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Victoria Beckham pulled out of the furlough scheme to save her image, says CAROLE MALONE



POSH still doesn't get it. Two weeks ago, when she announced she was furloughing 30 staff at her ailing fashion label, there was a public outcry.




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DSU offers new certificate, chooses new Atwood Innovation Plaza director

Dixie State University recently announced both a new educational certificate and a new director for its Atwood Innovation Plaza.

       




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Springdale mayor shares details of Zion reopening, urges visitors to 'take your turn'

Zion National Park officials announced this weekend the park will be reopening May 13 "certain areas" of the park. Here's what that means.

       




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Letters to the editor: May 6

Letters to the editor: May 6

       




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The coronavirus crisis is not the Tories' finest hour, says FREDERICK FORSYTH



THERE is a steadily growing groundswell of opinion in this country that refuses to diminish or be silenced. I hope I may claim to have been a pioneer.




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Good news stories

These powerful, human stories offer some good news: our families, friends and neighbors are moving forward amid coronavirus.

      




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Young Actors Theatre presents new play, 'Love Over Dose,' at the Anthenaeum

The play is the theater program's way of countering anti-drug programs that haven't worked — the kind where adults shake fingers at students.

      




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'Frankenstein' and Mary Lincoln: Here's Indiana Repertory Theatre's 2020-2021 season

Indiana Repertory Theatre's new plays include Mary Lincoln's reclusiveness, 'Fahrenheit 451' and a celebration of Indianapolis' bicentennial.

      




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For creators of Madam C.J. Walker Netflix series, her story is timeless and 'aspirational'

The Netflix series "Self Made" depicts Madam C.J. Walker's rise as a hair care entrepreneur in Indianapolis.

      




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Indy art historian's 'You Are an Artist' book supplies ideas, and readers supply effort

Indianapolis art historian Sarah Urist Green presents more than 50 do-it-yourself projects in 'You Are an Artist' book

       




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Indiana restaurant history in photos: From tenderloins to fried brains

In Indiana, everyone knows the best restaurants to get the best pie, fried chicken, tenderloins and yes...fried brains.

      




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Retro Indy: Grocery stores and supermarkets

From the neighborhood markets to the supermarkets of our past

      




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Director of 'Sound of Music,' 'West Side Story' never forgot his Hoosier roots

The prolific and multi-Oscar-winning director Robert Wise always credited his Indiana roots for his strong work ethic in Hollywood.

      




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Black History: Famed Indiana artists have a shared heritage at Manual High School

William Edouard Scott and John Wesley Hardrick both studied under famed Impressionist painter Otto Stark at Manual High School.

      




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'More than corn in Indiana': The history of Indiana Beach Amusement Park

After nearly 100 years, the northern Indiana resort and amusement park closes. The park near Monticello was originally named Ideal Beach.

      




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

Margaret Thatcher's ability to kick off what Mrs Merton used to call a heated debate, is apparent on today's front pages.

The Sun has commissioned a poll of Britain's favourite prime ministers. "Maggie wins again!" it cries. Margaret Thatcher pushes Churchill into second place, and Clement Attlee can only manage 5%, behind Tony Blair and Harold Wilson.

In the YouGov poll of 1,893 adults, poor old Ted Heath and David Cameron finish with nil points. Pitt the younger doesn't get a look in either although that's because the poll confines itself to post-war leaders.

The Times strikes a conciliatory note. "Royal respect as Queen leads Thatcher mourners." The paper says that whatever misgivings the Queen may have had about Thatcherism have been put to one side. "The conjecture that the Queen was fundamentally opposed to much of what her longest-serving prime minister stood for will be forgotten in the significance of the moment."

"Operation True Blue: Thatcher funeral in security clampdown," warns the Guardian about fears that the funeral service may foment civic unrest and terrorist attacks.

The ipaper risks not only spreading alarm and confusion but enraging pedants. "Britain at war over Thatcher funeral". Erm, tanks on the streets, pitched battles? Oh, not literally.

The Daily Mirror goes in hard but with better grammar. "The £10m goodbye. Why is Britain's most divisive Prime Minister getting a ceremonial funeral fit for a Queen?"

