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ICYMI: Dr. Bucshon Honors Local Hero from House Floor

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On Thursday, Eighth District Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. recognized the heroic action of Boonville native Scott Meador from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Meador was a bystander to a car wreck at a Newburgh gas station when he bravely pulled the driver to safety before the driver’s car was consumed by flames.

Here’s an excerpt of his speech:

“Scott Meador is a hero and an example for us all. Because of his selfless action, a family remains whole. That’s what it means to be a Hoosier – to come to the aid of your fellow citizens when they are in need,” said Bucshon.  “Mr. Speaker, it is important to highlight the positive things that happen daily in our country. Regardless of what may be going on around us; events like this remind us what is really important in life.”

The full transcript of the speech is below and video of the speech can be accessed here:https://youtu.be/iah74ESTM9w.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a local act of courage. 

 Earlier this week in my hometown of Newburgh, Indiana, a car wreck at a local gas station quickly turned into to a life or death situation.   

In what was described as a scene from an action movie, Boonville native Scott Meador, who was a bystander to the incident, bravely pulled the driver to safety before the car was consumed by flames – saving the driver’s life.

Scott Meador is a hero and an example for us all. Because of his selfless action, a family remains whole.

That’s what it means to be a Hoosier – to come to the aid of your fellow citizens when they are in need.  

 Mr. Speaker, it is important to highlight the positive things that happen daily in our country.

Regardless of what may be going on around us; events like this remind us what is really important in life.

 

 

Governor Pence Ceremonially Signs Bill Affirming Indiana’s Support of Israel

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Bill Requires Indiana Retirement System to Divest from Businesses Engaging in Action to Boycott, Divest or Sanction the State of Israel

Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence  joined Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and Speaker Brian Bosma (R – Indianapolis) in the Statehouse Rotunda to ceremonially sign House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1378, which requires the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) to divest from any business that engages in action to boycott, divest or sanction the state of Israel. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, and goes into effect July 1, 2016. The Governor signed the bill into law on March 23, 2016.

“As I ceremonially sign House Enrolled Act 1378, let us celebrate Indiana’s commitment and support for the state of Israel,” said Governor Pence. “I have long believed that Israel is our most cherished ally, and I’m honored to join Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer today as Hoosiers affirm our support for the state of Israel. I am thankful to the overwhelmingly bipartisan group of legislators who worked together to make clear that Indiana will not do business with those who seek to inflict financial damage on the people of Israel.”

According to INPRS, HEA 1378 would require INPRS to divest an estimated $50 million in assets of the $28.3 billion invested by the agency.

Also in attendance were bill sponsors Sen. Jim Merritt (R – Indianapolis), Sen. Dennis Kruse (R – Auburn), and Sen. Brandt Hershman (R – Buck Creek).

A photo from today’s ceremonial bill signing can be found attached.

 

 

 

VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES

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Below is a list of the felony cases filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office today.

Curtis Lee Woodard Rape, Level 1 felony

Rape, Level 1 felony

Rape, Level 1 felony

Rape, Level 1 felony

Rape, Level 1 felony

Rape, Level 1 felony

Criminal confinement, Level 3 felony

Criminal confinement, Level 3 felony

Strangulation, Level 6 felony

Domestic battery, Level 6 felony

Interference with the reporting of a crime, Class A misdemeanor

Seth Matthew Wrinkles Possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony

Resisting law enforcement, Class A misdemeanor

Possession of marijuana, Class A misdemeanor

Donald Xavier Freels Possession of a narcotic drug, Level 6 felony

Tyler A. Lane Possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony

Brandy Lea Hall Possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony

Unlawful possession of a syringe, Level 6 felony

Possession of paraphernalia, Class A misdemeanor

Walter J. Richardson Jr. Criminal confinement, Level 6 felony

Criminal trespass, Class A misdemeanor

Edward Theodore Ziemer Jr. Battery resulting in serious bodily injury, Level 5 felony

Battery against a public safety official, Level 6 felony

Residential entry, Level 6 felony

Resisting law enforcement, Class A misdemeanor

Joseph Daniel Stewart Auto theft, Level 6 felony

Deangelo Dewayne Armstead Theft, Level 6 felony 

Brett Wayne Heathcock Battery by means of a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony

Justin Andrew Mills Battery against a public safety official, Level 6 felony

Battery against a public safety official, Level 6 felony

Resisting law enforcement, Level 6 felony

Resisting law enforcement, Level 6 felony

False informing, Class B misdemeanor

Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, Class C misdemeanor

Nicholas Allen Cox Battery by means of a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony

Strangulation, Level 6 felony

Battery resulting in bodily injury, Class A misdemeanor

Battery resulting in bodily injury, Class A misdemeanor

Aaron James McCleave Possession of a narcotic drug, Level 6 felony

Possession of a narcotic drug, Level 6 felony

Dealing in marijuana, Level 6 felony

Possession of a controlled substance, Class A misdemeanor

Driving while suspended, Class A infraction

Casey N. Pointer Possession of methamphetamine, Level 6 felony

Unlawful possession of a syringe, Level 6 felony

Possession of paraphernalia, Class A misdemeanor

Governor Pence to Offer Remarks at 500 Festival Memorial Service

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Governor Mike Pence will honor fallen heroes at the 500 Festival Memorial Service presented by Rolls Royce. Later in the afternoon, Governor Mike Pence will join Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and Speaker Brian Bosma to ceremonially sign House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1378, which requires the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) to divest from any business that engages in action to boycott, divest or sanction the state of Israel. Later in the evening, Governor Pence will offer a greeting at the 16th Annual Salute! Concert to celebrate Indiana’s bicentennial. Details below.

 

Friday, May 27:

 

12:00 p.m. EDT — Governor Mike Pence to offer remarks at 500 Festival Memorial Service presented by Rolls Royce

*Media are welcome to attend.

Indiana War Memorial, 431 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46204

 

4:00 p.m. EDT — Governor Mike Pence to ceremonially sign HEA 1378

*Media are welcome to attend.

Indiana Statehouse – Rotunda, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204

 

7:00 p.m. EDT — Governor Mike Pence to offer greeting at the 16th Annual Salute! Concert regarding Indiana’s bicentennial

*Media are welcome to attend.

Bartholomew County Courthouse Lawn, 234 Washington St, Columbus, IN 47201

 

Eagles net three All-America honors in men’s 10k

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BRADENTON, Fla.—Despite seeing its two-year run on 10,000-meter national championships end, the No. 11 University of Southern Indiana men’s track and field team had three student-athletes earn All-America honors in the 10,000 meters and another advance out of the prelims and into the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase Thursday night at the NCAA II Outdoor Championships.

Senior Johnnie Guy (Palmyra, Indiana) finished fourth in the 10,000 meters to lead the Screaming Eagles, who are ninth with five points in the team standings after the opening day of competition.image_handler.aspx image_handler-2.aspx

From the start of the race, Guy, along with the rest of the field, faced an uphill battle as Missouri Southern State University freshman Vincent Kiprop, who was second at the NCAA II Cross Country Championships in November, bolted out to a seven-second lead in the first lap of the race.

Kiprop never let his lead slip below five seconds as it became apparent midway through the race that the real competition was for second place.

Guy, the 2014 national champion in the 10,000 meters as well as the runner-up a year ago, had a slim lead for second place for much of the race before slipping down two spots by the time the competition came to an end. He finished the race with a time of 29 minutes, 46.86 seconds, nearly 23 seconds off of Kiprop’s winning mark of 29:23.92.

Despite not winning the title, Guy collects first-team All-America honors, bringing his career totals to 15 athletic All-America awards and 17 overall. He is a four-time All-American in the 10,000 meters.

Joining Guy in earning All-America awards was junior Josh Guy (Palmyra, Indiana) and senior Tyler Pence (Springfield, Illinois). Josh Guy, the twin brother of Johnnie Guy, finished ninth in the 10,000 meters with a time of 30:32.28 to earn second-team All-America honors, while Pence, the defending national champion in the event, was 12th with a time of 31:13.39 to earn second-team accolades.

Junior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) got the action underway for the Eagles earlier in the evening as he finished 10th in the prelims of the steeplechase to qualify for the finals Friday evening. Broughton was sixth in his heat as he crossed the finish line in 9:07.80, just 4.06 seconds off the top time of the day.

Broughton will toe the line in the finals Friday at 6:15 p.m. (CDT), while Johnnie Guy and Pence will compete in the 5,000 meters Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

 

 

Phone Scam: Fake Deputy US Marshal Claims Victim Missed Jury Duty

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The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has received multiple reports of telephone fraud involving a caller claiming to be a Deputy US Marshal.

The caller claimed that someone in the household missed jury duty and that a bench warrant had been issued.  The caller stated the victim could clear up the arrest warrant by paying a fine and requested money cards (typically purchased at convenience stores) as a form of payment. Today one victim lost nearly $2,000 to the scammer.

