New Indiana Jones-Style Bar-And-Grill At Disney World

A restaurant will be opening this fall with the Downtown Disney expansion to Disney Springs – Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar.

The new restaurant will be aviation-themed.  Many will recognize the name Jock Lindsey as the pilot from the ever popular (and now Disney-owned) Indiana Jones films.

The restaurant will be found near Lake Buena Vista between Paradiso 37 and the Boathouse and will be a Disney operated restaurant, writes disneyparks.disney.go.com.  It is set to open later this year.

Some fans on Twitter were confused about the focus of the bar’s theme, writes bizjournals.com.

People were wondering who exactly was Jock Lindsey, writes blog.touringplans.com.   He wasn’t as recognizable as other characters from the film series such as Sean Connery’s portrayal of Indiana Jones’ father, or Jonathan Ke Quan’s character of Wan “Short Round” Li.

Here’s some background on Jock Lindsey thanks to an Indiana Jones wikia (because sometimes that is as deep as you can get with information on fictional characters):

Jock Lindsey is the pilot and friend of Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr. Lindsey makes his debut in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the pilot who repeatedly gets Indiana Jones up and out of some difficult situations.

According to his wikia, Lindsey is a former stunt pilot who has left that business to freelance for Indiana Jones, taking him to the locations of his archeological sites and impending trouble.

The new bar will help Disney Springs – and essentially Orlando, Florida – attract more visitors to Central Florida, writes blog.touringplans.com.

(Updated article)

Indiana Woman Charged With Felony And Arrested After Pulling Into Nearby Parking Lot

A resident of the town of Portage, Indiana, said she did not immediately pull over for the flashing lights behind her because, as a 52-year-old woman traveling alone at 11:21 p.m. on a dark county road, she was concerned for her safety.  This happened at the end of March.

She assumed the car behind her was a police officer, and DelRea Good said she slowed her vehicle, put on her emergency flashers, and waved her arm out the window to acknowledge the pursing car.

Ms. Good continued for less than a mile where she pulled over into the lighted parking lot at a Kohl’s department store.

The decision not to immediately stop resulted in her being handcuffed and taken to jail by Porter County Sheriff’s Department Patrolman William Marshall on a felony charge of resisting arrest, states nwitimes.com.

It may also cost her her job, because a nurse cannot work after being convicted of a felony, she said.

“I felt I didn’t do anything wrong,” Good said. “I got to a safe place and I told him that.”

According to nwitimes.com, Porter County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Larry LaFlower said, “The sheriff’s office supports our officer’s decision in this matter.”

He cited state law requiring motorists to yield to emergency vehicles and said Marshall was driving a fully marked squad car and used the lights and siren.

Indiana Pizza Place Would Refuse Service To Gays

Secular Talk

A local television station interviewed Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, which announced that they will turn down any gays entering their establishment looking for their wedding to be catered.

The interview was regarding Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, RFRA,

The pizza place has received both support and backlash for its beliefs.

Is Indiana’s Governor Making An ‘About-Face’ On New Law?

Indiana Governor Mike Pence said today that he “mishandled” the passage of a religious freedom law and he now wants a piece of legislation to “clarify” that it does not give anyone the right to discriminate in the state.

“This law does not give anyone a license to deny services to gay and lesbian couples. I could have handled that better this week,” he said, according to ABC News.

The move comes just as the House of Representatives in Arkansas passed amendments to a similar religious freedom bill that is expected to be signed into law when the governor signs the complete version, something that has already announced that he plans to do.

Pence said that he has been working with state legislators and businesses “literally around the clock” to work through the controversy, saying that “discrimination was never part of his plan.”

“I don’t believe for a minute that it was the intention of the general assembly. … It certainly wasn’t my intent but I can appreciate that that’s become the perception … and we need to confront that and we need to confront that boldly,” he said.

The changes that Pence mentioned are expected to be put into a “stripped version” of an election-related bill that is supposed to be debated Wednesday or Thursday by a conference committee. That is what Indiana’s Republican speaker of the House’s spokesman Brian Bosma told ABC News.

Bill de Blasio Says Indiana Anti-Gay Law Is ‘Doomed to Failure’

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio discussed a controversial Indiana religious freedom law recently, telling reporters that it is “deeply disturbing” and “doomed to failure,” according to observer.com.

