Latest news with #Hoosiers
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Know your rights: What protesters can and can't do as 'Good Trouble' rallies sweep Indiana
Hoosiers in upwards of 25 cities across Indiana will exercise their First Amendment rights during the "Good Trouble Lives On" demonstrations happening this week around the country. For those planning to join the rallies, here's what you should know about your protected rights and what actions should be avoided. Protesters are granted certain freedoms under the First Amendment, including the right to: These rights come with limitations, however. Though not exhaustive, here are a few rules Hoosier protesters must follow, according to the ACLU of Indiana. Story continues after photo gallery. Story continues after photo gallery. Yes, police can shut down a protest through a dispersal order, according to the ACLU of Indiana, but it must be used as a last resort in the following situations: If officers choose to do so, they must provide protesters a reasonable opportunity to comply with the order, including sufficient time and a clear, unobstructed exit path, ACLU says. Police should give demonstrators clear instructions concerning the dispersal order before they are arrested or charged with any crime, according to ACLU. This includes how much time demonstrators have to disperse, the consequences of failing to do so, and a clear exit route they can follow. The ACLU of Indiana suggests the following: The "Good Trouble Lives On" demonstrations are being held to protest recent actions by President Donald Trump and his administration. The organized demonstration borrows part of its name from the late Congressman John Lewis, and will involve gatherings across dozens of Indiana cities, including Indianapolis, Bloomington, Evansville and Fort Wayne. The organizers of "Good Trouble Lives On" define the movement on their website as "a national day of action to respond to the attacks on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration." The website urges readers to fight back against the recent "brazen rollback of civil rights," including attacks on voting rights, limiting freedom of protest and stripping of essential services. Using the term coined by Lewis, "Good Trouble" refers to the act of coming together peacefully to challenge injustice and create meaningful change, according to the site. A majority of the protests are scheduled on July 17, the fifth anniversary of Lewis' death. Story continues after photo gallery. The times and addresses of the July 17-19 protests scheduled in Indiana can be found below. Rallies without addresses are marked as private events, which can be joined via the Good Trouble Lives On website. More in Indiana politics: Gov. Braun hints state could intervene over Indy violence. 'Something's gotta give.'
Indianapolis Star
4 hours ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
6 months of Trump: How his policies are impacting Indiana, from $1B in DOGE cuts to tariffs
During the first six months of President Donald Trump's second term, more than $1 billion worth of grants and leases were terminated in Indiana, immigration court proceedings increased exponentially and multiple businesses announced expansions here locally. How Hoosiers view Trump's impact on Indiana so far varies based on the deep political chasms that exist. Vehement supporters, such as U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, praise Trump as " the best friend that working class Americans have ever had.' At a No Kings protest in mid-June at the Indiana Statehouse, attendees told IndyStar they were concerned about the administration's foreign policy decisions, infringement on rights and immigration. A second Trump term has brought uncertainty to Indiana as the administration's policy decisions fundamentally change the way the federal government operates, whether through immigration crackdowns, tariffs or Medicaid changes. More changes are likely on the horizon with the implementation of the ' One Big Beautiful Bill,' the president's signature legislation. Here's a snapshot of how Trump's policies have impacted Indiana during the first six months of his second term. Immigration court proceedings increase Starting with executive orders Trump signed on Inauguration Day, the administration's immigration policies have set off a flurry of panic and fear in diverse communities across Indiana and fueled a rise in related legislation at the Indiana Statehouse. International students attending Indiana universities have had their visas revoked. Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been reported in Indiana. New immigration court cases in Indiana have risen since 2024, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The data-gathering website found just three immigration court cases in Indiana in all of 2024, which has increased to more than 1,100 cases in the first five months of 2025. Republicans also praised Trump's signing of the Laken Riley Act, which allows immigrants in the U.S. to be detained if they commit certain crimes. The law helped deport a man who authorities say caused a deadly crash in Seymour in 2024. Sarah Burrow, an immigration attorney at Lewis Kappes in Indianapolis, said the uncertainty of the administration's decisions and legal rulings makes it a challenge to counsel people attempting to legally go through an already difficult process. The fear and uncertainty Burrow sees in her clients is unlike anything she has experienced in her career. 'Everything changes minute to minute,' she said. 'You have people who are scheduled for interviews at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who I would have ordinarily walked right in to go about their lawful process, who are now being detained at those interviews.' Economic policies boost some businesses but hurt others The major economic policy of Trump's first six months has been the president's wide-ranging tariffs. Business leaders and economists in Indiana have said the tariffs are hard to adapt to due to the administration's frequent changes and legal challenges. But there isn't yet proof they've hurt Indiana's economy. The state's manufacturing industry, which is vulnerable to tariffs, added about 700 jobs between April and May. The current data is similar to manufacturing job numbers this time last year after a dip in the last six months of 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the wake of Trump's tariffs, some businesses announced expansions in Indiana. A Honda car produced in Japan would only be built in Indiana. Roche announced a $550 million glucose monitor manufacturing facility in Indianapolis. Guardian Bikes, a children's bicycle company based in Seymour, announced the company would invest $19 million to move manufacturing from China to Indiana. In a June video posted to X, Guardian CEO Brian Riley said the investment is creating job opportunities both internally and externally. "It's hard to measure the impact of these indirect jobs, but I can tell you we're landing all this equipment,' Riley said. 'We've got robotics integrators coming in all the time. We've got electricians coming in wiring all of this equipment." Some small businesses, however, have struggled more because they cannot source materials in the U.S. Abby Perry, of Abby's Garden Parties in Zionsville, told IndyStar in May that tariffs on glass containers and rocks from China for her terrarium bar have ranged from 35% to 125%. 'We would love to buy it locally because we hate the idea that we have to ship it across the planet," Perry said, "but we are sitting at this point in May 2025, and no one in the U.S. produces what we need.' It's still unclear how Trump's ambitious tariff policy will impact prices for Americans. USA TODAY reported in May that tariffs would likely increase grocery bills since 15% of the U.S. food supply is imported. The Indiana Farm Bureau's annual Fourth of July price comparison found it costs Hoosiers about 5% more this year to feed 10 people at a cookout. Tax savings Several provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Congress passed during Trump's first term, were supposed to expire, but the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' made those tax cuts permanent. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, an expiration of the 2017 tax cuts would have resulted in an average tax increase of $1,936 for Hoosiers starting in 2026. Funding cuts threaten social service organizations Amy Nelson, the executive director of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana, has worked in housing organizations since 1997, but said the funding cuts threatening the civil rights-focused nonprofit are unlike anything Nelson has experienced in her career. The FHCCI was among organizations that lost funding due to Trump's establishment of DOGE, which unleashed a wave of funding cuts, layoffs and grant and lease terminations in order to reduce federal government spending. DOGE cuts have touched every corner of Indiana, from state and local government programs, such as the cancellation of a $1 million grant awarded to Fort Wayne to replace lead pipes, to hundreds of job cuts at AmeriCorps that supported schools and young Hoosiers. The cuts in Indiana tally more than $1 billion, according to the Center for American Progress, with 49 grants and leases terminated in the 7th Congressional District alone. DOGE cut what remained of a roughly $139,000 grant the Fair Housing Center received from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Fair Housing Initiatives program, funding that members of Congress promised for the 2023 fiscal year. 'When different administrations come in, they have different policy priorities, and they have different goals,' Nelson said. 'But each one of them has always honored the appropriations that have already been set in place." More: Indianapolis' 2 largest federal office buildings could be for sale. What does that mean? Nelson said HUD has yet to announce Fair Housing Initiative grant recipients for funding Congress approved during the 2024 fiscal year. She said the funding gaps threaten FHCCI's reports that study housing issues like homeowner insurance, educational programs to teach anti-discrimination laws and the size of its staff that can answer phone calls from Hoosiers who need help. 'The biggest thing is that the housing discrimination is going to increase dramatically,' Nelson said, 'if you do not have organizations like mine out there, who are able to help people who experience bias or harms, or able to let the market know that somebody is watching.' Higher education landscape rapidly changing Trump's first six months have changed the future of both K-12 schooling and higher education. The president pledged to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and recently withheld millions in Indiana education grants. Trump has also focused on the country's universities and colleges, vowing to strip out 'woke' and liberal ideology. His administration has also pulled back on funding scientific research and launched an antisemitism taskforce to investigate universities, including IU, after pro-Palestine protests in spring 2024. Trump's executive orders and similar state laws have also triggered a dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives around the state. The foundation for this movement is based on the argument that DEI materializes in policies that favor people based on race and qualifies as racial discrimination — an argument its proponents strongly disagree with. So far, Indiana University, Purdue University, Ivy Tech Community College and Ball State University have eliminated their DEI presence on campus. And Attorney General Todd Rokita is floating potential legal action toward three private universities — the University of Notre Dame, Butler University and DePauw University — over their DEI policies. Graduate student Eli Beaton sees firsthand how attitudes about what higher education should look like are changing the student experience at Indiana University. He said he's noticed class instructors swaying away from controversial topics, students feeling unwelcome due to the elimination of DEI programs and students worrying their humanities programs could be eliminated. All of the changes, Beaton said, show the negative impact of government seeping into the classroom and are causing student outcomes to suffer, especially when it comes to developing critical thinking. 'It's just extremely nerve wracking,' he said. 'It's trying to, again, erode the university as a space in which you can actually have this open learning environment.' The onslaught of policy changes is causing faculty to leave the profession, said Isaac Kamola, a professor and academic freedom expert. Professors spend their careers researching, he said, so having their work discredited for ideological reasons makes them feel demoralized. 'That creates a culture in which academic institutions no longer are engaged in the free pursuit of ideas and are instead engaged about hedging against political risk,' he said. 'And that means that the possibility of higher education serving the public good is diminished.' Trump's higher education policies have also caused free speech advocates to worry if his attempt to 'Make America Great Again' infringes on Americans' First Amendment rights. 'There is a clear trend within this administration to significantly chip away at established free speech rights,' Daley said. 'So many of the actions by the federal government that are alarming Hoosiers are rooted in the First Amendment, even if that's not the stated reason for the action.' However, others say that a larger breadth of viewpoints are being represented, especially on college campuses, thanks to Trump's policies. Health care, nutrition cuts on the horizon Analysts estimate tens of thousands of Hoosiers could lose access to health and nutrition programs through Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," under efforts to offset the costs of tax cuts. The most significant impact on Indiana could be the decrease in the cap on provider taxes, funds paid by hospitals that Indiana relies on to fund its Medicaid expansion program. State leaders warned that Indiana would be unable to afford the current costs of the Healthy Indiana Plan with the reduction in the provider tax from 6% to 3.5% and would likely need latitude from the federal government to enroll fewer Hoosiers. "Flexibility in managing Indiana's HIP program will be essential for the state moving forward, especially if we are required to take on more of the financial obligation," Gov. Mike Braun said in a mid-June statement. The bill also includes future work requirements for adults on Medicaid and raises the required working age from 55 to 64 for adults on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP. The federal bill combined with state-level policies approved earlier this year has left Hoosiers who use those programs uncertain whether they will have access in the future. "It's not clear which rules still matter and which rules still are being followed and what rights people have," said Tracey Hutchings-Goetz an organizer with Hoosier Action in southern Indiana. "That makes it very hard and very scary for people who are just trying to live their lives and work and go to the doctor when they get sick." Transition from past environmental policies Hoosiers have lost access to environmental resources and funding due to the Trump administration's policies, which some advocates worry could exacerbate the effects of climate change and pollution. Terms like 'biodiversity' have led to canceled tree-planting grants in LaPorte and Indianapolis. At a larger scale, the White House has initiated plans to phase out the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has helped Hoosiers respond to disasters, such as the 2023 tornadoes that swept across Indiana. The Trump administration has already ended some FEMA programs. The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grants funded mitigation projects to protect communities across the country from natural disasters. The city of Indianapolis, the town of Beverly Shores in Northwest Indiana and the state Department of Homeland Security all previously received BRIC funds. Additionally, Trump has acted to revive the coal industry through executive orders and transitioned away from clean energy programs, including ending a $500 million grant to Heidelberg Materials for a decarbonization project at a cement plant in Mitchell, Indiana. In June, a Heidelberg executive told WFYI the company was figuring out next steps for the project. IndyStar reporters Alexandria Burris, Alysa Guffey, Jordan Smith, Karl Schneider, Marissa Meador and Noe Padilla contributed to this story. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.
