|
Hot Jobs in Evansville
EPD K-9 Unit Takes Top Four Spots at U.S.P.C.A Refion 5 Field Trials
The Evansville Police Department’s K9 Unit sent four of our K9 teams to the United States Police Canine Association (USPCA) Region 5 Field Trials being held in Lexington, Kentucky this past week.
The USPCA Region 5 is comprised of law enforcement K9 units that serve in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The handlers and their canine partners are tested on and compete in the following disciplines:
Obedience
Agility
Evidence Search
Suspect Search
Criminal Apprehension
EPD K9 teams had an outstanding showing at the field trials and swept the overall top 4 winning place positions. In addition to winning the top four positions, EPD teams finished first in every individual discipline.
Representing the EPD were the teams of Zach Elfreich and K9 Axel (1st Place overall), Nick Henderson and K9 Qaos (2nd Place overall), Jason Thomas and K9 Abot (3rd Place overall), and Doug Buetel and K9 Gero (4th Place overall). This was the third consecutive year that Officer Elfreich and his partner Axel won the trials.
This showing reflects proudly on the hard work, dedication, and work ethic that the EPD’s K9 Unit puts forth in their service to the community.
Â
Governor Mike Pence Directs Flags Be Flown at Half-staff Statewide to Honor Victims of the Terrorist Attack in Nice, France
Indianapolis – In accordance with a presidential proclamation issued this afternoon, Governor Mike Pence is directing flags at state facilities statewide be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice, France. Flags should be flown at half-staff immediately until sunset on Tuesday, July 19.
Governor Pence also asks businesses and residents to lower their flags to half-staff in accordance with the directive.
The Governor released the following statement after news of the attack broke last night:
“Our hearts go out to the fallen and their families in today’s terrorist attack in France. This attack is a horrific reminder of the threat facing Western civilization. This must end. As we mourn with the people of France, we must resolve to bring to justice all those responsible and defeat this enemy of civilization at its source.â€
Helping Hoosiers with Disabilities
| Dear Friend,
Many new laws are now in effect, including policies helping Hoosiers with disabilities. Indiana joined a growing number of states implementing the ABLE Act. The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act allows certain individuals with disabilities and their families the opportunity to create a tax-exempt savings account that can be used for maintaining health, independence and quality of life. Now, Hoosiers with disabilities can save tax free and plan for future qualified expenses without jeopardizing their eligibility for other benefits. Hoosiers can now request an identification card from the Indiana State Department of Health indicating they are medically diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder or another developmental disability. These cards are not required, but cardholders who choose to use them will be better equipped to convey they have a disability to first responders or anyone else. These have proven useful in the event that if, for instance, autistic behavior is mistaken for noncompliance or aggression. In the coming weeks, I will be providing information on other new laws effective this month. Please contact me at h76@iga.in.gov or 317Â-232Â-9816 with questions or input. Sincerely, State Rep. Wendy McNamara |
Activities for the Mind, Body & Spirit
|
IT’S NOT THE GUN’S FAULT
Making Sense by Michael Reagan
It happened after Sandy Hook.
It happened after San Bernardino and Orlando.
It happened last week after Dallas.
Whenever a spoiled young nut job, wannabe Islamic terrorist or disturbed cop-hater goes on a mass killing spree, liberals and their choir members in the mainstream media can be counted on to react in the same ignorant, knee-jerky way.
It was the gun’s fault.
It doesn’t matter if the weapon was a handgun, an assault weapon look-alike or a deer rifle.
It’s never the evil or insane individual who was responsible for the slaughter of innocents. It was the gun.
Gun control is always the liberals’ off-the-shelf solution for ending mass murders, the deadly gang wars in Chicago and suicides.
For decades they have demanded stricter gun laws or dreamed of outlawing guns altogether.
Liberals hate everything about guns (unless their body guards are packing them) and don’t trust ordinary people to own them or use them.
They’ll never understand why our Constitution protects individual gun ownership. (Hint: it’s not to protect our right to hunt squirrels.)
Liberals like Hillary Clinton and President Obama would throw the Second Amendment overboard in a Washington minute if they could.
What anti-gun nuts have turned to lately in their fight against gun violence and mass killings is the idea of “ammo control.â€
Restricting the size of magazines or the number of cartridges a pistol or rifle can hold is the liberals’ latest “magic bullet.â€
A liberal friend of mine recently tried to persuade me that ammo control was a good idea.
“OK,†I said, “let’s accept your premise. Let’s say we restrict my shotgun’s capacity to just three shells.
“If I went into a movie theater to kill people, how many times do you think I could reload before someone could stop me? Three? Four?
“Therefore, in effect you’re telling me it’s OK for someone to be able to kill nine or 12 people, but no more. You’re not doing anything to prevent mass murders.
“All you’re doing is putting a limit on the number of dead. So killing 30 people is not OK, but killing 12 is? Would you like to choose the 12 people?â€
He didn’t answer.
Gun control. Ammo control. Knife control. Bomb control. Rock control.
They won’t stop people killing each other in ones, twos or dozens. They won’t stop the gang murders in the big cities.
Murder rates in 20 cities like Chicago and Baltimore and L.A., where young black males in gangs murder each other every weekend, have spiked recently.
But gang control, not gun control, is what’s needed in those dangerous urban places, which account for about half of the country’s annual homicide total.
Despite all the media and political attention given to the killing of six cops in Dallas and the killings of black men by cops in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, Americans are not murdering each other today as much as they used to.
The rate of homicides per 100,000 Americans fell almost by half between 1993 and 2013, from 7.0 to 3.6. Meanwhile, during that same period the number of guns owned per capita went from .95 to 1.45.
No one really knows for sure, but America has an estimated 350 million guns within its borders.
About 12,000 of those weapons on average are now used in homicides each year —- down from 18,000 in 1993.
According to my calculator, that means about .99996571 percent of the guns in America’s collection will not murder a single person this year.
Twelve thousand dead is still too many. But controlling guns won’t bring down that toll. Controlling the humans who pull their triggers will.
Senior judge faces discipline case for OWI, alleged cover-up bid
Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com
Indiana Court of Appeals Senior Judge William Garrard faces judicial discipline proceedings after driving drunk in Mooresville last November, colliding with a car and later allegedly asking a policeman at the hospital to forget about it.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Friday filed a notice of judicial discipline proceedings against Garrard, claiming his conduct in driving drunk violated Rules 1.1 and 1.2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The rules, respectively, require judges to respect and comply with the law and avoid impropriety; and act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary. His alleged attempt to evade responsibility is a separate count, also alleging a violation of Rule 1.2.
Garrard, 83, pleaded guilty last month to OWI endangering a person, a Class A misdemeanor, after crashing his Ford Edge into another vehicle that sat waiting for traffic to clear at the intersection of Monroe and High streets in the Morgan County community. Garrard made a wide turn and his car struck the waiting vehicle.
Police spoke with the other driver, according to the discipline charges, while Garrard “was outside the vehicle at the time with his insurance card in his hand,†when the officer asked for his license and registration.
“As [Garrard] was returning to the Ford Edge, the officer observed [him] stagger and almost lose his balance†when he opened the car door. Police smelled alcohol on him and said his speech was slurred and his eyes bloodshot and watery. Garrard told officers he’d had one vodka drink two hours prior, but he blew a 0.14 percent blood alcohol level on a preliminary breath test, nearly twice the legal limit for drunken driving.
Garrard was taken to a hospital for a blood draw. “On the ride to the hospital and while at the hospital, [he] voiced concern to the officer that [he] would probably lose his job. … At the hospital emergency room, after the blood draw was completed, [Garrard] asked the police officer, ‘Will you just take me home and forget about the drinking and driving,’†the discipline charges allege.
A special judge in Morgan County accepted Garrard’s guilty plea June 14. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with 309 days suspended and given 28 days of jail credit time, though he spent just a few hours in the county jail the night of his arrest, a jail officer said. Garrard was placed on probation for nine months with his driving privileges suspended 90 days and ordered to pay $384.50 in fines and court costs.
The notice issued Friday requests the court appoint a panel of three special masters to conduct a hearing on the alleged misconduct and impose appropriate sanctions. The last Indiana judge to face a Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing before special masters was former Marion Superior Judge Kimberly Brown, who was removed from the bench in March 2014 for a number of ethical violations in administering her court.
Garrard’s attorney in his discipline case, Kevin McGoff of Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, said he could not comment at the present time on the discipline charges. Garrard has 20 days to answer the complaint. Possible sanctions range from a reprimand or suspension to a permanent ban on holding judicial office in Indiana.
Garrard was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1974 and retired in 2000, when he assumed senior status. He was admitted to practice in 1959.
WEEKEND READERS FORUM
WHATS ON YOUR MIND TODAY?
“IS IT TRUE†will be posted on this coming Friday
Todays READERS POLL question is: Who would you support for Governor?
Please take time and read our newest feature articles entitled “HOT JOBS†and “LOCAL SPORTS†posted in our sections.
If you would like to advertise in the CCO please contact us City-County Observer@live.com.
Copyright 2015 City County Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistribute