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USA Today Network Tony Cook, The Indianapolis Star 6:15 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2017

The Bicentennial Plaza at the Indiana State House is ready to be enjoyed by the public. The plaza is centered on the intersection of Senate Avenue and Robert D. Orr Plaza. The new Plaza creates a public space that can be used by government center employees, along with all citizens and visitors to Indiana. The design is intended to make the Plaza an engaging space that includes a water feature and two public art pieces, one representing elements of the Torch and another as a figurative interpretation of a time capsule. (Photo: Matt Kryger/IndyStar)

INDIANAPOLIS Vice President Mike Pence has a new home in Washington, D.C.,and an office in the White House, but back in Indiana, state officials are still scrambling to figure out how to pay for several bicentennial construction projects Pence initiated as governor without a solid financing plan.

At issue are $53.5 million in new projects Pence sought as part of the states 200th birthday celebration last year. They included a new $2 million Bicentennial Plaza at the Indiana Statehouse, a $2.5 million education center at the neighboring State Library, a new $25 million state archives building and a $24 million inn at Potato Creek State Park in St. Joseph County.

Construction on the plaza with its two large sculptures and water features and the education center already are complete. Some design workfor the archives building also has occurred. So far, the state has spent more than $5 million.

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Skeptical lawmakers allowed Pence to spend taxpayer money on the projects as part of the state's 200th birthday celebration after he assured them he could pay for projectsby leasing excess space on the Indiana's 340 state-owned cell towers.

But two years after those assurances were made,a cell tower deal has yet to materialize.

Now, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Pence's successor and fellow Republican,is trying to find a way to fill the $5.5 million hole thoseprojects left in the state budget.

He initially proposed dipping into a fund traditionally reserved for public health initiatives, but is now reworking that plan after questions from IndyStar.

The need to find $5.5 million for the bicentennial projects comes at a time when Holcomb is already grappling witha$378 million revenue shortfallcompared to what lawmakers had originally budgeted for this year.

"We did the projects. We have to pay for the projects," said Stephanie Wilson, Holcomb's spokeswoman.

A Pence spokesman did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

In the two-year state spending plan Holcomb sent to lawmakers earlier this month, he sought to use money from the state's Tobacco Master Settlement fund to pay for the projects.

Money in that fund comes from a 1998 multistate lawsuit settlement with big tobacco companies over the health impact of their products. Indiana receives about $128 million a year from the settlement.Other states have used their share of the settlement for unrelated purposes, but Indiana traditionally has reserved the funds for public health initiatives such as childrens health insurance, community health centers, mental health treatment and programs to combat HIV and AIDS.

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Holcomb's proposal to use the fund to pay for bicentennial projects raised concerns among public health advocates given the states HIV outbreak last year, a sharp uptick in opioid abuse and deathsand the state's12th-highest-in-the-nation smoking rate.

That money was intended for health-related programs and thats where it should go, said Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis. Our governor talks about having an honestly balanced budget with no gimmicks. I think this would be a nice gimmick.

He and other lawmakers raised concerns when Pence first proposed funding the projects with a cell phone tower deal. Even Republican fiscal leaders expressed doubts about Pence's proposed funding mechanism afterIndyStar exposed last yearthat any cell tower deal likely wouldfall short of fully funding the projects.

Im going on faith," Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said last year."They assured me they can get this done.

Amid such concerns and in the heat of the presidential campaign Penceannounced in Septemberthat a cell phone tower deal had been reachedwith Ohio-based Agile Networks. The deal would provide the state with $50 million upfront and more during the life of the 25-year lease, his administration said.

This agreement, if approved, will put underused assets into full play, enhance Indianas communication capabilities throughout the state and fund the states bicentennial projects, Pence said at the time.

What Pence didn't say was that the deal with Agile Networks was far more expansive than advertised. Not only would it have given Agile control over the state's cell phone towers, it also would have allowed the company to use the state's vast fiber network.

That stirred fierce opposition from the state's cable and broadband trade groups, which represent companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner.

A spokesman for Agile declined comment for this story.

The deal was supposed to go before the state budget committee for final approval in December, but it did not end up on the agenda amid the behind-the-scenes controversy.

Now, the fate of the deal is uncertain.

Wilson said the governoris reviewing "the entire deal."

"Its not done," she said."We dont know if or when it will be done."

In the meantime, Holcomb is backingoff his initial proposal to pay for the bicentennial projects with money from the tobacco settlement fund.

Wilson said Tuesday that Holcomb is now asking House lawmakers to change the funding source for the projects to the general fund.

The tobacco settlement money will instead be used to support a planned increase in funding for the states adult protective services, whichan IndyStar investigation found last yearis woefully understaffed and ineffective in protecting vulnerable adults exposed to abuse and neglect.

This is in keeping with the governors commitment to using health-related funds for health-related purposes, Wilson said.

When asked about the bicentennial funding problem, fiscal leaders in the General Assembly tried to cast it in diplomatic terms.

"Lets say we had some friendly jousting going on between me and the (Pence) administration over the bicentennial projects," Kenley said. "At one time I said, 'Im not sure I can afford to celebrate our bicentennial.' But we went ahead and celebrated. Now that weve celebrated, weve got to pay the bills."

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Elusive funding for Mike Pence's bicentennial projects dogs his home state - USA TODAY

"If there was a honeymoon, it was pretty short. I sure dont remember that," Vice President Mike Pence said. | Getty

Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday chided the news media for its aggressive coverage of the new administrations first week, saying that if there was a honeymoon, it was pretty short because he doesnt remember it.

