Source: The Washington Post / Getty
@kwellscomm TLCNaptown.com News & Sports —
Carrier Corporation is getting seven million dollars in tax incentives to stay here in Indiana. The air conditioner manufacturer announced earlier this year they would close their Indianapolis plant and move production to Mexico to save on labor costs. As part of a deal outlined Thursday by President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence during a press event at the company, Carrier will invest about $16-million into their local operations. Trump went on to repeat a campaign pledge to bring U.S. jobs back home. He told the crowd that companies will not continue to leave the U.S. without consequences…“it’s not going to happen.” The agreement will save about 1,000 jobs.
Source: Joe Raedle / Getty
Vermont Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders chided Trump for his deal with Carrier. However, he called it “absurd” that tax payers have to subsidize Carrier with tax breaks. Sanders said, “Trump should have told them you’re not getting a tax break, instead you’re going to lose your defense contracts if you don’t do the right thing and keep these workers—all of these workers–here in Indiana rather than sending half of those jobs to Mexico.” Sanders referenced federal contracts that Carrier’s parent company United Technologies has in place and the fact that some of those Indiana jobs are still leaving despite this Trump/Pence-brokered deal. He also said the move sets a dangerous precedent that could see other companies threaten to leave the U.S. in exchange for a tax break.
Source: ACBIII
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett weighed in. He says it’s great that Carrier is going to keep about a thousand jobs in the city. But it’s not enough. The mayor says other workers here in Indy are still losing their jobs to Mexico. Hogsett says he wants the President-elect to do more to stop other jobs in the city (like the Rexnord plant that’s also made an announcement that they are moving from Indy to Mexico for cheaper labor) from leaving .
The Washington Post is reporting from the Mexico business perspective on these Indianapolis Carrier jobs, now not coming there. They quoted the mayor of Santa Catarina, Hector Castillo Olivares who said, “I see this as something that should occupy us, not worry us.” Santa Catarina, is the suburb of the city Monterrey where the new Carrier plant has already been built.
In other news in the city…Indianapolis Metro Police say a man was killed overnight at a Speedway gas station on the city’s west side. This happened around midnight. The man, according to various media reports, is in his early 20’s and was found shot to death in his car at the gas station at Rockville and High School Roads. This police will be reviewing footage from surveillance cameras as this homicide investigation continues.
Source: Ty Wright / Getty
Vice president-elect Mike Pence is being welcomed to Washington by his new neighbors who apparently aren’t too happy with him. His new greeting is a display of gay pride flags. The flags are a not-so-subtle protest against the so-called religious objections law—RFRA—Pence signed as governor of Indiana. Activists say the law could give approval to discrimination against LGBTQ people. Pence is renting a $6,000 per month house in Northwest DC until after the inauguration. Then he’ll move into the Naval Observatory, which is the vice president’s official residence. Sidenote: Over 90-percent of DC residents voted for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election.
Purdue President Mitch Daniels says the group behind a vaguely white supremacist flier posted on campus doesn’t deserve any more attention. Daniels wrote professors and campus staff yesterday to explain why he didn’t do more when someone hung posters for the American Vanguard. Daniels says the posters themselves had just a few unobjectionable words, but the group behind them doesn’t deserve any attention from his office or the campus community.
National…
Source: Ty Wright / Getty
After the Indianapolis Carrier announcement, Trump and Pence headed to neighboring Ohio for a victory/thank you tour. At that stop in Cincinnati Trump announced retired General James Mattis as his pick for defense secretary.
Source: Portland Press Herald / Getty
Michigan’s attorney general is filing a lawsuit to stop the presidential vote recount in his state. Republican says Green Party candidate Jill Stein has no evidence that fraud or widespread errors were committed in the November general election. Stein is behind recount efforts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Jury deliberations resume today in the Michael Slager murder trial. The former South Carolina police officer, who is white, is accused of gunning down an unarmed black man after a traffic stop last year. In fact, cellphone video shows Slager shooting Walter Scott five times in the back as he ran away. Before jurors were sent home for the day Thursday, they asked the judge for a legal definition of the difference between fear and passion.
Source: Charlotte Observer / Getty
Jury selection continues in the murder trial of a man accused of fatally shooting nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina church last year. Twenty-two-year-old Dylann Roof is representing himself. He’s charged with what prosecutors say is a racially motivated attack at the historic black “Mother” Emanuel AME Church. It left nine dead including the church’s pastor, state senator and Reverend Clementa Pinkney. The court is trying to find 70 qualified jurors from which the final jury will be chosen. In order to be impartial, potential jurors must be okay with imposing the death penalty.
Authorities are now confirming 13 people are dead in connection with the wildfires in the eastern Tennessee mountains. Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said one of the deaths was from a heart attack. Speaking at a news conference Friday, Waters said more than 1,000 structures have been damaged by the fire.
Source: Buda Mendes / Getty
Pope Francis is calling on people to engage in “responsible behavior,” to help prevent the spread of AIDS. The pontiff gave his message just before World AIDS Day which was observed on Thursday. He added that no matter how poor a victim of AIDS is they should have access to treatment. The pope said millions live with the disease yet only half receive adequate treatment. World AIDS Day is dedicated to raising awareness of the pandemic, and has been recognized annually on December 1 since 1988, about seven years after the crisis began.
In Sports…
Source: Michael Hickey / Getty
Indiana University football coach Kevin Wilson is abruptly resigning after six seasons. ESPN reported Wilson’s decision is due to philosophical differences. The Hoosiers went 6-and-6 this year and are in line for a bowl bid. Wilson is 26-and-47 overall in Bloomington, and lost in the Pinstripe Bowl last season. The school didn’t have to look far for a replacement. Defensive coordinator Tom Allen steps in as the new head coach.
The Pacers resume their Western road trip on Sunday night when they visit the Clippers. And the Colts are back in action during the televised “Monday Night Football.” They visit the New York Jets with quarterback Andrew Luck expected to play after being off with a concussion.
Lucas Oil Stadium will be the destination for the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday keeping downtown Indy packed with sports fans. Seventh-ranked Penn State faces off with number-six Wisconsin after each claimed their respective divisions this past weekend. Both squads are 10-and-2 on the season. Kick-off is at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Indianapolis Weather…
Cloudy during the day on Friday with a High of 43 degrees.
Tonight: Cloudy skies early, followed by a partial clearing and a Low of 32 degrees.
Saturday: Partly cloudy skies in the morning give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon and a High of 42 degrees.
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