This Week's Facts:
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Government Resources
Highlight Independence Day
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State Offers Timely Firework
Safety Tips
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Take in National Park Beauty
Online
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New Legislation in Effect Sparks Interest in
Blue Laws
Feds Tout
Healthcare.gov as Useful and Informational
Thursday’s debut of the federal website
Healthcare.gov,
managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
was profiled Thursday on
Federal News Radio.
Todd Park, chief technology officer at HHS, described it as
combining “both public and private health coverage options in a
single place. . . . [There is information on] Medicaid, the
children's health insurance program, and the new preexisting
conditions insurance plan, private insurance options from over
1,000 carriers -- all in one place.”
You can listen to this full interview and read
the article
here.
National Public Radio also covered the launch with an interview
with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS, available
here.
The website is meant to be a place where health care consumers
can take better ownership of their own health insurance
questions and gain knowledge about coverage options.
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Friday Facts Editorial Team:
Katharine Springer
State Data
Center Coordinator
Elisabeth
O’Donnell
Federal Documents Librarian
&
Kim Brown-Harden
State
Documents Coordinator
 
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Government
Resources Highlight Independence Day
 Happy
Independence Day! The 4th of July this year marks the 234th
year since the United States declared its independence from
Great Britain. As you might imagine, the Federal Government has
a lot of great resources on the holiday that are both
informative and entertaining. The Census Bureau is always a
good place to start – check out their
Facts for Features for this
month. One fun fact – there are currently 31 places in the
United States with “Liberty” in their name and eleven with
“Independence.” You also may be interested in popular patriotic
songs. The Library of Congress has the
Patriotic Melodies
collection available online. You can read the histories of
songs such as American the Beautiful, the Marines Hymn or even
the Star Spangled Banner. If you are interested in the flag
itself, check out
this page from the Federal
Citizen Information Center. It provides information about the
flag today, historical flags, flag rules and even how to obtain
a flag flown over the nation’s Capitol. Finally, USA.gov
provides a number of
links to information on
fireworks, fireworks safety and barbeque and camping tips.
State Offers
Timely Firework Safety Tips
 The
Indiana Department of Homeland Security
(IDHS) offers
safety tips to enjoy your
fireworks safely this holiday. Fireworks are
the leading cause of injury and death
during the July 4th holiday. Safely operating fireworks not
only prevents injury, but it also ensures that you’re in
compliance with
Indiana law. If you are a
vendor or would like to sell fireworks,
click here for
important information and resources. Enjoy your fireworks and
have a happy, safe Fourth of July holiday!
Take in National
Park Beauty Online
 One
of the best parts about summer is the chance to get outside and
enjoy the scenery. Our national parks provide some of the
nicest places to do this. Scattered throughout the country,
they provide nearly limitless opportunities for enjoying the
great outdoors. However, not everyone is able to travel to all
of these places. Fortunately, the National Park Service has a
really great website. While it’s not a substitute for the real
thing, there are some neat features that can help you enjoy the
scenery from your desk or home office chair. Acadia National
Park has its
PanoramAcadia feature that
allows you to get a 360 degree view of the park – and it also
includes a number of photographs taken by independent
photographers. Another fun resource is the webcam from
Cape Hatteras Lighthouse –
check out what’s going on there! You can even listen to
podcasts about the Grand
Canyon. For more multimedia items, see the Park Service
website. Whether you want
photo galleries, virtual tours, or even videos, there’s
something for you!
New Legislation in
Effect Sparks Interest in Blue Laws
There is much talk about selling and buying alcohol on Sundays.
This is sure to be a hot issue with elections in November. Do
you know where the term ‘Blue Laws’ comes from? This term was
first used by Reverend Samuel Peters of Connecticut. The term
was used to describe laws that were created by the Puritan
colonists in the 1600s to prohibit business activities on
Sundays. While some laws prohibited the sale of certain types of
goods, some laws banned all business and retail activity. Legend
has it that the term originated from laws written on blue paper,
but that is not true. “Blue” was a term used to describe strict
moral codes and people who observed them in the 18th century.
During the mid to late 1800s, many southern and midwestern
states passed laws to protect the Sabbath day. These laws would
have penalties for performing ‘worldly’ activities on Sunday as
a way to enforce church attendance. Indiana’s liquor laws stem
from these traditions. For more information about alcohol laws
in Indiana,
click here. For information
about significant alcohol legislation and tobacco, visit the
Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission’s website.
For historical information on the prohibition movement in
Indiana, the Indiana State Library has a
subject guide with various
resources to research the history of prohibition and
temperance.
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