Indiana
Indiana to reconsider iGaming in 2025
Indiana has joined the ranks of US states that will take a fresh look at online gambling legislation aiming to authorize and regulate the market segment during 2025. Indiana State Rep. Ethan Manning, a long-time backer of online gambling expansion in the state, has introduced House Bill 1432, an omnibus measure of gambling-related topics, including the approval of online poker and other casino-style online games.
Manning has sponsored or backed several previous gambling measures, the last of those coming in 2023 with his House Bill 1536. Manning’s new measure, HB 1432 (2025), had been teased earlier in January but was finally introduced on Tuesday, then immediately assigned to the House Committee on Public Policy, which Manning chairs.
Manning is also the sponsor of a second bill regarding charitable-gaming initiatives that will also receive early-year attention before his committee. Both gaming-related bills are scheduled for initial discussion on Tuesday, January 28.
iGaming returns to Indiana’s legislative debates
In 2023, Indiana had been considered one of the US states most likely to approve online poker. The state had been a relatively early adopter of online sports betting, and iGaming in Indiana appeared ripe for a similar run toward approval. However, a prominent corruption scandal involving another gambling-expansion proponent sent the state into a cool-off period, legislatively speaking, and Manning’s once-promising bill was allowed to expire and an informal moratorium on the topic went into place for all of 2024.
The issue, which lawmakers believed put a temporary taint on iGaming in Indiana, was the charging of one-time State Rep. Sean Eberhart as part of a scheme to benefit Spectacle Gaming, a former provider of off-track betting services at a small number of northern Iowa venues.
As part of the scheme, Eberhart lobbied and advocated for slashing or eliminating fees connected to two gaming licenses to be acquired by Spectacle. In return, Eberhart accepted the promise of a future position with the company with an annual salary of $350,000. In late 2023, Eberhart agreed to plead guilty and was ultimately sentenced to a fine and a prison sentence of year and a day.
On this episode of “Week in Review,” we cover the Indiana gambling case, the Bears’ 2026 schedule release and the Bulls landing the No. 4 draft pick. We also look at Jim’s Original moving after 85 years and Chicago Fire FC’s new McDonald’s Park stadium name. Plus, Cole Kmet joins Cop on a Rooftop, a White Sox phenom goes one on one and more top stories from around Chicago.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — More than 50 Indiana law enforcement agencies are taking to the roof to help local athletes.
Police and safety officers will be stationed around various Dunkin’ Donuts, taking up donations for the Special Olympics. People who monetarily donate will receive a coupon for a free donut. Those who donate $10 or more will receive a coupon for a free medium hot coffee.
“Supporting the Special Olympics isn’t just an event for us — it’s a commitment to people who inspire us every day,” Sergeant Wes Rowlader said. “These athletes show what determination, courage, and community truly look like. Every dollar we raise helps transform that spirit into training, competition, and lifelong confidence.”
More than 20,000 Hoosier athletes train and compete for free within the Special Olympics. To date, Cop on a Rooftop has raised more than $125,000 for Special Olympics Indiana.
The Indiana State Police will be at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 9821 Lima Road in Fort Wayne from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Friday.
A man’s family is demanding answers after he was shot by a security guard inside a hospital emergency room waiting area on Tuesday night in Gary, Indiana.
Methodist Northlake Hospital officials said, around midnight Tuesday night, its security staff responded quickly after a patient took out a gun. The hospital said he’d threatened to shoot himself or others.
The hospital commended the security guard who shot the man for “neutralizing the threat and helping ensure the safety of our patients and employees.”
Family members identified the man who was shot as Otis Brown. They said he is a kind father to a 12-year-old boy.
“Just a great person, a happy-go-lucky, always out there trying to do the right thing,” said his fiancée, Stacey Taylor.
Taylor said she was on a business trip when she got a call that Brown had been shot multiple times.
“Scared, uncertainty; you know, what story is right? You know, what happened?” she said.
After he was shot, Brown was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment.
Taylor said she had no idea why Brown went to Methodist Northlake Hospital in the first place. His family said he was trying to leave the hospital when the shooting happened, claiming that the hospital gave him his gun back after he was cleared to leave.
“We just want to get answers, just want to know what happened, particularly when people are defaming his name,” Taylor said.
She and Brown’s family hope the hospital has surveillance video footage that can help provide answers.
Gary police have not provided any details on the shooting. The Lake County Sheriff’s Department said it is investigating the shooting at the request of Gary police, but did not provide any further information.
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