By Niki Kelly | Editor-in-Chief
Did you know Indiana produces more than 20% of the entire United States' popcorn supply? The state is also the birthplace of legendary agricultural icon Orville Redenbacher.
Is your ballot truly secret? That’s a key question that could be answered next week as the last recount considers whether to force voters to answer questions about their May choices.
Indiana colleges and universities might soon have a simplified formula to earn additional state funding.
Gov. Mike Braun adds his name to federal data center ratepayer pledge.
And I look at what Hoosier drivers face when the state’s gas tax holiday ends.
Indiana Recount Commission member Paul Mullin, from left, sits alongside commission attorney Kegan Prentice, Secretary of State Diego Morales and commission member Michael Claytor during a commission meeting on May 15, 2026. (Photo by Tom Davies/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Bid to question voters central in recount of Indiana Senate race separated by 3 votes
By Tom Davies
The question of whether some voters could face questions from lawyers over how they cast their ballots looms over the recount of a hotly contested Indiana Senate race.
The Indiana Recount Commission is set to take up claims from Paula Copenhaver next week in what certified results show as a three-vote loss to Sen. Spencer Deery of West Lafayette in the May Republican primary.
Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner speaks during a Commission for Higher Education meeting on Thursday, July 23, 2026. (Screenshot from livestream)
Higher education commission looks to revive college performance funding
By Mackenzi Klemann
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is seeking to restore outcomes-based performance funding for the state's public colleges and universities in the next biennial budget.
The formula rewards additional funding to colleges and universities for positive outcomes like on-time degree completion and graduate retention.
The commission approved a new performance formula Thursday prioritizing on-time or early degree completion, affordable tuition, stackable credentials and alignment with workforce needs.
COMMENTARY
A gas station in Indianapolis on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Gas tax holiday coming to end at terrible time
By Niki Kelly
Hoosiers are in for a rude awakening in a few short weeks when all of Indiana’s gas taxes return to full price.
Gov. Mike Braun has suspended both the sales tax on gas and the state gas excise tax for months. But he can’t do more unless lawmakers are willing to return for a special session.
That means when the energy emergency expires Aug. 7, Hoosiers will see a huge spike in prices. And it couldn’t come at a worse time.
NATIONAL NEWS
A person walks into University Hospital in Newark, N.J. New Jersey has had one of the largest drops in deaths rates since 2015, according to a Stateline analysis. (Photo by Terrence McDonald/New Jersey Monitor)
As national death rate dips, some states did better than others
By Tim Henderson
The nation’s death rate may have fallen to a historic low last year as many of the killers of young people such as drug overdoses, gun homicides and traffic accidents continued receding in 2025, according to new federal statistics.
States have not shared equally in the success, though, according to a Stateline analysis of provisional data by state. And the low ebb may reflect the effects of past health care expansion efforts that are threatened by today’s Trump administration moves to curtail Medicaid expansion and cut funding for rural hospitals
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Indiana governor signs Trump data center ratepayer protection pledge | Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Can I get a free roadmap for my car? In Indiana, no. | Free Press Indiana News
(Tenor)
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