Indiana Department of Agriculture officials have been working behind the scenes to defeat legislation that would crack down on abusive dog breeders by trying to discredit one of the bill's leading supporters.
Their target: the Humane Society of the United States.
Although the department has taken no official position on the legislation, it acknowledges it has highlighted the Humane Society's history of opposition to confined farming practices, common in Indiana, especially in huge hog operations where animals are raised in close quarters.
A document the agency distributed to lawmakers alleges the Humane Society's goal was the "abolition of all animal agriculture," a notion the group rejected Wednesday. Critics of the bill worry that it could lead to new restrictions on livestock.
On Thursday, Lt. Gov Becky Skillman's office, which oversees the Department of Agriculture, said Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration backed the bill.
"We are definitely in favor of regulation and the ability to prosecute some of these bad actors and puppy mills that are out there," said Jay Kenworthy, Skillman's press secretary. "There's no effort to kill the bill. We just wanted to see a few changes."
No limit to the number of dogs an owner can breed. No state inspections of commercial breeding facilities. No restrictions on how often a dog can be bred.
Marissa and her parents joined a group of about 50 others at the courthouse. Before showing the photos, Mr. Skumanick explained his offer to the crowd, answering one father's question affirmatively, that -- yes -- a girl in a bathing suit could be subjected to criminal charges because she was posed "provocatively."
Mr. Skumanick told them he could have simply charged the kids. Instead, he gave them two weeks to decide: take the class or face charges.
He then told the parents and teens to line up if they wanted to view the photos, which were printed out onto index cards. As the 17-year-old who took semi-nude self-portraits waited in line, she realized that Mr. Skumanick and other investigators had viewed the pictures. When the adults began to crowd around Mr. Skumanick, the 17-year-old worried they could see her photo and recalls she said, "I think the worst punishment is knowing that all you old guys saw me naked. I just think you guys are all just perverts."
Mr. Skumanick dismisses the criticism, saying that no one could see photos of teens who weren't their own children.
Insiders in the Ballard administration say the mayor has been reluctant to push forward his own solutions out of concern that any assertiveness on his part might anger legislative leaders.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver's license on school registrations.
"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it's a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: "Can't you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that's easier for Americans to deal with?"
A Marion County correction officer was in court Friday facing newly filed charges of child molesting, incest and sexual misconduct with a minor.
Richard B. Alsup, 39, faces a dozen counts involving accusations of improper sexual conduct with a female relative younger than 16, lasting as long as two years. Alsup, who also was a reserve officer with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, told a judge he is on administrative leave from the Sheriff's Department.
The Indianapolis Star generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual assaults.
Alsup told police he had been having nightmares about having sex with the girl, according to a probable cause affidavit. He told an investigator "he didn't want to believe he could do those things to (the girl), but that he could not say those things didn't happen," the affidavit says.
The commander of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's North District is being stripped of his position in the wake of an investigation into moonlighting by off-duty officers, public safety officials said Friday.
Maj. David Allender -- one of 51 officers who worked part-time security jobs for a metal-recycling firm linked to allegations that its workers knowingly purchased stolen metal -- will be busted to his merit rank of captain and reassigned to new duties within a week, public safety officials said in an e-mail to The Indianapolis Star.
[...]
"Having gathered new information about the deployment of precious police resources in the context of competing demands for officer time by private employers," Newman wrote in the e-mail, "we were no longer confident that only (the public's) interests were being served at all times."
Newman said the department expects to soon name Allender's replacement.
Deputy Chief John Conley stressed that Allender's demotion "was not related to any scrap-metal investigation and has no criminal violations or implications."
Rather, Conley wrote, the change came because of "time management and management of resources that should have been designated full-time to the public."
shorter gary welsh: i don't care if abdul mocks me, because his radio show sucks.
shorter abdul hakim shabazz: oh yeah? well gary has bad taste in clothes.
shorter paul k ogden: i admit there were a lot of crazies in attendance, but surely everyone can agree that gary welsh is awesome.
shorter gary welsh: actually, my taste in clothes is impeccable. also, abdul is fat.¶
An eclectic group of nearly 200 people gathered at the Indiana Statehouse today to show lawmakers that they are generally "fed up" with government.
Some at the rally held signs urging lawmakers to retire or be voted out of office. Others wanted to repeal property taxes or stop what they considered eminent domain abuse. Other signs supported a state immigration law and a revolt against socialism.
Speakers at the "Revolt at the Statehouse" event included taxpayer group leaders and community activists. Organizers said the focus of the rally was the frustration average citizens feel with government at all levels.
i don't see this protest attracting a lot of protesters nor much media attention. the whole thing is too vague and ephemeral for tv reporters, who won't have a clue how to cover the thing. and in today's economy, i don't see the typical taxpayer getting too riled up about "the executive and legislative revolving door"—these days, people are more worried about just finding jobs and making ends meet. if this were a focused protest centered around, say, the mess at the CIB, i could see it being a moderate success. but a kitchen-sink protest of complaining about "corporate welfare" is doomed to failure.
