Indiana News

MIAMI (AP) — Royal Caribbean Cruises says an Indiana man charged with negligent homicide in his young granddaughter’s fatal fall from a cruise ship window leaned out of that window for several seconds before he lifted the child up to it and she fell.

The cruise line’s Jan. 8 court filing comes in response to a lawsuit brought by the parents of Chloe Wiegand accusing Royal Caribbean of negligence in her fatal plunge from the 11th floor window in July in Puerto Rico.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has declined to declare an emergency at Lake Michigan beaches that have been eroded by high water levels and storms.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — A judge has granted class-action status to a lawsuit alleging an Indiana university breached its contract by providing substandard living assignments to thousands of students staying in residential halls where mold was found.

Circuit Court Judge Holly Harvey's ruling comes as Indiana University's residence centers Foster and McNutt are being renovated, where mold was a problem during the 2018-19 school year.

Those projects made more than 2,000 beds unavailable at the residence halls forcing students to live off campus.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has continued adding to his already huge campaign cash advantage over his potential Democratic rivals.

New state campaign finance reports filed Wednesday show the Republican governor raised nearly $2 million in the last six months of 2019, leaving him with about $7.25 million in the bank for his 2020 reelection bid.

The governor’s fundraising dwarfs that of the two Democratic candidates, health care business executive Woody Myers and tech business executive Josh Owens.

Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush issued a call to arms for everyone involved in the state’s justice system in her annual State of the Judiciary Address Wednesday.

Rush hailed much of the work that’s already been done in Indiana – from problem-solving courts to improved court technology to pretrial and criminal justice reform. But she also urged the state to push further in those efforts.

“Some people need to be incarcerated. More people just need help," Rush says. "A strong justice system must do both.”

A Senate committee Wednesday passed its own version of a bill to raise the legal smoking and vaping age from 18 to 21.

The Senate bill differs slightly from its House counterpart. Both measures create harsher penalties on retailers who sell tobacco products to underage buyers – something Indiana State Medical Association President Lisa Hatcher says is vital.

A 102-year-old man who is Indiana's oldest state employee is retiring after nearly six decades on the job, saying that “your body tells you when it's time to go.”

Bob Vollmer plans to report to work for the last time Feb. 6 as a surveyor for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

He joined the DNR in 1962.

The World War II veteran still travels Indiana collecting technical field data and confirming boundary lines for DNR-managed properties, but he says that his body is telling him it's time to retire.

The Indiana House has voted to eliminate the last remaining township assessor offices around the state.

House members voted 53-44 Tuesday in favor of the bill abolishing the 13 township assessor offices that remain in nine counties.

The bill would transfer to county assessor offices those duties for determining the value of buildings and land for property taxes.

The 13 township assessor offices remain after voters decided to retain them in 2008 referendums allowed under a law that abolished more than 950 such offices across the state.

An Indiana city council member who made insulting comments about Muslims on social media in 2015, years before he was elected, says he regrets posting those remarks and no longer holds those views.

Greg Jones is a Republican member of the Kokomo Common Council.

The Kokomo Tribune reports he posted incendiary remarks about Muslims and their religious beliefs on Facebook in June 2015, four years before he was elected to the council in the city about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. 

Eli Lilly announced plans Tuesday to offer less expensive versions of two of the company’s insulin pens, eight months after introducing a reduced-price liquid insulin. 

State and federal lawmakers have criticized drug companies for a jump in insulin costs in recent years.

The company plans to sell discounted versions of Humalog Mix75/25 KwikPen and Junior Humalog Junior KwikPen for 50 percent less than current list price. Both pens will be available by mid-April. The insulin will carry a list price around $265 for a package of five.