It’s a good thing I gave my wife her Valentine’s Day presents yesterday, because I have a lot of things to follow this weekend.

Marion County Assessor Greg Bowes is formally announcing his candidacy for County Prosecutor this morning.   He plans to run against the slate.

Not to be outdone, former City-County Councilor Ron Gibson announces at noon that he’s running for Mayor of Indianapolis next year.

Marion County Republicans and Democrats will slate their candidates this weekend. I don’t expect too much excitement on the Democrat side, things could get interesting with the GOP in the race for Sheriff between Dennis Fishburn and Bart McAtee.    The main thing I’ll be watching is how motivated and excited each party is about their chances in November with current political climate.

Don Bates, Jr. is officially filing today for the U.S. Senate.

That enough for you?

While interviewing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats on the radio yesterday, I had a flashback to the 2004 U.S. Senate race in my home state of Illinois.  I was doing the same talk show/political commentator gig and covering Alan Keyes’ entrance into the race against then U.S. Senator Barack Obama.

During a news conference Keyes (who is from Maryland) was asked if he was going to campaign in every county in Illinois?  He said definitely.  The reporter asked, “even Lincoln County.”  He said “especially Lincoln County!”  There is no Lincoln County.  Keyes looked like a bigger buffoon than he already was.

I bring this story up not to equate Dan Coats with Alan Keyes, because I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.  But it does highlight the pitfalls of getting into a race in a place where either you’ve never been or haven’t been in for a while.

Already there’s a backlash growing against Coats’ candidacy from Hoosiers who are either supporting other candidates or question his motives and Democrats are having a field day pointing out statements Coats has made in regards to whether he had any intent to come back to the state, much less run for the U.S. Senate.

Yes, Coats can likely raise the money to mount a credible challenge against Bayh and his network of D.C. contacts doesn’t hurt either.  His credentials as a Congressman, U.S. Senator and Ambassador to Germany are pretty impressive.   However, Coats is going to have to work hard to dispel the growing belief that his campaign is based political expedience not conviction.   And he doesn’t have a lot of time to do it.   He has 82 days to convince Hoosiers that he is still one of them, that he’s not a typical Washington insider and that he didn’t run away from a fight back when the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync were the nation’s number one acts.

A new study by Ball State University gives creedance to anyone who thinks the minimum wage is a bad idea.

The study shows that more than half a million jobs have been lost over the past 10 years because of minimum wage increases.

Anyone who has ever run a business knows that when the minimum wage goes up, you have three options; raise prices, cut your profits, or fire or not hire someone.

Advocates say the minimum wage increases are necessary because of  increases in the cost of living.  I totally disagree.  The minimum wage was not made for someone to live off of.  In a perfect world it wouldn’t exist and employers and employees would negotiate their own salaries.

And spare me the “workers would only be paid a $1 a day” because we all know that’s not true. People would be paid based on what they could work out and employers who pay bad wages won’t be in business long because they’ll get horrible employees.

If elected officials wanted to really jump start this economy they would cut taxes on employers and get rid of the minimum wage.

Although things have quieted down over at the Indiana General Assembly, there are still some bills of interest worth paying attention to, one of which deals with the start of school.

Last week the Senate approved a bill that would push the start of school back to after Labor Day in 2012 and schools would end by June 10.  Private schools and year-round schools would be exempt.  The measure in the House right now.

At the risk of sounding like my late grandfather, back when I was in school in Chicago we started after Labor Day and finished around June 5 or 6.  And somehow we managed to turn out just fine.

There is no reason to start school in early August.  Schools used to start early because of I-Step testing, but I-Step has been moved to the Spring.   Some school administrators also argue they need to start school early so kids can complete their finals before winter break.

Once again, I’m about to sound like my grandfather here, but I can clearly recall my school district giving us finals two weeks after the Holiday break and everyone turned out just fine.  In fact we preferred it that way so we had to do some studying over break and not forget everything.  We also didn’t have a fall break.