Following the lead of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mr. de Blasio also said he would ban non-essential city travel to Indiana.

“It’s a deeply disturbing reality right now in Indiana and I hope before it’s too late, they turn back,” said Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn.

He said that the law, which critics say will allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, will backfire on the Republican-led state.

“Absolutely, I will instruct all New York City agencies to prohibit any non-essential travel to the State of Indiana,” he continued.

“This proposal [in] Indiana really undercuts decades and decades of progress on human rights and civil rights in this country. The notion that a government would allow a version of discrimination undercuts so much of what we fought for.”

“I also know it’s doomed to failure,” he added.

More here:

http://observer.com/2015/03/bill-de-blasio-says-indiana-religious-law-doomed-to-failure/#ixzz3W1NVsY65

http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-yorks-cuomo-bans-state-funded-travel-to-indiana-1427849308

USA Today Sports Writer Says NCAA Should Pull Out Of Indiana

Nancy Armour was a sports writer for Associated Press prior to becoming a sports columnist for USA Today.

In a recent article, Armour states:

“The NCAA should be applauded for swiftly and strongly expressing its disapproval of Indiana’s new law that cloaks discrimination in ‘religious freedom.’

“But it can’t stop there.

“It is too late to pull this year’s Final Four from Indianapolis, given it is next weekend and there’s no other city that would have an arena and several thousand hotel rooms available. But the NCAA can – and should – tell Indiana lawmakers that their prejudice and mean-spiritedness has cost the state the privilege of hosting any other collegiate sporting event.”

Indiana Governor Mike Pence To Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday became the latest Republican governor to accept an expansion of Medicaid to cover more poor residents under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Like expansions in other Republican-led states, Pence’s plan doesn’t just expand Medicaid, but it uses the federal funding to change the program.

Enrollment starts immediately, and coverage begins February 1st.  The expansion eventually will reach 350,000 people, Pence said when announcing federal approval for the proposal at a news conference in Indianapolis.  Pence’s program builds on the state’s 7-year-old Healthy Indiana Plan, which currently covers 60,000 people.

GOP governors and legislators in states like Arkansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania have exacted changes to Medicaid for the expansion, including increasing the role of private health insurance plans in Medicaid.

President Barack Obama’s administration is eager to provide Medicaid coverage to as many poor Americans as possible.

28 states (and D.C.) have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (including Indiana).

Pence’s plan is the biggest departure from traditional, government-run Medicaid yet. The so-called Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, as Pence dubbed it, ties benefits to monthly payments by beneficiaries below the poverty line, a first for Medicaid, and includes other features Pence billed as conservative and market-based.

The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, or HIP 2.0, is based more on private insurance than traditional Medicaid.

Pence’s program builds on the state’s 7-year-old Healthy Indiana Plan, which currently covers people with high-deductible health insurance and health savings accounts.  Adults without disabilities who are currently enrolled in traditional Medicaid will be moved to the new Medicaid plan.

Does Indiana Gov. Mike Pence Want Indiana Hunger Games?

“Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) explained on Tuesday that a new policy that could cut off food stamps for thousands of people in his state would be ‘ennobling’ for poor people.

“The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration announced last month that beginning in 2015, it would no longer request a waiver to the federal work requirement for certain people who use the SNAP program. Up to 65,000 single Hoosiers could lose food stamp benefits unless they are working 20 hours a week or attending job training.”

Pence mentioned to Fox News that 50,000 people had joined the Indiana workforce since 2008 so it was time to return to a “core principle” of welfare reform. The theory is good, but what if there are not enough jobs available?

TYT video.

Police Break Car Window, Tase Man During Traffic Stop

Hammond, Indiana, police broke a car window and used a Taser on a passenger during a September traffic stop, according to a video recorded by a family member of the driver.

According to a federal lawsuit against the police department, the officers acted “intentionally with malice, wilfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights and safety of plaintiffs.”

Yet in a rebuttal the Hammond, Ind., police department said the officers feared the passenger had a weapon because he refused to leave the car and repeatedly reached into the back seat, according to the Chicago Tribune.