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Indiana Supreme Court case mulls whether counties can strip health insurance from elected officials • Indiana Capital Chronicle

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Indiana Supreme Court case mulls whether counties can strip health insurance from elected officials • Indiana Capital Chronicle


Are elected officials entitled to health insurance regardless of the number of hours they work?

That question is before the Indiana Supreme Court, who heard arguments in a Perry County case Thursday that could have statewide implications for local officials.

The case began after the Perry County commissioners discontinued health insurance coverage for certain part-time county employees in June 2023. A Perry County councilman, Keith Huck, sued and sought an injunction to keep his insurance. He works about nine hours a month, according to evidence in the case.

A local judge granted Huck’s injunction, but the Indiana Court of Appeals disagreed. The appeal to the Indiana Supreme court is interlocutory, meaning it is occurring while the case is ongoing.

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“This court should declare that local unit elected officials who work less than 30 hours a week should be part-time employees for purposes of group health benefits,” said attorney Maggie Smith, representing Perry County.

“Exempting all local unit elected officials from being considered part-time employees will have such a drastic fiscal impact on the public’s fisc that such an exemption should be the result of a public policy decision of the Legislature, and that has not happened yet,” she added.

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She argued that state law gives local units the right to not offer health insurance to part-time employees and that’s what Perry County did when facing a fiscal crisis.

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The decision impacted 12 of the 21 local elected officials they deemed part-time, including the Perry County commissioners who made the decision.

Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush pointed out that state law says elected county officials are not required to report hours and can’t determine or change compensation based on the number of hours worked. She asked if insurance is part of compensation.

Smith said it isn’t part of compensation at the county level and said counties are allowed to exempt part-time employees from health care benefits. She also acknowledged confusion between statutes.

“I agree with you that these statutes, as is sometimes the case, are not the pillar of clarity, but the answer to that in this case is precisely why this court should not create rights that have such a significant financial impact,” she said.

Justice Geoffrey Slaughter said county council members on the same board could work different hours and therefore one could be eligible for insurance and the other not. Supreme Court Justice Mark Massa also noted there are elected county prosecutors in smaller communities that might not meet 30 hours a week.

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Attorney Robert Burkart, representing Huck, said a county can choose not to offer insurance at all, but if they do, then elected officials have a right to participate.

Slaughter questioned that contention: “Essential to your argument is that the county cannot treat elected officials as part-time employees. But where does it say that?”

Burkart said justices must look at a progression of statutes from 1957 to 1990 and to a non-binding attorney general opinion from 1978.

“Basically, the General Assembly giveth and only the General Assembly can taketh away from elected officials if the insurance is offered,” he said.

The court also has to consider whether Huck losing county-paid insurance counts as irreparable harm that would require an injunction. Smith said Huck could have gone on COBRA insurance or bought a plan on the marketplace.

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But Burkart said the plans would have different levels of protection and there would be continuity of care issues.

But Slaughter said Huck can receive damages at the end of the case if he wins to cover his losses.

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Indiana

Atlanta Hawks vs Indiana Pacers: Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game

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Atlanta Hawks vs Indiana Pacers: Starting Lineups For Tonight’s Game


The Atlanta Hawks continue their four-game road trip tonight when they face the Indiana Pacers. Atlanta is of course going to be without Trae Young, but the Pacers have their own injury issues to worry about. This team looks nothing like the one that had made back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals and it might be a tough season for Rick Carlisle’s team.

Even without Young, the Hawks are the favorites in tonight’s game and it will be interesting to see how they operate without him. Young is one of the best ball handlers and play makers in the NBA and he takes up a lot of the usage on offense. I look for Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, Keaton Wallace, and possibly Vit Krejci to take those duties.

The game is about to tip-off and here are the starting lineups for tonight’s game:

G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker

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G- Dyson Daniels

F- Zaccharie Risacher

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Kristaps Porzingis

G- Quenton Jackson

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G- Aaron Nesmith

F- Jarace Walker

F- Pascal Siakam

C- Isaiah Jackson

How have the Hawks looked in the advanced numbers to start the season? Our own Rohan Raman looked deeper at this team today in a preview of today’s game:

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“The Hawks’ offense had a good night against a hapless Brooklyn defense, which is pushing them up the rankings. They’re 23rd in points, 19th in FG%, 19th in 3P%, 21st in FT%, 26th in rebounds (20th in OREB), 8th in assists and 4th in turnovers per game. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if those numbers took a bit of a decline. Young’s floor on offense can’t be easily replaced.