It may not come as a total surprise to find that the Daily Mail is angry. Very angry. "The flames of hatred: 30 years of Left wing loathing for Lady T explodes in sick celebrations of her death." (There's also a medium range ballistic missile launched from page 10 at the good people of this parish...)

The Daily Telegraph tries to calm things down. "No gushing hysteria, just quiet, dignified respect" is the headline over Michael Deacon's report from Finchley, the Iron Lady's constituency for 33 years. A local recalls how she had a soft spot for a bar called Cheers.

"She would pop in and have a drink. Denis would have gin and tonic and I think she would have a glass of wine...She was very approachable and friendly." It's cosy and sepia tinted, like the credits of Coronation Street relocated to prosperous middle class suburbia.

But amidst all the gentle colour, the writer can't resist one pot shot at those celebrating Thatcher's death. "For those who insist that Left-wing ideology is motivated above all by compassion for others, this must be a difficult week." Ouch!

Which leaves one paper not doing Thatcher on its front page. Come in Daily Express, your taste for bathos knows no bounds. (Yes, even the Daily Star splashes on the funeral costs). "Gel to wipe out arthritic pain" runs the headline.

And on that bombshell...




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

Sometimes an incongruous detail is all you need for a great story. Like putting Madonna and Gary Neville in the same headline.

"Madonna's very rude...Gary Neville has equally dazzling stature but better manners", goes the Daily Mirror headline.

The story is badged "It's Official" suggesting there may be an element of tongue in cheek. As might the picture of Neville wearing an England tracksuit, captioned "Dazzler", on one side of the page with Madge in a Panama hat on the other.

The paper reports that the Malawian government made an "astonishing attack" on the US artiste after she visited her charity in the southern African country last week.

The reason for the spat remains vague. The paper reports that she was "left fuming after being snubbed by president Joyce Banda and having to queue with economy passengers at the airport as she flew out of the capital Lilongwe".

The government statement accuses her of wanting Malawi "to be for ever chained to the obligation of gratitude".

Other papers note though that the government diatribe follows the sacking of the president's sister as head of Raising Malawi, Madonna's charity there.

But the story's real joy is in the ill-assorted mix of celebs the government lists.

"It is worth making her aware that Malawi has hosted many international stars, including Chuck Norris, Bono, David James, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville who have never demanded state attention or decorum despite their equally dazzling stature."

Paper Monitor guesses that the Mirror subs had a little chat about which of the three footballers to pair with Madge in the headline.

Which would jar most incongruously next to the "Queen of Pop"? Somehow, ineffably, Gary Neville wins every time.




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

If you're a woman, it may be worth reading the Times before getting dressed this morning.

The paper reports how Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon, an academic at the University Hospital of Besancon in eastern France, has broken the post-war consensus.

Bras may not be necessary for holding up breasts. Or "norks" as Carol Midgley calls them in her commentary.

The Frenchman tracked 320 women's breasts over 15 years. I'll bet he did, a wag might mutter.

"Our first results validate the hypothesis that the bra is a false need," the professor says, adopting a most unpage 3 lexicon.

"Medically, physiologically and anatomically, the breast derives no benefit from being deprived of gravity. If it is, the tissues that support it are going to decline and the breast will progressively suffer damage."

Prof Rouillon is not one to shirk the detail. He notes that after a year of not wearing a bra, the nipples of women aged between 18 and 35 rose by 7mm on average.

Older and underweight women might need a bra but for the young it could be damaging, he argues in a technocratic idiom that comes naturally to a Francophone scientist.

"If a woman puts on a bra when her breasts first appear, the suspensory apparatus does not work properly and tissues of the bra distend."

It's left to Midgely to shoot his theory down with some anecdotal evidence of a less professorial tone. "Going without them gives you backache, a dowager's hump and the impression that two labrador puppies are tussling under your jumper."

Paper Monitor, who cannot confirm or deny the presence of a bra about its person, is keeping an open mind until Monsieur Rouillon's full research is published.




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

The electronic Daily Telegraph is now behind a paywall. Paper Monitor has effected an old-school breach of that wall - buying a copy of the actual paper.

It's almost like going undercover. Reading an actual paper edition of a newspaper.

