INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Covering 400,000 more low-income residents through Medicaid or the Healthy Indiana Plan carries one major uncertainty: the price tag.
The Indiana Hospital Association estimates expanding Medicaid would cost $503 million. State actuary Milliman Inc. puts the cost at $2 billion. Continue reading →
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – More than 200 Indiana middle and high school students are preparing to participate in Purdue University’s Science Olympiad regional competition.
The event is scheduled for Saturday on Purdue’s campus and features 23 science- and technology-related competitions. Continue reading →
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) – Nearly 1,000 Indiana National Guard members would face temporary furloughs if automatic federal spending cuts take effect next month.
Unless Congress heads off the cuts set for March 1st some 1,000 Indiana Guard members would lose one day’s work, and pay, each week for 22 weeks. That would cost them at least $7 million in wages.
Indiana Air National Guard spokesman Master Sgt. Darin Hubble says about 170 full-time personnel at the Air National Guard’s base in Fort Wayne would be furloughed. That’s more than half of the 122nd Fighter Wing’s full-time personnel.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that if the spending cuts kick in he might have to shorten the workweek for the “vast majority” of the Defense Department’s 800,000 civilian workers.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Indiana State Police are seeing a surge in gun permit requests amid the national gun-control debate sparked by December’s deadly Connecticut school shooting.
State Police are now seeing up to 4,000 permit requests each week. That’s three times the number the agency was handling at the same time last year.
Indiana residents make online gun permit applications to the State Police, but those applications are funneled to local police agencies for inspection, fingerprinting and background checks.
Each of those applications must be reviewed and approved or rejected by the local police chief, town marshal or county sheriff.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A proposal to allow kindergartners and some other students to be immediately eligible for Indiana’s private school voucher program has been approved by the Indiana House.
Representatives voted 57-36 largely along party lines Thursday to approve the Republican-backed bill. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The bill makes several exemptions from the requirement included in the 2011 law that all students spend at least one year in public schools before becoming eligible for a voucher. It eliminates that requirement for siblings of current voucher students and for children in military and foster families and for children with special needs.
Democrats oppose the expansion and say the program hasn’t been in place long enough to evaluate its effectiveness.
More than 9,000 students are receiving vouchers this school year.
FARMERSBURG, Ind. (AP) – An Indiana special education teacher who said gays have no purpose in life has been suspended.
Superintendent Mark Baker of the Northeast School Corp. in Sullivan County said Wednesday the teacher is on administrative leave out of concern “for the safety and security of everyone in our buildings.” Continue reading →
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.