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Tips for a safe Halloween

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Walk Safely
•Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks.
•Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross.
•Put electronic devices down and keep heads up and walk, don’t run, across the street.
•Teach children to make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
•Always walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to
the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
•Watch for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach children to never dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.

Trick or Treat With an Adult
•Children under the age of 12 should not be alone at night without adult supervision. If kids are mature enough to be out without supervision, they should stick to familiar areas that are well lit and trick-or-treat in groups.

Keep Costumes Both Creative and Safe
•Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors.
•Choose face paint and makeup whenever possible instead of masks, which can obstruct a child’s vision.
•Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights to help them see and be seen by drivers.
•When selecting a costume, make sure it is the right size to prevent trips and falls.

Drive Extra Safely on Halloween
•Slow down and be especially alert in residential neighborhoods. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
•Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs.
•Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
•Eliminate any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
•Drive slowly, anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic and turn your headlights on earlier in the day to spot children from greater distances.
•Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours.

THERE ARE NO SET HOURS FOR TRICK OR TREATING IN EVANSVILLE. BE SAFE AND HAVE FUN.

 

Compton Brings Experience and Depth to Evansville

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Jackson Kelly PLLC is pleased to welcome Charles A. Compton, former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of White Oak Resources LLC, to its Evansville, Indiana, office. Compton will focus his practice in the areas of commercial and corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and natural resources.

 

Compton is returning to private practice after spending four years as General Counsel to White Oak Resources. Prior to joining White Oak, Compton was in private practice for two decades.  His practice focused on mergers & acquisitions, commercial and real estate transactions, finance and mineral law.  In addition to his client work, Compton has provided leadership to the coal industry as a principal and contributing drafter of industry-related Indiana legislation and has represented the Indiana Coal Council as amicus curiae before the Indiana Court of Appeals. Compton is also a Trustee of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation.

 

Upon joining Jackson Kelly, Compton states “Jackson Kelly has nationally recognized practices in several disciplines, and that is certainly the case with its energy practice.  I look forward to helping Jackson Kelly’s clients navigate the headwinds and take advantage of the opportunities presented by these unprecedented times in the energy industry.  At the same time, Jackson Kelly has one of the largest full service practices in Evansville.  It is exciting to be part of that dynamic; marrying a broad local presence with the firm-wide resources, capabilities and experience in all areas housed in a firm of Jackson Kelly’s size.”

 

Jackson Kelly CEO, Ellen Cappellanti, applauded the hire of Compton recalling that the Firm first entered the Evansville market in 2011, initially to serve its growing energy practice. Since that time, the Firm has expanded significantly in Evansville, with now over twenty attorneys who provide a full range of business, litigation, employment and other services to several of the region’s leading businesses.

 

Marc Fine, Managing Member of the Evansville office, concurred.  “I have known Charles for many years, and he is an excellent lawyer.  We are excited to add him as part of the team.”

Client Focus, Industry Insight, National Reputation. Jackson Kelly PLLC is a national law firm with more than 175 attorneys located in twelve offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado and the District of Columbia. With a focus on companies working in and around the energy industry, the Firm works with its clients to help resolve their operating challenges by teaming to develop and implement strategies that minimize risks, quickly and effectively. Focusing on clients’ industry-specific needs, the Firm serves a wide variety of corporate and public clients and enjoys a national reputation in business, labor and employment, litigation, government contracts, tax, safety and health, permitting, natural resource and environmental law. The Firm’s clients and peers recognize its commitment to providing superior client service as Jackson Kelly has repeatedly been selected as a Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies in the U.S. and is regularly named to BTI’s Client Service A-Team.

 

 

SLOW AND JERKY by Jim Redwine

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Gavel Gamut

By Jim Redwine

(Week of 02 November 2015)

SLOW AND JERKY

It is time to leave the Osage and get back to JPeg Ranch in Indiana. The family said goodbye to our old church, both the movie theater and the pool hall are long closed and they tore down our old school. We really can’t go home.

