Indiana

An Indiana Republican Who Has Been Dead for Months Just Won Her Primary Race

Published

7 months ago

May 9, 2024

An Indiana Republican Who Has Been Dead for Months Just Won Her Primary Race

(Permanent Musical Accompaniment to This Post)

Presenting our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done, and where the post office has been stolen and the mailbox is locked.

We begin in Indiana, where a woman named Jennifer Pace won a Republican primary election to run against incumbent Rep. Andre Carson in the state’s Seventh Congressional District. And this was a remarkable victory because Ms. Pace had become not merely dead, but really most sincerely dead, two months before she won the primary. From Fox59 in Indianapolis:

The leader in the Republican race for Indiana’s seventh district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives has been dead since March. According to results from Tuesday’s primary election, Jennifer Pace is leading the race with 31.2% of the vote, or 7,704 votes, as of Wednesday morning. Pace reportedly died of a heart attack in March after she qualified to be on the ballot.

Naturally, Ms. Pace’s victory raises a number of questions, the biggest one of which is how the hell this happened two freaking months after her death. Was every GOP voter in the district simply not paying attention? Did nobody notice that the leading Republican candidate mysteriously stopped campaigning in March, or did we have a Weekend at Bernie’s thing going on here? Not that any of this matters; Carson’s going to win re-election from here to there, but it does seem to indicate that somebody in the Indiana GOP has to start noticing whether their candidates have joined the choir invisible.

We move north to Wisconsin, where the president made a very shrewd move on Wednesday. He showed up in Racine to announce that Microsoft was going to invest $3.3 billion in developing an AI data center there. The really nifty political move was to announce that the new plant was going to be built on the proposed site of the Foxconn debacle, the site of the monumental bait-and-switch pulled on saps like the former president* and the former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage its midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. From The New York Times:

The Microsoft data center will be built on grounds where Mr. Trump, as president, announced in 2017 that Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, would build a $10 billion factory for making LCD panels. Mr. Trump promised that it would be the “eighth wonder of the world,” and visited the site with elected officials and golden shovels. But the project never materialized as expected. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden took direct aim at the failed promise. “Look what happened—they dug a hole with those golden shovels, and then they fell into it,” Mr. Biden told the crowd. “During the previous administration, my predecessor made promises, which he broke more than kept, left a lot of people behind in communities like Racine,” Mr. Biden said. “On my watch, we make promises and we keep promises.”

It’s always nice when you can feed yourself a layup.

We move along to West Virginia, where there are massive costs looming regarding the cleanup of abandoned coal mines. The state has a fund to finance this monumental job, but as Ken Ward Jr. of the Mountain State Spotlight reports, that fund is one corporate bankruptcy away from being tapped out—and the people of West Virginia are one corporate bankruptcy away from holding the bag.

The bankruptcy of just one significant mining company could wipe out the fund, according to the state’s top regulatory official. And auditors for the Republican-controlled Legislature said at least five major companies were “at risk” of dumping cleanup costs on the state. At $15 million, the state’s fund for restoring land is at its lowest level in more than 20 years. The program’s latest published actuarial report in 2022 warned that a related water cleanup trust fund will lose half its balance over the next 10 years. These are costs the coal industry was supposed to cover. Unreclaimed mine sites can not only damage the environment but also endanger coalfield residents who live nearby. Coal waste dams sometimes leak or break, flooding downstream communities. Cliffs of rock and debris left behind after mining can collapse. Runoff that isn’t contained or treated often poisons fish or water supplies.

Working with the good people at ProPublica—and nice job, Pulitzer Committee—Ward points out that this is not a problem that suddenly cropped up.

State and federal officials have been warned repeatedly over the past 40 years that this reckoning was coming but have failed to prepare for it. Again and again, the review found, auditors questioned whether West Virginia’s reclamation program would have adequate funding. But neither state lawmakers nor regulators required coal companies to have enough reclamation bonds as insurance should they go belly up. Nor did legislators raise the tax on coal production enough to make up the difference. Federal officials in both Republican and Democratic administrations who were supposed to oversee the state program cautioned there were problems but didn’t step in.

