HUSTLER Hollywood is Coming to Indy!

Your Indianapolis Observer seems to have missed the controversy. So, for those who follow such things, here's the official press release:

"HUSTLER Hollywood today responded to community concerns and outcry regarding the location of its proposed Indianapolis retail store along with brand misperceptions by local residents.

"Despite rumors surrounding the proposed HUSTLER Hollywood store in Indianapolis, the company currently has 21 stores throughout the country and is aggressively expanding operations. The company has doubled the number of its retail locations over the past year and plans to have close to 30 locations by the end of 2017.

"When looking at a potential location, HUSTLER Hollywood conducts thorough due diligence in each city with a team made up of lawyers, real estate experts, and its retail executives. All zoning regulations and retail codes from the city are obtained, and each store and its displays are individually tailored to meet all local city requirements. HUSTLER Hollywood never violates city zoning laws and works closely with city officials and agencies to obtain all necessary permits.

"Based on Indianapolis’ qualifications for a retail store, HUSTLER Hollywood is a retail store. The zoning board used discretionary action to reclassify the business after the fact based on emotional and knee-jerk reactions from some of its residents.

"HUSTLER Hollywood has stood distinctly apart from its peers by offering an upscale consumer experience, and unparalleled customer service. HUSTLER Hollywood is an upscale boutique that offers all the top pleasure product brands, lingerie and much more, including a large selection of apparel, sportswear, accessories, jewelry, gifts & novelties, along with bath & body items. Supported by knowledgeable and dedicated staff trained to provide education and recommendations based on individual needs, we are dedicated to ensuring every customer feels welcome and comfortable while experiencing our shopping environment."

HUSTLER Hollywood is an upscale, modern erotic boutique offering sex toys, lingerie, apparel, funny gifts and more to the sexually curious. With Pence as Trump's VP, it seems perfectly logical that HUSTLER would consider the Hoosier metropolis for an outpost.

Be Careful What You Wish For

This Indianapolis Observer is distraught that we're not free of Pence due to Trump's election.

Hoosiers were able to mitigate some of his worst actions but as VP he'll have a free hand to redraw the face of America.

Did all the Trumpites realize they were also voting for a zealot who favors extremist Christian theocracy?

Read it "Mike Pence Will Be the Most Powerful Christian Supremacist in U.S. History".

Mike Pence: "Dignity Wraith"

"For just a fleeting moment this past weekend, it looked as if Mike Pence might escape from his decaying orbit around Donald Trump with what is left of his dignity intact."

That's from a post in today's Salon.com -- you can read it here:"Owned by Trump: In his final capitulation, all Mike Pence gave away was his autonomy, integrity and dignity"

But, nope: our governor continues his death spiral around the Orange Clown.

Pence Fails Hoosiers Once Again

Indiana is so lucky that Gov. Pence was off-loaded to the Orange Clown's campaign.

He won't be around for another term to continue embarrassing the Hoosier State, as he did (again) with this maneuver:

"Pence won't pardon a wrongly convicted man": "[Keith] Cooper filed a pardon request to the parole board and they unanimously voted that he should be pardoned and have his two felony charges taken off of his criminal record.... Pence refused, saying it needs to stand 'out of respect for the judicial process'.”

Never mind righting a judicial process wrong!

Pence Praises Putin

Need more evidence that the Orange Psycho is messing with Mike Pence's brain?

The Republican presidential nominee praised Vladimir Putin's leadership ability during the NBC forum Wednesday night, touting his "82% approval rating".

Today, Pence echoed those remarks (who would have thought that two top Republicans would be caught saying lauditory things about a former KGB agent).

"I think it's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country," Pence affirmed to CNN.

Read it all here.

"A Sobbing Pence Returned to the Bus"

Gov. Mike Pence's skittishness about being aligned with the Orange Clown has caught the attention of a prominent satirist.

Check out what Andy Borowitz writes about the vice-presidential candidate in "The New Yorker": "Pence Recaptured After Fleeing Trump Campaign Bus"

Note that he's picked up that the Hoosier State doesn't want him back here either: "News that Pence had vanished touched off a panic in Indiana, where residents feared that he might return to resume his political career.".

Pence Ridiculed on Twitter (Again)

#PeriodsforPence began after he signed that stupid "anti"abortion bill last spring (funerals required for spontaneous miscarriages? really?).

Now that our failed gov has bailed on his re-election bid and signed himself up for a lifetime of ridicule as the Orange Clown's running mate, there's a new Twitter meme: #PenceScience

It beggars description how an allegedly well-educated man (BA, JD) can be so incredibly stupid.

Pence Bars Washington Post Reporter from Rally

No surprise here for a man who once tried to set up a state-run "news" bureau to report on Indiana government business.

Indiana's lame duck governor, Mike Pence, held a political rally in Wisconsin yesterday, and his goons barred a Washington Post reporter from entering the arena to cover an appearance by the Republican vice presidential candidate.

No sense having the national press listening to whatever he's touting, eh?

Read about it here.

The End of Pence's Career

Our governor is meeting with the GOP Presidential candidate (aka the Orange Clown) to discuss being his vice-president choice.

'Nuf said!

Hoosier's Terrorist Attack Thwarted

"20-year-old James Wesley Howell was arrested in Santa Monica [California] after assault rifles and chemicals capable of creating an explosive device were found in his vehicle early Sunday morning, police say. He reportedly admitted to officials that he was planning to “harm” the West Hollywood [California] gay pride parade that was taking place about seven miles away later Sunday [12 June]," reports Salon.com.

"Howell was first reported as a prowler by concerned neighbors around 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Officers responded to the location and made contact with Howell, who was seated in a white four-door Acura sedan with Indiana license plates, according to the police."

UPDATE:

"Man Headed To LA Pride Festival Hit With Felony Weapons Charges

It's not his first gun-related offense. "In 2015, Howell was charged with two felonies after he allegedly pointed a gun at his neighbors in Charlestown, Indiana," Huffington Post reports.

Holiday Means Trash Delays

In observance of the Memorial Day holiday, there was NO residential trash, heavy trash or curbside recycling service Monday, 30 May. All routes will operate on a slide schedule this week. Services will be delayed by one day through Saturday, 4 June. All services will return to normal schedules 6 June.

Hoosierland Mystery

Your Indianapolis Observer often cringes to read descriptions of inhabitants of our fair state, Indianans though we aren't.

The latest assessment comes courtesy of The New York Times:

Indiana is "a working-class state with below-average educational attainment among white voters," writes the NYT in an article about Donald Trump's GOP primary chances.

Wisconsin "is better educated than Indiana, it has higher marriage rates, and it has more voters with an ancestry rooted in predominantly Protestant countries in northwest Europe," Nate Cohn continues.

"Most obviously, the Indianapolis area — and the state of Indiana — is conservative and tends to vote Republican. That’s underpinned by the demographic characteristics of the state: It’s more evangelical, less educated and, in particular, has fewer people with postgraduate degrees."

"How Dare You, Gov. Pence?"

It boggles the mind that GOP legislators and governors have such little regard for the female half of the population.

Obviously these (mostly white, mostly middle-aged men) don't trust women to make their own decisions about their lives.

Gov. Mike Pence (and the Indiana GOP legislators) showed that they preferred political games over women's reproductive rights once again with the anti-abortion bill he just signed. With a prayer, no less.

This Indianapolis Observer thinks Gov. Pence needs a remedial course not only in constitutional law (this sadistic piece of legislation will end up costing Hoosier taxpayers big bucks to defend before it's shot down) but in basic human decency.

How dare he (and his ilk) impose himself on a woman's decisions regarding her own body? How dare he (and his ilk) require a woman to carry a deformed fetus to maturity? How dare he (and his ilk) require women to pay for internment of the results of the abortion?

This Indianapolis Observer knows that if men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

As Suzette Hackney wrote in today's Indianapolis Star, "How dare you, Gov. Mike Pence?"

Mean, Short-Sighted, Scary ... Downright Stupid

This Indianapolis Observer wonders how this absolutely vile piece of legislation passed the Indiana Legislature and wound up on Gov. Pence's desk.

As reported on Salon.com, "Indiana’s Legislature has passed a bill that forces women to give birth if a doctor has detected a fetal abnormality. Which, yes, would mean that a pregnant woman who contracts Zika would lose her right to abortion, while a woman with a healthy pregnancy would retain her right to say no to giving birth. Even some Republicans balked at the sadistic pleasure their colleagues take in the idea of forcing women to give birth to children who will suffer, die or be too much for women to care for.

“'Today is a perfect example of a bunch of middle-aged guys sitting in this room making decisions about what we think is best for women,'[ state Rep. Sean Eberhart, a Republican, said. He voted no on the advice of his wife."

A big shout-out to State Rep. Eberhart for exhibiting common sense and a big slap upside the head to the idiots who voted for this obviously unconstitutional piece of legislation restricting a woman's right to abortion.

Population Control in Indiana's Scott County

Indiana's still in the news for trying to codify discrimination, but we're also getting ink for the catastrophe that is Scott County.

This Indianapolis Observer often wonders how Gov. Pence (and others of his ilk) can sleep at night.

Check out "How They Die in Scott County".

The Economic Effects of Overt Discrimination

Does Indiana really want to drive businesses out of the state?

The American Zeitgeist has changed.

Look at what's happening in Georgia: "Religious Liberty Bill..."

Bye, Bye Good Manufacturing Jobs!

How is Gov. Pence spinning Carrier's decision to abandon its Indianapolis workers in favor of those waiting in Monterrey, Mexico?

Needless to say, the employees aren't pleased that the corporation decided the Hoosier state is a bad place to operate a factory.

One report is here.

"Affluenza" and Park-Tudor

This Indianapolis Observer senses a lot of existential angst in affluent households on the northside of Indy and in Hamilton County as the Park-Tudor child pornography and predation scandal continues to grow.

It has all the hallmarks of a telenovela: bureaucrats claiming ignorance, lawyers withholding evidence, coaches soliciting sex from students, predators encouraging violence against their prey...and the mysterious suicide of the school's headmaster.

Seems that even a tuition north of $20,000 per year doesn't ensure that one's entitled offspring are safe while at school.

Here We Go Again: Hoosiers Against Equal Rights

In Gov. Michael Pence's "State of the State address earlier this month he said 'religious freedom' needed to be prioritized over LGBT rights and that 'no one should ever fear persecution because of their deeply held religious beliefs'."

(This snippet is from The Huffington Post, noting that Gov. Pence is at it again -- doubling down on legalizing discrimination.)

As the article points out, "business leaders have got to know that, ultimately, if Pence wins by promoting homophobic laws, it's a long-term loss for them. The majority of Indiana residents support LGBT rights."

This isn't trivial political posturing. Remember, folks, having a bigot as governor and passing laws that discriminate against LGBT Hoosiers has real-world consequences for our state.

"A new survey from Visit Indy to be released this week reveals Indiana lost at least $60 million due to the RFRA controversy last year. That number will likely pale in comparison if the state passes anti-gay laws this year, or even has a flashpoint around the issue in the national media. More businesses will stay away from Indiana, and the pressure will only build on businesses in the state."

Trash Slide for MLK Jr. Holiday

There will be NO residential trash, heavy trash or curbside recycling service Monday (18 January) in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

All routes will resume Tuesday (19 January), and will run one day behind for the entire week.

Yes: Monday routes will be serviced Tuesday, Tuesday routes will be serviced Wednesday, and so on, with next Friday's routes being serviced Saturday (23 January).

All routes will return to normal schedules Monday (26 January).

The next holiday observed by Solid Waste services will be Monday (30 May -- Memorial Day).

Trash Collectors Wimp Out

Indianapolis's Department of Public Works is cancelling residential trash, heavy trash and curbside recycling collection today due to extreme cold.

This cancellation applies to all DPW trash routes and all trash routes serviced by contracted trash collectors.

Weather permitting, trash operations will operate on a slide schedule with Wednesday's routes being picked up tomorrow, Thursday's collected on Friday, and so on.

This Indianapolis Observer notes that the city waited until afternoon to announce this, although trash collection ostensibly starts at 7:30 a.m.

Best. Indianapolis Monthly. Ever.

If you're the parent of a fourth grader, or the teacher of a fourth grader or you've ever been a fourth grader, be sure to pick up a copy of this month's Indianapolis Monthly.

It is, hands down, the best primer for the Hoosier State's bicentennial year that this Indianapolis Observer has ever seen.

This issue is a keeper.