In small towns across western America fifty years ago those four institutions were the town. This was especially true in my small hometown out on the prairie. What time we boys did not spend at those institutions we could not avoid, school and church, we spent at the Saturday movie or the pool hall. I’m not sure where I got more education.

As Professor Harold Hill said in The Music Man:

“I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand golden. Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye.”

One lesson I learned from the movie theater was that Black kids had to sit in the balcony. In legally and de facto segregated Oklahoma, the races could not and almost always did not mix.

In 2015 the vestiges of slavery are subtle. But before the race riots of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s from Boston to Los Angeles, the sins of our forefathers were clearly evident. White people made the rules, both commercial and social, and Black people obeyed them or paid a heavy price.

When African Americans became Black Panthers or Black Muslims or litigants in civil rights cases such as Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954), white Americans at first reacted badly then slowly let the mantra of “No Justice, No Peace” permeate our collective psyches.

Slowly, painfully, incrementally, that’s how we in America addressed the “Negro Problem”. Our approach to the “Indian Problem” was different. Absolute power over indigenous, multi-tribal peoples enabled industrialized white Americans to either eliminate or marginalize Native Americans. This latter approach is what Israel’s Jewish citizens have tried with Palestinians since 1948. It has not and cannot work, as there are many more Arabs than Jews and, unlike Nazi Germany in the 1930’s and 40’s, the whole world is now watching.

What might work is the former approach. Starting from an attitudinal change that justice is a better plan than extermination, Palestinians and Jewish Israelis could perhaps climb that same mountain we continue slowly working to summit.

AG Zoeller announces grant program to fund surge in naloxone distribution

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Zoeller also recognizes first responders who have saved lives with naloxone

INDIANAPOLIS – At the sixth-annual Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium today, Attorney General Greg Zoeller focused on the importance of expanding access to and use of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone as a response to rising overdose deaths in the state. The two-day symposium is the pinnacle event for the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, which Zoeller founded in 2012 and which he currently co-chairs.

At the symposium today, Zoeller announced a new grant program to fund a surge in naloxone distribution, with the goal of ensuring all first responders are equipped with the life-saving treatment and trained to administer it. He also presented six awards to law enforcement officers and medical professionals in the state who have helped save lives by administering naloxone or training individuals to do so.

Naloxone, usually in the form of a nasal spray, works by counteracting the effects of an overdose of heroin or other opiate, and that in turn gives first responders additional time to get the unconscious patient to a hospital.

According to a 2015 Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) report, the number of heroin overdoses in Indiana more than doubled from 2011 to 2013. Three out of four new heroin users report having abused prescription opioids prior to using heroin.

On behalf of his Task Force, Zoeller has advocated for expanded availability and use of naloxone. In 2014, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation that provides immunity from civil lawsuits to law enforcement and other first responders who administer naloxone to overdose victims in the course of their duties. In 2015, further legislation was passed that allows medical professionals to prescribe naloxone to family members and others who provide care or services to those at risk of overdose.

To date, 55 law enforcement agencies across the state have been trained and equipped with naloxone, including county sheriffs’ departments, municipal police departments and campus police departments. At least 165 lives have been saved by law enforcement administering naloxone in Indiana.

Naloxone grant program

Beginning today, nonprofits registered with ISDH to distribute naloxone kits and provide training on the use of naloxone to law enforcement and other first responders can apply for grant funding from the Attorney General’s Office.

The new grant program is funded by a recent pharmaceutical settlement reached between the Attorney General’s Office and Amgen for deceptive drug promotion. The initial wave of available funding is set at $100,000.

“We cannot sit by as more and more people die from opioid overdoses,” Zoeller said. “The Task Force, Legislature and other leaders on this issue have paved the way for greater availability of naloxone, but these efforts are meaningless without the boots-on-the-ground response to get this antidote into police cars, EMS trucks and addiction treatment facilities where naloxone can be administered immediately to overdose patients to save lives. This is a public health emergency and demands an immediate response.”

To apply for a grant, eligible nonprofits must submit a plan to the Attorney General’s Office detailing which first responders in their service area are in need of naloxone, whether any jurisdictions in their service area are high risk, whether any jurisdictions have a demonstrated financial need to fund naloxone programs, and an estimated count of naloxone kits needed in the service area. The nonprofits must also detail their plan and timeline for training first responders on naloxone kits.

