"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.
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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