OUR JIMMY KIMMEL PRESIDENT
Making Sense by Michael Reagan
Please, Mr. Trump, I’m on bended knee.
Please, Mr. Trump, quit acting like a talk-show host and start acting like the president of the United States.
When it comes to NFL players and NFL teams taking a knee in protest before their football games,I’m pretty much like most Americas.
I was appalled at what quarterback Colin Kaepernick did last year when he decided to remain seated during the national anthem.
In his head, Kaepernick was protesting what he claims is the ongoing oppression of people of color in America by police.Fine.
But most of the country interpreted it differently.
They saw a privileged, highly paid pro athlete disrespecting the American flag and those who served under it in battle.
Kaepernick has paid a high personal price for his principles. He’s now unemployed — and apparently unemployable.
Though not a superstar, he’s probably better than half a dozen no-name backup quarterbacks in the NFL.
Yet his pre-game troublemaking and the bad publicity he’s created for himself and the league has clearly kept him from being picked up by a team that could use him.
No owner wants to have to deal with him or the negative attention that comes with him.
His best hope might be getting a CFL team to sign him if he promises to behave during “O Canada.â€
Four weeks ago the whole Kaepernick protest thing was beginning to fade away on its own. Only about four NFL players were still taking the knee during the “The Star-Spangled Banner.â€
With its TV ratings falling and attendance in decline for other reasons, the league office was thrilled to see the NFL protest movement losing steam. So was the rest of a politically weary America.
But then, late in the fourth quarter, President Trump streaked onto the field.
At a rally for the Senate primary in Alabama last Friday, he told a crowd, “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b —- off the field right now? Out! He’s fired! He’s fired!’â€
Thanks to the meddler in chief, one in eight players took a knee during the national anthem during the games last weekend and Monday.
They didn’t take a knee to support Kaepernick or to disrespect the flag. They did it to protest Trump and his attack on NFL players.
Yes, President Trump said what so many of us are feeling. But he had no reason to get in the middle of stuff he doesn’t need to be in – and shouldn’t be in.
Trump unconditional supporters are praising him for taking a stand, but he wasn’t leading the way.
The ones who should take credit for taking a stand against the NFL “Kneelers†are the people of the United States.
We’re the ones who’ve stopped watching or going to the games because of the players’ politics. We deserve the credit.
The president is following the people’s lead.He joined the winning team after the game was over.
I know we can chalk up the president’s meddling to the all-purpose excuse – “It’s Trump being Trump.â€
But the president should never call anyone a “S.O.B.†in public.
Not even if he really feels that way. Not even though we may agree with him.
There simply are things a president should not do or say – let’s call it “Presidential Behavior 101.â€
I know President Trump was playing to his base again. I know they cheered his comments and fell in love with him even more.
But I’m tired of hearing him sound more like Jimmy Kimmel than the president.
Weekly Brown Bag performances return to the Arts Council next week!
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Women’s cross country 12th at Conference Crossover
University of Southern Indiana women’s cross country placed 12th out of 34 teams Saturday morning at the Lewis Conference Crossover in Romeoville, Illinois.
Junior Hope Jones (Cumberland, Indiana) led the Screaming Eagles in the 5k race with a 28th place finish in a time of 22 minutes, 30.5 seconds. Freshman Jennifer Comastri (Indianapolis, Indiana) also earned a top 50 finish, taking 48th in 22:51.7.
The third Eagle to cross the line was senior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Illinois) in 83rd, with junior Kate Henrickson (Boonville, Indiana) and sophomore Ellie Tjelmeland (Springfield, Illinois) completing the USI top five.
California Baptist University won the meet with 51 points, while regional foe Grand Valley State University was second with 66. USI was 12th with 379, just 12 points behind 11th place Cedarville University.
Next up for the Eagles are the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships October 21 in Kirksville, Missouri. The Eagles will be going for their seventh consecutive conference championship.
Divorced Parents To Become Co-Owners Of The Ex-Husband’s 529 Savings Account
Olivia Covington for www.theindianalawyer.com
An Indiana trial court erred when it ordered two divorced parents to become co-owners of the ex-husband’s 529 savings account in post-dissolution proceedings, finding the account was the man’s property, so the trial court lacked authority to make his ex-wife a co-owner.
