We hope that today’s “Readers Forum” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays “Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the Henderson Methodist Community Hospital Board of Director should hold a public meeting to discuss the future of the Hospital?

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by Joe Guzzardi

In 2014, more than two years before he became Secretary of Defense, United States Marine Corps General James Mattis addressed an audience of war veterans for the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Mattis told the all-volunteer group, “You signed blank checks payable with your lives to the American people,” a reference to the day corps members signed their contracts obligating them to serve.

General Mattis praised the soldiers’ personal commitment, their determination to bring home their fellow soldiers, their value and ferocity, and their families’ sacrifices. During his speech, General Mattis referenced the “political rhetoric swirling around these little understood wars… .”

Debate about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has subsided. But, since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Capitol Hill immigration furor has ratcheted up to ten times the level of the wars’ din. The question put before likely mid-term election voters on Memorial Day 2018 is whether the more than 1.1 million U.S. military who have died protecting America and her citizens in the last 250 years would be on board with the Republican-controlled Congress’ amnesty obsession.

The best way to describe the congressional pro-amnesty factions, GOP and Democrats alike, is that they’re frantically committed to force an amnesty upon a majority immigration-skeptical American public. With amnesty would come lifetime work authorization privileges and the resultant chain migration that will eventually add millions more residents to an already overcrowded America. Immigration and chain migration drive the majority of population growth.

In its effort to impose amnesty, Congress is in the midst of gyrations so convoluted that only immigration lawyers and geeky policy wonks who specialize in immigration can decipher. The two key elements, both obscure, are a discharge petition and the so-called Queen-of-the-Hill vote.

Without getting too bogged down in the swamp, if the discharge petition gets 25 GOP votes, the minimum necessary assuming all Democrats also sign on, then a vote on four different immigration bills would take place, including the DREAM Act and deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) amnesties. The legislation that gets the most votes over 218 would be sent to the Senate where, because 100 percent Democratic support is certain and enough GOP backing is highly likely, it would pass.

Between now and Congress’ weeklong Memorial Day recess, no one can predict what may happen. But that Congress is so totally disconnected from Americans’ resistance to higher immigration is a remarkable and troubling indictment of the political process. U.S. House Republican Jeff Denham, the leading force behind the Queen-of-the-Hill movement, represents Exhibit One which proves how far over the amnesty edge Congress is.

A Pulse Opinion Research poll recently taken in Denham’s 10th California District revealed that 50 percent of likely Hispanic voters oppose a DACA amnesty plan that doesn’t include corresponding benefits for Americans. Hispanics comprise about 40 percent of Denham’s district. The poll also showed that 58 percent of Hispanics support mandatory E-Verify and reducing the one million annual legal immigration total.

The lesson that Congress willfully refuses to learn is that amnesty begets more amnesties. Since the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, promoted and passed as the last-ever amnesty, the then-three million illegal immigrant population has soared to today’s conservatively estimated 12 million.

Nevertheless, Congress’ goal as Memorial Day approaches is amnesty and work authorization for millions, the people’s will be damned.

Preparations began during the winter to get the park ready to go and it was a winter plagued with flooding which made the staff work a bite harder.

Burdette Park Director Jerry Grannan said, “Not without a little bit of effort on our part, we had a scout area that’s been underwater for 5 months, we took care of that about a month ago we used that for excess parking, but flooding was an issue.”

The park has added some new additions to the pool area. The staff said they really cleaned the place up. New concessions, pool rental rooms, and new gift float stand. Grannan said, “We’ve got 4 water slides, a big raft tube slide out back remodeled restrooms, I really welcome everybody to the facility this year and want to hear some comments I hope everyone is pleasantly surprised.”

Safety is Burdette Parks number one concern, multiple service meetings are done throughout the year, preparing old and new lifeguards with any changes the park makes over the winter. Pool Manager Colton Meyer said, “We love to keep everybody trained to the highest ability make sure everybody is good enough and ready for this job.”

Each lifeguard has a Red Cross CPR/First Aid certification, it’s a requirement for all life guards. Meyer said, “We also have facility training which we do we have a written test and a physical test that we believe suits are facility compared to other smaller facilities in the area.”

