Blue 812 News Issue 81 - August 16

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Donald Trump’s secret food truck escape from Turkey is raising serious questions about his willingness to put civilians in harm’s way, while lying to the American public. POTUS waved a nonchalant goodbye to the waiting cameras when he boarded an older version of Air Force One in Turkey last month, to head home from a NATO summit. But Trump’s team was so anxious about a possible assassination attempt by Iran that they snuck him off the plane inside a catering truck, according to multiple outlets. Trump then flew most of the way home in a secret military plane. According to the Wall Street Journal, there was no evidence that Donald Trump’s life was in danger from an Iranian attack; The CIA also had “low confidence” in Israel’s tip about the supposed threat.

In an especially creepy/craven act: Journalists remained aboard the “decoy” plane, which Trump had decided was too dangerous for him to take. Even some of Trump’s White House staff didn’t know Trump had left them over security fears. This bombshell revelation exposed the lengths that the Trump administration will go to deceive the public and shield the president from harm, even at the expense of others.

Which top aides were deemed important enough to escape possible MAGA-martyrdom? Trump apparently picked Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Director of Oval Office Operations Walt Nauta, and executive assistant Natalie Harp (who has been described as his “human printer” and writes affectionate personal notes to him). Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Trump aide Stephen Miller weren’t snuck onto Trump’s plane.

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Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order reducing the number of diseases covered by the childhood vaccine schedule from 18 to 11. If those numbers sound familiar, that’s because they are: the order is a reaffirmation of the vaccine schedule overhaul RFK Jr. announced earlier this year, which is currently blocked in court. In addition to cutting the recommended number of vaccines, Trump’s new EO also suggests that kids receive vaccines at different doctor appointments, instead of all at once. Convenient! Why schedule and attend one doctor’s appointment with a wiggly toddler who is not excited to get a shot, when you could do it five times instead! Oh, and they’re recommending that the MMR vaccine be broken into three individual shots – which don’t exist, thanks for asking. So now we’re looking at more needles for fewer vaccines. Meanwhile, measles cases in this country are at their highest level in 35 years.

But y tho? As Trump explains: “In many cases, we were requiring 72 jabs for our beautiful, healthy, lovely, delicate little children.” (fact check: this total includes all the doses someone could potentially be given by the time they are 18 years old, including annual flu and Covid-19 doses) He also said “vats” of vaccines are pumped into children’s bodies, and described the syringes as “the size of the bottle of soda.” (according to the Food and Drug Administration, a single dose of MMR is 0.5ml - roughly a fraction of a teaspoon) I totally believe Trump attended all of his kids’ vaccine shots. He held their little hands every time!

The medical community has been…displeased, to say the least. In response, American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Andrew Racine said, “Today’s executive order on vaccines is not only disheartening but dangerous. Instead of ensuring every family can access life-saving vaccines for measles, influenza, RSV and more, federal leaders are once again spreading misleading claims.” “This upends decades of public health practice and consensus and it’s been done unilaterally without reason and without evidence,” Georgetown global health law professor Lawrence Gostin told USA Today, predicting outbreaks of measles, mumps, rubella, and other preventable diseases as a result. Let’s celebrate America 250 by bringing back diseases from 1776!

Does this mean kids can’t get vaccinated anymore? No. This is technically just a recommendation, because the childhood vaccine schedule was never a federal mandate in the first place. What it does do is basically make vaccines less mandatory. For example, the order directs the Attorney General (Todd Blanche, unfortunately) to take legal action against states that don’t offer religious and medical exemptions from vaccination requirements. It’s unclear what effect it might have on school vaccine rules for this upcoming academic year.

American Families for Vaccines has set up a tool to email our state lawmakers and encourage them to maintain vaccine policies grounded in science. Let’s put it to use and use the language to call them directly.

Sen. Jim Banks | Sen. Todd Young | Rep. Mark Messmer | Find your sen | Find your rep

Three months ago, Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, won re-election to his state Senate seat by three votes, but this week, the Indiana Recount Commission declared him the loser by three votes.

The flip isn’t due to an accounting error - a recount conducted earlier this year found no change in the number of votes cast. Instead, it was the commission’s decision to reject otherwise legitimate ballots because the Republican County Clerk failed to sign an absentee ballot or confirm the initials of election board members. These were not mistakes by the voters.

State Senator Deery stated, “Today, we saw members of the Indiana Recount Commission attempt to undermine the will of voters by treating ballots differently based on whether they further the president’s political goals.”

Deery is also suggesting that one of the three commission member’s relationship with Sen. Jim Banks, who opposed Deery’s candidacy, had something to do with the flip .

