Blue 812 News Issue 66 - April 26

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Last night, for the first time in either of his presidential administrations, and flanked by at least twelve members of the line of presidential succession (designated survivor who?), President Trump attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. At the event, where temporarily-former press secretary Karoline Leavitt joked there “will be some shots fired tonight,” there were indeed shots fired. Just minutes into the dinner, attendees in the ballroom heard muffled popping noises and saw the president, first lady, and top officials hurried away from the head table. Law enforcement later revealed that the alleged gunman was apprehended outside the ballroom, after he attempted to charge past a security checkpoint.

Cole Allen, a 31-year old teacher and engineer from Torrance, California, has been identified as the man suspected of opening fire at the WHCD. A White House official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR Allen sent his family members what the White House is calling a manifesto minutes before the incident took place at the Hilton hotel. The document states that Allen wanted to target administration officials, the White House said. NPR has not seen any of the writings independently.

Within minutes of the incident, the president was on social media, posting his reactions, including praise for law enforcement and the Secret Service. Later Saturday night, he posted what were apparently photos of the suspect – shirtless, prone on the floor, with his hands apparently bound. Trump also posted what appeared to be security footage from inside the hotel of the alleged gunman sprinting past law enforcement officers. Trump said he released the images and video "for purposes of transparency, clarity."

Trump also quickly turned this incident into an argument for the massive ballroom he is building on the White House grounds, saying it will have the tight security necessary for large events, emphasizing this point on Sunday morning: “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” he wrote as part of his post. “It cannot be built fast enough!” The correspondents’ dinner, however, is hosted by the Correspondents’ Association and not the White House. Remember ten days ago when a judge said he couldn’t work on that ballroom project anymore, with an exception for "actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds”? Right-wing media quickly fell in line to all tweet out their support. Guess they’re all in the same signal chat.

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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Pakistan on Sunday, where he participated in talks focused on ending the war with the U.S., Iranian state media reported. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been expected to head to Islamabad Saturday for peace talks, but President Trump said he canceled their trip because any possible Iran talks can take place over the phone. "If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone," the president told Fox News, adding, "we're not sending people to travel 18 hours to meet." No surprises there, Trump loves talking on the phone.

The prime minister spent about five minutes in Islamabad before heading on to Russia to meet with Putin. Russia has remained a critical diplomatic ally for Iran throughout the conflict with the United States. The Kremlin has repeatedly offered to take custody of Iran’s enriched uranium, proposing to store or reprocess it on Russian soil.

Iran and the U.S. don’t appear close to a peace deal. One major sticking point could be that any deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program might look too much like the Obama-era deal that Trump tore up in his first term. Trump and Republicans have long railed against the so-called Iran nuclear deal, but it’s unclear how a new agreement would be any different than Obama’s.

Chevron chairman & CEO Mike Wirth suggested on Sunday that the impacts of the Strait of Hormuz closure will “be with us for some time.” On “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Wirth explained that “…even if the strait were to open today, getting supplies to where they’re needed and resuming the normal functioning of the system is going to take some time.” A large majority of Americans — 77% — blame Trump for rising gas prices since the war began in February, according to a new poll. It’s not only libs who cast blame on the president; 55% of Republicans also say he’s at fault for the $4 per gallon national average.

If you didn’t think things could get any lower for Indiana’s Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith, grab a shovel. This week. Beckwith fired off a post critical of the Westfield High School Marching Band for playing violin compositions that he did not like. Sharing a reel of public school students excited and enthusiastic about sharing their talents, with performers clad in red and black costumes, Beckwith chimed in to say that “schools like Westfield LOVE giving the [middle finger emoji] to Christian Conservative families of our community.” He then urged parents to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to get their kids out of public high schools.

On Friday, Beckwith appeared on a conservative talk radio show to talk about his post. As you would predict, he chose to double down instead of apologizing to the children, calling the show “demonic” when it’s clear he never saw the actual performance. Beckwith says Carmen’s “whole goal is to try to get a man to cheat on his wife to destroy their family.” That’s… not even close to true. The man in question, Don José, isn’t married and has no children, so there’s no “affair” and no family to destroy. Beckwith couldn’t even bother himself to read the Wikipedia synopsis of the plot. Anyway, what did Beckwith look at? A couple of pictures of the band? Or the actual performance? Because the performance has nothing in it that’s controversial. Saying that music from an opera shouldn’t be used because the full show (which they aren’t performing) has some adult themes in it would also mean you can’t read excerpts from damn near any

Three of the five Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Commissioners, led by Commissioner Andy Zay, heard complaints from local utilities users during a listening session Wednesday evening at city hall. About 20 people attended the hearing, with five addressing the IURC commissioners, two doing so twice. It was quite the contrast with the session in Evansville, which had 125 customers turn out.

“What we’re hearing is a lot of customer service issues and some rate issues,” Zay said. “We’ve heard from over 1,000 Hoosiers now, and we’ve received a lot of complaints in our consumer affairs division, and we took a day with the utilities and this is an opportunity to hear from the folks directly. “We’re hearing what has been pretty widely broadcast — some of the rates are up and a lot of average homeowners’ bills are high,” he said. Duke Energy is the state’s largest electric utility, serving approximately 925,000 customers in 69 of Indiana’s 92 counties, including Vigo. It has the fifth-highest rates of the five investor-owned and three municipally-owned electric utilities regulated by the IURC. Many of the complaints were about CenterPoint, the local gas utility, and their distribution and service fees. Consumers reported paying more for those fees and taxes than for their gas consumption.

new voting sites open on Tuesday:

Current Vigo County Early Voting since 4/7/26:

Additional locations open 4/28/26 Tues-Sat and Election Day 6am-6pm:

A federal appeals court reinstated Indiana’s GOP-backed ban on student IDs for voting — abruptly pausing a ruling which allowed students to cast ballots with their college-issued IDs. The decision reverses — at least for now — a major win for voters handed down last week by the district court, which found that Indiana’s law targeting student IDs likely violates the Constitution. In its emergency motion and reply brief filed with the 7^th Circuit, the state does not identify one incident of an individual voting fraudulently in an Indiana election with a student ID. Rather, it claims SEA 10 will improve public confidence and election integrity. “Expert evidence,” the state said, “demonstrates that stricter identification requirements correlate with reduced public perceptions of fraud prevalence.”

In the four-page opinion for Count US IN, et al. v. Diego Morales, et al., the federal appellate court did not address constitutional issues or determine whether SEA 10 created a heavier burden on students than on all other voters. Instead, the panel of three judges focused on the calendar and cited to the U.S. Supreme Court’s admonition that “lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election.” With voting already underway, the decision may add more confusion and uncertainty into election administration in Indiana — and cuts off access for a group of voters the lower court had just found were likely burdened unlawfully.

The Department of Labor just proposed a rule that would make it easier for employers to include private equity, private credit funds, and cryptocurrency in workers’ 401(k) plans. This proposed rule is part of a broader effort by this administration to protect Wall Street at the expense of ordinary people, but it’s not final. It arrived under an executive order the Trump administration titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” The public comment period is now open.

Read more about it what it could mean for your retirement savings in this Murmur post, then consider making a comment to oppose it. Information on submitting comments and a draft template can be found here.

The City of Terre Haute is working with students from Indiana State University to learn how residents experience local services—and needs your input!

This quick survey (~5 minutes) asks about how you access city services, what’s working well, and where improvements could be made. Your feedback will help guide future decisions and strengthen services across our community, provided by the City of Terre Haute. Responses are anonymous, and every answer helps build a clearer picture of what our city needs.

The Resource Center archive page has been refreshed to include all the links from the last few months of posts, gathered in one place and organized by topic!

This is usually the most difficult part of the newsletter to write, so any readers with good resources that have not already been featured - please send them to [email protected] or comment below!

visit the Blue812News Local Events calendar to see all upcoming events

Tuesday, April 28th at 6pm: Nasty Women of Vigo County. 6 pm in meeting room A, VCPL Main Branch.

Friday, May 1st at 1pm: National Day of Action at Indiana State House 1-4pm ‘Mayday Means Justice’ This peaceful May Day action brings together organizations and community members from across Indiana. more info/register here

Saturday, May 2nd at 12pm: DSA picnic pitch-in and cornhole. Location TBD.

Sunday, May 3rd at 2pm: Slices with Sakbun is back! Join Mayor Brandon for our most delicious community forum at Wise Pies (9 S 6th St, Terre Haute)! Grab a slice and a drink for just $5 when you mention “Slices with Sakbun” at checkout (dine in only), and discuss community initiatives, issues, and anything municipal on your mind. 2pm-4pm

Sunday, May 3rd at 4pm: ICE OUT with Indivisible Wabash Valley Clay County Detention Center 611 E. Jackson St, Brazil, IN Every Sunday 4–5PM

Tuesday, May 5th at 5pm: Vigo County Council Meeting in the Council Chambers in the Vigo County Government Center, 127 Oak Street

Wednesday, May 6th at 6pm: Mile with the Mayor at Herz-Rose Park. A 1-mile walk with the mayor.

Thursday, May 7th at 6pm: Terre Haute City Council Meeting at City Hall.

The Department of Justice dropped its dubious probe into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which focused on renovations at the Fed’s headquarters. Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) had vowed to block Trump’s Fed chair nominee unless his administration stopped targeting Powell. So, as one GOP senator told Politico, “Tillis won.”

The Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug, after decades of classifying pot as alongside heroin. While cannabis still isn’t legal federally, the order gives medical cannabis providers a big tax break and makes it easier to research the drug.

Fifty-five percent of Americans want Donald Trump to be impeached, including 21 percent of people who voted for him in 2024, according to a new poll.

The National Gallery of Art received a $116 million donation to support loaning out its art to smaller museums across the country. “The defunding that’s going on for the arts as a whole — somebody’s got to pick up the slack,” Mitchell Rales, a billionaire art collector, told the New York Times. A billionaire using his wealth for good? We love to see it.

Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that would allow the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans started this whole redistricting push, and it has definitely backfired.

Senate Democrats are pressuring corporations to pass on tariff refunds to consumers and small businesses as the Trump administration begins to roll out returns.

A federal judge struck down Trump administration regulations that sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

NFL Super Bowl referees also get Super Bowl rings. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.