The individual award amounts will be determined based on the geographic service areas the nonprofit can reach, and the quantity of law enforcement agencies and first responders within that specific area per approved application.

A naloxone kit containing one dose costs approximately $75. The Attorney General’s Office anticipates the first wave of the grant program to fund the distribution of at least 1,000 naloxone kits to first responders. Zoeller said the program may be expanded depending on future need.

The Attorney General’s Office is accepting applications for the grants now through Dec. 1, 2015. Grants will be awarded at the start of 2016.

For more information about the grant program and how to apply, visit www.BitterPill.in.gov and click on “Harm Reduction – Naloxone Training for First Responders.”

Naloxone award recipients

Also today, Zoeller recognized first responders who have played a key role in equipping law enforcement and first responders with naloxone, training them to administer it to overdose victims and saving lives so that overdose victims can get access to treatment.

“Getting opioid addicts connected with treatment is key to curbing this crisis in Indiana. A treatment opening is of no avail if the addicted person has already died of an overdose,” Zoeller said. “Law enforcement and first responders have stepped up to the plate, and they are saving Hoosier lives.”

Zoeller presented the following individuals with award plaques during a ceremony at the symposium today:

Officers Lauren Carmack and Lona Douglas, IMPD Southwest District. Between the two of them, Carmack and Douglas have saved nine lives using naloxone. In each of the cases, they administered naloxone to individuals who were found unresponsive and unconscious. In a particularly noteworthy case, Douglas entered a home where a woman was calling for help. She found a man unconscious in a bathtub, pulled him out, administered naloxone and saved his life. Both Douglas and Carmack were part of the initial naloxone training for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) in March 2014.
Sgt. Jay Frederick, Columbus Police Department. A member of the Task Force, Sgt. Frederick played a critical role in securing legal immunity for law enforcement and first responders who administer naloxone. Recognizing the perceived threat of lawsuits as a barrier to public safety agencies making wider use of naloxone, he presented the idea to the Task Force which led to the recommendation to include it as part of the law in 2014. Largely thanks to Sgt. Frederick, the Columbus Police Department was one of the first law enforcement agencies in Indiana to be trained on naloxone administration. Sgt. Frederick’s high school-aged daughter Emma raised money to fund the kits for the department. Sgt. Frederick has also trained other law enforcement agencies on naloxone, including officers in Scott County responding to the HIV and intravenous opioid abuse crises.
Deputy Chief Bryan Roach, IMPD. Deputy Chief Roach was instrumental in piloting IMPD’s naloxone training and administration program in the Southwest District in March 2014. Since then, nearly all IMPD officers have been trained on the proper use of naloxone, and the department has saved nearly 150 lives. The success of this program in saving lives helped set the stage for passage of the 2015 legislation allowing lay persons access to naloxone as well.
Dr. Daniel O’Donnell, medical director with Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services and Indianapolis Fire Department. Dr. O’Donnell also played a key role in the naloxone pilot program, which provided research and data on lives saved using naloxone. A key data point found that more than 93 percent of IMPD officers involved in the training had been at the scene of an opioid overdose within the past year, and nearly 50 percent had been at such a scene within the past month. Dr. O’Donnell provided information and data to the Legislature to help secure passage of naloxone-related legislation.
Donna Purviance, nurse practitioner. A member of the Task Force, Purviance has studied intranasal naloxone education as part of her Doctorate in Nursing. She has trained four law enforcement agencies, including Indiana State University Campus Police, on her own time and supplied them with naloxone kits.
At the symposium, Zoeller also distributed pins to anyone who has been trained to administer naloxone so that they can wear the designation when responding to emergency situations.

More information on naloxone efforts can be found at www.BitterPill.IN.gov under “Harm Reduction.”

Visit www.BitterPill.IN.gov for more information about the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force and the 2015 Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium.

MONKEY ON YOUR BACK

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Acclaimed Author to Visit Plaza Park

Monday, November 2

9:30 a.m.
Plaza Park International Prep Academy, 7301 Lincoln Ave.

