Indiana News

A new bill in Congress would fast-track new affordable housing development in East Chicago.

The bill, from U.S. Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.), aims to help more than 300 families who have to move out of the city's West Calumet Housing Complex in the next couple of months.

Researchers at Purdue University have found a way to fix a long-standing issue in manufacturing, where cutting a piece of metal can make its edges splinter or break apart.

They hope their solution will reap big savings in fuel and production costs.

The problem is called a shear-band. It's a deformity that occurs when a cutting machine pushes through metal, scrunching up its edges at a microscopic level.

A Michigan senator is introducing legislation that would let urban farmers access the traditional agricultural safety net.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says urban farming tactics such as community gardens and rooftop, hoop house or vertical growing are letting more people get into the business.

Harvest season is beginning for corn and soybeans in Indiana.

The latest USDA numbers say 74 percent of Indiana corn is mature, and 15 percent has been harvested. That's a little better than average. Soybeans are slightly behind, with 9 percent harvested as of this week.

Donald Trump could stand to benefit from his reported vice presidential pick Mike Pence in a number of ways, in particular from his strong Christian identity, which might help Trump gain needed support in evangelical communities.

But Pence initially endorsed Ted Cruz, albeit without enthusiasm, and there were some reports that the Indiana governor disliked Trump. Less than a week after Cruz dropped out, Pence endorsed Trump.

Democrat John Gregg got a bit of a head start in the race for governor – he’s spent a year campaigning, rolling out policy proposals for months.

Republican Eric Holcomb became Indiana’s lieutenant governor a little more than seven months ago, and two months ago, replaced Mike Pence as the Republican nominee for governor.

Where do they stand on the issues?

Roads

Republicans in the House proposed a tax increase, the gas tax increase. Is that something you’d support as governor?

One of the biggest issues in this year’s race for the Indiana House of Representatives District 26 seat may be how to improve the state’s education system.

In the first debate of the race Thursday, Democratic candidate Vicky Woeste said the state needs to reject what she calls the ALEC-driven education agenda, referring to the conservative group which drafts right-leaning legislation for statehouses across the country.

Government officials first found high levels of lead and arsenic at an East Chicago lead smelting plant in 1985. Thirty years later, after countless soil samples and elevated blood lead level tests, clean-up has begun. Why did it take so long?

Robert Kaplan oversees the Environmental Protection Agency’s work in the Midwest – he’s the Region 5 Administrator.

“I’m showing you an overhead aerial flight from 1949, and you’ve got the DuPont facility over here, you’ve got some other facilities over here, you’ve got two pre-existing neighborhoods,” Kaplan says.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program was started in 1980, and since its inception, it has added 49 sites in Indiana to its National Priority List.

A Superfund is a site designation by the EPA to receive state and federal money to clean up hazardous waste that poses a threat to public health.

To determine if the threat level is high enough to warrant state and federal assistance, the EPA uses a Hazard Ranking System scored from 0-100. Sites ranking 28.5 and above are eligible for state and federal cleanup assistance.

New census data puts Columbus, Ind. in the top 20 cities for start-up business growth nationwide.

Studies have been showing for years that this country's middle class is shrinking.

Now, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center has added another dimension to the story: Its examination of government data shows the problem is not confined to the Rust Belt or Appalachia.

In fact, the middle is shrinking from coast to coast.

What does it mean to be a Muslim and an American in Indiana? 

Residents are invited to participate in a community discussion on Tuesday, September 20 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Central Library, 40 E. St. Clair Street.  

"People who come will be surprised at how long the history of Muslims in the Hoosier state is and how deeply apart of Indiana Muslims have been, especially since the 1920's" says Professor of Religious Studies at IUPUI, Dr. Edward Curtis.

Union County is small— only one Indiana county has fewer people. A block away from the courthouse in Liberty, a small building pulls double duty as the health department and area planning office.

Here, a young woman in pajamas is sitting with her head in her arms.  She’s here to be assessed for a new medical device that might give her almost instant relief from her painful drug withdrawal symptoms.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is in "excellent general and cardiovascular health," according to a letter from his doctor that was released by his campaign, Saturday.

The letter, written by Michael Busk, a physician at St. Vincent Health, Wellness and Preventative Care Institute in Indianapolis, goes on to say that the 57-year-old Pence is "medically able to maintain [his] high level of professional work and [his] physical activity programs without limitations."

Updated at 10:50 p.m.

Donald Trump refused to say whether he believes President Obama was born in the United States in an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday.

But in a statement hours later from the GOP nominee's spokesman, the campaign claimed Trump does indeed believe the president was born in Hawaii.

The Obama administration wants the U.S. to increase the number of refugees it takes in next year to 110,000.

"Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers the administration wants to admit 110,000 international refugees in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1," as NPR's Scott Horsley tells our Newscast unit. "That's up from 85,000 refugees in the current year."

Kerry made the remarks to members of Congress on Tuesday, a senior administration official told NPR.