With its work on HB 1432, adamantly so desperately concerned about public safety and the safety of teens, Indiana’s state apparatus seems remarkably absent when it comes to oversight and regulation in other areas. Areas, for example, like stages at high schools, or fairgrounds, which are prone to collapsing and injuring or even killing its citizens. A stage collapse today in Indiana raises a lot of important questions. From the story on NPR, found here, we have this:
Capt. Charles Hollowell of the Westfield Police Department was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that all of the injuries were minor, and that everyone was “doing really well,” including one student who was earlier reported to be in critical condition.
You might recall that in 2011, a sudden windstorm caused the collapse of an outdoor stage at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, killing seven people.
It should be noted, and understood almost as a truism, that the state’s interest in regulation of vaping and e-liquid manufacturers has likely a lot more to do with protecting big tobacco (involved in certain big brands) and even with the protection of its own payments from big tobacco per government mandated compensation.
The concern some Indiana lawmakers have is for the state coffers and their business allies, not with the public — which apparently they find, perhaps, too expensive to actually protect in the normal course of their daily life. If the state can’t guarantee the soundness of its school facilities, maybe we can really ask how well it can, or if it cares to, guarantee the public safety regarding an already safe product.