By Tom Davies | Deputy Editor
"I don't think anybody wants to see them go away, and we need to preserve the good while protecting Hoosiers from any kind of misuse." — Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie
The spreading privacy concerns about the proliferation of license plate reading cameras has Indiana legislators talking about enacting tighter rules on how police can use the technology.
State officials estimate perhaps $5 billion in damage from flooding and high winds over the past couple weeks.
We have a commentary about the value of a state business diversity program that Gov. Mike Braun has decided to abolish.
Plus, a federal court case challenging state limits on whether a patient can obtain an abortion if the pregnancy poses a health risk echoes arguments from a failed lawsuit against Indiana’s near-total abortion ban.
And check out some of the sights from Sunday’s IndyCar race in Washington, D.C.
A license plate reader outside Avon, Indiana. (Photo by Mackenzi Klemann/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Indiana lawmakers looking at license plate cameras amid growing privacy worries
By Mackenzi Klemann
A petition to ban automated license plate readers in rural Lawrence County garnered 500 signatures in four days.
The Bloomington Police Department did not renew its contract with vendor Flock Systems — and other cities across the state are debating whether to do the same.
Public backlash to license plate reader networks is intensifying, but Indiana law says little about how police and commercial entities can use the technology.
Gov. Mike Braun, left, surveys flood damage in Noblesville on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the governor’s office)
Indiana damages from flooding, high winds could exceed $5B, Braun tells feds
By Casey Smith
Indiana has asked the federal government to expedite a major disaster declaration that could unlock additional aid for Hoosier residents and communities across 54 storm-damaged counties.
Gov. Mike Braun said Friday that a federal decision would typically take at least a week, but his administration is seeking a faster review by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
COMMENTARY
The division was created in 1983 to actively promote, monitor and enforce the standards for certification of minority, women, and veteran business enterprises. (Image from IDOA)
Minority owned businesses were never a diversity initiative
By Chrystal Ratcliffe
Gov. Mike Braun and Attorney General Todd Rokita have made their position clear: Indiana's use of race and sex-conscious measures in state contracting is, in their view, unconstitutional. The Braun administration is now moving away from those measures and toward what it calls a system based on "Merit, Excellence, and Innovation."
As Black Hoosiers, we have spent time thinking about what that message means — not simply politically or legally, but personally. And we keep returning to one truth: We were never a diversity initiative.
NATIONAL NEWS
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled this month that the state of Idaho cannot regulate abortion when a pregnancy threatens a person’s physical or mental health. (Photo by Otto Kitsinger for the Idaho Capital Sun)
Abortion could return to Supreme Court, this time with a focus on women's health
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris
A federal court ruling out of Idaho has potential implications for exceptions in abortion bans nationwide and could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled this month that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides a narrow right for a pregnant patient to obtain an abortion if the pregnancy could be a risk to their health, including their mental health. It’s the first ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health in 2022 to find that the U.S. Constitution includes a right to abortion access in certain situations.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Thousands of Hoosiers not enrolling in federal safety net programs | Free Press Indiana
Concerned Scientists at IUB call for the removal of IU Trustee Sage Steele | Indiana Public Media
Copenhaver: Deery’s appeal too late to keep her off ballot, flip state Senate primary again | Based in Lafayette
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