Indiana receives major disaster declaration

By Tom Davies | Deputy Editor

By Casey Smith

Federal disaster aid is on the way to Hoosiers and communities across storm-battered Indiana after President Donald Trump approved the state’s request for a major disaster declaration.

The declaration makes individual assistance available in 21 counties and public assistance available in 11, Braun’s office announced Tuesday. Additional counties could be added as state and federal officials continue reviewing damage.

By Mackenzi Klemann

Crime victim advocates say a backlog of untested rape kits, shortage of trauma-informed investigators and forensic nurses and forthcoming cuts to federal funding is hampering Indiana's sexual assault response.

"Survivors deserve a response that is compassionate, coordinated and consistent," state Rep. Becky Cash, R-Zionsville, said Tuesday in a statement.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz

Lincoln Party Secretary of State candidate Greg Ballard on Tuesday debuted a prototype of what he called the first state-sponsored voter's guide personalized down to the precinct level. 

"No Hoosier should ever walk into the voting booth feeling unprepared to cast their ballot, and no one should stay home because they didn't have time to learn who or what would be on that ballot," said Ballard, a former Republican mayor of Indianapolis.

The campaigns of Republican candidate Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh criticized the proposal as wasteful spending.

By Tracey Compton

Storms and tornadoes ravaged our state this month, killing at least seven people. In Hamilton County, the White River surged to a record 24 feet above normal levels, tearing up roads and bridges and destroying homes, sending families fleeing in the dark of the night.  

Local meteorologists kept us abreast of the news, warning Hoosiers when they needed to get to high ground or shelter in their basements or bathtubs. The immediacy and accuracy of those reports is job No. 1 for them, and weather emergencies are the top reason that people turn on local TV news.

Given this recent spate of extreme weather, I thought we would also be hearing more from meteorologists about the impacts of climate change. But I was wrong. 

By Shalina Chatlani

Derrick Clark has always struggled with his weight and he readily describes himself as obese. About two decades ago, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

He has no health insurance. As is the case with many chronic diseases, the worst consequences of diabetes — such as blindness and amputations — can be prevented with routine care.

Clark and many other diabetes patients in Mississippi were getting that care over the past few years through subsidized Affordable Care Act insurance plans. But Congress allowed the so-called enhanced subsidies to expire at the end of last year.

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