Bringing hope, happiness and healing to families raising kids with life-threatening illnesses

Chris Hirschfeld has a message for the media: Stop stereotyping conservatives.

Once again, Indiana government officials are pushing plans to increase logging in state forests.

A long-stalled push to eliminate gerrymandering suddenly enjoys some momentum.

Bipartisanship doesn't score you many points in politics these days. But it should, and Sen. Joe Donnelly is a perfect example of why.

We miss you, friend.

The Indiana congressional delegation introduced a House resolution expressing support for the goals and ideas of ''Stomach Cancer Awareness Month."

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

With Matt Tully's death, our community has lost a strong and passionate advocate for those whose needs are often overlooked, especially children.

Steve Brunes spent nearly four decades coaching Indiana high school basketball with stops at Brownsburg, Cowan, Columbus East, Castle and Alexandria.

"I love from afar, do the best I can from afar but nothing equals a hug," said Eric Ball, funeral director, owner of David A. Hall Mortuary.

Belatedly, I've got round to looking at the Treasury's recent decision to change how it calculates the necessary contributions that have to be made to cover the future costs of unfunded public service pensions.

My interest was sparked by a letter sent to the chancellor by 23 pension experts, organised by the consultant John Ralfe. They argue that the Treasury has made a mistake in its choice of a new so-called discount rate.

If you think this is tedious abstruse stuff that has no relevance to you, think again. The aggregate public-sector net liability for pensions is so huge - perhaps £1 trillion - that it matters to all of us as taxpayers, especially those likely to be paying tax in 10 and 20 years time, that the government has a reliable and accurate valuation of pension promises.

Pensions represent, to coin the phrase, a massive off-balance-sheet debt. And as we've all learned to our cost from the financial crisis of 2007-8, it is a bad idea to carry on blithely pretending off-balance-sheet liabilities don't exist.

So what is this blessed discount rate? Well in the private sector it can be seen as the number used to translate into today's money a commitment to pay £650 a week pension (for example) for 30 years or so to a retired employee (till he or she dies), so that we can see whether there's enough money in the pension fund to pay that employee (and all the other employees) during his or her long retirement.

The point of the discount rate is to assess whether there's enough money in the pension fund - or whether it needs to be topped up.

Which is all very well, except that for most of the public sector, there are no funds or pots of money to pay for future pensions. Most of the pension promises are unfunded, payable out of employees' current contributions and out of general taxation.

That said, since public sector workers are increasingly expected to make a contribution to the costs of their own pensions, it would presumably be sensible for that contribution to be set at a level that is rationally related to the value of promised pensions.

So what is the best way of measuring the cost today of new pension promises?

Well the government has decided to "discount" those promises by the rate at which the economy is expected to grow.

Now there is some logic to that: the growth rate of the economy should determine the growth rate of tax revenues; and the growth rate of tax revenues will have a direct bearing on whether future pension promises will bankrupt us all or not.

But here's the thing. Any private sector chief executive might well be sent to prison if he or she decided to use the equivalent discount rate for a company, which would be the expected growth rate of that company's revenues or profits.

The reason is that although it might be possible to remove subjectivity (or in a worst case, manipulation) from any long-term forecast of the growth of GDP or of a company's turnover, it is not possible to remove considerable uncertainty.

To illustrate, the Treasury has chosen a GDP growth rate of 3% per annum as the discount rate for public sector pensions, which is considerably above the rate at which the UK economy has grown for years or indeed may grow for many years.

If we were growing at 3%, we would in practice be less worried about the off-balance-sheet liabilities of public-sector pensions, because the on-balance-sheet debt of the government would not be growing at an unsustainably fast rate.

To put it another way, in choosing its view of the long term growth rate of GDP as the discount rate, the Treasury is arguably understating the burden of future pensions to a considerable extent.

So what discount rate do companies use?

Well they are obliged to discount the liabilities at the yield or interest rate on AA rated corporate bonds.

Which may not be ideal, but has some advantages: there is a market price for AA corporate bonds, so the yield or discount rate is difficult to manipulate by unscrupulous employers; and it tells the company how much money would need to be in the pension pot, on the basis that all the money were invested in relatively safe investments (AA corporate bonds).

Now Ralfe and his chums believe that the discount rate for public sector promises should be the yield on long-term index linked gilts (gilts are bonds or debts of the British government) - partly because this too has a difficult-to-manipulate market price and because an index-linked government bond is a very similar liability to a public sector pension promise (both are protected against inflation, both are in effect debts of the government).

They point out that gilt interest and principal payments are paid out of future tax revenues, just as future pensions are. So if the value today of future pensions should be discounted at the GDP rate, that's how index linked gilts should be value on the government's balance sheet - which would be bonkers.

Anyway, if you've read this far (and many congratulations to you if you have), you may take the view that it would not be rational to impose a tougher discount rate on the government than on private-sector companies - which is what Ralfe et al seem to want, in that the yield on index linked gilts will always be lower than the yield on AA corporate bonds (because HMG, even with all its debts, is deemed to be more creditworthy than any British business).

