News

Don’t plan to use cash to pay when you go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles any time soon.

That’s what the BMV is asking Hoosiers amid a nationwide coin shortage.

Voter advocates want Hoosiers to be able to vote by mail in this year’s general election.

Groups including Common Cause Indiana, the League of Women Voters of Indiana, the ACLU of Indiana and the Greater Indianapolis NAACP all want the state to expand vote-by-mail to anyone who wants it for the Nov. 3 election. They also want those ballots to count if they’re postmarked by Election Day (instead of having to physically arrive at the county clerk’s office by noon Nov. 3). And they want counties to set up safe drop-off locations for those ballots.

Ball State University won’t require students or staff to be tested for COVID-19 before the campus fully reopens for in-person classes next month. 

Employees already back to work at Ball State University have been asked to self-monitor and self-certify they’re not sick.  It’s a practice that will continue under a detailed screening plan released Monday and will soon include students.

The Indiana State Department of Health reported 77 additional confirmed deaths over the last week, bringing the state’s total to 2,706. The state announced more than 62,000 total confirmed cases, with more than 701,000 Hoosiers tested.

Vice President Mike Pence applauded Gov. Eric Holcomb’s efforts Friday to reopen schools this fall, from K-12 to higher education institutions. 

"It’s also important to remember that there are real costs – far beyond academics – to our kids if they’re not in school," Pence said.

Gov. Eric Holcomb reversed course Friday – the executive order establishing a statewide mask mandate will include no criminal penalty.

That comes after significant pressure over the mandate from some Republican lawmakers and local law enforcement officials.