Money buys Dean White a spot on clout list

News this week of campaign donations and campaign spending brings us back to a familiar axiom in politics: Money is power.

Talking turkey on Thanksgiving Day

Just in time for Thanksgiving Day, the Pew Environment Group's CAFO (that's concentrated animal feeding operation) campaign points out that Indiana ranks sixth in the nation for turkey production. That's about 16 million Hoosier turkeys (no wisecracks about politicians or bad drivers, please…

Talking turkey on Thanksgiving Day

Liberty, a 19-week old, 45-pound turkey, is seen on the North Portico of the White House in Washington before being pardoned by President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

13 incumbents ousted in Lake, Porter counties

The defeat of Portage Mayor Olga Velazquez is probably the biggest election news in Northwest Indiana, but she wasn't the only incumbent defeated Tuesday.

Rep. Jackson uses House speech to pressure Quinn on airport

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., spoke Thursday evening on the House floor knowing perfectly well his audience wasn't fellow members of the House. He used his C-SPAN appearance (zip forward to 8:17:22) to promote the Abraham Lincoln National Airport to the public.

School districts' ISTEP scores

This is a look at how Indiana's public school districts fared on the ISTEP+ exam. The Indiana Department of Education spreadsheet has been pared down to show just the percentage of students passing both the language arts and math portions of the test in 2010 and in 2011. The ranking (not pro…

How school districts rank on ISTEP

A local school board president's request that I look at how his school fared in the latest ISTEP+ results was worth the gentle prodding.

A language all their own?

The Indiana Republican Party took a sharp jab at Democrats today by launching a new website -- www.demdictionary.com -- accusing Democrats, in a humorous way, of doublespeak.

LaCrosse elementary students likely to go to Wanatah

For years, LaCrosse School has housed grades K-5 and 9-12, with middle school students sent to Wanatah School. Now all the lower grades could be sent to Wanatah as well.

A historic moment for public education in Indiana

When the Indiana State Board of Education voted last Wednesday to approve the creation of the Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp. in LaPorte County, it was a historic occasion.

After half a century, school merger approved

A new LaPorte County school district was born on Wednesday in Indianapolis when the State Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the creation of the Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp.

School referendum wasn't the final word

On May 3, voters in LaPorte County's Cass Township cast their ballots on whether to create the Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp. It was not, however, the final word.

'Draft Daniels' movement switches gears

Remember the Students for Daniels group, which tried to persuade Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to run for president? I asked this week for an update, following Daniels' decision last weekend that he wouldn't run after all.

NWI and Beyond

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Ellsworth's Vote to Cut Medicare

Incumbent Congressman was faced with a choice - protect Indiana's seniors or side with the Obama-Pelosi agenda and cut $500 billion from Medicare - the largest cut in U.S. history. Guess which one he picked?

Lugar, Coats ensnared in Medicare trap set by Republicans

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted on the House GOP budget plan crafted by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan to reduce the ballooning federal deficit.

Robert Blaszkiewicz

Robert Blaszkiewicz is a Northwest Indiana native and joined The Times in 1994. He has filled a variety of roles, including night editor, Porter County editor, features editor and new media coordinator. His current position is assistant managing editor for operations.

nwi.com Political Roundtable for May 19

In the May 19 edition, The Times' Doug Ross, Mark Kiesling and Robert Blaszkiewicz tackle the latest political issues, including the flap over Nancy Adams' plane ride to Indianapolis, backlash over the Indiana Supreme Court's ruling on illegal police entry and President Obama's speech on the…

Who needs charisma? Not Mitch Daniels

The quote of the day comes from U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, via the Des Moines Register.

The charter school of thought

The debate over the federal deficit is going to involve a lot of rhetoric before the 2012 election is over, but numbers will be coming up, too. And so will charts based on the data.

nwi.com Political Roundtable for May 5, 2011

In this week's edition, The Times' Doug Ross, Mark Kiesling and Robert Blaszkiewicz discuss the sentencing of former East Chicago Mayor George Pabey, Republican Mike Pence's entry into the Indiana governor's race and Gov. Mitch Daniels' decision to sign a bill that would deny funding to Plan…

Note the irony in secretary of state's advice

Tuesday's news release from the Indiana secretary of state's office was worth a second-day story when the Hoosier Voter Hotline number in the original release went to a "hot girls" phone service.

nwi.com Political Roundtable for April 28

In this week's edition, The Times' Mark Kiesling and Robert Blaszkiewicz discuss action in the waning days of the 2011 legislative session that will impact Northwest Indiana and take a look at the area mayoral races leading up to Tuesday's primary election.

Barbour trims an impediment to Daniels White House bid

In the parlance of physics, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's announcement that he isn't running for president in 2012 might have an equal and opposite reaction in Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

nwi.com Political Roundtable for April 21

In this week's nwi.com Political Roundtable, The Times' Doug Ross, Mark Kiesling and Robert Blaszkiewicz discuss the Indiana Supreme Court's ruling in favor of placing Republican George Janiec's name back on the primary mayoral ballot in Hammond; the progress of the education reform effort l…