This type of scam, in one form or another, occurs routinely all over the United States every day. Residents are advised to treat any unsolicited caller who requests payment or access to personally identifiable information with extreme skepticism, regardless of who the caller claims to represent. When in doubt get the caller’s name, hang up, and then call the business or government entity back at a phone number you know to be correct.

Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records

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http://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/recent-booking-records.aspx

IS IT TRUE MAY 27, 2016

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IS IT TRUE we are hearing that downtown St. Mary’s Parish is seeing an exodus of parishioners to other churches in the Diocese?  …that this appears to be in reaction to the most recent changes in clergy at the ST. Mary’s parish?   …we wonder if any of our readers can provide us with additional information concerning this issue?

IS IT TRUE that the extremely politically moderate Mayor Winnecke and his top lieutenant Wayne Parke have suffered a second crushing defeat in a month at the hands of the conservative wing of the local Republican party?  …that the first was the resounding loss of their chosen candidate for County Commissioner, Alex Schmitt, to the very capable Cheryl Musgrave? …the second defeat came last night at the party’s caucus, at the hands of their own precinct committeemen, when the conservative wing of the party chose well-known, and well liked small businessman Sean Selby over the past treasurer of the Vanderburgh County Libertarian party, Robb Myers to oppose Ben Shoulders for County Commissioner?  …we are totally surprised that this election was not even close with Selby defeating the Winnecke/McClintock/Parke backed Myers by a 57% to 43% margin?

IS IT TRUE that the taxpayers of Vanderburgh County are now paying surrounding counties to house our jail inmates, because we followed the penny-wise and pound foolish judgment of past County Commissioner  when building our County Jail/Corrections Center?  …we hear that our current, very hands-on Sheriff Dave Wedding may be seeking to alleviate the seriously over-crowded jail by seeking funding to build an addition to the current facility?  … we should keep partisan politics out of the discussion of how to solve the current over crowding problem of housing inmates in the future?

IS IT TRUE we were told that GOP Chairman Wayne Parke announced at last nights political caucus that he will support Sean Selby this fall?   …we wonder if he will also support Cheryl Musgrave?   …considering the poor record the Winnecke/Parke dream team has in supporting political candidates should be great news for Mrs. Musgrave?

IS IT TRUE that the local mainstream media is putting an overly positive spin on the legal settlement reached between the City and Mrs. Louise Milan?  …we are hearing that the spin doctors of the Winnecke  administration are telling people that the legal settlement costs was $100,000?  …we find this figure is not believable, because the legal appeal to SCOTUS alone likely cost that much?  …in addition to three years of legal wrangling, we won’t be surprised that the total legal costs for this law suit will go well over $1 million dollars?

FOOTNOTES: Our next “IS IT TRUE” will be posted on this coming Monday?

Todays “READERS POLL” question is:  Do you feel that Winnecke/Parke support of Robert Myers helped Sean Selby to win the Republican primary battle for County Commissioner?

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 redistributed

 

God Bless The Little Sisters Of the Poor

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God Bless the Little Sisters Of The Poor

By Tom Purcell

God bless the Little Sisters of the Poor. They just put our overzealous federal government back in its constitutional place.

The Little Sisters of the Poor is an international congregation of Roman Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to caring for the elderly poor. Since the order’s 1839 founding in France, its mission has been to give dignity and love to the frail and weak in the very last stage of their lives.
When ObamaCare became the law of the land, it demanded that the sisters purchase insurance policies for the order’s employees that cover the cost of contraception, abortive drugs and sterilization. But the nuns could never do so because their vow is to advance the dignity of life for every person, including the unborn.
The Little Sisters sought a religious exemption from the rules, but, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a legal group that defended the sisters in court, the government said the nuns were not religious enough to be exempt. The government insisted that the ObamaCare exemption applied only to churches and church-controlled ministries.

The government threatened massive fines against the 27 retirement homes that the sisters operate in the United States — at a cost of $100 per employee per day or $70 million in fines per year. This amount represents one-third of the Little Sisters’ operating budget and would have severely hampered the sisters ability to care for the elderly poor.  So, in 2013, the good sisters sued the government.

They argued that their constitutional right to freely practice their faith was being obstructed by our ever-growing government. The federal district court in Denver, Colo., ruled against them.
Thankfully, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an injunction siding with the sisters. Her injunction temporarily stopped the fines as the case worked its way through the legal process.
The sisters appealed the district court ruling. They lost again in 2015 when the 10th Circuit Court ruled against them and sided with ObamaCare.

The Little Sisters filed a petition to the Supreme Court. Finally, last week, the Supreme Court gave the sisters a huge win.

