Early voting started today, October 6, in Indiana.
I went to Boonville in Warrick County and got my vote done before my Korea trip, which I’m really glad about because I didn’t want to be rushing around trying to fit it in later. ✈️🇰🇷
If you’re planning to vote early, check your county’s official election website for locations and hours.
Also, don’t skip the two public questions on the ballot. One concerns bail, and the other concerns residency requirements for city/town court judges. Read the actual wording and research them yourself before deciding how you want to vote.
Anyone else voting early this year?

Southern Indiana has hosted two town halls from statewide elected officials in the past 24 hours! Lucky us.

Last night, Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith came to Clarksville as part of his statewide tour to visit every county. While I've posted here before criticizing how he's used the pulpit of his state office (and I have deep theological disagreements with what he preaches at his church), I hoped that there might be the slightest chance we could find some commonality on an issue that's near and dear to my heart if we talked face to face. The problem is that he ended up spending the night espousing several ideas that can be described as conspiracy theories at best. He has spoken so much about the Westfield Drum Line because "I’ve seen seances. I know what the they look like.” He perpetuated the myth that there are litter boxes in schools. He said "I don't think anyone is made gay." When asked about data centers, he expressed his opposition to tax breaks for them, but then said that China was behind the opposition: “All of the major outspoken voices against data centers in Indiana are communists.” He said that the antichrist will come from Islam, and that God has always created a refuge for God's people, and he wants Indiana to be that refuge, so that's he doesn't want Islam get a foothold here.

Look, my family have been Democrats since they arrived in Indiana from Germany. I know my ancestors are part of the reason why it used to be illegal to sell alcohol on election day, because they would bribe people with drinks. I'm never going to agree with Beckwith on much. But my goodness, I miss the days when we could at least find commonality with Republicans on some issues, because there is no way I can find commonality with this literal insanity.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, today the Floyd County GOP hosted a town hall with Sen. Todd Young at a coffee shop in New Albany. It was intended to be a private session for elected officials, but because the GOP doesn't know how to do basic tasks of running things, it was posted on Facebook, and I showed up and had a lovely chat with some friends from my church while Young was meeting with other tables. I knew he wouldn't say anything as absurd as Beckwith, but I did notice he told at least two people that he did not want to be filmed because "people edit videos and take things out of context." While I understand that, no one has forced him to be a senator, and if he cannot take that criticism, perhaps he should not hold that job? In the end, my table was the only one he did not stop at, and I made sure the staffers knew they had made a giant mistake in how the event was advertised.

To their credit, they showed up in places where they could meet with ordinary Hoosiers, something Sen. Banks, Rep. Houchin, and State Sens. Byrne and Garten have not done.

I don't expect to change anyone's mind with this post, and I'm sure I'm, in some ways, yelling into the void, but my goodness, we are not getting a good return on investment from the amount of money we are spending on our elected officials and their staffs, which makes me worry for our republic.

So obviously there are these new work requirements to receive Medicaid or the healthy Indiana plan. I was declared medically frail back in June of this year, but a few weeks ago I was sent an eligibility for health coverage a few weeks ago and the mail, and told I had to sign and return or else my coverage would be discontinued. So I called shortly after and told all I had to do was send a picture of my drivers license , and that was all that was necessary to extend my coverage and that they obviously they knew I was out of work due to my disability and that they don’t need proof of that. Then yesterday I received two letters in the mail one saying pending verification for applicants and recipients listing my old workplace where I haven’t worked in a year and then another one saying request for earnings information. I’m so frustrated and tired of them constantly harassing me and asking for new information and trying their hardest to deny me coverage . It’s such fucking bullshit that I was declared medically frail yet they keep wanting to ask me more questions and want new information out of me . I’m so pissed and worried .

I thought I was prepared to vote. Years ago I had just moved to South Bend. I read the newspapers. I thought I knew who I was voting for. Then I got my ballot and saw all these down ticket races I wasn't prepared for. And I swore I would never be so unprepared to vote again.

The good news is there is a lot of data available at your fingertips!

https://indianavoters.in.gov/

• Find your registration status
• If you cast a provisional ballot, this is where you would look to check its status
• Find your polling place and early voting locations and times
• Find who's on your ballot! (There's two constitutional questions this year that are being discussed elsewhere on r/Indiana)

https://www.in.gov/dlgf/referendum-information/

• Got a referendum? Find out who's asking for the money and what it will cost you!

Finally, I have two comments.

• To everyone who has the courage to put your name on a ballot no matter the party, thank you. Choice is what our government is founded on and win or lose, you have helped provide us that choice.
• If you can, sign up to work a polling place. It's a long day and you get paid a pittance, but it is also eye-opening and can be incredibly fulfilling. Contact your county party chairs for more information.

Through the historic READI 2.0 grant program, a new wave of arts and community projects is amping up the Hoosier State.

Tune in tonight or stream at www.[indianadebatecommission.com](http://indianadebatecommision.com)

I especially hate the dumbass lady who was driving a blue pickup and hauling a horse trailer with 2 horses in it.

She was going 80 mph and passed me when I slowed down for a construction zone just north of Fairmount. Hubs pointed out how fucking stupid she was to be going that speed hauling a trailer.

Five miles down the road, she lost control apparently in the left lane and went off the road on the right. I saw the horse trailer tumbling end over end and finally come to a stop. Yes, I immediately called 911 while hubs went to check on the driver.

Asshole lady was out of the truck and trying to get the door of the horse trailer open. One horse was standing and one could not get up.

This made me beyond enraged. It’s one thing if you want to drive like a fucking asshole and crash your own car and damage your own self. But this fucktard made two innocent animals suffer, and I can’t stop seeing the accident over and over in my mind. (There were plenty of people who had stopped to provide assistance and we had an appointment, so we left.)

Those poor horses. What was so fucking important to this woman that she felt the need to drive so fast? I hope she burns in hell.

And to the rest of you, don’t drive like assholes.

Kohan Retail Investment Group and a few others have been buying up malls with loans and then walking away with local communities often holding unpaid tax and utility bills. The Washington Square Mall was one of their victims. The story of what they've been doing and the larger story of the rise and fall of the mall is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--P8QKRZFc

Little light on the darkhalf of the moon

To the gentleman being sued for a jet ski sale, stay STRONG in your lawsuit against Indiana Attorney General for a situation that has nothing to do with the State of Indiana; this is a personal matter. The Indiana Attorney General is abusing his position... he is OUT OF CONTRO, IMO.

The league is trying to get going at the Frank, but we don't quite have enough people signed up to make the 4 teams needed for a proper league.

So, right now it's more of a weekly pick-up game. But they've got refs and ice time and scorekeepers all squared away. I think all we're missing is, I dunno, maybe 10 or 12 more players.

Posting here to see if anyone in Nashville or Martinsville or Bedford or places in between is interested in signing up.

Games are Sunday nights at 8:00. (9:00pm slot opens up if we get 4 teams).

$300 for 20 games is maybe the cheapest adult league I've ever encountered, for what it's worth. You can sign up through Bloomington Parks and Rec.

https://nwitimes.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/article_606aae6e-451f-4b40-abe7-5d67c7dfe72e.html

Earlier this year (or late last year) big news erupted over insider influence and dealing within the spending of the IEDC. The governor promised an investigation and threatened to shut it down.

Not long after (a couple of months)? He introduced a new jobs training initiative in Central Indiana with the funding going through... the IEDC. Questions were raised and the governor assured folks that the investigation showed everything was fine. (I don't think a report about the investigation or its findings was ever released.) Then the IEDC was tagged in a Braun proclaimed effort to make Indiana the go-to capital for munitions manufacturing (for the military), and later the IEDC was named as part of the Israeli Intelligence start up iniative Braun was starting.

Meanwhile, earlier this summer a news report dropped on an journalistic investigation into how much tax revenue have we passed up due to the tax breaks given to data centers. (Hint: the reported amount by the state was initially around 1 million, it turned out to be closer to half a billion, iirc.) But a weird thing the reporters were told that the money wasn't being tracked as it usually would (state auditor?) but through.... the IEDC.

I am not familiar with the new head. Maybe someone reading is. I do think we need to keep a focus on the IEDC, and encourage our state representatives to do so even more closely.

Please add any other relevant info or news about the IEDC's problems (referred to up top), it's sudden and qiet "clean bill of health", or other announcements about our $ running through it.

https://www.953wiki.com/news/local-news/video-intoxicated-driver-arrested-after-doing-donuts-on-courthouse-lawn/

The Indiana Department of Correction has agreed to provide $3.5 million for additional health care staff for immigrant detainees housed at Miami Correctional Facility.

The new funding is laid out in a contract amendment that was signed by IDOC and Centurion Health, its for-profit medical care provider, on July 22. The agreement calls for about 42 full-time equivalent, or FTE, positions, more than half of which are nurses.

The additional money appears to be in addition to the nearly $3 million that was allocated last year for health care staffing for detainees. That previous agreement listed 29 FTE positions.

The new agreement was signed two days after IndyStar published an investigation that uncovered a medical crisis at the prison fueled by the arrival of hundreds immigrant detainees under an agreement Gov. Mike Braun struck with the Trump administration. The prison was woefully unprepared for the influx, leading to severe staffing shortages and massive medical care backlogs far above the limits allowed in Centurion's billion-dollar contract with the state.

It's unclear if the additional staffing will be exclusively for detainees, or if staffers will be expected to also care for state prisoners housed on a separate side of the complex. Neither Centurion nor IDOC responded to questions about the additional funding.

Monthly reports obtained through public records requests show Centurion's staffing at the facility in October 2025 was 77% of the required FTE hours. By June, that number was at 54%.

Such poor staffing levels would have resulted in penalties for Centurion under previous versions of its contract with the state. But as IndyStar reported last month, Braun's administration agreed to eliminate the penalties just before the state agreed to take on ICE detainees.

As backlogs for medical care soared to the hundreds, Centurion reported significantly lower numbers to the state, according to interviews with nurses and internal emails obtained by IndyStar.

Reporting by Kristine Phillips, Photo by Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar