|
|||
|
Winter Break Activities at Wesselman Woods
Quit Mortgaging Our Future, Dang It!
Of course we need to cut taxes. But we already know this game. Politicians say that “government is too big,†but then make it bigger. They trumpet the need to cut spending, but then spend more.
And, of course, they cut taxes (just a little) without fixing the first two things; meaning that they’ll later raise taxes and cut promised benefits.
Nobody likes to pay taxes; but taxes are a symptom, not the disease itself. The disease is ungoverned, unregulated, out-of-control politics and all the cost and violence that entails.
Every single one of the other announced 2018 candidates for Indiana’s US Senate seat are promising more government. Every one of the othercandidates promise more fear-aggression-syndrome foreign policy, more domestic militarization, more intrusions into our privacy, trade and personal interactions.
I’m the only candidate promising less. A lot less.
I have a plan for Peace, prosperity, Security and Freedom in eight steps. But the summary is that I mean to cut the cost, intrusiveness, abusiveness and ineffectiveness of our central government by actually cutting powers, programs, agencies…and people, from that government. I propose establishing a truly federal (instead of our increasingly unitary) government as defined by the authorizing compact.
That is how this is supposed to work. That is still the law, as written and amended. And I’m the only candidate who’s all about that.
Messer to Author Legislation Expanding 529 Savings Plans to Homeschool Families
Provision Stripped Out of Final Tax Bill by Senate Democrats
U.S. Rep. Luke Messer (IN-06) announced today he will introduce legislation to ensure homeschool families can use 529 savings plans to cover education expenses.
The newly passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act originally included a provision that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Messer had fought for to allow families, including homeschoolers, to use 529 accounts to save for elementary, secondary and higher education. A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged education savings plan designed to help families save for costs of education.
Hours before the final vote on the tax bill, however, Senate Democrats specifically targeted homeschool families by raising a procedural objectionthat ultimately excluded them from the 529 expansion.
“In a last ditch effort to obstruct the President’s tax cut plan, Senate Democrats targeted a provision that would have helped two million homeschooled students across America,” Messer said. “All this tactic did was delay final passage of the bill by one day, but it will hurt homeschooled children long-term. This is unacceptable. Our legislation will make sure homeschool families have the same opportunities and resources that every other student has.â€
Messer has introduced legislation expanding 529 savings plans in every session of Congress since he’s been elected. As founder and co-chair of the Congressional School Choice Caucus, Messer has championed expanded choice for parents and consistently fought for more opportunities for students.
In Indiana, roughly 40,000 students are homeschooled.
Taylor Returns And Traore Sets Career Mark As Aces Fall To ISU
UE Falls To Illinois State By A Final Of 72-66
Senior Dalen Traore set his career high with 11 points while Ryan Taylor scored 22 in his comeback but Illinois state made a late rally to pick up a 72-66 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday at the Ford Center.
Traore did his damage for UE (10-4, 0-1 MVC) from the free throw line, hitting 9 out of 10 attempts. Taylor drained 10 shots in 22 attempts while playing for 26 minutes.
Three other Aces notched double figures as Blake Simmons had 12, K.J. Riley finished with 11 and Duane Gibson had 10.
“It was a tough loss. I really thought we did a lot of good things but give Illinois State credit,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said. I thought we gave good effort, we just made mistakes at critical times and we have to get better at that.”
Illinois State (7-6, 1-0 MVC) was led by a 28-point game from Milik Yarbrough. Twenty of those came in the first half. Phil Fayne had 17 points while Keyshawn Evans finished with 16.
On the opening position of his first game back on the floor in over a month, Ryan Taylor connected on a jumper to give UE a 2-0 lead. The UE defense held the Redbirds to 1-of-7 from the field while the Aces offense saw a Blake Simmons triple give them a 12-5 lead seven minutes in.
Duane Gibson, who missed the previous two games, notched a layup, steal and a runout for another bucket that gave the team an 18-10 lead. The advantage reached double figures when Gibson’s sixth point of the game gave the Aces a 22-12 lead.
Evansville continued to hold a 10-point advantage at 24-14 with 6:44 left before Illinois State made its run. The Redbirds finished the half on a 22-9 run as Milik Yarbrough had 20 points in the stanza. They took their first lead of the day with three minutes left when an Isaac Gassman triple made it a 30-27 game.
On the last possession of the half, Yarbrough broke a tie at the buzzer, nailing a long triple to send the Redbirds to the break with a 36-33 lead.
The threes kept falling in the opening moments of the second half as Keyshawn Evans’ second of the day gave ISU its biggest lead at 39-35. That is when Taylor took over the for the Aces. He scored the first seven points of the half for UE, leading them to a 40-39 advantage. He picked up his third foul less than three minutes in and temporarily went to the bench.
After ISU took a 46-44 lead, Taylor drained his eighth shot of the night before an and-one from K.J. Riley made it a 49-46 game in favor of Evansville and the lead got back up to seven at 55-48.
ISU had another run left in them, scoring the next six to cut the deficit to just one at 55-54 before a pair of Blake Simmons free throws brought the lead back to three. The Redbirds responded on the other end of the floor. UE went to a zone defense for the first time, but Keyshawn Evans found some room outside, hitting a game-tying three.
Ryan Taylor returned to the game with seven minutes left with four fouls and paid dividends almost immediately, putting the lead back into the Aces hands as he connected on a 10-footer. Yarbrough hit two more free throws to give the Redbirds a 61-59 lead, but one of the unsung heroes of the day was Dalen Traore, who hit two free throws to tie it up and also set his career high.
An exciting back-and-forth contest continued. Riley put UE on top at 66-65 with just over two minutes left, but Evans was true from long range once again, giving Illinois State the lead right back on the next trip down the floor. With under a minute remaining, ISU held a 68-66 lead. A pivotal out of bounds call gave the ball to the Redbirds where Evans hit another triple to put the game away.
“We have to pay more attention to details,” Ryan Taylor explained. “We gave up a 10-point lead and the little things we did not do were the difference. We need to build and pay attention to those details.”
Evansville shot 46.9% for the game while ISU checked in at 48.9%. The Redbirds also took the rebounding battle by a 29-26 final.  The main difference on the day came from 3-point range as the Redbirds hit 11 out of 24 attempts and the Aces finished at 1-of-10.
Following the Christmas break, the Aces take to the road for a pair of league contest. On December 30, Evansville heads to Chicago to take on Loyola before making the trek to Carbondale on January 3.
AN ALASKAN CHRISTMAS STORY
By Susan Stamper Brown
Americans need a good dose of Christmas.
As a nation, we are desperately lost, emotionally broken, spiritually deprived and headed for the same fate our “unadoptable†Alaskan husky dog was before my husband and I welcomed her into our home.
It’s been four years since we adopted Kenai, a skeletal ball of nerves wrapped in cinnamon colored fur with spotty white “socks.â€Obviously abused, she had zero trust in humans and no confidence in herself. Animal control officers almost deemed her unadoptable.
She was literally scared of her shadow, fearing door entryways and basically everything inside our home, including us. She parked herself on our new chair in the living room corner. For three months she ate, drank and napped when she wasn’t staring at us and only left her perch when we’d take her outside to walk and potty.
One cold and snowy winter night with near zero visibility, we feared this one-sided love affair had come to an end when she got away and bolted up and around our mountain. The more we called, chased and searched, the deeper into the woods and higher she climbed. Though we were forced to give up our search for the night, we refused to give up hope.
Miraculously, she found her way back to our yard in the wee hours of an Alaska winter morning’s deep darkness. Despite our loving calls, she was afraid to come inside until we came up with a far-fetched idea to coax her inside walking our tiny terrier nicknamed “the rabbit killer†(for reasons not worthy of this column) on a leash nearby in hopes that she would follow.
She did.
Although we loved Kenai deeply and wanted desperately for her to come inside, we were at a complete loss on how to effectively communicate that message. Kenai needed an intermediary. A conciliator. A go-between. In our terrier, Kenai found a canine compatriot to communicate “There’s nothing to fear, come near, welcome home†in a way she could understand.
Four years later, Kenai’s doing great. She’ll always be a little quirky, and full-blown crazy sometimes if something snaps in her head and sets her off. She’s slowly learning to do normal things like eat her food on the floor and play with toys if no one is watching.She loves to go for rides, begs for us to pet her, and even dares to bark now, with the cutest, most feminine and sweet bark you’ve ever heard.