By starting after Labor Day we got to enjoy our summers and the schools got to save on air conditioning because the number of ungodly hot days were kept down to a bear minimum.

It seems like a win-win situation that’s very easy to accomplish.  Maybe that’s why it will take forever to get done.

Now that the Indianapolis Colts have lost the Super Bowl (31-17),  I can let you know what else is on tap for this week…

In the race to challenge Evan Bayh, you would think that former U.S. Senator Dan Coats was already in the race the way the ads have been popping up all over the place.  The most damning one in my opinion is the You Tube clip where he says he had no intention of ever returning to Indiana.  Yikes!

Also expect U.S. Senate candidate Don Bates, Jr. to file on Thursday.  His campaign tells me they have the signatures to get on the ballot.  No word yet from the other candidates.

Things are getting interesting in two of Indiana’s Congressional races.   State Rep. Mike Murphy put out a poll last week saying only 28% of GOP voters think 5th District incumbent Dan Burton should be re-elected.  The other challengers all had support in the teens and more than 40% of the voters were undecided.  That does not bode well for the incumbent.  But 28% support is still better than 16% support.

In the 4th District I’m hearing State Senator Mike Young may get in the race.  Already Secretary of State Todd Rokita and State Senator Brandt Hershman are gunning for the job.  If Young gets in, how can I say this politely, he will corner the market with the intellectually challenged.

I’ll be checking to see how things play out in the Indiana House of Representatives now that Democrat Chet Dobis has been stripped of his leadership position and just how far will he go to vote his conscience on matters.   As accurately pointed out on Frugal Hoosiers, if Dobis decides to play hardball he can block any party-line measure from happening because the Democrats would only have 50 votes, which is not enough to pass anything.  Democrats only had a 52-48 majority and State Rep. Dennie Oxley, Sr. is out with health issues.  Do the math.

The candidates keep piling on the race to fill the spot on the Indianapolis City-County Council being vacated by Republican Kent Smith.  So far the list of possible candidates includes Aaron Williams, son of Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams,  Jackie Cissel, Daniels administration aide at FSSA, local businessmen Angel Rivera and Chris Douglas and former CIB board member Dorothy Henry.   All bring unique qualifications to the job, but what I think is more interesting is that you have three African-Americans, two of which are women, a Hispanic and an openly gay man.  This is definitely not your father’s Republican Party.

Speaking of City-County Councilors, I would be surprised if there is a formal statement this week from Jim Voyles regarding Councilor Lincoln Plowman, who is under investigation but no one is quite sure exactly for what.   Plowman has not spoken publicly but on his Facebook page he offered thanks to everyone who has offered their support and told them “Please do not believe everything that you hear or read from the news media sources.”  Plowman does not plan to step down from the Council.

Expect Mitch Daniels legal counsel Mark Massa to formally enter the race for Marion County Prosecutor today.  Slating for both the Democrats and Republicans is this weekend.  I’m debating which one to hit.  The Republicans actually have a contest for Sheriff.   The Democratic slating contest was over before it began.  I’ll be checking the energy and enthusiasm of both crowds.

Also expect a report to come out this week on mass transit in Central Indiana.  Whereas previous reports have ended up mothballed on the shelf, this one, I’m told, might actually have some teeth behind it.

That’s what I’m watching this week.  There’s a lot more I could add to the list but 635 words is more than enough for Monday morning.

Since most of you are probably more interested the Super Bowl than local issues, I’m taking a weekend hiatus from blogging.

I’m also behind on my college teaching responsibilities so I’ll need the weekend to catch up.

I’ll probably throw something back up late Sunday or Monday morning.  Stay dry this weekend.

And may the best team win the Super Bowl.

Today has been an odd day to say the least.  I’ve been tracking down the story regarding City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman and his administrative leave (with pay) from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Here’s what I know so far and you can take the information for what it’s worth.

Apparently the Justice Department’s Public Integrity unit has been stepping up its enforcement lately of local and state officials across the country who might be up to wrongdoing.

