Project Next Media

Sarah is having some serious anxiety about the state of the country right now. Sarah has an honest conversation about the future of America with her favorite Republican, Christpher Maichin. Are Sarah and Chris seeing the same news? What fear things are being pumped out on the R side? Which ones are true? How can we stop the division to actually help our country?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Here in Southern Indiana a fast-growing program called LifeWise is pulling public-school kids out of class during the school day for off-campus Bible lessons. Lawmakers in Indiana have made it easier for districts to allow this, but families are seeing the real-world trade-offs—library time cut, specials disrupted, and kids who don’t go sometimes left with busy work. Supporters say it’s legal and parent-driven; critics say it blurs church and state and pressures kids inside public schools. Tonight, we’re laying out what LifeWise is, how it’s affecting classrooms in Floyd County, and where the Constitution actually draws the line while Sarah interviews activist and concerned parent, Kristy Knable.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

With new medical recommendations by the President (a politician), the medical community is weighing in the facts. Come hear what the clinical evidence does and does not say about the use of Tylenol in pregnancy from Carrie Rouse, MD and Kelsey Pape, MD - two of Indianas’ OB/GYN specialists in Maternal Fetal Medicine.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Indiana News/Around the Corn

(quotes from linked articles in italics)

* Around the Corn (quick headlines)

* Nancy Leonard passes away

* Nancy Leonard, the wife of former Indiana Pacers coach and general manager Bobby “Slick” Leonard who was considered the matriarch of the team, has died at the age of 93.

* Maternal mortality rates improved, but…

* Over a dozen people spoke to the state’s Interim Study Committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services Thursday, speaking about the need to improve access to mental health services for new mothers and ways to reduce mortality rates.

* Hoosiers have long had one of the worst mortality rates in the wealthy world for all new mothers, but especially for Black moms. Similar racial disparities exist for newborn children.

* The state has made strides when it comes to infant health — reporting the lowest mortality rate since the state started gathering data 100 hundred years ago.

* But the state has deeply cut funding for programs with local public health departments that were working to improve infant and maternal health outcomes. Using $225 million under Health First Indiana, counties reported more than 352,000 services to moms and infants — the second-most common use for funding following school-based health programming.

* Facing a budget crunch, Republicans chose to cut funding for the program after just two years, disrupting the biggest investment in public health in decades.

* Panel hears warnings on rising Indiana prison population, local corrections funding shortfalls

* Indiana Department of Correction on Thursday told the state’s Interim Study Committee on Corrections that the agency’s incarcerated population dipped during the pandemic but is now back on the rise.

* She said DOC recorded 22,000 inmates at its low but that the state now has more than 25,000 individuals in custody, with facilities operating at more than 95% capacity.

* Nippon Steel to invest in Gary

* Now, Nippon has announced plans to spend about $300 million to revamp the largest of four blast furnaces that still operate at the Gary Works steel mill in 2026.

* Nippon has promised to spend $3.1 billion on the plant in Gary as part of an $11 billion dollar investment promise on all U.S Steel plants still operating in the United States.

* The pushback is on the choice of investment in Gary. The furnace Nippon is renovating is a coal-fueled furnace.

* Indiana Parole Board rejects death row inmate’s clemency bid

* The Indiana Parole Board on Wednesday recommended against granting clemency to death row prisoner Roy Ward, setting up a final decision by Gov. Mike Braun about two weeks before Ward’s scheduled Oct. 10 execution.

* State pension obligation nearing funded status

* The Indiana Public Retirement System oversees nearly $55 billion in assets for 551,000 members across 16 accounts. The overall funding status of the system increased from 81% to 83.2% in the last year.

* The state’s largest unfunded liability continues to be the Teachers’ Pre-1996 Defined Benefit Account, which has $3.1 billion in unfunded liabilities. The state budget dedicates $1 billion annually to pay down that account — which is on-track to reach funded status by 2028 or 2029, depending on market conditions.

* Continued attack on educators/education

* GOP leaders threaten teacher free speech

* Rokita advocates the removal of teachers who said mean things about Charlie Kirk

* Rokita sent a letter offering legal guidance to school superintendents and public university administrators throughout the Hoosier State on Tuesday… claiming that schools assume “substantial authority” to remove or discipline teachers who make “divisive or controversial speech.”