Page two has the gratifying news that Carol Vorderman's nose is better. She fell down and broke it. She did not have a nose job. That was speculation.

Page six reveals that cheats in school games are copying footballers. For clarity, in Telegraphland a common equation is footballers=bad.

But you have to wait until page 11 for the really serious news.

"Here's to you, Mrs Robinson. Why more 40-somethings are dating younger men".

That's the headline. And there's a massive picture of Helen McCrory. Massive.

The anchor on the same page is Catherine Deneuve saying flat shoes are sexier than "twisted" and impossible high heels.

Further on there's a leader. It quotes the Song of Solomon.

Oh, to wear one's erudition so lightly.




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

There's crime stories. And then there's quirky crime stories.

The Daily Telegraph headline gives you a clue that this is a nice, light story about how crime doesn't pay.

"Happiness is... a burglar wasting three days for pouch of tobacco."

The ne'er-do-well spent three nights chiselling away at the wall of Medway Motorcycles in Rochester to make a hole big enough to squeeze into. Finally he breached the 2ft-thick wall. The high performance bikes were to be his. And then he realised he'd forgotten about the alarm.

"One false move towards the bikes would have sent the alarm ringing," the paper reports. "So the thief crept up to the first floor instead, looking for items to steal."

In the end he left with just a packet of rolling tobacco worth £3.

"When I got here the next morning the place was in a right state but all I can see he has nicked is my Golden Virginia," the owner says.

The proprietor's surname is Eastwood. If only he'd caught the burglar in the act.

Imagine the scene, burglar holding the Golden Virginia, Eastwood - first name Jez but we'll gloss over that - reaching for his pretend, concealed .44 Magnum: "You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?"

It took Paper Monitor a while to work out the happiness allusion of the headline.

A clue - it depends how many TV ads you remember from the 1980s that used Bach's Air on a G string to conjure up plumes of sensuous tobacco smoke. Answers to the usual place.




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Paper Monitor

A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.

Hair we go again. Sorry, Paper Monitor couldn't resist.

Yes, it's another hair story, and yes, there's a picture of Jennifer Aniston.

This time, however, the Daily Mail reports that the Friends star has finally fallen out of favour. At least, her hairstyle has anyway.

It says a survey on the best onscreen hairstyles reveals her locks are no longer the most influential.

"Sorry, Jen... Anne's top of the crops," is its headline, revealing that Anne Hathaway's crowning glory has outshone the competition.

The elfin cut was first sported in the 2011 adaptation of David Nicholls's hit novel One Day. But it was her Oscar-winning turn in Les Miserables, as Fantine, which saw her cut it off for an extended period.

The actress was said to be "inconsolable" after the chop so it's quite a turnaround.

For those interested in which other celebrities made the cut, Miss Aniston's long curly style in Along Came Polly was in second place. And Audrey Hepburn's "up do" from 1963 film Charade in third.




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Letters: Avoid inflammatory rhetoric during impeachment proceedings

We need to educate ourselves and then trust the process the framers' included in the Constitution, a letter to the editor says.

      




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Letters: Snowplows scarcely seen on interstates during storm

The interstates were a disaster with snow more than 3 inches deep in places, a letter to the editor says.

      




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IMPD says motorist and officer exchanged gunfire

Within an eight hour period, IMPD officers have been involved the fatal shooting of two suspects and the death of a pregnant pedestrian.

       




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Indianapolis 500: 'Thor' actor Chris Hemsworth will wave green flag

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth will wield green flag, not Thor's hammer, at 2018 Indianapolis 500.

       




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5 Record Store Day acts in 100 seconds

Check out performances at Indy CD & Vinyl, Luna Music and Square Cat Vinyl.

       




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Indiana storm damage: Poles down in Hamilton County as thousands still without electricity

Thousands remain without power after severe storms moved through Hamilton County. Westfield reported several transmission poles were down in the area.

       




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How an e-cigarette store owner is making his businesses essential during coronavirus

Many businesses have had to change course during the coronavirus lockdown but few as quickly this e-cig maker who now makes hand sanitizer.

       




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IndyCar needs fans or NASCAR to run at Texas Motor Speedway in 2020, says track president

The president of Texas Motor Speedway is still hoping to run the Genesys 600 with fans in June. But if they're turned away, he'll need NASCAR's help.