This year, the city of Terre Haute launched the Neighborhood Investment Fund. The City received 19 applications requesting more than $215,000 during the 2026 cycle, and 7 projects were selected, ranging from signage to murals.

The 2026 Neighborhood Investment Fund awards are:
•Village Quarter Association - $4,500: entrance landscaping and beautification at the Poplar Street and Village Drive entrance.
• Collett Park Neighborhood - $8,500: updated neighborhood street sign assemblies at key intersections around the historic Collett Park area.
• Mullen Flats - $15,000: an outdoor gathering space with a concrete pad, pergola, seating, and a permanently affixed grill behind Mullen Flats.
• Deming Park Gateway - $14,000: pedestrian safety and gateway improvements near Ohio Boulevard, Fruitridge Avenue, and Deming Drive.
• Farrington's Grove Historic District - $6,811: historic district banners and neighborhood identification improvements.
• Greenwood Manor Apartments - $14,450: playground equipment and safer play surfacing for young children in the Greenwood Manor community.
• Brittlebank Neighborhood Mural - $11,000: a public mural near Brittlebank Park to create a neighborhood gateway and visual landmark.

After nearly eight months of study, the Vigo County Commissioners unanimously approved a school consolidation plan that would build a new east side high school and renovate West Vigo High School without raising property taxes. This move would make the Vigo County School Corporation stand alone in Indiana, as the first to build a new school without a property tax referendum. At this time, 38 school districts in Indiana have property tax referendums on the ballot.

On Wednesday, the oversight board described its endorsed facility option as 6.2, which includes a modification to the original Vigo County School Board recommended Option 6; the modification impacts schools west of the Wabash River. Fayette Elementary would house grades pre-K to grade 2, Sugar Creek Consolidated Elementary would house grades 3 to 6, and West Vigo would become a junior/senior high school housing grades 7-12. There would be a new, separated seventh/eighth grade addition and demolition of the old portion of the existing middle school, with renovations to the high school.

Its recommendation also calls for $15 million in cash up front from Vigo County government and $6 million annually to contribute toward bonds or lease payments to assist the Vigo County School Corp. with a new high school east of the Wabash River. A bond issue has been projected at about 20 years. The Terre Haute Casino Resort Foundation has also committed $95 million to a plan that includes a consolidated high school east of the Wabash River, contingent on county government making a significant financial contribution to the same project, and the Vigo County Council voting on the county’s contribution by Dec. 31. Even with those finances, the project needs around $62 million. During the meeting, Tim Berry of Crowe, the oversight board’s financial consultant, said the county is in a strong financial position and able to support the oversight board recommendations.

The recommendation now goes to the Vigo County Council, who hold their sunshine meeting Sept. 1 and voting meeting Sept. 8. However, Steve Ellis, president of the county council, said he does not see the council taking a vote on the county’s financial participation in September. In short, he says the decision is simply too big and too important to press into the September meeting schedule, especially considering September is a significant period for the county’s regular annual budgeting. Can’t talk about things that will be in the budget - we will be busy working on the budget!

There also appeared to be a bit of a brouhaha brewing within county government over where the council should hear public input on its school-related decision. Members of the Board of Commissioners and some other officials, such as County Council member David Thompson suggested moving at least one council meeting to a larger venue so interested citizens could attend and share their views with the council. Commissioner Mike Morris said, "As to the resistance to a larger venue by Councilman Ellis, I really question his reasoning aligning with his quest for transparency. It perplexes me." The council chambers only hold around 40 spectators. Ellis released a video on his "Holding Vigo County Accountable" Facebook page suggesting that no matter where September meetings are held and no matter what happens in them, he does not anticipate a council vote on the committee's and a Board of Commissioners' recommendation coming quickly. “My suggestion was to move the November meeting or perhaps a special call meeting in December to the convention center if they would allow us to use it.”

The four-term mayor of Vincennes won’t be on the November ballot for an Indiana Senate seat because of a paperwork mistake by a Democratic Party official. Democratic 8th Congressional District Chair Dave Crooks is taking the blame for not filing the required form on time to make Mayor Joe Yochum the party’s candidate for the Senate District 39 seat, leaving Greene County Republican Chair Jeff Ellington unopposed in the southwestern Indiana district.

Yochum was picked as the Democratic candidate during a July 23 caucus of Democratic precinct officials to fill the ballot vacancy caused by Joseph Baughman’s withdrawal after winning the primary, but Crooks failed to file the candidate forms with the Indiana Election Division as state law requires within three days of the caucus meeting. Crooks, a former Indiana House member, said in a statement provided by the state Democratic Party that he “misunderstood my responsibility to file the final form” and expressed regret to Yocum and his wife.