Indianapolis Star
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'You have to schedule strategically.' Why Indiana football cancels series vs Power 4 opponents
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football's future nonconference schedules took shape in recent weeks. The Hoosiers canceled a home-and-home series against the University of Virginia for 2027 and 2028 while adding games against Kennesaw State (2027), Austin Peay (2028) and Eastern Illinois (2029). They still have openings to fill in 2026 and 2028, but as of now won't face a non-conference Power Four-caliber opponent until it heads to South Bend to play Notre Dame, an independent, in 2030. Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson described the strategy as the best way to position the football team as a postseason contender in the years to come while factoring in the discussions over future format of the College Football Playoff. 'You can't afford a bad scheduling year,' Dolson said in an interview with The Herald-Times. 'You have to schedule strategically.' Indiana's recent decisions align with the scheduling moves they made before Dolson hired coach Curt Cignetti. The Hoosiers started having discussions about canceling the final two games of a three-game series against Louisville for 2023-25 before the first game was played. Louisville beat IU at Lucas Oil Stadium, 21-14, in 2023, but the home-and-home series that was on the books after that was scrapped. The Hoosiers added Western Illinois to their 2024 schedule and Kennesaw State in 2025. 'We want our nonconference schedule to put us in the best position for success at the end of the season,' Dolson said. 'What we really want to do is make sure we are competitive in the back half of the season and create meaningful games in the Big Ten because we are really playing for postseason opportunities." Indiana's canceled series against Louisville and Virginia were scheduled at a time when the Big Ten was requiring member schools to face at least one nonconference Power Five opponent. The conference reversed course before adding four members from the Pac-12 to the league. 'If a game sticks out and doesn't fit what we are trying to do, we say let's try to get on that now, and be paying attention to that,' Dolson said. 'We don't just say well, we signed up for that, it's just going to be a tough year.' Insider: How IU Athletics will handle revenue sharing: 'We're keeping it simple' The Big Ten's shift in 2017 to a nine-game conference schedule factored heavily into IU's thinking as well. The SEC and ACC haven't followed suit and only play eight conference opponents each year. It's a point that Cignetti brought up when addressing the criticism his team faced last year for having the second lowest strength of schedule among non-automatic qualifiers (ranked No. 35) in the College Football Playoff. 'When we entered last year our schedule looked pretty formidable,' Cignetti said in an interview with The Herald-Times in May. 'We played the two teams that played for the national championship and we had eight or nine teams that had been to bowl games the previous year. I think when you look at this year's schedule, the Big Ten part of it at least, it's a nice formidable schedule and we play nine conference games. There's a lot of value to that.' Remember IU's historic run to the CFP with IndyStar's book! Dolson's team also analyzed national trends, and didn't see IU's nonconference scheduling strategy as an outlier. That's true in the Big Ten for 2025 when the Hoosiers are one of five teams who won't play a Power Four opponent in nonconference, but they are the only team in the league without a Power Four opponent through 2029. There are teams in the Big Ten with as many as seven openings on their schedule over the next five seasons, and could end up going multiple years without playing a nonconference Power Four opponent during that stretch. Indiana's schedule isn't necessarily set in stone either. "I think everything is on the table in the future, everything on the table,' Dolson said. 'I would say we are on a month-to-month basis. We look at the football schedule a lot, we have to stay nimble.' The future of the College Football Playoff is driving the scheduling discussions teams are having. The format for the CFP in 2026 and beyond remains up for debate with conferences haggling over how many teams will make the field and what the format will be. Much of the focus has been on a 4-4-2-2-1 model that would grant the Big Ten and SEC four automatic qualifiers and a 5+11 format that would include automatic bids for the five conference champions and 11 at-large selections. 'We hear different scenarios that are being played out in the media, or in our Big Ten AD room,' Dolson said. 'I bring those strategies back home and look at them with our team. How does our schedule fit with those?" Toppmeyer: Why the Big Ten desperately wants to rig College Football Playoff Indiana will adjust its scheduling strategy accordingly once a final decision is made on the CFP's future. Cignetti will be involved in those discussions as they regularly sit down to discuss key issues impacting the program. 'If you are in a situation with automatic qualifiers and they are based only on your conference wins, that changes your nonconference tolerance," Dolson said. "You are willing to add more challenging nonconference games because it doesn't hurt your postseason chances.' Under the current format, Dolson sees winning as the most important metric of all. That view is informed by his recent experience on the Division I Baseball Selection Committee that he was added to ahead of the 2024 season. 'I know it's different, but I know from sitting in those committees, no matter what you have to win,' Dolson said. 'Winning matters, but as things are tweaked we have to understand what goes into the process and put ourselves in the best position to succeed."
