Where is Amy Drake?
Drake has missed every budget meeting to date... But that hasn’t stopped her from writing ill-informed, partisan blog posts.
Where is County Councilwoman Amy Drake?
For over a week St. Joseph County has held department budget meetings in the run up to the most important thing the County Council does every year: Set the County’s budget.
Amy Drake has missed every budget meeting to date.
But that hasn’t stopped her from writing ill-informed, partisan blog posts.
Seems Amy is upset over a recent Facebook post by the St. Joseph County Democratic Party:
“ICE is murdering people in the streets & Trump’s stupid war with Iran is neverending… but, hey, at least Todd Young and Rudy Yakam had time to take a fancy boat ride. But Hoosiers still can’t have healthcare.”
OK, Amy, we’ll bite… what part of this is inaccurate?
True, we did misspell Rudy’s name (maybe if he ever held a town hall we’d know how to spell it).
But these are facts: ICE is murdering people in the streets. Trump’s stupid war with Iran is neverending. The boat ride does look fancy (both Young & Yakym are wearing really nicely starched shirts). And Hoosiers still can’t have healthcare.
Is it the healthcare part that’s so upsetting for Drake?
While she mocks our party chair “Dr. Don” — known to us as Don Westerhausen MD FACC, a doctor with four decades of experience treating patients and the past president of the Indiana Chapter of the American College of Cardiology — it is hard to argue things are going well when it comes to healthcare in Indiana.
We rank 38th in infant mortality, 38th in maternal mortality, and 34th in pre-term birth rates… Over half of our state’s rural hospitals have shuttered their obstetric units, leaving 42 counties completely lacking local labor and delivery services.
We are consistently among the 10 worst states for cancer death rates… and our life expectancy is two years lower than the national average.
Thanks to Rudy Yakym’s consistent votes against healthcare in Congress, approximately 25,000 St. Joseph County residents have no health coverage at all. The recent cancellation of Affordable Care Act subsidies only added to that number.
The ripple effect of these cuts is leading to Hoosiers facing some of the steepest rate hikes in the country. Individual insurance premiums in Indiana are projected to jump 43%, while out-of-pocket costs for patients average roughly $3,155 annually — significantly higher than the $2,710 national average.
And then there is Amy Drake’s reign of terror against our County’s public health. She worked to aggressively downsize the St. Joseph County Health Department by driving a massive funding contraction from $6.2 million down to $1.7 million. She repeatedly blocked critical health initiatives, including a $100,000 opioid-reversal grant, over her public opposition to “health equity” terminology. Her highly publicized political interventions ultimately forced the abrupt resignation of top county medical officials who warned that her actions crippled basic local healthcare delivery.
Yes, Amy Drake… Hoosiers still can’t have healthcare… because of rightwing fanatics like you and Rudy Yakym.
So, maybe sit this one out. Like you have for the past week’s budget meetings.
Together we can win in November.
Stay vigilant — Councilwoman Jenn Shabazz
PS — While Amy Drake couldn’t be bothered to attend our budget meetings, it was great to see our nominee for County Auditor Autumn Kaylor and County Council candidates Lori Camp and Ranjan Rohatgi (who will defeat Amy Drake!) at several of this past week’s meetings!
Former Border Patrol leader to speak at ‘mass deportation’ rally in Fishers | Indiana Capital Chronicle
Counter protest, rally both planned for Aug. 1
... Greg Bovino, once the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, will speak at the invitation-only rally and a private dinner in Carmel organized by Save Heritage Indiana...
... The group will air video remarks from Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, according to an online invitation and X posts...
... Indiana Democrats... said “Greg Bovino is a disgrace. He even thanked the ICE officer who killed an American citizen. Now, he’s headlining an event along with elected Indiana Republicans including Micah Beckwith for a new Indiana political organization aiming to ‘end all immigration’ and deport thousands of legal immigrants. It’s another reminder that this November we are facing candidates and elected officials on the other side who want armed agents on our streets, in our schools and at our workplaces.”
Will incumbent MAGA Assessor & Florida-man Mike Castellon condemn his buddy Micah Beckwith for speaking a racist rally?
🚨 Anger management issues? GOP Sheriff candidate Rod Laureys suspended again! 😠
St. Joseph County Sheriff Nominee faces second suspension | WSBT22
... Rod Laureys, the Nominee running for St. Joseph County Sheriff, has been suspended for six days without pay for crossing state lines during a police chase... Laureys told WSBT22 he also requested to perform a PIT maneuver, a policy he wrote, but he was denied...
RELATED: Democratic Party chair condemns violent comments by GOP sheriff candidate Rod Laureys | 10/7/2025
Laureys overheard saying “I want to shoot Democrats” at a public event.
“... Not only is Rod Laureys running for the highest law enforcement position in our county, but he currently serves as a deputy sheriff and should know better.
“We cannot, and will not, tolerate violent speech in our political discourse. We demand the St. Joseph County Republican Party publicly condemn Rod Laureys’ violent comments and we call upon county law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter...” — St. Joesph County Democratic Party Chair Don Westerhausen