The mishap deprives Democrats of an increasingly rare opportunity to have an experienced officeholder on the ballot for a rural legislative district, where the party has been decimated over the past two decades. “Unfortunately, those voters will now have no choice on who represents them in the Indiana State Senate for the next four years,” Yochum said in a statement. “I firmly believe that a solid one-party system is not healthy — and I don’t care which party we’re talking about. When residents no longer have meaningful choices, that should concern us all.”

DHS is hell-bent on getting something Donald Trump can call a wall built before congressional Democrats or judges can shut them down, and they don’t care what needs to be destroyed along the way. Right now, they’re trying to smash through Big Bend National Park, with bulldozers clearing lands that have been untouched for millennia. Local officials, business owners, and conservationists warn the regime is going to kill tourism along threatening ecosystems, wildlife, and a national treasure, and organizers are hard at work trying to put sand in the gears. The No Big Bend Wall coalition is asking us to reach out to our members of Congress asking them to object to the project and defund it, with call scripts here, along with signing this petition.

CBP is also accepting public comments on how this project could affect the environment, cultural resources, and the local economy and community through August 31st. The most helpful comments are specific and fact-based. This is your chance to be heard. Join us in protecting Big Bend.
Email your comment to [email protected] with "Big Bend Vehicle Border Barrier System Construction" in the subject line.

Cards Against Humanity launched the “Elon Musk is a Sad Little Bitch With No Friends Monument Design Committee” for the public to help create a new monument dissing the tech gazillionaire. The card game company’s beef with Musk started in 2017, when it bought land in Texas to stop the border wall. Musk built a “corporate hellscape” on the land, so Cards Against Humanity took him to court and forced him to leave. Now, the company wants to build a monument to remind Musk that he’s a — you guessed it — sad little bitch with no friends. It costs $10 to join the committee!

On August 6, Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold 85-year old public health official Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress, referring the resolution to the Justice Department without a full-Senate vote—a likely illegal act. Stand Up for Science published a Stand Up for Fauci Petition to Congress to rescind the contempt referral to the Justice Department immediately. Please read and sign here.

First, a resistance group in Redding, CT has developed a tool that they call the Accountability Scorecard to help voters easily and quickly assess whether their House Rep. is in fact representing them. The tool reports on your representative’s voting history on three key bills in the past year and details their campaign financing. It also highlights challengers (where appropriate), local groups you can join, and more.

Second, if you care about Israel/Palestine, an org called A New Policy has introduced a new site where you can look up your representatives to see where they stand on U.S. policy there. Then it makes it easy to contact them, find out whether they have town halls coming up, and/or tweet about their record.

**visit the Blue812News Local Events calendar to see all upcoming events**

Monday, August 17th at 8:30am: A RARE sighting of our local congressman, Mark Messmer, in his district, not behind a paywall! Join him Monday morning for a light breakfast beginning at 8:30 AM EDT at the Knights of Columbus in Vincennes (401 Felt King Road).

Tuesday, August 18th at 6pm: Indivisible CommUnity meeting. Every big change starts with a local conversation. Whether you want to share a new concept, listen in, or find ways to get involved locally, there is a place at the table for you! Vigo County Public Library (Rooms AB&C) 6-7:30PM

Tuesday, August 25th at 6pm: Nasty Women of Vigo County meeting in Room A of the Vigo County Public Library from 6-7:30pm.

Saturday, August 29th at 10am: Canvassing & Phone-banking for Mary Allen. Meet at VigoDems Headquarters (817 Wabash) for canvassing/phone-banking. More info & register here for canvassing. More info & register here for phonebanking.

A federal judge ordered the EPA to administer a $2.8 billion climate grant program that the Trump administration had rescinded.

Trump’s net approval rating has fallen to -27, a new record low in the Economist/YouGov tracking poll.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the state has successfully met or surpassed nearly all of its pollution reduction targets set under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

A federal court in Nevada became the latest district court to reject the Trump administration’s floundering campaign to force states to turn over their unredacted voter rolls. For those keeping count, that makes their record 0-22.

Republican Governor Mike Kehoe of MO signed a GOP-sponsored omnibus elections law that, among other things, restores voting rights to an estimated 40,000 Missourians currently on probation or parole.

An appeals court in San Francisco found that Meta, along with Google, TikTok, and Snapchat, had to face more than 3,000 lawsuits against the social media platforms charging them with being addictive to young users.

A federal judge ruled Idaho must allow abortions when necessary to protect a woman’s health - not only when her life is at risk.

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (72%) say they are "very likely" or "absolutely certain" to vote in the November 2026 general election for congressional and state offices, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll, and new research from the Civics Center shows that many more 18-year-old Americans are registered to vote in this year’s midterm elections than at this point in 2022.

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