By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
“I also have to place my beliefs and trust in the system and process, and that we aren’t going to disenfranchise Hoosier voters, several hundred of them, over wishes of one losing candidate.” — Attorney Samantha DeWester
A bipartisan panel rejected a move to depose voters on their primary ballots. But the recount in Senate District 23 isn’t over yet.
Attorney General Todd Rokita sought internal documents from two entities in southern Indiana — alleging “labor trafficking” — but an appellate court shut the request down.
Who should oversee Indiana’s agricultural sector?
Plus, a column on how media outlets are adapting to consumption habits of younger Hoosiers.
Republican state Senate candidate Paula Copenhaver, right, listens with her attorney William Bock as Samantha DeWester, an attorney for Sen. Spencer Deery, speaks during an Indiana Recount Commission meeting on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Voter subpoenas denied in recount of narrow Indiana Senate Republican primary
By Tom Davies
The Indiana Recount Commission rejected a request to question voters under oath about how they cast their ballots in what is now a three-vote margin from May’s Republican primary for a state Senate seat.
The commission’s 2-1 vote was a setback to Paula Copenhaver’s challenge to Sen. Spencer Deery’s lead following a rancorous campaign in which she had President Donald Trump’s endorsement because of Deery’s opposition to the congressional redistricting plan pushed last year by the president.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita lost an appeal to compel Evansville manufacturer Berry Global and a migrant support group to cooperate with a migrant labor trafficking investigation. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Indiana attorney general loses appeal in Haitian trafficking investigation
By Mackenzi Klemann
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita can’t compel an Evansville manufacturer and migrant support group to cooperate with a human trafficking investigation in the absence of a specific allegation, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday.
The three-judge panel’s opinion affirms an earlier ruling from the Vanderburgh Superior Court denying Rokita’s petition to enforce civil investigative demands against Berry Global Group and the Haitian Center of Evansville in a 2024 trafficking investigation.
COMMENTARY
A new study from Evan Shapiro, media cartographer, found that consumers 13-54 spend more time on YouTube and TikTok than traditional media. (Photo courtesy of Evan Shapiro)
No Surprise: Most of us get our news from scrolling on our phones
By Tracey Compton
It’s not a shock to learn that most of us get our news from social media. News consumers are developing entirely new patterns of the way they get their news based on their age. The dividing line is age 55, according to a new study from Evan Shapiro, “Media Cartographer.” In a first-of-its-kind index, he looked at how we spend our time on screens across major U.S. media platforms.
Our Indianapolis newsrooms are transforming the way news is delivered in an effort to meet people where they are.
NATIONAL NEWS
A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill would create a panel to advise Congress on artificial intelligence policy. (Photo illustration by Getty Images)
Bipartisan US Senate proposal on AI ethics panel good step but incomplete, experts say
By Amelia Twyman
WASHINGTON — A proposed federal commission on artificial intelligence ethics could help address moral questions associated with the rapidly developing technology, but there are still some areas in which they believe the proposal falls short, experts say.
Sens. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, introduced a bill last week that would create a cross-party body of experts to “advise Congress on the ethical and policy implications of emerging technologies” such as artificial intelligence.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
(Tenor)
Thanks for reading Fast Break. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.