Burdette Park also has 6 overnight chalets, an open air pavilion, day discovery lodge and a convention hall were a lot of weddings take place.

By Erica Irish
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS —  In March, soon after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead, Noblesville Schools hosted a school safety forum to reveal its plans to provide students with a safe learning experience.

A presentation discussed at that public meeting posted to the Noblesville Schools website reported the corporation employs four school resource officers, or traditional law enforcement, and 14 school safety specialists.

The presentation lists several deterrence methods against school intruders, including office ID checks for visitors, locked doors, background checks and building construction.

The features listed, not including the law enforcement presence, only work against outside threats — not against individuals who have everyday access to a Noblesville school.

On Friday, a male student injured one teacher and one student in a shooting at Noblesville West Middle School Friday morning, Noblesville police confirmed.

Students reported the suspect, an unidentified male student, asked to be excused from a science class on the middle school’s second floor.

Noblesville Police Chief Kevin Jowitt said in a 2 p.m. press conference the student returned with two handguns and opened fire on the classroom.

Ethan Stonebraker, a seventh-grade student in the class, told the media that the teacher, science instructor, and football coach Jason Seaman, tackled the suspect.

Seaman is receiving treatment at IU Health Methodist, while the student was sent to Riley Children’s Hospital.

Police confirmed the suspect is in custody and unharmed. They also noted that one school resource officer was in the building at the time of the shooting but would not describe his or her role in the incident.

Details regarding individual safety features in Noblesville schools are not public due to safety concerns.

The school system does, however, subscribe to several prevention services. A few listed in the safety presentation include social skills lessons, counseling services, suicide threat assessments and a SpeakUp app, a web and mobile app where students can anonymously report bullying, harassment, and other threats.

The incident in Noblesville occurred after lawmakers changed school security procedures statewide with House Bill 1230, a measure passed at the legislature’s special session May 14.

HB 1230 provided Indiana schools with an additional $5 million in funding to improve school safety. Under the law, school corporations and charter schools may borrow up to $500,000 in funding advances to purchase school security equipment and other capital.

HB 1230 introduces more than resources. On top of the funding increase, all charter and private schools must create a school safety plan to provide to law enforcement, alongside a floor plan of the school. It also requires the Indiana Department of Education to conduct a statewide survey to understand the emotional and social state of students, among other provisions.

Gov. Eric Holcomb’s press team offered a statement in response to the shooting from the inaugural Paris to Indianapolis flight as the governor, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis and retired Indiana Senate Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, were returning to the states following an economic development tour in Europe.

“Approximately 100 state police officers have been made available to work with local responders and will offer all assistance needed,” the release read. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this horrible situation.”

Representatives for Jennifer McCormick, Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, offered support as reports of the shooting spread.

“We have confidence in Noblesville Schools Superintendent Dr. Beth Niedermeyer and her team, law enforcement, and first responders,” the statement, issued by the Indiana Department of Education, said.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill called the shooting another mark of an “epidemic of violence sweeping across American schools” in a statement.

“School safety plans, resource officers, red flag laws and hardened targets are vital to the defense of our schools and our children,” Hill said in the release.

U.S. Representative Susan Brooks, R-Indiana, tweeted soon after the news came out.

“My prayers are with the Noblesville community, especially those who are injured & those who witnessed an active shooter situation — something no one should ever have to go through. Especially children,” her message read.

Indiana Senate Democrats issued a statement on the incident after a district press conference at 11:30 a.m.

“Legislators must admit seriously that we have to keep guns out of our schools, and restrict access to deadly weapons by dangerous individuals,” the statement read. “No child should go through something this traumatizing and it’s our job to stop it.”

FOOTNOTE: Erica Irish is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

The week featured luncheons and receptions, and Friday there was an all-day breakfast and lunch to honor first responders. Emergency personnel says the general public sometimes doesn’t realize the role they play in keeping us all safe.

EMS system supervisor Angela Webb says, “I think it means the world to our first responders that we take our time aside and show them how important they are. Sometimes our first responders are not recognized the way they should be. It’s taken for granted by our public that they’re just gonna be there when we need them.”

EMS Appreciation Week has become an annual event.