Just two years ago, West Virginia’s legislative leaders ignored recommendations from their own auditors to bolster the fund. Instead, they called for an $8 billion bailout from the federal government. And last month, Gov. Jim Justice’s administration removed a key critic from an advisory panel that monitors the fund, just as the group was about to review a new study on the fund’s future health. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Taking care of the public’s money is undeniably part of the government’s job. But decades of anti-tax nihilism have resulted in governments that act out of reflexive fear and not out of reasoned caution. Problems go unresolved until they evolve into crises. Then the public gets angry at the emergency remedial costs anyway.

And we conclude, as is our custom, in the great state of Oklahoma, whence Blog Official Gully Spelunker Friedman of the Plains brings us a tale of local dogs hungry for homework. From KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City:

U.S. News and World Report says the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) did not grant them access to schools’ AP testing data, causing numerous Oklahoma schools to plummet in U.S. News’ rankings the past two years. OSDE claims they sent the data, but it must’ve been lost in the mail.

There is nothing worse than imaginative bureaucrats, and Oklahoma seems to be plagued by a number of them. I mean, seriously—lost in the mail??? This kind of obvious f*ck-up calls for multisyllabic words in dependent clauses in insanely complicated sentences, a kind of government-speak that’s halfway between Harvard Business School and Finnegans Wake. Of course, you can still say it got lost in the mail, but the point is to say it in such a way as to wear out your superiors so that they’re too exhausted to notice that your uncle, the county commissioner, put you into a job you’re too dumb or lazy to handle. That’s the American way.

This is your democracy, America. Cherish it.

Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.

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Indiana

IU trip to Bahamas will reveal a lot about Hoosiers, who can’t come home empty-handed

Published

2 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

IU trip to Bahamas will reveal a lot about Hoosiers, who can’t come home empty-handed

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana heads to The Bahamas this week with plenty to gain — and plenty to prove.

The Hoosiers placed virtually all their nonconference emphasis on their first-ever trip to Battle 4 Atlantis, and they cannot afford to come home without some quality wins pocketed from a Thanksgiving spent on Paradise Island.

What makes this a successful holiday tournament trip? Five thoughts …

Greater consistency

Through four wins in four games, we’ve seen the idea of Indiana burst through the clouds. Stretches when the Hoosiers’ array of talent and experience makes them virtually unplayable at both ends of the floor, when even a high-major opponent like South Carolina looked simply overwhelmed.

We haven’t seen it often enough, though.

In a way, that’s fine. No basketball team should be fully formed in November. Anyone playing their best right now is in big trouble come March.

But IU needs it this week. A reasonable path through this tournament will see games against top-50 competition at least once, probably multiple times. That means opportunity, but it also means the hot-and-cold performances thus far need to be smoothed over a little more. Those windows into what Indiana can be need to open a little wider this week.

Point guard play

Myles Rice has been outstanding through these first four games. Trey Galloway has had moments, as he continues his steady progress back to full fitness following offseason knee surgery. Indiana will need their best this week.

In settings like these, players with their creativity and experience, are crucial. Sightlines are weird. The whole environment can make shooting difficult. The teams that can force the ball to the rim and either finish or draw fouls (or both) have an added advantage.

The axiom in basketball that guards win games generally always applies. But in neutral venues, when certain elements of a team’s offense might be stunted, the ability to force action and either score or create moving downhill — something both Galloway and Rice have shown proficiency in doing — becomes invaluable. Both players must deliver in The Bahamas.

Rebound the ball

It was too often a problem last season, and it’s been too often a problem this season.

Yes, Indiana is playing smaller. And yes, games like UNC Greensboro can go a little sideways in this department when an overmatched opponent chucks and chases because it knows there’s little point in trying to attack the rim.

But a team with IU’s size and athleticism cannot be a sub-200 team in opponent offensive rebound rate. The Hoosiers cannot afford to be so poor in closing out possessions. This team will undermine its offensive improvement and its athletic advantages if it continues to be so poor on the glass.

Indiana doesn’t need to be (and probably won’t ever be) dominant here. That’s not how the Hoosiers are constructed. But they are and must be better than they’ve been so far in this area, and three games in three days against demanding competition will require immediate improvement.

Mackenzie Mgbako’s continued growth

Indiana’s leading scorer had his quietest game of the season Thursday, scoring just nine points on 2-of-11 shooting and seeing his second-half playing time eaten into by Bryson Tucker’s bench performance. Everyone’s allowed a bad day at the office.

