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The ceremony begins at 4 p.m. with a reading of the names of Hoosier soldiers killed in the war and remarks from Erin Polley of the AFSC and Lori Perdue of CODEPINK. The cememony also marks the opening of an exhibit opening today.

Through March 4, 1000 postcards will be on display at Earth House, each marked with one soldier's name and age. This display is a part of a national campaign to collect tens of thousands of signatures for a petition to end war funding and to bring the troops home. Here in Indianapolis, organizers hope to collect 1000 signatures, one for each soldier we've killed in the war so far.

Polley was the subject of the recent NUVO cover story "The New Face of Peace" http://www.nuvo.net/news/article/new-face-peace

The project designed to link all of the city's cultural districts with bike paths and greenways is receiving more than $20 million in funding from the US Department of Transportation to see the project to completion. The federal grant is funded by Obama's stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

According to city officials, the money will be used to build the remaining 4.5 miles of the trail connecting Fountain Square (Southeast Corridor), Washington St. (Central Corridor) and Blackford St. (West Corridor). Once completed, supporters say the Cultural Trail could have a total economic exceeding $800 million and create more than ten thousand jobs - all through direct construction, private sector investment along the trail and an expansion of tourism.

The announcement was made at a press conference featuring Rep. Andre Carson and Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who both spoke to the rewards the finished project will bring the city once completed.

"Today's announcement is a serious jolt to our local economy and the future of tourism in Indianapolis," said Congressman Carson. "The Cultural Trail is a prime example of how the Recovery Act is both working to create jobs immediately and lay the groundwork for future economic growth. This $20 million will leverage hundreds of millions in private sector dollars and spur job creation for generations to come."

"This is a tremendous investment in Indianapolis," said Mayor Greg Ballard. "The Cultural Trail is an undeniable asset to our community, and this funding will assist by providing $20 million in new city infrastructure that will help increase the quality of life for our citizens and boost our efforts to make Indianapolis a more sustainable city."

The grant requires the funding to be spent by the end 2011, meaning that the Cultural Trail will be completed in time Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012.

Here are the details of the grant —

Under the Recovery Act program, up to $1.5 billion was made available for the Secretary of Transportation to make grants on a competitive basis for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or a region. Projects eligible for funding provided under this program included, but were not limited to, highway or bridge projects, public transportation projects, passenger and freight rail transportation projects, and port infrastructure investments.

TIGER grants were awarded for projects that most closely met the following criteria:

Primary Selection Criteria:

State of Good Repair -- projects that will have a significant impact for the nation, a metro area, or region... and improve the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems. Economic Competitiveness -- projects that contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness. Livability -- projects that improve the quality of living and working environments and the experience for people in communities across the U.S.

Sustainability -- projects that improve energy efficiency, reducing dependence on oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and benefiting the environment. Safety -- projects that improve the safety of U.S. transportation facilities and systems. Job Creation &

Economic Stimulus -- projects that quickly create and preserve jobs and stimulate rapid increases in economic activity.

Secondary Selection Criteria:

Innovation -- projects that use innovative strategies to pursue the long-term outcomes.

Partnership -- projects that demonstrate strong collaboration among a broad range of participants and/or integration of transportation with other public service efforts.

To view the video submitted with the TIGER grant application or for more information visit www.IndyCulturalTrail.org.

Coats announced his intent to run for the office two weeks ago, amid much criticism that he has not lived in Indiana or been a registered voter in the state since he resigned from the senate and moved to Virginia in 1999. Last week, Coats rented a home in Indianapolis in advance of becoming an official candidate.

Having gathered more than 14,000 signatures from Indiana residents who support his candidacy, Coats and his wife Marsha paid a visit to the office of Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita to file his candidacy paperwork a little over an hour ago.

Indiana law requires the gathering of signatures of 500 registered voters from each of the state's nine congressional districts to be certified first at the county level before being filed at the statehouse.

"Marsha and I deeply appreciate and are inspired by the outpouring of interest and support from every part of Indiana," Coats said. Hoosiers are demanding true representation of their views on jobs, national security, runaway federal spending and the extreme liberal Washington agenda that has been shoved down our throats," he continued.

"I decided that I just couldn't stand idly by while watching our nation being steered so badly off course - so I am applying for the job of fighting for the people of Indiana and for the Hoosiers values we share."

Thanks to boredom and unemployment, Indiana had a record-breaking deer killing season.

According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources: "Indiana deer hunters had unprecedented success during the 2009 seasons, shattering the previous state record by taking more than 130,000 deer for the first time in the 59-year history of the modern era."

Reports submitted from 453 check stations across Indiana placed the 2009 total at 132,752 deer — more than 3,000, or 2 percent, above the 2008 harvest of 129,748, which was the previous record.

"It's kind of predictable any more," said Chad Stewart, DNR deer management biologist. "We're going to have a record or near-record harvest every year unless things change. For a couple of years now we've had increased license sales. We've also had high unemployment. Maybe people have more time to be out. I wish I could say."

The full season report can be viewed at

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-2009_Deer_Season_Summary.pdf.

Some statistics:

- The 2009 total included a record 79,771 antlerless (non-adult) deer, 60 percent of the total killed.

- Adult males (antlered bucks) made up 40 percent of the total, of which 64 percent were 2.5 years old or older.

- Steuben Co. hunters killed the most; bagging 4,102 deer to mark the fifth straight year that county has led the state. It also was the first time any county topped the 4,000 mark in a single year. Kosciusko recorded 3,652 deer, followed by Switzerland with 3,223; Noble, 3,086; and Franklin, 3,063.