Indianapolis Star
19 hours ago
- Business
- Indianapolis Star
André Carson has a serious 2026 primary opponent. Here's how much they've raised so far
Indiana U.S. Rep. André Carson raised more than $200,000 for his reelection bid between April and June, the largest amount Carson has raised during the same period of a non-election year since he was elected to Congress. But that fundraising surge comes as Carson contends with what is likely one of the most serious primary challengers of his 17 years representing Indiana's 7th Congressional District, which covers the majority of Indianapolis. George Hornedo, a 34-year-old attorney and political strategist, in his first federal campaign finance filing of the 2026 election cycle, reported raising more than $157,000 between November 2024 and the end of June. It's the most money any of Carson's primary challengers have reported receiving in an entire election cycle. None of the Democrats that have challenged Carson in primary races since 2010 raised above the $5,000 threshold that requires candidates to file federal campaign finance reports. Hornedo's campaign follows a trend this year of younger Democrats challenging party norms, including running against longtime party incumbents in Congress. Hornedo has argued Indianapolis needs a change from Carson, who was first elected to represent the 7th Congressional District in 2008. In a July 16 press release, Hornedo's campaign reported it received more money from individual donors than Carson, rather than groups and PACS, and had a greater number of donors. Hornedo's campaign also said it did not take money from corporate political committees, while Carson's did. Carson reported donations this quarter from corporate political action committees, such as Elevance Health and Cummins. 'We're building something new – with people – and we're just getting started,' Hornedo said in a statement. 2026 elections approaching: André Carson has been in Congress since 2008. Could his 2026 primary be competitive? But Carson raised more money between April and June than Hornedo did in the first eight months since he launched his campaign. Carson also reports more than $611,000 in cash on hand heading into the second half of 2025. That is more than nine times Hornedo's nearly $66,500 in cash on hand. Aysha Ahmed, the finance director for Carson's campaign, said in a statement to IndyStar that the fundraising numbers in the congressman's latest report 'reflects his ability to mobilize Hoosier voters.' 'Congressman Carson knows that to take back the House in 2026, the work starts now,' Ahmed said in a statement. 'And he will continue to mobilize Hoosiers and voters across the country.' Indiana's primary election is May 5, 2026. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Social media roasts Indiana for dropping its game vs. Virginia, is Notre Dame next?
With the expansion of the College Football Playoff, many teams across the nation are looking for the easiest route to the 12-team tournament, and one of Notre Dame's future opponents, Indiana, as Brett McMurphy reported that they decided its 2027 and 2028 scheduled series against Virginia was too much for them and backed out. As social media often does, it reacted not very kindly to the news, as the Hoosiers opted to dull down its already unimpressive schedule. When looking at the Hoosiers future non-conference schedule, it's pretty light, as they don't play a team from Power-5 team, with the Irish scheduled in 2030 and 2031. This coming season, they'll face Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State. Not exactly murderers row. The question now is what will happen to the series, which we'll get to later on. First, let's take a look at some of the best social media reactions to Indiana backing out of its series against Virginia. Curt Cignetti goes against his own quote Cignetti talks a big game, but when push comes to shove, it didn't work out very well for him this past fall. His first year with the Hoosiers did see them lose to the Irish in the first-round of the CFP, a season where they lost Both games against ranked opponents. The Big Ten schedule was one of the easiest in the conference, and it sure doesn't look like Indiana is 'undaunted,' as Cignetti has claimed. Scared of Virginia? It's kind of odd that the Hoosiers would make this decision, as the Cavaliers are one of the weaker teams in the ACC. They went 5-7 last year, not making a bowl game, and the future isn't very bright. You'd figure that any win over a P5 team would help a team's CFP cause, but Indiana isn't thinking that way. Is Indiana scared? I honestly don't think this is the case, it's more about creating an easier path to the CFP for them. There not a big chance that Virginia turns the program around by the time the two would play, so you'd have to believe that the Hoosiers would be favored in both contests. It's still a decision that is confusing to me. Cakewalk The Kobe Bryant gif is perfect, this is a very soft upcoming non-conference schedule. Sure, the Big Ten is one of the deeper leagues, but the Hoosiers are taking the easy way out. Sure, every team across the nation does this too, but not nearly at the same level. What about Notre Dame? I honestly don't think the scheduled games will change, most likely due to the fact that Cignetti will either be fired, retire or leave for a different job. He did sign an extension that will run through the series, but the soon to be 65-year old might not get to the end of his contract. As one of the oldest head coaches in all of college football, his time isn't long in the game. Now it is hard to tell the direction that the Hoosiers would go if he's gone by that time, but so much can change from now until then. Hopefully nothing changes and the two teams end up playing each other.