       




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IndyCar details plans for season-opener at Texas Motor Speedway, including no fans

IndyCar will host its season-opener at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6 as planned, but without fans and in a one-day show.

       




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Cartoonist Gary Varvel: A history of voter cartoons

The importance of voting as seen in Varvel's cartoons.

      




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Varvel: Drawing Mike Braun's victory

Watch Gary Varvel's time lapse video of how Mike Braun won the Senate race.

      




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Tully: A story about former police chief Troy Riggs

Former Police Chief Troy Riggs has left for Denver, but Indianapolis should remember his message.

      




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Tully: Broad Ripple High School's last valedictorian

Jennifer Argumedo is this year's valedictorian at Broad Ripple High School. With the school closing after 90 years, she will be its last.

       




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Here's how to win free gift cards at Avon's new At Home store

Located off U.S. 36, home decor store At Home will replace what used to be a Gander Mountain in Avon, Indiana.

      




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See what Wild Wednesday is all about: 'We come out to hear the music of the motors.'

Ordinary people in their ordinary cars take to the drag strip to get their need for speed.

      




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Funeral director on how families are honoring their loved ones during coronavirus pandemic

Eric Bell, a funeral director in Pittsboro, Ind., says the longest he's waited to hold a memorial service is two months for a deceased person. He explains why.

       




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The corporate story behind GDP challenge

A clutch of big company results today illustrate the big economic trends in the UK and the world - and also say something about what the UK economy needs if its insipid recovery is to become something a bit stronger.

First the good news.

ARM, the world-leading designer of electronic chips for smartphones, tablets and consumer devices, saw revenues rise 29% in the first three months of the year and profits increase 35% (to £51m).

If we had a few more ARMs in this country, we would be agonising less about the imperative of "rebalancing" the structure of our wealth-creation away from financial services and the City.

That said, we'd need an incredible number of ARMs to make a dent in the high unemployment figures, because ARM simply licences its technology to the likes of Apple and LG, which put the chips into their devices. Or to put it another way, ARM's success is in exploiting the grey matter of a few boffins: it manufactures nothing.

Now part of the drag on Britain's recovery is the burden of debt on households and the impact of rising commodity prices on consumers' spending power.

You can see some of that in the first half figures of Associated British Foods, which points out that world sugar prices are at a 30-year high and that there has been a sugar shortage in Europe. ABF's sugar, grocery and agriculture profits were up substantially (sugar by 27%).

ABF's Primark chain of shops, whose prices tend to be the lowest on the high street, seems to have benefited from shoppers desire to trade down and economise, since underlying or like-for-like sales rose 3%. But although that looks okay compared with competitors, it was half the rate of last year's increase.

A further manifestation of all that borrowing in the euphoric years, before the bubble burst in 2007-8, is another set of uninspiring financial results from Heathrow and Stansted airports, and their holding company, BAA (SP) limited.

The losses of the two London airports increased 8% to £211.5m and net debt in BAA (SP) was flat at a substantial £9.9bn. Net debt at the next corporate level up, BAA (SH) plc was a chunky £10.4bn, against a regulated asset base of £13bn (which moved in the right direction by 2.7%).

BAA was acquired by the Spanish group Ferrovial and partners at the height of the debt-fuelled buyout boom of 2006 - and although BAA would argue that operational performance has improved, there is a question about when if ever the owners will ever see a return on their enormous investment.

Meanwhile, in spite of the rising trend of commodities and energy, including oil, BP's profits in the first three months of the year actually fell a fraction to $5.5bn. You can see the impact of higher oil prices in a near trebling of profits to $2.1bn made in refining and marketing - but there was a significant fall in production, some of it related to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

The fundamental BP story is that the risks and costs of extracting energy are on a secular rising trend - for which we all pay a price.

Last but never least is Barclays and its figures for the first quarter of 2011 - which show top line income lower than the first quarter of last year and below the last quarter of last year. As for profits, they were up a bit or down a bit, depending on what view you take of whether changes in the notional value of Barclays' own borrowings should be included.

The unambiguous trend is a sharp reduction in the charge of debts and investments going bad - which was 39% lower compared with a year ago and 33% down on a three-month comparison.

