These crime prevention grants, which recognize the diversity and community spirit" [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:01am EST
  

• Happy Veteran's Day

  
  indiana politics civil rights law [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 8:15am EST
  

• Pence Drops U.S. Attorney Bid

  The Indianapolis Times blog reports on Linda Pence's withdrawal from consideration as the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Pence, who boasts of being a Super Lawyer, lost last year's race for Indiana Attorney General to Republican Greg Zoeller. The post has been vacant for more [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 10:11pm EST
  

• Who's Speculating Now About Hasan?

  President Obama cautioned Americans not to speculate about the possible motives of Major Nidal Hasan for going on a killing rampage at Ft. Hood last Thursday and leaving 13 of his fellow Army soldiers dead and wounding another 30 before an investigation could be completed. In an interview with ABC [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 6:47pm EST
  

• Burd Ford Owner Dead In Apparent Suicide

  Richard Burd of Burd Ford has been found dead at his dealership on Pendleton Pike this morning according to Fox 59 News in an apparent suicide. The reports says his wife, Christine, left him behind at the dealership last night, only to awaken early this morning and discover that [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:45am EST
  

• Lucas Oil Stadium Infested With Mice

  
  Check out this Fox 59 News report by Kimberly King. A worker for the catering firm which handles food services for the stadium blows the whistle on the presence of mice droppings throughout food serving areas of the stadium, including those that furnish food to Mayor Ballard's suite' [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:34am EST
  

• CIB Sees Surplus But Will Still Borrow $27 Million From State

  Earlier today, the IBJ's Scott Olson posted a story online bringing news of a potential surplus for the CIB in its 2010 budget. Olson wrote:
  
  Approaching the end of 2009, Indianapolis' cash-strapped Capital Improvement Board is on much more solid financial footing than it was at this time [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 6:49pm EST
  

• Dr. Hasan Leaves Behind His Calling Card

  Four days after the first Muslim terrorist act on American soil since 9/11, President Barack Hussein Obama and the news media continue to pretend it didn't happen as the evidence of a terrorist attack continues to pile up. Dr. Hasan passed out copies of the' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 8:38am EST
  

• Super Lawyer Is Super Busted

  A high-flying South Florida attorney is facing the scrutiny of federal agents and his own law partners. Fort Lauderdale's Scott Rothstein owned a $5 million yacht and $36.5 million in real estate. He drove nice luxury car brands, including Mercedes Benz, Rolls Royce,' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  

• House Approves Obama's Government Takeover Of Health Care

  The largest expansion of the federal government in modern times moved one step closer to reality as the House of Representatives voted last night 220-215 to approve a version of President Barack Hussein Obama's national health insurance plan that includes a public option. All five Democratic members of Indiana's [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 5:05am EST
  

• Hasan Attended Same Mosque As 9/11 Terrorists

  The American news media may be a little slow to piece the facts together that make it pretty clear religion played a role in Major Nidal Hasan's decision to execute 13 of his fellow Army soldiers and shoot another 30 on Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, but the foreign press' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 7:14pm EST
  

• Hoosier Soldier Among Thirteen Executed By Hasan

  If you want to read about how Muslims are the victims of Thursday's horrific massacre by Maj. Nidal Hasan and a bunch of psycho babble about Hasan having to deal with too much post traumatic stress disorder among the troops as an Army psychiatrist, you'll get plenty of that [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:22am EST
  

• Will Daniels' Medicaid Cuts Include HHC's Nursing Homes?

  Gov. Mitch Daniels announced a new round of cuts in state government spending today in the wake of another month of bad revenue numbers for the state. General fund revenues to date this year are $309 million, or 7.4% less, than state budget planners' forecast. Gov. Daniels announced cuts today' [...]

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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 5:47pm EST
  

• Fort Hood Hero Kimberly Munley

  Alas, it was a woman, Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who bravely came to the rescue of her fellow soldiers and shot terrorist Maj. Nidal Hasan to bring an end to the savage carnage he wrought on his fellow American Army soldiers at Ft. Hood [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:37pm EST
  

• Star Propaganda Campaign To Promote New Pacer Subsidy Kicks Into Gear

  Now that the Star and their fellow cohorts in the news media successfully shoved down our throats another massive public works project, it's time to move on to the next project: another big tax give-away to support a professional sports franchise. The Star's media campaign on behalf of those poor, [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 7:57am EST
  

• Another Home-Grown Muslim Terrorist Attack On Our Own Soldiers

  The U.S. Army recently sent a Muslim (not a convert as earlier reported) from Walter Reed Hospital in D.C. by the name Malik Nadal Hasan to perform work as a psychiatrist at Texas' Fort Hood. Today, Major Hasan shot and killed 12 soldiers preparing to ship off to Iraq' [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 6:58pm EST
  

• Shouldn't Someone Tell Ed DeLaney To Stop Talking?

  State Rep. Ed DeLaney just can't seem to stop himself from doing just one more interview with local reporters about the attack on him by a fellow attorney, Augustus "Gus" Mendenhall, who says he simply wanted to scare him because of what he did' [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 2:49pm EST
  

• I Guess Perry Township School Officials Should Have Broken State Law Too

  An Indianapolis Star editorial bemoans the defeat of major school construction projects for the Perry Township Schools in Tuesday's referendum election. "Unfortunately for Perry Township Schools officials, they could not directly campaign under state law because their referendum dealt with construction," the editorial reads. Adding, "That prohibition ought to'" [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 7:02am EST
  

• When Facts Become Ugly Nonsense

  Star political columnist Matt Tully, who spent the past few months covering something other than politics, jumps in with one of his classic columns about how to suck up to the insider elites so they will invite me to have lunch and feed me stories so I don't' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 3:59pm EST
  

• Are Republicans Misreading 2009 Elections?

  The GOP is celebrating two big gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey today. The defeat of incumbent New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was a particularly big win for the party. Once a swing state, New Jersey has become one of the bluest of blue states over the years. Virginia, [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:18am EST
  

• Wishard Referendum Easily Approved In Low Voter Turnout Election

  I've not seen official results yet, but I can declare based upon raw data I've obtained that the Wishard referendum will handily be approved in today's special election referendum. Turnout in my precinct was below 15% and the vote in favor was 116 to 17. That count in my precinct' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 6:48pm EST
  

• Just Say No To Wishard Lies

  For the past four months, you've been treated to the most deceptive and dishonest political election in Marion County history that was launched by an elite group of political insiders in the dark of the night without a single public hearing. Their aim is very simple. To deceive you into' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 5:05am EST
  

• Illinois GOP Gets Another Loser Candidate For Governor

  I see things aren't getting any brighter in my home state of Illinois for the GOP. Today, former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan announced he will seek the governor's office in 2010 as a Republican. Ryan lost badly to Rod Blagojevich when he first ran for governor in 2002.' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:59pm EST
  

• DeLaney Versus Mendenhall

  
  The story of State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) being badly beaten after meeting what he thought was a prospective law client at a remote location in Carmel on Saturday just keeps getting more bizarre. Tales of the Russian mafia and reality TV shows has been added to the [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 6:16pm EST
  

• WCTY Continues Its No Equal Time Policy On Wishard Referendum

  If you've tuned in WCTY the past few days, Indianapolis' public access channel (TV2-Channel 17)), has been running non-stop the pro-Wishard referendum show HHC officials put on as part of its public notice meeting on the record-breaking property tax increase referendum scheduled for this Tuesday, November 3. HHC officials also [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 5:30pm EST