-Modern-era records were set in 33 counties, and another 22 counties showed killing increases from the 2008 season.

The long-time politician claims he is simply burnt-out on politics and now seeks a less-partisan career path.

"After all these years, my passion for service to my fellow citizens is undiminished, but my desire to do so by serving in Congress has waned," Bayh said.

His speech continued:

"For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is too much partisanship and not enough progress -- too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous challenge, the peoples' business is not being done.

All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state, and our nation than continued service in Congress.

To put it in words most people can understand: I love working for the people of Indiana, I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives, but I do not love Congress. I will not, therefore, be a candidate for election to the Senate this November.

Taking a note from Sarah Palin, Bayh was rather vague in his plans for the future and how they will provide him the opportunity to indulge his "passion for service."

"Running for the sake of winning an election, just to remain in public office, is not good enough," Bayh said. "And it has never been what motivates me.

"At this time I simply believe I can best contribute to society in another way: creating jobs by helping grow a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor."

Indiana Republican Party Chairman Murray Clark released a rather cordial statement in response to Bayh's announcement, as did Sen. Richard Lugar.

"Evan Bayh has served the state of Indiana with distinction for the past 20 years," Clark said. "While at times we were on different sides of the issues, I have always appreciated his commitment to Indiana. First of all, we thank him for his service and wish him well in the future. That said, we have always viewed this Senate race as one that would be competitive."

"It has been a personal privilege to serve Indiana with a distinguished father and son, Birch and Evan Bayh," said Lugar. "The last 33 years of political life in our country have often been times of excessive partisanship. I am grateful that Birch and Evan Bayh were always ready to work with me in making certain that Hoosier wisdom and commonsense had strong united voices in every debate."

"Sen. Bayh announced today he won't seek reelection, claiming to be disenchanted with the political process," is how RNC Chairman Michael Steele responded to Bayh's retirement news. "After Democrats spent billions of taxpayer dollars on a failed stimulus and voted to spend billions more for their unpopular government-run health care plan, I think it's fair to say that Americans are disenchanted as well.

"The timing isn't a coincidence either," Steele continues. " The fact of the matter is Senator Evan Bayh and moderate Democrats across the country are running for the hills because they sold out their constituents and don't want to face them at the ballot box."

Here's a link to Bayh's senate website and the full-text of the speech, press release, resignation letter entitled "Thank you, Indiana." http://tinyurl.com/yhd9xm7

______________________________

Update: 3:30 p.m.

While Republican responses to Bayh's retirement from the senate have been pouring in all day (even before the announcement was official), the Democrats have been uncharacteristically quiet.

That quiet ends, however, with an afternoon press release from Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker, who has just released this statement:

"Today, I join Hoosiers from all around the state in expressing my gratitude to Senator Bayh for his years of hard work on behalf of the people of Indiana.

"It would be impossible to overstate the incredible impact that Senator Evan Bayh has had on this state during his career as a public servant. As Governor, Evan Bayh cut taxes, created jobs, and earned his title as the 'Education Governor.' As Senator, he has fought tirelessly for Hoosier jobs, promoted children's health, and battled wasteful spending no matter what political party was in control.

"Evan Bayh's dedication to fiscal responsibility and seeking bipartisan solutions has served Indiana well for over two decades. As this chapter of service to Hoosiers ends and a new one opens for Senator Bayh, I sincerely hope this legacy serves as a model for elected representatives across this state."

(I'll let you all read between the lines on this one...)

For more information visit: http://www.awea.org/

Last March, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which includes all states, even here in Denialiana, unanimously accepted the need for these climate regulations, which includes a 12-question survey for insurance companies.

This survey is designed to gauge these companies' ability to take on the additional claims from catastrophes associated with global warming.

But Indiana wants to be "hands-off" with insurance companies - and thus leave alone the industries that continue to make sure we're ranked toward dead bottom in the country in terms of our environmental health.

Doug Webber, Indiana's acting insurance commissioner, is quoted by the Times as calling the 12-question survey a "politically driven agenda."

Because as you know, global climate change is about politics and ideology, not the cold and hot hard facts that our planet is warming, seas are rising, pollution is growing, species are dying off and - collectively - we're facing the greatest threat in the history of humanity.

Except for that meteor Bruce Willis died deflecting in Armageddon.

If you are in industry or politics, it's likely you are loathe to do anything about the industries - primarily coal - that poisons our air, soil and water, and contributes to global warming.

Me, I don't need air or water or food.

That's my form of denial.

For the Times story, see: http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/02/01/01climatewire-insurance-regulators-in-ind-reject-climate-re-2326.html

Under the Bush Administration, the EPA didn't do much, as the "P" in EPA stood for Procrastination, despite studies that show, for example, that atrazine demasculates frogs, creating hermaphroditic amphibians.

Sounds like a good band name, doesn't it? The Hermaphroditic Amphibians?

The situation is a little better with Obama, and so EPA hearings have begun.

The early focus is on fetal risks, and Paul Winchester, from the IU School of Medicine, is centerstage as two of his papers on pesticide run-off and the possible impacts on birth defects are being used in the hearings by EPA scientist Aaron Niman.

We ran a story about Dr. Winchester's work last May: http://www.nuvo.net/news/article/pesticides-and-birth-defects

Read the current news story at: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56069/title/EPA_reviews_hints_of_weed_killers_fetal_risks