One of the targets of that investigation is Plowman.  While I’ve left messages for his attorney and the FBI, what I’ve discovered from conversations with individuals involved in the investigation is that the FBI suspects Plowman may have taken money in order to influence zoning matters for a developer.

However, the individuals I’ve spoke with who have been interviewed by the FBI say they never had any knowledge of such alleged activity.

In addition, the FBI has also asked those individuals if they had any knowledge of corruption by any other elected officials, to which they have responded “no”.

I have been checking other local media and from I’ve been able to gather from my sources, Plowman never received a visit from the FBI nor did they raid his home.

This is not to say that Plowman is in the free and clear by any means, however the impression I have from following this all day is that the FBI may be on a fishing expedition looking for any information that they can use against embattled financier Tim Durham.

Now some of you may want to call me out for this due to my relationship with Plowman, that’s fine.  I’m a big boy and I can deal with it.   However,  any of you who truly know me know I have no tolerance for elected officials who breech the public trust and break the law.   And if you have evidence that would lead to the guilt of any elected official in Marion County, don’t post here, take it to the authorities.

Right now, from what I’ve gathered, the local FBI is looking for whatever information it can find to help make a case against Durham and the agency is going down whatever path it thinks will lead it to him.

Is it my imagination or has this week just been non-stop politically?!  Here’s the latest…

City-County Council Member Lincoln Plowman is on administrative leave from IMPD pending an internal investigation.  It’s unclear exactly what Plowman is under investigation for, but it appear its is related to his duties as a Council Member.   According published reports Plowman has hired attorney James Voyles, a clear indication of whatever this is, it’s serious.

Speaking of Council,  At-large Council member Kent Smith is stepping down.  Smith is taking a new active-duty position with the National Guard and according to new Department of  Defense rules, it would be difficult for Smith to serve in that position. According to county party rules a caucus must be called within 30 days to fill the vacancy.  So far the names mentioned include Aaron Williams, son of deputy Mayor Olgen Williams,  former Capitol Improvement Board member Dorothy Henry, local businessmen Chris Douglas and Angel Rivera.

Indianapolis Public School students will only get an hour off the Monday after the  the Super Bowl.   IPS officials tried to start school with a two-hour delay, but the Department of Education said two-hour delays are only good for emergencies and the Super Bowl is not an emergency and students would have to make up the day.  You would have thought someone would have checked first.

Expect an announcement soon about the Republicans’ choice for the Marion County Prosecutor.

5th District Congressional candidate Mike Murphy has put out a new poll showing only 28% of the Republican voters in the  district think incumbent Dan Burton should be re-elected.  When asked which candidate had the best chance at beating Burton, Murphy and John McGoff were tied at 16%.   Luke Messer comes in with 15% and Brose McVey with 11%.   The poll also shows 43% of the voters are undecided on who they want to replace Burton.

And there appears to be a backlash against a Dan Coats run for the U.S. Senate.  On his Facebook page, Conservative State Senator Mike Delph says while he respects Dan Coats, he says Coats’ opportunity to run against Evan Bayh was back in 1998 and he chose to walk away.  Delph also says the other candidates are working hard and the GOP nomination must be earned.

Here’s Dan Coats statement on challenging Evan Bayh.

After much thoughtful consideration, I have authorized my supporters to begin gathering signatures as I test the waters for a potential challenge to Evan Bayh in 2010. Over the next few weeks, I will be talking to Hoosiers from all walks of life, and I will make a formal announcement regarding my intentions in the near future.

So is he running or not running?

Indianapolis Public School students might not get most of the morning off the day after the Super Bowl.

IPS is planing to delay school by two hours on Monday because of the big game, but the Indiana Department of Education tells Indiana Barrister News that state rules  mandate students must be in school the entire time and delays can only be used for emergency situations like the weather.

The State says IPS would have to make up the day later in the school year, or let school out two hours later on Monday.   A Department  spokesman says IPS could ask for a waiver to allow the 2-hour delay, but it’s unlikely it would get it for the Super Bowl.