-
5 days ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
Several bills that sought to address student mental health, bullying, and counselor shortages failed to gain any traction during the 2025 session of the Indiana General Assembly. (Photo/Pexels.com) This story was originally published by Chalkbeat.
-
5 days ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
This column was originally published on the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research Weekly Commentary blog. By Michael J. Hicks June 22, 2025I’m often asked, “What has happened to the middle class?” The best answer I can think of puts the question into historical context, if only because so many folks are thinking back to their childhood.
-
5 days ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
I’ll say that again. Let. People. Speak. Close to home and across the nation, we’re now seeing bad situations made much worse by public officials’ attempts to deny people who have legitimate concerns the opportunity to voice those concerns. In Indianapolis, Mayor Joe Hogsett and the City-County Council have managed to escalate what was an ugly situation into a crisis, one that threatens to undermine the capital city’s government and destroy once-promising political careers.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
A Statehouse File reporter’s favorite persimmon petition poster features a persimmon tree that has the words, “Pretty, pretty please with a persimmon on top, sign the persimmon petition!” The cursive penmanship by its creators and the realistic persimmon art in the left corner made this poster stand out from the others hung in nearly every hallway of Jasper Elementary School.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
Joe Ulery (left) and his former eight-grade teacher, Bobbi Fisher, record another episode of their educational podcast, “Plain Civics.” (Photo/Courtesy of Joe Ulery)By Marilyn Odendahl The Indiana Citizen June 20, 2025In the classroom, Bobbi Fisher always impressed upon her U.S. history students the importance of understanding the Constitution, democracy and the responsibilities of citizenship.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
Juneteenth activities include parades, picnics, lectures, play and other family-focused gatherings. (Photo/Pexels.com)This story was originally published by Public News Service. By Terri Dee, anchor/producer Public News Service June 19, 2025Today is Juneteenth, a national holiday dating back to 1865. This was the day when freedom was granted to enslaved Texans, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales answers questions during a June 18, 2025 State Budget Committee meeting. (Photo/Madelyn Hanes of the Indiana Capital Chronicle)This story was originally published by the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
Md Nurul Hasan (holding binder), former council vice president in Millbourne, Pennsylvania, exits the federal courthouse in Philadelphia on Wednesday after being sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a plot to steal the borough’s 2021 mayoral race. (Photo/Carter Walker of Votebeat)This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
A May 23 press release issued by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s office announced that the Department of Agriculture approved Indiana’s waiver to ban soft drinks and candy from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The ban refers to the broad state definitions of soft drinks and candy. Approximately 610,000 Hoosiers—roughly 9% of Indiana’s population—rely on SNAP benefits for their nutritional needs.
-
1 week ago | 
indianacitizen.org | Marilyn Odendahl
The Roberts court will go down in history as the one that established and defended the role of big government to intrude into the most intimate and personal decisions individual American families make. It will be known as the Supreme Court that curtailed—rather than expanded—human liberty. And that is sad. Tragic, in fact.