According to the Becket Fund, “The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower court rulings against the Little Sisters, ordered the government not to fine the Little Sisters, and said the lower courts should provide the government an opportunity ‘to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates the petitioner’s religious beliefs.’”

What is most puzzling about the whole situation, however, is that none of this was necessary.
The sisters “never sought to prevent the government from providing these (contraception) services, but have simply asked that the government pick a way that doesn’t force them to deliver services — like the week-after pill — that violate their faith.”

President Obama himself acknowledged that “the government can continue to provide these services without the Little Sisters and their health plan,” according to the Becket Fund.
So why did our government attack the wonderful sisters who have dedicated their lives to caring for the elderly poor?

It beats me, but it is a textbook case of why I and others worry about the erosion of our country’s most basic freedoms as our overzealous government extends its tentacles more deeply into every aspect of our everyday lives.

In our current state, it takes the incredible fortitude of a group of selfless nuns to protect and restore our freedoms.

They fought the good fight against a mighty foe so that they may continue to practice their faith freely in what is supposed to be the freest nation on Earth.
God bless the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Attorney General Zoeller To Host Summit On Addressing Mental Health and Addiction

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INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller will host the sixth-annual Criminal & Civil Justice Summit this Friday, May 27, to focus on addressing mental health and addiction in the justice system.

The summit will bring together leaders in all branches of government and the mental health community to discuss solutions to growing concerns about how mental health issues and drug addiction are plaguing the state, and contributing to crime and recidivism.

“It is an unfortunate reality that in many communities, the biggest local mental health facility ends up being the county jail or the state prison,” Zoeller said. “Individuals with mental health conditions or addiction problems are a large portion of those violating the law and facing incarceration. This is among the biggest problems facing our state and system of justice today, and we need innovative solutions now.”

The summit will include panel discussions on alternative sentencing and treatment solutions for mentally ill or addicted offenders, and will feature panelists including Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush, former Attorney General of Maine Jim Tierney, state legislators, county sheriffs, the president of Mental Health America of Indiana, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, and others.

Below is an agenda for the summit, which will be hosted at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis, 530 W. New York St.

  • 8:30 a.m. Welcome – Andrew Klein, Dean of the IU McKinney Law School

  • 8:45 a.m. Opening remarks – Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller

  • 9:00 a.m. Emerging AG Roles and Public Health Issues: Examination of the Correlation – Jim Tierney, Director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School and former Attorney General of Maine

  • 9:45 a.m. Panel Discussion: Overview of Sentencing Reform Legislation      
    Moderator: Steve Creason, Chief Counsel of the Appellate Division, Office of the Indiana Attorney General
    Panelists: Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush, Indiana Supreme Court; Greg Steuerwald, State Representative; Larry Landis, Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defenders Council; David Powell, Executive Director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council

  • 10:45 a.m. Panel Discussion: Implementation of Legislation through Recovery Works
    Moderator: Steve McCaffrey, President of Mental Health of America, Indiana
    Panelists: Julia Lanham, Deputy Commissioner of Re-entry, Department of Corrections; Sara K. Cozad, Asst. Deputy Director of Adult Mental Health and Addiction Services FSSA – Division of Mental Health and Addiction; William “Chris” Cunningham, Director of Grant County Community Corrections; Linda Brady, Chief Probation Officer at Monroe County Government

  • 11:30 a.m. Protecting Civil Liberties through Treatment in the Prison System – Ken Falk, Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana

  • 1:15 p.m. Breakout sessions
    Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative – Michelle Tennell, State Director of Indiana’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), Indiana Judicial Center, Indiana Supreme Court
    Civil Commitment – Sharon Blair, Advocate; Steve Davisson, State Representative
    View from Corrections: Alternative Sentencing in Practice – Amy Summerfield, Deputy Prosecutor of Hamilton County; Sheriff Nielsen, Boone County Sheriff

  • 2:15 p.m. Indiana’s participation in the National Institute of Corrections Evidence Based Decision Making Initiative – An Innovative Approach to Problem Solving
    Panelists: Justice Steven H. David, Indiana Supreme Court; Judge Mark E. Spitzer, Grant Circuit Court; Mary Kay Hudson, Director of Court Services, Indiana Judicial Center; Steve Creason, Chief Counsel of the Appellate Division, Office of the Indiana Attorney General

The Criminal and Civil Justice Summit is open to the media at no cost. To RSVP, contact Public Information Officer with the Attorney General’s Office, Molly Gillaspie, at molly.gillaspie@atg.in.gov or 317-232-0168. 

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