New Laws Take Effect July 1, 2018
By Seth Fleming
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—The 2018 session of the Indiana General Assembly is notable for Sunday alcohol sales, designating Say’s Firefly as the official state insect and going into overtime with a one-day special session in May.
But other legislation passed and some of those new laws go into effect on July 1:
School safety: The legislature, in the special session, allocated $5 million to improve school safety. House Enrolled Act 1230 was passed in the aftermath of the school shooting in a Florida high school. Other provisions of the bill include teacher training for cyberbullying and human trafficking and a requirement that schools be audited for safety by Aug. 1, 2019.
Sunscreen: Senate Enrolled Act 24allows students to possess and use non-spray sunscreen while on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event, without a prescription or doctor’s note. Also, a teacher can help a student apply sunscreen only if they have written consent from a parent or guardian.
Tax on software: Senate Enrolled Act 257 clarifies when sales tax can be levied on software. Remotely accessed pre-written software, which is delivered over the internet, is generally not taxable. Software purchased in a physical store is still subject to the state’s 7 percent sales tax. It is estimated that the state will lose between $5.7 and $13.4 million in taxes that would have been collected in the 2019 fiscal year under current law.
Civil forfeiture: Senate Enrolled Act 99 establishes some limits when the property is seized by law enforcement. The law requires an affidavit to be filed by the prosecuting attorney within seven days of the seizure explaining why the property was seized and deems that the property will be returned to the owner if no probable cause is determined.
Foster care: Senate Enrolled Act 233 is described as the “Foster Parent’s Bill of Rights†and requires that the state provide foster parents with a summary of their rights and responsibilities. Senate Enrolled Act 184 increases the number of children who can legally reside with one foster family from five to six children.
Death of a fetus: A person who commits a felony that results in the loss of a fetus can receive an addition 6 to 20 years in prison. Senate Enrolled Act 203 specifically states that this does not include abortion.
Drug deaths: House Enrolled Act 1359 increases penalties for manufacturing or selling illegal drugs that lead to the death of the user. It is a Level 1 felony or an average sentence of 29 years, if the drug is cocaine, methamphetamines or a schedule I, II or II controlled substance; a Level 2 felony, which has an average of 10 years, for a schedule IV substance; and a Level 3 felony, or an average of seven years, if the controlled substance is a schedule V substance or a synthetic drug.
FOOTNOTE: Seth Fleming is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
EPD Releases Information On Victim’s Assistance Program.
Concern for the victim is the underlying premise of any Victim Assistance Program. Research indicates that strong support for the victim benefits the entire criminal justice process. Justice demands that we support rights for those victimized by crime with the same pride as we provide protection to those accused of crime. The Evansville Police Department firmly maintains that all victims of crime have the following rights:
• Victims and witnesses have the right to be treated with dignity and compassion.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to be informed concerning the criminal justice system.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to protection from intimidation and harm.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to counsel.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to reparations.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to preservation of property and employment.
• Victims and witnesses have the right to due process in criminal court proceedings.
Current Indiana Law insures many of these rights in statutes covering such things as
victim compensation; restitution; special population laws (the elderly, children, sexual
assault, etc.).
The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office has established a victim assistance program. While the criminal justice system cannot undo the damage done to crime victims, the Prosecutor’s Office is dedicated to providing information and assistance in order to minimize the unpleasant effects of a difficult situation. Because victim and witness participation is vital to pursuing any criminal matter, the Victim/Witness Assistance Program considers your input and opinions essential in bringing criminals to justice. With a cooperative effort from the victim, witnesses, and the Prosecutor’s Office, they will more effectively prosecute those who have violated the law and provide valuable services to those who have been adversely affected by crime.
ON INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA STRUGGLES TO REMAIN SOVEREIGN
ON INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA STRUGGLES TO REMAIN SOVEREIGN
by Joe Guzzardi,
For decades, Democratic and Republican White Houses have winked at the border and interior immigration enforcement, tolerated catch and release, abided sanctuary cities, ignored visa overstays, looked the other way at visa fraud, and promoted a nonstop stream of unnecessary employment-based visas. And on Independence Day 2018, the recent emotionally driven, short-on-truth border folderol brings the obvious but painful probability to the forefront: unless sanity is restored to U.S immigration, America cannot remain a sovereign nation.
The foreign-born population has been and is predicted to continue on a straight upward trajectory. In 2015, a record 43.2 million foreign-born lived in the U.S., 13.4 percent of the nation’s total and a fourfold increase from the 1960 9.7 million and 5.4 percent totals. In its study, Pew projected that immigration and births to immigrants will, by 2065, reach 78 million immigrants, with 81 million children of immigrants. Immigration will be the primary driver in a U.S. population increase from today’s 328 million to 441 million in 2065.
