Indiana
Axios explains: Conference committees
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
Welcome to convention committee season on the Indiana Statehouse — one of many wonkiest components of the legislative course of.
Why it issues: The fast-moving course of occurs largely behind closed doorways and can lead to main, substantive modifications to laws.
The way it works: Earlier than a invoice can develop into legislation, each chambers must go the precise identical language. This could occur in 3 ways:
- The second chamber can go the unique invoice with out modifications.
- The originating chamber can settle for modifications made by the second chamber (known as concurrence).
- The originating chamber can disagree with modifications (known as dissent) and ship the invoice to convention committee.
Particulars: As soon as a dissent is filed, a Republican and Democrat from every chamber are assigned to a convention committee for the invoice, and so they meet to hammer out the variations. The compromise invoice should return to each chambers for a last vote.
- That is the place lawmakers make modifications — typically with little public dialogue — that may vary from minor as much as a “strip-and-insert,” the place the unique language is eliminated and changed wholesale.
State of play: Session should adjourn by April 29.
Listed below are key payments heading to convention committee within the last two weeks of the 2023 legislative session:
Home Invoice 1001: The price range invoice
Particulars: The state’s biennial price range will most likely at all times go to convention committee. Every chamber has its personal funding priorities, plus lawmakers are ready on the up to date income forecast that shall be launched Wednesday to assist finalize the spending plan.
What they’re saying: “The Senate Republican model of the price range is actually higher than Home Republicans’ price range, however Hoosiers nonetheless deserve higher from their hard-earned tax {dollars},” mentioned Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis.
The underside line: Republicans have a supermajority in each chambers, so Democrats could have little say within the price range that passes.
Senate Invoice 1: Psychological well being funding
Particulars: Strengthening psychological well being assets was purported to be a precedence this legislative session and this proposal would set up a statewide disaster response system.
Sure, however: Lawmakers cannot agree on the way to fund the initiative. Leaders within the Senate have proposed a cellphone payment to fund the 988 disaster hotline, however the Home has advised, as an alternative, rising the cigarette tax.
Senate Invoice 4: Public well being funding
Particulars: The invoice relies on suggestions from a bunch commissioned by Gov. Eric Holcomb to overtake the state’s public well being system within the face of abysmal well being outcomes for Hoosiers.
- Lots of these suggestions, although, together with the funding ranges requested by the fee and Holcomb, have been stripped from the invoice because it moved by means of the Statehouse.
Of observe: The Home added language that requires an investigation into the dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic by state businesses and native governments.
Between the strains: Some far-right members of the GOP are nonetheless upset with Holcomb and his well being division for the state shutdown through the pandemic’s early days.
Senate Invoice 391: College referendum sharing
Particulars: Constitution colleges in Marion, Lake, St. Joseph and Vanderburgh counties would get a proportional share of working and faculty security referenda {dollars}. Referendum sharing would stay non-obligatory in different counties — for now.
Context: Constitution colleges have lengthy needed a larger share of property tax {dollars} loved by conventional public colleges, together with these raised by means of referendums.
Home Invoice 1623: Administrative rulemaking
Particulars: The invoice would give the Normal Meeting larger energy over rulemaking usually left to state businesses in an effort to supply a larger test on govt authority within the state.
The opposite facet: Environmental advocates are involved about modifications that might put lawmakers accountable for new pesticide rules and forestall state environmental regulators from making stricter coal ash guidelines than federal ones.
Indiana
Indiana man arrested on child pornography charge following cyber tip, police say
INDIANA – An Indiana man was arrested after authorities found him in possession of child pornography during an investigation that started with a cyber tip last May.
Cyber Tip Leads to Arrest
What we know:
Indiana State Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in May 2024 about three videos containing child sexual abuse material.
Authorities determined the suspect accessed the videos from Michigan City, Ind.
During the investigation, officers uncovered additional videos and obtained a search warrant earlier this month.
On Jan. 17, officers executed the search warrant at a home in the 3100 block of Springland Avenue in Michigan City and identified the suspect as 29-year-old Stephen Julius Terrell Morrow II.
29-year-old Stephen Julius Terrell Morrow II
Morrow was taken to the La Porte County Jail on a charge of possession of child pornography, a Level 5 felony.
What’s next:
Final charges against Morrow will be determined by the La Porte County prosecutor, authorities said.
Indiana
Five takeaways from Indiana's win at Ohio State
Indiana bounced back from losses to Iowa and Illinois with a 77-76 overtime win against Ohio State on Friday night at Value City Arena. The win improved the Hoosiers to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in Big Ten play.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Buckeyes:
Indiana responded after embarrassing performances against Iowa and Illinois
After back-to-back 25-point losses to Iowa and Illinois, how Indiana would respond Friday night in Columbus was an open question entering the game.
Would the Hoosiers falter again and allow a third-straight blowout loss? Or would IU regroup as Luke Goode suggested in the aftermath of the Illinois loss?
Indiana regrouped and from the opening tip, the energy was different. The Hoosiers competed for most of the 45 minutes against the Buckeyes. Even when shots weren’t falling in the first half, Indiana never let the game get out of reach.
As the second half began and perimeter shots began to fall, the Hoosiers made a move. By the 5:12 mark of the second half, Indiana led 68-58 and it appeared that a comfortable win was within reach.
However, Indiana faltered down the stretch as Ohio State went on a 13-3 run to close out regulation and force overtime. After falling behind to start the extra period, Goode’s 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining and Anthony Leal’s block with one second left lifted IU to a much-needed victory.