In David K. Miller v. Joy A. (Miller) Brown, 03A01-1703-DR-512, David Miller opened two 529 college saving accounts in his name for his sons, Z.M. and N.M., with each son designated as beneficiary of one of the accounts. After Miller and his wife, Joy Brown, divorced in 2010, he continued contributing to the accounts, while Brown opened two new 529s in her name and designated each of her sons as beneficiaries of one of the accounts.
In June 2014, Brown filed a petition indicating Z.M. had started college and asking the Bartholomew Superior Court to order Miller to pay a share of the expenses. Miller objected, noting Z.M. was 19 and, thus, was emancipated when Brown filed her petition. While that petition was still pending, Brown filed a similar motion as to N.M., who had “plans†to attend college after his graduation.
At a subsequent hearing, Brown claimed she had paid up to $25,000 for Z.M.’s college, but that he had “failed†and dropped out. The trial court then dismissed Brown’s petition as to Z.M., agreeing with Miller that she had waited too long to file the petition because he was 19 years old at the time of the filing. The court also denied her request for reimbursements from Miller’s 529 account for Z.M.
Brown renewed her petition as to N.M. when he enrolled in college in the fall of 2016, testifying that Miller had not paid any portion of N.M.’s tuition. By the time of the second hearing, Brown had consolidated her 529s into a single account consisting of $11,400 for N.M., while Miller’s accounts held balances of $21,000 and $25,000, respectively.
After the second hearing, the trial court ordered the parties to consolidate the 529 funds into one account, with Miller and Brown as equal co-owners. All of N.M.’s college expenses were to be paid from that account, and any additional expenses were to be paid 55 percent by Brown and 45 percent by Miller.
Miller appealed, challenging only the portion of the trial court’s order that created a single, jointly owned 529 account. The Indiana Court of Appeals agreed that portion of the order was erroneous and reversed the trial court’s decision in a Friday opinion.
Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik, writing for the unanimous court, first noted that the two 529 accounts opened by Miller were legally Miller’s property, even though they were intended to benefit his sons. Further, Vaidik wrote the trial court’s order went against the meaning of Indiana Code 31-16-6-3, which holds that a court “may set apart the part of the property of either parent or both parents that appears necessary and proper for the support of the child.â€
“But the trial court did not merely order part of Father’s property ‘set apart’ for the future support of Z.M. and N.M.,†the chief judge said. “Rather, it purported to make Mother a co-owner of Father’s property. The text of Section 31-16-6-3 does not authorize such a post-dissolution division of property.â€
“But this is not the end of the line for Mother,†Vaidik continued. “While we are constrained to vacate the order requiring the parties to create a single, jointly owned 529 account, we must also remand this matter for a new ruling on Mother’s petition for payment of N.M.’s college expenses.â€
Eagles soar to third place finish at Conference Crossover
The University of Southern Indiana men’s cross country team brought home a third place finish out of 31 teams at the Lewis Conference Crossover Saturday morning in Romeoville, Illinois.
Senior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) paced the Screaming Eagles with a 12th place finish in a time of 25 minutes, 17.2 seconds. Senior Cain Parker (Petersburg, Indiana) just missed out on a top 25 finish, coming in at 26th in 25:35.8.
Sophomores Austin Nolan (Evansville, Indiana) and Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) were 33rd and 36th, respectively, while senior Darin Lawrence (Indianapolis, Indiana) rounded out the Eagles’ scoring in 49th.
Grand Valley State University won the meet with 55 points, while California Baptist University was second with 121, with USI in third with 150.
Next up for the Eagles are the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships October 21 in Kirksville, Missouri. The Eagles will be going for their 13th consecutive conference championship.
Judicial Committee Narrowly Approves 7th Circuit Nominee Barrett
Marilyn Odendahl for www.theindianalawyer.com
The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary voted along party lines Thursday to approve Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Barrett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, along with Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Louise Larsen, nominated to the 6th Circuit, and Eric Dreiband, nominated to be assistant attorney general to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, were approved by the committee on 11-to-9 votes. None of the nominees garnered any votes from Democrats.
Prior to the vote, Democrats and Republicans sparred over the questions Barrett faced during her Sept. 6 hearing. Committee members, primarily Democrats, raised concerns about Barrett’s willingness to follow precedent and her ability to separate her Catholic faith from her judicial decisions. A few Republicans also asked about her past scholarly writing which contemplated when a judge’s religious beliefs conflict with the law.
Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, remarked specifically about Barrett, calling her “eminently qualified†and an exceptionally bright nominee.†He also admonished his Democrat colleagues for strongly implying in their questions that “She was too Catholic.†He characterized their questioning as leading the committee down a “dangerous road†of implementing an unconstitutional religious test for nominees.
“I don’t think how religious a nominee is or isn’t should every be part of our evaluation,†he said.
Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., both Catholics, fired back. They pointed out Barrett has no judicial experience and very limited trial experience so the committee was left with reviewing her academic writing to understand her judicial views.
In addition, Durbin noted that Grassley along with Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Ted Cruz also asked Barrett about her writings on the intersection between religious beliefs and judicial experience.
“I take our Constitution seriously when it says there shall be no religious test for public office but many senators on this committee, Republicans and Democrats, felt the writings of the nominee warranted an inquiry about her views on the impact of religion on a judge’s role,†Durbin said. “That is not a religious test.â€
Barrett’s nomination will now go to the Senate floor for a vote by a full chamber.
President Donald Trump nominated Barrett to fill Indiana’s 7th Circuit seat vacated by Judge John Tinder in 2015. Former Indiana Supreme Court Justice Myra Selby was nominated to replace Tinder by President Barack Obama, but then-Sen. Dan Coats refused to turn in his blue slip in support her nomination so the judiciary committee never gave her a hearing.
Graduating from Notre Dame Law School in 1997, Barrett has spent the majority of her career in academia. She clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and then worked a few years in private practice before returning to South Bend to join the law faculty at Notre Dame.
Colleagues at Notre Dame as well as former students and attorneys who clerked alongside Barrett, have written letters in support of her nomination to the 7th Circuit.
However, Barrett has also incited strong opposition. Within minutes of the committee’s vote, both the Alliance for Justice and the Civil and Human Rights Coalition denounced the approval given to Barrett, Larsen and Dreiband.
“Additionally, advancing the nominations of Joan Larsen and Amy Barrett for lifetime appointments to federal appeals courts furthers the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine rights that women, people of color, and LGBT Americans have spent generations fighting to vindicate,†the Civil and Human Rights Coalition said in a statement.
The Power of Poison
It’s time to sleuth out the truth behind some of history’s most famous poisonings! Step into the Detecting Poison Theater and see if your students have what it takes to solve the mystery. Get up close to golden poison dart frogs and learn how they stay safe from predators. And see how scientists are using poisons to help create life-saving medical treatments. We’re busy working on exciting programming to complement the exhibition, stay tuned for details later this month! For more information or to book a field trip, call guest services at 317.232.1637.
Oct. 21, 2017 – Feb. 11, 2018
Evansville Police Merit Commission Meeting Cancellation Notice
The Evansville Police Merit Commission scheduled meeting for
Monday, October 9, 2017 has been cancelled.
The next scheduled meeting of the Police Merit Commission will be on
Monday, October 23, 2017, in Room 307 of the Civic Center Complex at 2:00pm.
Notice submitted by Sgt. Doug Schneider,
Liaison to the Evansville Police Merit Commission
The Evansville Police Merit Commission scheduled meeting for
Monday, October 9, 2017 has been cancelled.
The next scheduled meeting of the Police Merit Commission will be on
Monday, October 23, 2017, in Room 307 of the Civic Center Complex at 2:00pm.
Notice submitted by Sgt. Doug Schneider,
Liaison to the Evansville Police Merit Commission
Police investigating shooting near W. Michigan and 10th, victim expected to survive
Evansville Police officers working the Fall Festival security detail responded to the 2700 block of W. M Michigan around 11:00pm on Friday night for a report of a person laying on the ground.
Officers found 51 year old Tracy Franklin and determined he had been shot in the upper torso. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He is expected to survive.
Officers had escorted Franklin out of the Fall Festival area earlier in the night for being intoxicated. He had been also been involved in a theft from a carnival food booth. At this time, police do not believe the shooting was related to the other incidents that Franklin had been involved in. Although he was found in the area of the Fall Festival, police believe the shooting happened after the Festival had closed for the night.
Officers were able to speak with Franklin. Investigators are trying to identify a suspect based off of his statements. There have not been any arrests at this time.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call EPD at 812-436-7979 or WeTIp at 1-800-78-CRIME.