We added another sled dog to our pack, a well-balanced rescue that came with an amazing story all his own that I’ll share one day when the time is right. He’s rubbing off on Kenai in all the right ways. As for our terrier, well, she’s moved on from rabbits to shrews. I guess we should be grateful.
With happy ears and a look of contentment on her face, Kenai’s resting in her now-worn out leather chair as I write.I think back to that winter morning years ago and the extremely loved shell of a dog curled up in that chair. I realize I learned something big about God’s love that day. An Alaskan Christmas story all my own.
God sought us before we knew Him, reached out to us before we trusted Him and loved us before we knew how to love him back. He sent someone like us… an intermediary… Jesus, to communicate his message in a way we could understand. Through Jesus’ birth, eventual death, and resurrection, we come to understand (as much as is humanly possible) that God’s love for us is so deep and wide and high that we cannot escape his notice ‒ even when we try.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.†(Isaiah 9:6)
Third Annual Logan’s Promise West Side Game Held at Ford Center
DECEMBER 24RD, 2017Â 
CHELSEA KOERBLERÂ EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
Tickets for the game were just $5 and for the third year in a row, the game helped promote awareness for Logan’s Promise.
The organization brings awareness to the dangers of drinking and driving. It was started after 15-year-old Logan Brown was killed by a drunk driver in 2015.
“You see improvements and it continues to get better but as long as accidents still happened and we still have DUI arrests,†said Charles Brown, Logan’s father. “It’s still a problem in our community because all it takes is just one bad choice and it changes an entire community.â€
The first 1,000 fans received special t-shirts. Spirit squads from Mater Dei and Reitz were on hand.
URC Seeks Applicants For Vacancy
Staff Report
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – A state committee is seeking applicants for the vacancy on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission created when Chair Jim Atterholt announced his retirement in mid-December.
The IURC’s nominating committee is accepting applications through Friday, Jan. 12. Applications must be submitted to the office of Gov. Eric Holcomb by the close of business that day.
After the close of the application period, the committee will conduct a public meeting to interview applicants and provide the governor with a list of three candidates.
Committee members are Chair Allen Paul, Eric Scroggins, John Blevins, Larry Buell, Win Moses, Michael Evans, and Michael Mullett. Applications for the position may be obtained by emailing MNossett@gov.IN.gov, by calling 317-232-4567, by hard copy in Statehouse Room 206, or from www.in.gov/gov/2682.htm.
Completed applications must be returned to:Â Allen Paul, Chair, IURC Nominating Committee, in care of Michael Nossett, Office of the Governor, Statehouse, Room 206, Indianapolis, INÂ 46204.
FOOTNOTE: TheStatehouseFile.com is a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Student Journalists Pushing For Press Freedom Bill
By Makenna Mays
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – When Southport High School senior Andrew Tapp was approached by his advisor to lobby for a student press freedoms bill last year, he did so without hesitation.
“I’m very fortunate at Southport not to face censorship from our administration, but I know plenty of students all across the state of Indiana who do face censorship,†Tapp said.
The bill developed with the student-powered New Voices Initiative, a nationwide campaign that works with advocates in law, education, journalism and civics to write legislation that protects student press freedoms.
There have been incidents across the state where school administrations have censored student publications and disciplined media advisers such as a current case at Plainfield High School. A media adviser is currently under fire for allowing her students to publish a dating guide that administrators deemed inappropriate.
“There’s nothing truly in Indiana code that protects First Amendment rights of student journalists and their advisers,†said Ryan Gunterman, executive director for the Indiana High School Press Association, which is housed at Franklin College, which also owns TheStatehouseFile.com.
This epidemic of censorship stems from a 1998 Supreme Court case, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, which ruled student’s First Amendment rights are not violated when school officials edit or prevent publication of material in school newspapers.
The first version of Indiana’s press freedom bill debuted in the 2017 legislative session. However, after passing the House education committee with only four opposing votes, it died on the Senate floor after last minute opposition from the Indiana Department of Education. A new version of the bill has been drafted for this legislative session, and contains more concise language, as well as defining what school activities are and listing what policies must include.
The Indiana Department of Education declined comment because officials have yet to see the latest version of the bill.
If the updated bill is passed, it would provide protections for student journalists to research and report about news in their schools, as decided by their advisors, but without interference from administration. It would also provide a safeguard for advisors protecting them from any retaliation from the administration for supporting the students’ right to report freely.
