Carmel Gets a Shout Out in the NY Times

The New York Times heaped praise on the roundabouts in Carmel, Indiana, this weekend: "An Indiana city has the most roundabouts in the country. They’ve saved lives and reduced injuries from crashes — and lowered carbon emissions."

"Carmel, a city of 102,000 north of Indianapolis, has 140 roundabouts, with over a dozen still to come. No American city has more. The main reason is safety; compared with regular intersections, roundabouts significantly reduce injuries and deaths," writes reporter Cara Bukley.

" A recent study of Carmel’s roundabouts by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety found that injury crashes were reduced by nearly half at 64 roundabouts in Carmel, and even more at the more elaborate, dogbone-shaped interchanges," she reports.

BMV profits by selling Hoosiers' data

CBS4Indy.com reports: "Records show the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is selling people’s personal information and has been for years."

Yep: the repository of all the "REAL ID" information on millions of Hoosiers is sending that detail out into the world. The bureau that collected our birth certificates and passport information and utility billing details has been SELLING the data for profit. "CBS4 dug through public records and found the agency has made $43 million off of the practice since 2018."

"CBS4 spoke with several people outside of the BMV. None of them were aware their information was being accessed by third party companies."

Read the whole report here.

Mike Braun campaign repeatedly violated election rules

The Indianapolis Business Journal has an online feature today about the mutiple violations uncovered in a Federal Election Commission audit.

"Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun improperly gave more than $1 million to his 2018 campaign, and received contributions in excess of legal limits, a federal audit has concluded," IBJ.com reports.

The ethical lapses have been reported by other media as well, including the Daily Beast.

Braun's disingenuous hedge that "he can’t fully answer the government’s questions because one of his key staffers "vanished" falls apart when The Daily Beast notes they found the "missing" staffer "within minutes".

This Indianapolis Observer waits for the next shoe to drop.