But Mgbako would do well to ensure he leaves those at home this week. IU’s most dynamic offensive player early in the season, Mgbako has flashed three-level scoring potential the likes of which few players with his size and athleticism can claim.

Few teams, even good ones, have adequate cover for a 6-8 wing who can shoot from multiple levels and finish around the rim the way Mgbako does. Couple that to improved rebounding and defense, and when he’s on, Mgbako is perhaps this team’s biggest individual game changer.

A microcosm of his team’s task this time of year, Mgbako needs to strive for consistency in those areas. Make the off nights few and far between. Find ways to impact games in multiple ways, and shift the way he scores to suit what his opponent struggles against.

This week is a good test for Indiana, and it’s certainly a good test for Mackenzie Mgbako. Both will get a better look at their ceiling in Atlantis.

Quality wins

It’s the simplest and most important storyline following Indiana to the islands.

The Hoosiers put all their faith in this tournament, in terms of being able to add quality to their NCAA tournament in nonconference play. Barring a surprise breakout from South Carolina, IU isn’t likely to beat anyone of meaning from a NET perspective anywhere but in Atlantis.

That represents a calculated gamble for Mike Woodson, whose program learned the hard way how far behind the eight ball an empty-calorie nonconference resume can set a team from an NCAA tournament perspective. The Hoosiers cannot repeat that this year.

Which means they need to make hay in the sunshine in Atlantis. Louisville might stand up as a decent win, somewhere between Quads 1 and 2. Gonzaga and/or Arizona would be worthwhile scalps. Oklahoma, Providence and West Virginia all might be in time.

Whatever its performances, Indiana needs to leave The Bahamas with some wins, or it will leave itself with a lot to do in conference play to ensure Selection Sunday isn’t a stressful experience.

Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Indiana

Where is Indiana basketball ranked going into the Battle 4 Atlantis?

Published

11 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Where is Indiana basketball ranked going into the Battle 4 Atlantis?

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball heads to the Bahamas as a top 15 team.

The undefeated Hoosiers (4-0; 0-0) jumped three spots in the latest USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll to No. 15 and two spots in the latest AP Poll to No. 14. They spent nine weeks ranked in the top 15 of the AP Poll during the 2022-23 season.

Indiana will compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis this week starting with a game at noon on Wednesday against Louisville. No. 4 Gonzaga and West Virginia are on the same side of the bracket and No. 23 Arizona is also among the teams in the field.

The tournament is IU’s only chance to pick up any wins away from Assembly Hall during its non-conference schedule.

Indiana beat Louisville, 74-66, in last year’s Empire Classic. The Cardinals parted ways with Kenny Payne and hired Pat Kelsey as his replacement. They head into the event 3-1 this season — they suffered a 22-point loss to a Tennessee team that IU defeated in a pre-season exhibition — without a single returning player in their starting lineup.

The Hoosiers have won all four of their games by double-digits and averaging more than 80 points per game with four of their five starters — Mackenzie Mgbako (18.8 points per game), Myles Rice (14.8), Malik Reneau (13.5 points) and Oumar Ballo — averaging in the double-digits.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

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Indiana

How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals vs. Indiana Hoosiers

Published

19 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

How to Watch: Louisville Cardinals vs. Indiana Hoosiers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Following a four-game home stand to open up the 2024-25 season, the Louisville men’s basketball program is heading back to The Bahamas to participate in the Battle 4 Atlantis, and will kick off the event against regional rival Indiana.

The Pat Kelsey era of the Cardinals is off to solid start, although they have played imperfect basketball during their 3-1 start to the season. They’re averaging 81.0 points per game and have a 18.3 scoring margin, but have shot just 29.4 percent from deep on the year, and lost by 22 to Tennessee in their lone game vs. a power conference team.

As for the Hoosiers, they’re off to an undefeated start in year four under head coach Mike Woodson. All of their games have been won by at least double figures, including an 87-71 victory over South Carolina. Mackenzie Mgbako is leading the charge for IU with 18.8 points per game.

This will be the 22nd all-time regular season meeting between Louisville and Indiana, with the Hoosiers owning a 12-9 advantage. IU has won the last two matchups against UofL, including a 74-66 decision back on Nov. 20, 2023 in their last matchup in the Empire Classic.

(Photo of Chucky Hepburn: Jamie Rhodes – Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook – @LouisvilleOnSI
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You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X

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