As for lending, loans to retail customers rose by just under £1bn to £229bn since the end of 2010 - which is neither here nor there for a bank of Barclays' size. And the overall value of Barclays' loans and investments, on a risk-weighted basis, fell 1.5% over 12 months to £392bn.

For Barclays and other big western banks, it's no longer about growing their balance sheets, about lending more and more. Their long term recovery requires deleveraging, shrinking, which is the corollary of the perceived need for western consumers and governments to pay down their respective debts.

Here's the painful part: we may need banks to become smaller, but we all suffer if in the process they starve job-creating businesses of vital finance.

Those who fear the worst won't be reassured by figures just released by the British Bankers Association (BBA), which show that net lending to non-financial businesses by banks fell £3.2bn in March.

The BBA blames weak demand from companies. And although Barclays and the other banks have promised the Treasury, in their Project Merlin agreement, that they will meet the credit needs of the economy, my electronic postbag indicates that there remains quite a gap between their perception of deserving borrowers and yours.

Update 11:15: As some of you have pointed out, ARM saw its profits increase to £51m not £51bn, as I originally said, whilst losses at the two London airports increased to £211.5m, not £211.5bn. Sorry for my brainstorm. I've probably been dealing in billions a little too often recently - due to the magnitude of our recent financial crisis.




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Great way to spend holiday cash: '100 Years, 500 Miles' historic Indy 500 book

Coffee table picture book tells the 100-year history of the famous race

       




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Sintomas do coronavírus: quais os novos sinais de covid-19 que as autoridades americanas acrescentaram à lista

Ao longo da pandemia e com rápida propagação do vírus, que já atingiu mais de 3 milhões de pessoas, tem surgido diversos outros sinais associados à enfermidade, como tremores e calafrios persistentes.




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Autoridades americanas comemoram 'efeito certeiro' de remédio contra coronavírus

No mesmo dia, entretanto, uma publicação no periódico Lancet colocou dúvida sobre eficácia do remdesivir.




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Bolsonaro terá 'centrão', mas impeachment pode avançar se houver apoio popular, dizem autores de pedido

Ciro Gomes (PDT), Kim Kataguiri (DEM), Joice Hasselmann (PSL), Alessandro Molon (PSB) e outros autores de pedidos de impeachment de Bolsonaro avaliam as chances do impedimento prosseguir no Congresso.




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A descoberta nas fontes termais de Yellowstone, nos EUA, que se tornou chave para os testes da covid-19

Há meio século, Thomas Brock descobriu uma bactéria capaz de sobreviver a altas temperaturas; saiba como essa descoberta cruza com o combate à pandemia do novo coronavírus.




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Diretor da PF foi trocado para garantir mudança de chefia no RJ, diz Moro em depoimento

'Você tem 27 Superintendências, eu quero apenas uma, a do Rio de Janeiro', teria dito Bolsonaro a Moro. Primeira ação do novo diretor-geral da PF foi trocar comando no Rio.




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Hunter Dickinson likes that 'big-man factory' Purdue is prioritizing him

Purdue, along with Notre Dame, Gonzaga, Louisville and Kentucky are recruiting Dickinson. Duke is also in the mix but has yet to offer Dickinson.

       




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'That's when it changed.' Story of how 2009 team put IU baseball on the map

"I look at that group — it was not sexy at that time to play for Indiana. They made it sexy."

       




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Debt collectors can't touch coronavirus stimulus money, Indiana Supreme Court rules

The federal government said millions will receive payouts. But some Indiana residents worried that their money could be taken by debt collectors.

       




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Mike Pence to visit Indiana GM plant now making ventilators to fight the coronavirus

Vice President Mike Pence will visit Indiana next week to spotlight an automotive plant making ventilators to fight the COVID 19 pandemic.

       




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Mother Teresa attorney to 5th District candidate: stop using her name, image in campaign ads

A lawyer who served as legal counsel for Mother Teresa told Republican Chuck Dietzen to stop using Mother Teresa's name and image in ads.

       




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Biden campaign calls Pence visit to Indiana ventilator factory an undeserved victory lap

Mike Pence will visit Kokomo Thursday to highlight the administration's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.