Luke Goode had a career night and IU needed every shot to win
Goode entered the starting lineup on Dec. 29 against Winthrop and has found his shooting stroke in the new year.
Friday marked Goode’s best performance of the season as he poured in a career-high 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field.
Goode was 4-for-7 on 3s. Through eight Big Ten games, Goode is 19-for-41 on 3s (46.3 percent). He’s scored in double figures in four of the last five games.
Nearly every Goode 3-pointer came at a key point in the game for Indiana. His first 3-pointer got the Hoosiers within three at 39-36 with 17:51 to play.
His second triple gave IU the lead at 43-41 at the 15:08 mark and his third stretched the lead to four at 50-46 with 12:50 remaining.
And in overtime, Goode’s 3-pointer with just over a minute to play lifted Indiana to its second conference road win. Goode played every minute of the second half and overtime.
Oumar Ballo dominates Ohio State in the post
Oumar Ballo finished with a double-double Friday night for the fifth time in six games.
The 7-foot, 265-pound big man has taken on a bigger scoring load in the absence of Malik Reneau. Against Ohio State, Ballo had 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting and a 5-for-7 performance from the free throw line.
Ballo also grabbed 15 rebounds with eight of those on the offensive end. He played 40 minutes and added three assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
In Big Ten games, Ballo is averaging 17.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 blocked shots in 32.1 minutes while shooting 66.3 percent from the field.
While there have been moments where Ballo’s effort has waned inside games, he’s playing the most minutes of his career. In Friday’s win, his hustle kept several possessions alive and his size was too much for the Buckeyes to handle at the rim.
Kanaan Carlyle provides a significant lift off the bench
For the first time since Dec. 9, sophomore guard Kanaan Carlyle reached double figures in scoring against Ohio State.
The Atlanta native has struggled with his shooting all season but came alive on Friday night. With Myles Rice benched for most of the game with foul issues, Carlyle played a season-high 36 minutes and delivered his best overall game this season.
Carlyle finished with 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting. He made IU’s only 3-pointer of the first half and didn’t turn the ball over.
While he did struggle at the free throw line – he shot 2-for-5 – Carlyle’s energy on both ends was a major reason the Hoosiers escaped with a win.
Ten of Carlyle’s 13 points came in the second half and overtime, as his aggressive attack on the rim resulted in three layups.
Hoosiers add second Quad 1 win
As ugly as IU’s losses to Iowa and Illinois were, the reality is the Hoosiers still have plenty of opportunities to record NCAA tournament resume-worthy wins.
Friday night was one of those and IU took advantage.
The win against the Buckeyes was the second in Quad 1 of the season for the Hoosiers. The Buckeyes are No. 37 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
Now 2-5 in Quad 1 games, the Hoosiers still have numerous opportunities to build a case for March Madness. Of Indiana’s remaining 12 regular season games, all 12 are Quad 2 or higher and eight of them are projected to be Quad 1.
With the win against Ohio State, Indiana currently sits at No. 61 in the NET rankings.
Filed to: Kanaan Carlyle, Luke Goode, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oumar Ballo
Indiana
Indiana pizza delivery driver tipped $2 after hiking through snowstorm in ‘affluent’ neighborhood — then police officer steps in to help
A dedicated Indiana pizza delivery driver walked half a mile through a dangerous snowstorm in a “very affluent” neighborhood before he was met with a $2 tip.
Connor Stephanoff, an employee at Rock Star Pizza, was seen walking in the treacherous conditions in Brownsburg, Ind. as multiple plows filled the street to clear the snow last week, according to footage posted by Avon Police Department Lieutenant Richard Craig.
Stephanoff initially drove to complete the order, but a school bus crash blocked the road.
That’s when Stephanoff decided to complete the journey on foot – wearing a sweatpants, sweater, a beanie and sneakers.
Craig was outside helping residents navigate the dangerous road conditions when he noticed Stephanoff trekking through the snow-covered street and told him to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk.
Stephanoff revealed that he had to walk in the snow to complete the $40 pizza delivery.
“Did you get a good tip?” Craig asked.
“Two dollars,” Stephanoff replied.
Stephanoff looked at the receipt again and corrected the number to $2.15.
The officer was stunned.
“Two dollars?” Craig exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? Cold-blooded! Two dollars. Look at this man. This man walked through hell and high water to deliver a pizza.”
Craig was impressed by Stephanoff’s work ethic and dedication but was disgusted that a customer in a wealthy neighborhood would tip him so little during the terrible conditions.
“The delivery was about 1/4 mile past where the bus was blocking the street,” Craig captioned under his video. “This young man did not allow this to discourage him. He didn’t call his manager to complain, he didn’t call the customer and tell them their $40 pizza order could not be delivered. Oh no. THIS MAN IS BUILT DIFFERENT.”
Craig gave Stephanoff $15 bucks but set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $500.
The fundraiser has raised over $16,000 as of Saturday morning.
“I think what makes this story resonate is that at one time or another, any of us who has worked in a customer service position, has been Connor,” Rockstar Pizza wrote in a Facebook post. “We’ve gone over & above what anyone could ever ask of us, and the effort wasn’t appreciated. If not for Officer Craig, this would have just been another delivery shift for Connor.”
The restaurant added that they gave workers the option to stay home during the storm if they didn’t feel safe.
Stephanoff decided to work.
“He’s a great kid who works hard & we’re so happy to have him,” the restaurant added.
“Any condition, anytime, anywhere. You will get your pizza,” Stephanoff told WRTV.
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