But for a government and for a chancellor who have made it a badge of honour to bring transparency and prudence to public-sector finances, prospective GDP growth does look a slightly rum discount rate for valuing those enormous pension liabilities.

Indiana University will move to remote teaching after its scheduled spring break over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

As districts prepare for the possibility of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in their schools, most consider a move to online learning.

As the first cases of Hoosiers who test positive for COVID-19 are confirmed, schools in central Indiana are continuing to keep families updated.

As national, state and local officials consider ways to slow the spread of COVID-19, many are closing schools.

Schools across the state are suspending in-person instruction, canceling travel and asking students to stay away.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced new steps to combat the spread of the coronavirus Thursday, including the prolonged closure of schools.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that all Indiana schools are closed until May 1, possibly beyond that.

More Indiana schools are using eLearning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's some advice to make it a success for students, teachers and parents.

Indiana schools will be closed until at least May 1, but districts are ensuring employees continue to get paid.

Schools across the state are closed until at least May 1, and it's possible that will be extended so students finish the year at home.

Colleges across Indiana are navigating how to handle refunds for students who have had to vacate residence halls during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city of Indianapolis is offering discounted child care services to families of first responders. Here's why healthy practices are so important to combat the coronavirus.

From federal funds to decisions about opening and closing schools, here's how census data makes a difference for schools.

Indianapolis Metropolitan police are investigating after a man was found shot on the city's northwest side Thursday night.

The April Fools' prank is being shared in Indiana and other states across the nation.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick announced Thursday that schools will stay closed for the rest of the academic year.

Indiana's K-12 schools will stayed closed through the end of the academic year as the state continues to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

Governor Holcomb announced schools will be closed for the rest of the school year, but districts are committed to continue providing meals for kids.

Indiana colleges and universities talk plans for the fall as campuses remain empty statewide

As Indiana prepares to reopen its economy during coronavirus, parents who are returning to work are facing a new challenge about childcare.

As colleges look to the fall semester, they're faced with the uncertainty of what it will look like. But plans are underway.

This Teacher Appreciation Week, IndyStar asked readers to help recognize some of the amazing teachers going above and beyond during these times.

Kim Tae- hoon, de 45 anos, cuida de 10 meninos norte-coreanos que desertaram do regime repressivo de Pyongyang sem seus pais; o mais novo tem apenas 10 anos e o mais velho, 22.

Ex-juiz da Lava Jato, Moro anunciou sua demissão do governo e acusou o presidente Bolsonaro de tentar interferir em investigações.

Sita Tyasutami foi identificada como a 'paciente zero' da doença na Indonésia.

Mãe na Argentina diz temer que o assassino asmático do filho não sobreviva ao covid-19 na cadeia.

Apesar de serem menos afetadas pelo coronavírus, crianças são as que podem sofrer maiores efeitos sobre sua saúde no longo prazo, explica pesquisador americano Philip Fisher.

BBC News Brasil apresenta situação do país no cenário internacional a partir de cinco dados: taxa de espalhamento da doença, taxa de morte por 1 milhão de habitantes, taxa de teste por mil habitantes, o número de dias que leva para dobrar o total de casos registrados e a previsão do PIB (soma de todas as riquezas produzidas) em 2020 e 2021.

Em entrevista à CNN Brasil, secretária Especial da Cultura diz que optou por mandar mensagens privadas às famílias, em vez de fazer homenagens públicas.

Gestores já consideram confinamento obrigatório em algumas regiões do país em que sistemas de saúde chegaram a estado de calamidade; segundo especialistas, Brasil ia bem, mas houve erros.

Para Mirian Goldenberg, que pesquisa envelhecimento há 20 anos, "estamos assistindo horrorizados a discursos sórdidos, recheados de estigmas, preconceitos e violências contra os mais velhos".

Como crise atingiu primeiro americanos, na opinião de analistas e operadores de empresas de remessas migrantes devem se recuperar financeiramente a tempo de socorrer familiares em suas cidades originais.

Governo pretende divulgar os dados atrasados em maio, segundo afirmou à BBC News Brasil secretário do Trabalho do Ministério da Economia, Bruno Dalcolmo.

Observadores do setor preveem mudanças nos aeroportos e no tráfego de pessoas, além de temer demissões em massa, em meio a uma grande incerteza sobre o futuro próximo.

Enquanto o fundador do Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, apoia medidas de isolamento, Elon Musk, da Tesla, está cada vez mais cético.

Intervenções drásticas (como a imposição de isolamento rigoroso) até 25 dias depois da primeira morte confirmada é capaz de impedir até 80% de novas mortes por coronavírus em um país, aponta pesquisa.

Estudo feito com trabalhadores de quatro Estados brasileiros apontou que 89,7% dos entrevistados tiveram ganhos iguais ou menores em relação ao período antes da pandemia.

Um dos países de maior sucesso na luta contra a covid-19, a Nova Zelândia permitiu que seus cidadãos expandissem, de forma limitada, o círculo de contatos; entenda como essa proposta funciona e por que está sendo avaliada por vários governos.