Indiana Dishonor

The first item is a photograph in today's printed edition of my Boston Globe:

"HONORARY FIREFIGHTER -- The Indiana House of Representatives made Brandon Vinson, a 7-year-old with cystic fibrosis, an honorary firefighter yesterday. The boy's father, Greg, shown behind him, is an Indianapolis firefighter (Boston Globe January 27 2012)."
 
Doesn't that mean he is in a union? 

The day before in print:

"Ind. House OK’s right-to-work legislation" Associated Press, January 26, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives cleared the way yesterday to become the first right-to-work state in a traditionally union-heavy Rust Belt increasingly targeted by non-union foes.

The House voted 54-44 to make Indiana the nation’s 23d right-to-work state after Democrats ended a boycott which had stalled the measure for weeks. The bill is expected to face little opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate and could reach Republican Governor Mitch Daniels’s desk next week....   

But what about the photo-op with the sick kid?

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"Indiana bill may breach unions’ stronghold in Midwest" January 15, 2012|By Timothy Jones

INDIANAPOLIS - When Greg Eckert joined the painter’s union in Fort Wayne 25 years ago, 1 in 5 Indiana workers was a dues-paying member of organized labor. Now it is 1 in 9.

Declining union membership and rising Republican clout have put Indiana on the edge of becoming the first so-called right-to-work state in an industrial region known for titanic labor battles that paved the way for modern-day contracts, health care, and retirement benefits.

A bill moving through the Republican-controlled General Assembly in Indianapolis would exempt nonunion employees from paying dues when working alongside union workers at private businesses.

Republicans view it as a cost-cutting, job-creating tool. Democrats call it a union-busting tactic that will lower wages.

And if the measure passes in Indiana, it may energize the right-to-work movement in a region that has repeatedly beaten it back....

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"Cruiser, detainee back in custody

KNOX, Ind. - A man accused of stealing a po­lice cruis­er while handcuffed in northwest Indiana, then us­ing the po­lice ra­dio to ask how to unlock the cuffs, has turned him­self in af­ter two days on the run, au­thor­ities said yes­ter­day.

William F. Blanken­ship, 22, was tak­en into custody late Thursday night at his fam­ily’s home in Knox, about 50 miles south­east of Chicago.

Blanken­ship had been arrested Tuesday on drug charges at a gas station in nearby Kouts. Po­lice said that as the arrest­ing offi­cer searched Blanken­ship’s vehicle, the suspect somehow escaped from the po­lice car’s backseat, climbed into the front, and drove off. He then used the po­lice ra­dio to ask where to find the car’s cigarette lighter and a key to unlock his handcuffs....

The offi­cer whose squad car was stolen said he only re­alized the cruis­er was gone when he looked up and saw the tail­lights leav­ing the parking lot.  

Funny!

Kouts po­lice Sergeant Dave Johnston said he be­lieves Blanken­ship man­aged to con­tort him­self to get the handcuffs in front of him, then hopped into the front seat.

The guy is a Houdini!

The squad car was found in a drainage ditch Wednesday, and au­thor­ities recovered the po­lice weapons stored in the cruis­er.

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