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Ballot initiative amendment defeat expected but still disappointing – Indiana Capital Chronicle

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Ballot initiative amendment defeat expected but still disappointing – Indiana Capital Chronicle


I knew the amendment would fail before Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie, even began speaking. That’s how it works with Democrat amendments in a chamber where Republicans have a supermajority.

But I was interested in the debate on whether Indiana should consider allowing citizens to initiate a statewide ballot question, whether for a law or constitutional change. In Indiana, only legislators can do so.

Sen. Sue Errington, D-Muncie. (Photo from Indiana House Democrats)

Errington’s proposed amendment to a House elections bill would have placed a non-binding public question on the November ballot: “Shall citizens be allowed to initiate a ballot referendum in Indiana?”

The amendment was easily defeated 27-66, with every Republican who voted opposing the measure.

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Think about that. It was non-binding. Advisory. Guidance only. And House Republicans don’t want to hear what you have to say.

Errington said more and more citizens have asked her why Indiana doesn’t have the same rights as citizens in other states like Ohio to initiate change that lawmakers won’t do on their own.

It mostly comes up in the context of legalizing marijuana and protecting access to abortion.

Errington quoted public, well-respected polling showing Hoosiers want both by significant margins.

“Is it any wonder that the people in this state are losing confidence in us to make laws that reflect their views?” she asked. “Is it any wonder that they are losing interest in voting when their legislators don’t listen to them after they have been elected? And when their legislators actually do the opposite?”

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Ohio is one of 19 states that allow direct ballot initiatives, either for laws or constitutional amendments. Voters in Michigan and Illinois also have that option.

GOP disapproval

But Republicans spoke against the amendment.

Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, said Indiana’s founders were smart enough to set up a representative government instead of putting every issue on the ballot and getting nothing done.

“(Voters) do weigh in. It’s called an election. And that is how we change things in this body, is through elections,” he said.

Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, said the statewide public question would be an unprecedented “waste of Hoosier’s time and attention.”

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He also noted it should be hard to change the state constitution, and I have to agree. But you can create a direct ballot system that gives a path to citizen-led initiatives with a bar high enough to deter constant upheaval.

In Ohio, for instance, petitions for a constitutional change must be gathered from 44 of the state’s 88 counties. And the number of petitions is equal to 10% of votes cast for governor in previous election. That meant more than 413,000 signatures for a recent abortion initiative.

That is a ton of work to achieve and means it won’t be used on every little issue-of-the-day. For comparison, Indiana is considered to have a strong signature requirement to run for governor or Senate, in which a candidate must collect 500 signatures from all nine congressional districts. That’s only a total of 4,500.

Perhaps House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said it best: “I am not scared of what the voters have to say. You shouldn’t be either.”

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San Antonio vs. Indiana, Final Score: Spurs got serious when they needed to, winning 134-119

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San Antonio vs. Indiana, Final Score: Spurs got serious when they needed to, winning 134-119


The San Antonio Spurs have a habit of playing with their food, but the talent difference between them and their opponents makes up for it on most nights. Eventually, they flexed their muscles and there was nothing the visitors could do.

They overwhelmed the Indiana Pacers with paint pressure, which also opened up the outside game, and everyone who got time was a contributor. Victor Wembanyama was like an angry killer wasp on defense, constantly harassing ball handlers, racking up four of his five blocks in the first half. Everything was going smoothly, but his teammates started allowing too much penetration, and their 21-point lead was reduced to eight. It was just three players doing most of the heavy lifting offensively for the Pacers, and the Spurs spent the rest of the game, denying them from getting within striking distance.



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NFL draft profile 2026: D’Angelo Ponds (Cornerback, Indiana)

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NFL draft profile 2026: D’Angelo Ponds (Cornerback, Indiana)


The 2026 NFL Draft is in Pittsburgh! This draft season, we’ll be scouting as many of the top prospects that the Pittsburgh Steelers could have their eye on. We’ll break down the prospects themselves, strengths and weaknesses, projected draft capital, and their fit with the Steelers.

The nickel cornerback position is essentially a starter in the modern NFL, and not many 2026 draft prospects have more hype there than D’Angelo Ponds. Could he be in play for the Steelers?

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The basics on D’Angelo Ponds

Defensive stats via Sports Reference

D’Angelo Ponds scouting report

I’m not sure if there’s a prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft more universally loved than Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds. And if you watched him this season, you’d understand why. Ponds is the embodiment of the “got that dog in me” memes with the pit bull photo-shopped over a chest X-ray. He’s an undersized defender at 5’9, 182 pounds, sure, but he plays so much bigger and was one of the best cornerbacks in the country on a National Championship team that had to play a lot of good offenses to get that far.

The biggest constant in the games I watched of Ponds is that he makes plays. He finished 2025 with 61 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, and 11 passes defensed. He’s a high-effort player who can defend both the run and pass. That leads to production in every aspect of the game.

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Highway shut down after waste truck carrying dead bird flu ducks crashes in northern Indiana

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Highway shut down after waste truck carrying dead bird flu ducks crashes in northern Indiana


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Emergency management responded to a hazmat situation on Friday morning after a waste management truck carrying ducks that had died from bird flu crashed into a ditch at the side of a highway, according to officials.

The truck rolled into a ditch along U.S. Route 33 in Churubusco in Northern Indiana just after 8 a.m., forcing the highway to close in both directions, the Whitley County Emergency Management Agency said in a news alert.

The scene was secured with a 100-foot perimeter as a precaution and there’s no known threat to public health at this time, the agency said.

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“Waste management, Maple Leaf Farms, and Indiana Board of Animal Health are working together to have a specialized team to come do the cleanup,” the agency said.

HUNDREDS OF WILD BIRD DEATHS REPORTED ACROSS 7 COUNTIES, PROMPTING PARK CLOSURES

A bird flu warning sign.  (File photo,  Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Smith Township Fire Department, Whitley Sheriff Department, Churubusco Police Department and Whitley County Emergency Management all responded to the incident.

“Avoid the area of 650 East and US 33 north of Churubusco due to an emergency scene,” the agency said Friday morning on social media.

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COLORADO DECLARES DISASTER EMERGENCY AFTER PRESUMPTIVE BIRD FLU OUTBREAK HITS FACILITY WITH 1.3M CHICKENS

A duckling getting a bird flu vaccination.  (Gaizka Iroz/AFP via Getty Images)

The dead ducks had been picked up at several Maple Leaf Farms in Northern Michigan, and they had all been diseased with bird flu.

The H5N1 Avian Flu outbreak has been ongoing in the U.S. for the last several years, and has left hundreds of millions of birds dead.

Ducks at a farm in New York.  (Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images)

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The avian flu is highly contagious among birds and some mammals, but it doesn’t transmit easily to humans.

“People rarely get bird flu, but when they do, it is most often after close, unprotected exposure (without wearing respiratory or eye protection) to birds or other animals infected with avian influenza A viruses,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.



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