The demographic forecasts that portend lost sovereignty would become dramatically more severe if the open border advocates, loud and increasingly influential, prevail. They already have a leg up. Because federal judge Dolly Gee, an activist in robes, decreed in 2015 that alien minors could not be detained longer than 20 days, their parents use them as pawns in their asylum bids. Warned that her order would trigger a border surge similar to the one that occurred in 2014 when 70,000 adult-child units and 70,000 unaccompanied minors were apprehended illegally crossing into the U.S., Judge Gee dismissed what turned out to be wise counsel as, in her words, “fear-mongering.â€
While the White House is struggling to maintain its “zero tolerance†toward illegal entry, and hope against hope to influence Judge Gee to lift or at least to extend the 20-day hold, the contingent of open borders boosters has ratcheted up its agenda.
Last week, California Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced her “Keep Families Together Act†that would essentially ban detaining illegal immigrants who come within 100 miles of the border, thereby allowing them a clear path to U.S. asylum with its lifetime valid work permits, other affirmative benefits, and eventual citizenship.
With such an unbridled, plum opportunity, worldwide migrants would gather in aiding and abetting Mexico to head north to the American promised land. During previous surges, migrants from India, Africa, Cuba and the Middle East were identified near the border as they awaited their chance to enter.
Many in the Senate are charter open borders members, and Feinstein is a shining example of all that’s wrong with Congress. Feinstein is a multimillionaire married to another multimillionaire, investment banker Richard Blum. The couple lives in San Francisco’s exclusive Pacific Heights neighborhood where home values range up to $20 million. Feinstein and Blum also own condos in Kauai and Tahoe City, and multi-million dollar homes in Colorado and Washington, D.C. Being more out of touch with the struggling Californians at the low end of the state’s income inequality spectrum is impossible.
Yet despite no major legislative achievement during her 26 years in the Senate, the 85-year-old Feinstein is running for a fifth term. Once an immigration moderate, Feinstein has moved severely left now that her 2018 challenger is Kevin Alexander Leon, aka Kevin de Leon.
Since De Leon’s parents are Guatemalan-born, and since a large contingent of Central American migrants is also Guatemalan, Feinstein’s “Keep Families Together Act†is her way to convince California’s 46 percent undecided voters that she’s as committed to open borders as her challenger who authored California’s sanctuary state law.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Feinstein’s bill symbolic, meaning that it has no chance to become law. Perhaps so. But Feinstein’s proposed legislation is absolutely representative of the trolling for votes mindsets of incumbents and challengers’ political grandstanding.
Preserving American sovereignty, protecting the U.S. from unsustainable population growth and creating a thriving labor market should be among Congress’ top concerns. Instead, Congress chooses to welcome the world, thereby adding to population growth and flooding the employment market with cheap labor, ultimately causing instability and thus threatening the nation.
FOOTNOTE: The City-County Observer posted this article without opinion, bias or editing.
FOURTH OF JULY THE LOUDEST HOLIDAY
by Will Durst the Raging Moderate
Hey everybody. You know all that anxiety that’s been building up? Well, just let it go and relax now, because the 4th of July is here. The Great American Holiday. The one with the noise and the colors and the hot. Now, it is summer. That’s what the 4th is. Not just the day we celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the best country in the history of the world but also the heart of the season of light.
No matter what the astronomers tell us, it’s not the solstice that signifies the beginning of our season of mayhem. Not in America. It’s 7/4, thirteen days later, when kids run amuck while parents drink beer out of cans and fall off of patio furniture. When families squeeze into minivans and travel long distances to get into fights over the logistics of eating fries at Mickey D’s and burgers at the King.
It’s when the senses are heightened. The smell of cut grass, the grip of a pair of sneakers, the sound of children playing volleyball on the beach, the tickle of butter from a roasted cob of corn dripping all the way down your arm to the elbow. The thunk of a Frisbee on the back of the head. The piercing cry of a loved one as they discover sand in the bed.
It’s a holiday that transcends normal political persuasions; a frozen moment in time when white wine sipping, NPR listening, Prius driving, Birkenstock wearing hippies stand shoulder to shoulder with country western listening, pickup truck driving, cowboy boot wearing, Coors Lite chugging rednecks, both groups clutching tiny American flags in a small town square watching a parade of bicycles with red, white and blue bunting woven through the spokes.
It’s beauty queens waving from the back seats of convertibles. And kids swinging on a tire tied to a tree over the bank of a pond. Slip and slides. Burnt marshmallows. Not getting dark until nine. It’s people deciding that any piece of clothing they can squeeze into, fits.
It’s the loudest holiday as well with marching bands and fireworks and the sizzle of burger fat dripping on the coals. The tinny mantra of a baseball game on an AM radio, wafting down from a porch. Motorcycles revving down the highway in packs. Politicians barking new promises through old bullhorns.
Have yourself one heck of a terrific summer and make it last. Swim and swing and swoon. Take long walks on unfamiliar paths. Buy a new chaise lounge. Watch or better yet, play a game of slow-pitch softball. Char some flesh, either animal or your own or both.
Make sure you find time for a little bit of fun because it won’t be long before we’re back at each other’s throats. You know, like Thursday the 5th. The same day the back-to-school sales start and all the sports channels start promoting football.
And have a happy birthday America, you great-looking country, you. Maybe going through a rough patch here. But you know what they say; tough times never last, but tough countries do. And you probably hear this a lot but you still look pretty good considering you’re 242 years old. Could use a little work around the eyes. Then again, couldn’t we all.
Fireworks: Know the Law for a Safe and Legal Fourth of July
- The Fourth of July is here and many area residents are stocking up on bottle rockets, sparklers and firecrackers. We’ve summarized Indiana’s Fireworks Laws below so that you can stay safe and legal this Independence Day.
Indiana Code 22-11-14-6 allows you to discharge fireworks on your property until 11 PM. On a legal holiday (which by statute includes every Sunday) you may discharge fireworks up until midnight.
You may only discharge fireworks on your own property, on property that you have permission to use, or at a special discharge location authorized by the fire department having jurisdiction. If you are under 18 years of age, you must have an adult present in order to possess or use fireworks.
Discharging or possessing fireworks in violation of IC 22-11-14-6 is punishable by a Class C Infraction. Damaging another person’s property with fireworks is punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor. Causing serious injury to another person with fireworks is punishable as a Level 6 Felony. Under IC 35-45-3-2 a person who places or leaves a spent firework on the property of another person commits Littering as a Class B Infraction.
Vanderburgh County Code 12.24.010(u) prohibits the possession or discharge of fireworks within a county maintained park. The City of Evansville further restricts the use of fireworks within the corporate limits. The Evansville Municipal Code regulating fireworks may be found here.
Sheriff Dave Wedding explained, “Even though the law permits the discharge of fireworks on any day of the year, intentionally annoying your neighbors during the work week could result in a citation for disorderly conduct.” Sheriff Wedding added, “Our office wants everyone to have a great time this Fourth of July, we just ask that residents be courteous to their neighbors and exercise a little common sense.”
Fireworks complaints in the county have been on a downward trend in recent years. The Sheriff’s Office received only eight (8) complaints last summer, compared to thirty-eight (38) in 2016, forty-three (43) in 2015, sixty-four (64) in 2014 and seventy-one (71) during the summer of 2013.
Residents should call 911 to report the unsafe or illegal use of fireworks, but are asked to refrain from calling 911 to report fireworks use that is in compliance with the law.
Non-Conference Slate Revealed For Aces Women’s Basketball
Head coach Matt Ruffing and the University of Evansville women’s basketball team have announced their 2018-19 non-conference schedule featuring 12 contests.
The Purple Aces bring in seven newcomers for the 2018-19 campaign to go along with a crop of six returners including Brooke Dossett, Kerri Gasper, Tattenai Hall, Marley Miller, Kaylan Coffman, and Kayla Casteel.
” I really like the balance of this schedule,” said Ruffing. “We were successful in scheduling some very competitive home and home games for 2018. These opponents will prove to be excellent preparation for our MVC schedule.”
The 2018-19 season begins much like last season did as Evansville opens the regular season on November 7 on the road against Ohio Valley Conference member Murray State. UE continues on the road on November 10 when it travels to Chicago State.
On November 14, the Aces open their home schedule against SIUE. Evansville follows the matchup with the Cougars with its second home contest on November 20 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
Its back on the road for a two-game road swing for UE on November 29 and December 2 when the Aces will face Marshall and Morehead State, respectively.
A pair of opponents from a season ago make the return trip to Meeks Family Fieldhouse. Evansville welcomes in UIC on December 5 with SEMO coming to town just four days late on December 8.
UE travels to face the Dayton Flyers on December 15 as the Aces face a team that has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. For the final time before the holidays, Evansville returns to Meeks Family Fieldhouse on December 18 for a showdown with Austin Peay. To close out the pre-holiday slate, UE heads to Madison, Wis. to face Wisconsin on December 21.
“With the schedule set, our team goal is to be the best we can be starting at Murray St on Nov. 7th,” said Ruffing.
Adopt A Pet
Dexter is a 1-year-old male! He’s a black American Staffordshire Terrier/Labrador mix. Dex is wonderful with other dogs in play groups, both large and small! He’s one of the best “small dog ambassadors†we have. Very playful but still very gentle. His adoption fee is $110 and includes his neuter, microchip, vaccines, and more. Contact Vanderburgh Humane at (812) 426-2563 for adoption details!