The Indiana School Principal Association is one of the organizations that took issue with the bill because they believed that the bill didn’t give principals any ability to edit, make any changes or offer any suggestions regarding school publications.
“We are not opposed to student journalism at all,†said Tim McRoberts, associate executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals. “We just want to make sure that administrators have a voice in that process because the administrators are the ones held accountable.â€
However, for those supporting the bill, its importance extends beyond student journalism.
“This bill is trying to change what is normal in this state, where the First Amendment is normal, and censorship is not,†said Gunterman.
Tapp worked with legislators and other student journalists to draft the first version of the bill for the 2016 legislative session. He spent countless hours at the Statehouse lobbying for the bill and testifying before both the House and Senate education committees.
“It’s not necessarily fighting a battle for myself, but for those who can’t, the ones who are in schools that don’t have journalism programs because they were censored out of existence,†Tapp said.
Rep. Ed Clere, R-Albany, authored the bill and was adamant that student journalists should take a leading role in every part of the process. Last session, student journalists from all over Indiana participated in the process from bill drafting, introducing legislation and testimonies.
“This legislation has been and will continue to be student led,†Clere said.
Clere has a personal interest in this bill as he has a journalism background. He was a student journalist in high school when the Hazelwood case was decided.
In 1987, the principal at Hazelwood East High School in Missouri prohibited student journalists from publishing articles about teenage pregnancy and divorce on the grounds the that the subject was inappropriate.
The case was fought to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the First Amendment rights of student journalists are not violated when school officials prevent the publication of certain articles in the school newspaper.
“When I joined the staff of my school newspaper, the shadow of Hazelwood had just fallen over student journalism, and nearly 30 years later, Hazelwood is still casting a shadow,†Clere said.
McRoberts, who was a high school principal for 10 years, said that not once in his time as a principal did he have to edit or censor any material published by students.
“We just felt that the Supreme Court decision is a good guideline landmark for administrators, and it does give the principal and administrator that ability to head something off if they think that it’s going to be an issue,†McRoberts said.
Clere said that this legislation would also be a teaching opportunity for journalism students.
“This legislation is more than just about student journalism, it’s about journalism education, civics education, fostering and promoting free speech and allowing and encouraging important discussions to go on in school communities,†Clere said.
He said that they tried from the beginning to reach out to school administrations, principals, superintendents and school boards to address their concerns about the bill and come up with acceptable language for the bill.
“Ultimately and belatedly, we realized they were unwilling to accept a meaningful bill,†Clere said.
During this process, McRoberts said that some changes were made to the bill by the Senate that would give the principal some authority if community standards were violated. However, when the bill went back to the House, it was changed back its original language.
Clere said that a lot of the opposition came from the schools’ wish to maintain total control, which he believes is not good for education or democracy. He insists that there are numerous checks and balances in place that would in no way give students free reign.
“I hope most administrators don’t think as poorly of their students as their lobbyists indicated,†Clere said.
McRoberts said that saying administrators want absolute power sells principals short.
“To say that I just want to maintain absolute power is an overstatement,†McRoberts said, saying administrators develop policies about student behavior whether it’s about cell phone use or dress code, and this is just a continuation of those policies.
Clere said that it is important to remember that schools are government entities.
“With any governmental entity, the government officials would love to decide what gets published or broadcast,†Clere said.
However, Clere said that these decisions should not be up to government officials, and student journalists in consultation with advisors and the administration will make responsible decisions.
As the new version of the bill moves forward, Gunterman said they will continue to contact legislators, bring awareness to the bill and speak with opponents to address their concerns but make sure that they are not sacrificing anything within the legislation.
“If we sacrifice any of that, and even like a little bit in terms of leaving it up to a certain administrator to decide whether or not to censor something they just don’t like, then there’s really no purpose of the bill,†Gunterman said.
McRoberts said that student journalism is important to them, but they just can’t relinquish the power of the principal to be involved in the publication process.
“We think that journalism is an important part of the school experience and we think it’s valuable,†McRoberts said. “We want to do whatever we can do to promote that.â€
Meanwhile, Tapp is hoping for a better outcome this time around.
“For me, it would be a victory for the guys who are at these schools who are censored to high heavens and more than anyone should be,†Tapp said. “But it would be a victory for them and I just played a small part in getting a bill passed that would make their lives better.â€
FOOTNOTE: Makenna Mays is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.