* Previously, Rokita asked people to report teachers who “celebrate or rationalize” Kirk’s Sept. 10 killing so they can be included in his office’s government dashboard. The platform has been used to list and condemn instances of “objectionable” political ideology entering the classroom.

* “As a matter of good government and sound public policy, schools would be wise to remove from the classroom teachers who express support for or attempt to excuse political violence,” Rokita said. “And as a matter of morality, this moment demands decisive action from public officials to address noxious speech from government employees that undermines public confidence in our schools and corrodes public discourse.”

* Rokita added that educators can exercise First Amendment rights, but those rights are not “unlimited” when it comes to government employment. He added that public employers assume the power to regulate the speech made by government employees when it reportedly “disrupts government operations.”

* Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has also expressed his thoughts, stating that the Secretary of Education can suspend or revoke a teacher’s license for misconduct.

* Indiana public workers lost jobs over comments made after Charlie Kirk’s death.

* IndyStar confirmed as of Sept. 17 three school districts parted ways with teachers following their comments about Kirk’s death.

* IndyStar reported on Sept. 15 that an Indiana Department of Child Services staff attorney was no longer employed by the state after a comment made in “poor taste” was shared on social media about his killing.

* The president of the Muncie Human Rights Commission resigned Sept. 11, a day after he posted comments on Facebook that appeared to celebrate Kirk’s assassination.

* ACLU sues Ball State for alleged First Amendment violation following staff firing over Kirk post

* A Ball State University employee who lost her job after she posted about the late Charlie Kirk will use Indiana’s courts to litigate the case. Suzanne Swierc [...] worked as the director of health promotion and advocacy under Ball State’s student affairs division.

* “Let me be clear: if you think Charlie Kirk was a wonderful person, we can’t be friends. His death is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for his wife and children,” Swierc posted that day, according to a screenshot included in her legal complaint. “I believe in the Resurrection, and while it’s difficult, I can and do pray for his soul. Charlie Kirk’s death is a reflection of the violence, fear, and hatred he sowed. It does not excuse his death, AND it’s a sad truth. The shooting is a tragedy, and I can and do feel for a college campus experiencing an active shooter situation. The deaths of Melissa and Mark Hortman, the children shot and killed in Minneapolis last month, and the children shot in Colorado today are all tragedies that also deserve your attention. Charlie Kirk excused the deaths of children in the name of the second amendment.”

* In the filing, Sweirc said she’d restricted her Facebook privacy settings to “close friends” prior to making the post, but it was screenshotted and shared publicly. It went viral in conservative circles.

* Swierc will be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. The organization argued that Sweirc didn’t forfeit her rights when Ball State — a public university — hired her in 2023.

* OFF-CAMPUS LESSONS: Debate Over LifeWise Bible Classes Deepens Across Southern Indiana

* The Ohio-based nonprofit provides “released-time” religious instruction that takes children off campus during the school day—a practice permitted under a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court decision and a 2024 Indiana law. The state statute requires schools to approve parental requests for up to 120 minutes of weekly off-site religious education.

* The organization’s reach has accelerated. Last year, IndyStar reported that LifeWise planned to operate in 52 Indiana counties during the 2024–25 school year. By this fall, The Indiana Citizen confirmed, the group has at least one participating school in all 92 counties, with ambitions to add more sites in each.

* Rokita BS, cont

* Exodus Refugee sues AG Rokita over civil investigative demand

* The lawsuit recently filed by Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc. appears to be the first to challenge the civil investigative demands that Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has been using to access internal documen…

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Humane World for Animals is changing the world for animals, fighting to end animal cruelty and suffering across the globe. Today, Sarah Blessing is joined by Samantha Chapman, Indiana state director and policy volunteer Jessica Irvine for Humane World for Animals. Humane World is working to advance laws at the federal, state and local levels to eradicate animal cruelty at its source. Currently, Humane World is working on the Better Care for Animals Act at the federal level and several state and local initiatives to end puppy mill cruelty, end wild animals used in traveling shows and stop animals used in testing.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Scott Johanningsmeier co-authored a beautiful book coming out September 23 called "Jesus Was". Scott was inspired to write this after the January 6th riots on the capital. What was Jesus actually like? How is that relevant now when our country is deeply politically divided?

Sarah wouldn’t normally invite a pastor on her show because she has some religious trauma from her teenage years. However, she is friends with Scott and trusts him. Hear how Scott addressed Sarah’s personal stories along with how to just openly admit many people have been hurt by Christians using religious titles.

Order Jesus Was now on Amazon or your local bookstore. Visit jesuswasbook.com for more info.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Indiana News/Around the Corn

(quotes from linked articles in italics)

* Department of Corrections

* Resumes $6.1M in jail payments to 41 counties

* [DOC spokesperson Annie Goeller] explained that two separate streams of payments are at issue:

* funding tied to Level 6 felony diversions, and per diem reimbursements for state prisoners held in county jails awaiting transfer.

* Goeller said the outstanding costs associated with Level 6 diversions were governed by a funding formula established by the General Assembly in 2019.

* “This formula has since become outdated and no longer reflects current data, resulting in overpayments to several counties,” she said.

* To resolve that, DOC will forgive those debts rather than seek repayment, Goeller said.

* In total, the department will forgive about $7.7 million in overpayments across 51 counties

* The department will also resume reimbursements for jail holds, where inmates who have been convicted of state crimes remain in county jails until DOC picks them up.

* State law requires pickup within five days, but counties are reimbursed at a daily rate for each additional day an inmate is held.

* The General Assembly raised that per diem earlier this year, and Goeller said DOC currently owes counties “approximately $6.1 million to 41 counties for these holds.”

* Requests $16M for upgrades at Miami Correctional Facility for ICE

* The Indiana Department of Correction is requesting $15.8 million from the Indiana State Budget Agency to pay for necessary upgrades to the Miami Correctional Facility as the prison prepares to house ICE detainees.

* "The facility will require a series of infrastructure upgrades and equipment acquisitions," the request said in the Sept. 17 budget committee agenda.

* Goeller said while there is no definitive timeline, the prison could begin taking in detainees sometime after Oct. 1, despite the necessary upgrades, "to meet federal standards and for future potential needs, such as transportation."

* Miami Correctional Facility is now essentially at capacity, according to the latest monthly inmate population report by IDOC.

* Recall this story from two weeks ago

* Marion County / Indianapolis houses 100+ ICE detainees a day.

* Approx $75 per head/day: ~$3M Year

* Redistricting

* Braun floats November special session

* Gov. Mike Braun suggested Monday that Indiana lawmakers could return for a special session in November to redraw congressional boundaries — his clearest signal yet in support of mid-cycle redistricting.

* Speaking on Fort Wayne’s WOWO radio, Braun said the state is “in the process where we will evolve in that direction,” and continued to emphasize — as he has in recent weeks — that he wants Hoosier legislative leaders to take the lead on the issue.

* “I want it to be where it wasn’t forced upon our legislature, have our leaders talk to their own caucus members,” Braun said. “Some have already changed their point of view when they look at what good comes from it.INTL

* “You’re going to find that, probably, the legislators will come around to it,” he continued. “I’m going to give them time. I think eventually we’ll get there.”

* “If we try to drag our feet as a state on it, probably, we’ll have consequences of not working with the Trump administration as tightly as we should,” Braun said.

* In a sit-down with the WPTA television station, Braun made clear that he was suggesting his state could miss out on “benefits” from the federal government — and specifically mentioned the Department of Agriculture:

* “That just means I think the Trump administration, for what it’s trying to do, if you’re not kind of getting involved as well as you can on the political side, you probably are not going to be the first call when it comes to the benefits of — just like we’re one of five states now, as the Agriculture Department moves its bureaucracy into the interior; we’re one of those five states.”

* “They killed Charlie Kirk — the least that we can do is go through a legal process and redistrict Indiana into a nine-to-zero map,” U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana, told Politico’s Playbook.

* Buttigieg rallies with Democrats at Indiana statehouse

* “I’m talking about what it means in terms of cutting voters out of the process because they’re just going around saying it’s going to be nine,” he said. “What they’re saying is that the results of the election won’t be decided by voters at all. It’ll be decided by them. They want the outcome of the election to be decided before you even get to go vote.”