I have to tell you that in all of my life there was always a grace period, right? Pence said, phoning into conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaughs program. New presidents coming in. I think they call it a honeymoon, right, where the media, like the others, gives the new administration a chance to come in and start to do what they do. And boy, if there was a honeymoon, it was pretty short. I sure dont remember that.

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Pence, asked about his response to what Limbaugh described as vitriol from protesters and some people in the news media, said the administration respects the rights of Americans who disagree with our agenda...to be heard from. But he added that he has found some negative news coverage striking.

The vice presidents critique of news organizations was much less pointed than what President Donald Trump or his press secretary, Sean Spicer, have said in the administrations first days. Earlier Wednesday, Trump referred to CNN as fake news unprompted at a White House meeting with some African-American supporters.

In the generally friendly conversation with Limbaugh, Pence also praised Trumps Tuesday night appointment of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The White House is encouraged, Pence said, by the initial reaction, especially the handful of Democrats in the Senate who have come out to say Gorsuch deserves a hearing and vote.

Pence also pushed back against Democrats argument that the seat on the Court belongs to Merrick Garland, the Barack Obama appointee whom Republicans refused to give a hearing. Pence argued that the court belongs to the American people and so they voted to give Trump the chance to pick the person to fill the seat (although Trump did not win the popular vote).

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Pence: The media gave us no 'honeymoon' - Politico

Picture: Getty/edited by indy100

J K Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter franchise, is a dab hand at Twitter.

She's earned a reputation on the website for pithy one liners, put downs and messages of hope.

Last Friday Donald Trump signed an executive order from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for at least 90 days.

As a result, people have been referring to the travel ban as a 'Muslim ban'.

A federal judge in Brooklyn stayed Trump's executive order with a ruling that prevented the Government from deporting arrivals.

The United States refugee admissions programme was suspended for 120 days and Syrian refugees have been banned indefinitely.

More: Bret Easton Ellis is selling American Psycho posters with Make America Great Again on them

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J K Rowling took on Mike Pence and proved once again that she is queen of Twitter - The indy100

Michael King , WXIA 10:16 AM. EST January 31, 2017

Author J.K. Rowling and Vice President Mike Pence (Getty Images) (Photo: WXIA)

Even magic and politics collided over the weekend as Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling posted an old tweet from Vice President Mike Pence -- which relates to President Donald Trump's executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven nations from entering the United States enacted over the weekend.

The old tweet, dated December 2015, pointedly indicated Pence's belief at the time, "Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional."

Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.

Along with posting Pence's old tweet, which the vice president posted when he was governor of Indiana, Rowling also posted a Bible passage from the Book of Matthew: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"

Critics were very quick to point out that Pence's initial tweet came from 2015, well before Pence, an evangelical Christian,became vice president and that it was OK for him to change his views.

There has been no comment from Pence to Rowling's tweet.

( 2017 WXIA)

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J.K. Rowling, Mike Pence clash over immigration ban - 11alive.com

For the first time at the annual anti-abortion March for Life rally, a vice president addressed the crowds gathered in Washington, D.C.

Vice President Mike Pence, a Catholic and longtime supporter of the anti-abortion movement who enacted some of the strictest abortion laws in the country as governor of Indiana, told cheering supporters gathered on the National Mall life is winning again in America.

"Along with you, we will not grow weary, we will not rest until we restore a culture of life in America for ourselves and our posterity," said Pence.

The march, which began in front of the Washington Monument, ends at the steps of the United States Supreme Court. Pence said at the pre-march event that next week, President Donald Trump will announce a Supreme Court nominee in the anti-abortion jurisprudence of the late Antonin Scalia who will uphold the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution.

Out on the campaign trail, Trump frequently said that he would nominate pro-life judges to the Supreme Court. And while Trump was not able to attend the rally, he expressed his support on Twitter.

The #MarchForLife is so important. To all of you marching --- you have my full support! Trump tweeted.

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway joined Pence in representing the Trump administration.

Steps away from here in the White House a president and vice president sit at their desks and make decisions for a nation. as they sit there, they stand here with you, said Conway. This is a time of incredible promise for pro-life, pro-adoption movement. Our action must reach those women who face unplanned pregnancies, they should know they are not alone. Theyre not judged. Theyre protected and cared for and celebrated. So to the March for Life 2017 allow me to make it very clear -- we hear you, we see you, we respect you, and we look forward to working with you.

The March for Life draws advocates against abortion rights from around the country to Washington, D.C. It is held each year around the anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, made on Jan. 22, 1973.

Many in the movement against abortion rights have spoken highly of the Trump administration. Tom McCluksy, vice president of government affairs at the March for Life, expressed optimism for the advancement of an anti-abortion agenda in the first 100 days.

Trump has made pro-life promises and has assembled a team of personnel with incredible pro-life convictions, and qualifications, starting with ... Pence, he wrote in a blog post.

This years march centers on the theme The Power of One. Beyond Pence and Conway, speakers included Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, and conservative author Eric Metaxas.

It is our hope that this years March for Life will encourage each of us to seek and fulfill our unique mission to the best of our ability because only in doing so we will collectively build a culture of life in the U.S. -- a culture where abortion is unthinkable, March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said in a statement.

The rest is here:

Vice President Mike Pence Tells March for Life: 'Life Is Winning Again in America' - ABC News