Brooklyn’s heavy reliance on three-pointers leaves them at the mercy of shooting variance and thankfully, it swung in Atlanta’s favor during their matchup and improved their overall numbers. In a per-game basis, Atlanta ranks 20th in points allowed, 28th in FG% allowed, 5th in 3P% allowed, 26th in rebounds allowed, 17th in steals and 15th in blocks.

The injuries have wreaked havoc on a previously strong Pacers offense. They rank 25th in points, 29th in FG%, 26th in 3P%, 30th in FT%, 2nd in rebounds (5th in OREB), 27th in assists and 7th in turnovers per game. Their rebounding numbers have kept them in games, but it’s a far cry from the offensive juggernaut Indiana had last season.

Even though the Pacers have been able to hold up at the point of attack, their defense hasn’t been much better. They’re 22nd in points allowed, 11th in FG% allowed, 2nd in 3P% allowed, 29th in rebounds allowed, 30th in steals and 11th in blocks.”



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Indiana University reverses course, allows student newspaper to resume print

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Indiana University reverses course, allows student newspaper to resume print



In a reversal, Indiana University Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold will allow the Indiana Daily Student to resume print editions this semester.


In a letter to the IDS editors, Reingold said he will allow the paper to use its budget through the end of the fiscal year as the editors see fit. He also called for a “reset” with the paper and asked to “affirm what unites us.”

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IDS co-editors-in-chief Andrew Miller and Mia Hilkowitz described it as a win for student media but cautioned the campus community against considering the matter resolved.


“We do want to make sure that we ourselves and our community and our faculty and our alumni and everybody keep the administration here to their word,” Miller said to WFIU/WTIU News. “Thus far, it’s been kind of hard to trust their word, quite honestly.”


“The last time IU had a committee to look at student media, they didn’t fully follow their recommendations,” Hilkowitz said, referring to a recently announced task force on press freedom and the existing student media plan.

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“We would want more confirmation that that’s going to be binding. Also, I’m going to stand by the fact that I think our staff and the faculty and students of the media school deserve an apology.”


The university’s decision to end print editions coincided with it firing the director of student media Jim Rodenbush, who refused to remove news from a planned Homecoming edition at the university’s direction.

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Earlier Thursday,Rodenbush filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Indiana claiming IU violated his First Amendment rights.


Since then, the perception that IU censored its student paper has cost the school at least $1 million in donations and provoked the ire of faculty.


Reingold said the perception that he attempted to censor editorial content was “not grounded in fact.”

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“Indiana University has never attempted to censor editorial content, period,” he wrote. “The IDS is, and remains, editorially independent.”


He did not address the directive given to Rodenbush to remove news from the Homecoming print issue.

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The chancellor admitted the “campus has not handled recent matters as well as we should have. Communication was uneven and timing imperfect.”


He stopped short of an apology, saying that the decision to end print editions was a long-term financial plan to staunch the paper’s nearly $300,000 annual deficit.


The student media plan calls for limiting print to a few special editions per semester, but it also calls for preserving the IDS print product as a “critical learning experience for student media workers.”

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Ethan Sandweiss is a multimedia journalist for WFIU and WTIU.



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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to speak in NW Indiana Thursday

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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to speak in NW Indiana Thursday


CHICAGO (WLS) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will visit northwest Indiana Thursday.

She’s expected to bring updates on the immigration enforcement that’s happening across the area.

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Secretary Kristi Noem will give an update on recent immigration enforcement deemed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino has called “wildly successful” in an interview with ABC News earlier this week.

She will be joined by Indiana governor Mike Braun in Gary along with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, among others.

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SEE ALSO: Court pauses order requiring CBP Chief Bovino to meet with judge daily on immigration operations

Her visit has been met with some criticism, though, from other local northwest Indiana leaders.

Gary’s Mayor Eddie Melton said his office was not involved with planning the event and is not participating.

Hammond’s Mayor Thomas McDermott also posting on Facebook, criticizing how the press conference was announced.

Counter-protests are expected later Thursday morning.

RELATED | Chicago federal intervention: Tracking surge in immigration enforcement operations | Live updates

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Bovino says nearly 3,000 people have been arrested in the Chicago area, as part of “Midway Blitz.”

The expanded immigration enforcement started in September.

Wednesday night, Governor Pritzker sent a letter to Secretary Noem, requesting a pause in ICE enforcement this weekend in and around homes, schools, hospitals, parks and place of worship, so children can safely celebrate Halloween.

The governor referenced an incident in his letter this past weekend in Old Irving Park – in which he says, federal agents reportedly interrupted a children’s Halloween parade and deployed tear gas without warning – on residents peacefully celebrating the holiday.

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