* While Texas Democrats left the state in an attempt to stop a special session, Indiana Democrats don’t have that option. The GOP has a 70-40 majority in the House and 40-10 majority in the Senate. With a quorum of 67 and 33, Republicans don’t need Democrats for a quorum.

* … then visits Bloomington Thursday to meet with local party organizers and deliver a keynote lecture at Indiana University.

* Following a protest at the Statehouse over state Republicans’ congressional redistricting plan, the former Indiana politician appeared at the opening of the Monroe County Democrats’ new community space at its Second Street headquarters.

* The student-moderated talk was hosted by the Union Board and LGBTQ+ Culture Center as part of its “Speaking of Excellence” series, which in the past has mainly invited LGBTQ actors such as Hunter Schafer and George Takei.

* Buttigieg told the audience that he believed growing up gay in Indiana informed his reach-across-the-aisle approach to politics, and that as a child in South Bend, “I’ve never automatically felt that I was in harmony with my surroundings.”

* International student enrollment drops at IU, Purdue

* The big picture: Enrollment is down across the country as international students continue to contend with visa issues, travel bans and concerns about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

* NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, predicted 150,000 fewer international students would be in the country for the fall semester.

* Why it matters: Indiana's nearly 30,000 international students contributed around $1 billion to the Hoosier economy during the 2023-24 school year.

* Purdue, which leads the state in international student enrollment, saw a decrease of nearly 15% across all campuses from last fall to this one

* The Indiana University system, the state's second largest enroller of international students, lost 14% across all campuses

* International students and graduates grow the economy, create jobs, and benefit U.S.-born students

* International students typically pay full tuition rates, providing valuable revenue that subsidizes the cost of attendance for domestic students. A 2015 study found that international students contributed $9 billion to public universities, 28% of their overall total revenue. In turn, these contributions allow schools to increase domestic student enrollment. Universities are also able to support bigger and better graduate programs and research efforts as foreign-born individuals not only enroll in the programs but also serve as faculty and postdoctorate researchers, particularly in science and engineering fields.

* Power Up Indiana workforce training launches

* Why it matters: Indiana's unemployment rate of 3.6% as of last month is lower than the national average and considered "full employment," meaning most Hoosiers who want a job have one, so the state is focusing on helping Hoosiers move into higher-paying jobs by funding trainings.

* The big picture: Power Up Indiana will become the centerpiece of the state's workforce training program, utilizing $10 million appropriated by the Indiana General Assembly.

* It reimburses companies of all sizes that train existing employees into new positions that result in at least a 25% wage increase.

* The reimbursement rate is up to $5,000 per employee and up to $50,000 per company.

* Between the lines: While the Braun administration, like most new officeholders, wants to paint the Power Up program as a bold new idea, Indiana has been doing this work for years.

* Flashback: Gov. Eric Holcomb introduced the Empl…

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

MadVoters stands for Mutually Assured Democracy. This group of volunteers are on the frontlines fighting for a fair government, thriving families, promising futures, and freedom for all. They are hosting local civics literacy labs all over the state of Indiana. Find out how you can join, or if you live in another elsewhere, does your state have something similar? Veronica Combs joins Sarah to talk about the Civics Literacy Lab happening in New Albany on Saturday, September 27 at 1:00pm at the Cultural Arts Center.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Sarah Blessing and her favorite Republican, Christopher Maichin, discuss the extremely powerful way propaganda on both political sides is making the fear, hate, and division of this country worse. How do we identify this, get ourselves out of it, and work together to save our great nation? Sarah and Chris discover fascinating ways the propaganda shows us serious issues differently. They dive into ICE, political violence, public school teachers, and more to unpack how what we see and read affects our mental health and shapes our point of view.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com

Today we’re taking on an issue that doesn’t always make headlines, but it impacts more Hoosier families than many people realize. When we talk about gun policy, the focus often lands on crime or mass tragedies. But in Indiana, the leading cause of gun-related deaths isn’t what most expect — it’s self-harm. We’re joined by Dr. Jon Macy, a public health professor at Indiana University and an expert on firearm policy. Together, we’ll look at the numbers, the human stories behind them, and what can be done from a prevention standpoint. Our goal is not to debate politics, but to shed light on a serious health concern — and to talk about practical steps that can save lives here in our state.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.projectnextindiana.com