 

Acclaimed Author Vince Vawter will visit Plaza Park International Prep Academy Monday morning to talk about his book, Paperboy. Vawter will speak with students for about 20 minutes, then take questions.

 

Vawter, former president and publisher of the Evansville Courier and Press, received a Newbery Medal for the book in 2014. (Paperboy was one of only 4 novels selected as Newbery Honors Books in 2014.) The book is a semi-autobiographical novel set in Memphis during the summer of 1959. In the story, Victor, a young boy, takes over a friend’s newspaper delivery route for the summer. Victor, who stutters, finds himself alone much of the time, apart of friends. The book goes through how Victor grows and learns more about life during that summer.

 

The visit comes after teachers Cathy Voelker and Kaitie Ely received a grant from the Public Education Foundation to bring Vawter to the school after their seventh grade students read the book.

 

COA affirms convictions state conceded as double jeopardy

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Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com

State attorneys who agreed with a defendant’s argument that his felony drunken-driving and misdemeanor reckless driving convictions violated double-jeopardy protections were wrong, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Friday, affirming both convictions.

Brooks Berg argued his convictions were based on the same evidence that was presented to the jury and thus a violation of his rights under the actual evidence test under Richardson v. State, 717 N.E.2d 32 (Ind. 1999). The state conceded this issue.

“We reject Berg’s argument and the State’s concession, and we hold that the trial court did not violate Berg’s rights under the Richardson actual evidence test,” Judge Edward Najam wrote in Brooks Berg v. State of Indiana, 32A01-1504-CR-127.

Berg was arrested in June 2014 in Plainfield after police tried to stop him for speeding. He led officers on a chase at speeds up to 130 mph, according to the record. The pursuit ended when Berg lost control of the vehicle, which careened into a ditch, hit a tree, flipped and came to a stop on its roof.

A jury convicted Berg on all counts: Class D felony counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and resisting law enforcement and Class B misdemeanor reckless driving; and adjudication as a habitual substance offender. He was sentenced to eight years in the Department of Correction.

In affirming Berg’s convictions, Najam wrote, “Both Berg’s argument on appeal and the State’s concession are premised on a misunderstanding of Richardson. The Richardson test cannot be met where, as here, one offense required evidence of intoxication and the other offense did not. … (A)t least part of the evidentiary basis for the State’s charge that Berg had operated a vehicle while intoxicated was wholly independent of the evidentiary basis underlying its charge that Berg had committed an act of reckless driving.

“In other words, the evidentiary footprint underlying both of Berg’s offenses was not the same,” the panel held. “Berg’s reckless-driving conviction was based on the speed with which he drove his vehicle.”

Law Enforcement Explorer Post Open House

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Sheriff Dave Wedding announced plans for the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office to host a Law Enforcement Explorer Post 82 Open House and Recruitment Night. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, November 4, 2015 at 6 p.m. and will take place at the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center located at 1901 Lynch Road. The program is open to young men and women ages 16-20 as well as their families.

Law Enforcement Exploring provides educational training programs for young adults on the purposes, mission and objectives of law enforcement. The program provides career orientation experiences, leadership opportunities and community service activities.

Sheriff Dave Wedding explained, “Law Enforcement Exploring is a great way for students to develop leadership skills and improve self-confidence.” Sheriff Wedding added, “Through fun and exciting “hands-on” career related activities and community service opportunities, students will gain valuable experience that will help prepare them for a career in law enforcement.”

The primary goals of the program are to help young adults choose a career path within law enforcement and to challenge them to become responsible citizens of their communities and the nation. During the open house, potential post members will have the opportunity to observe just a sample of what they will see and experience throughout their experience with the law enforcement explorer post program. They will also have an opportunity to meet and speak with existing Explorers of Post 82.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post 82 is open to young men and women ages 16 through 20 years old that are enrolled in High School or College with an interest in learning more about careers in the field of law enforcement.

The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office Explorer Post 82 is entering its fourth year. Last year, over 20 youth from local high schools and universities participated in the Explorer Post. During the year, Explorers participated in classroom and hands-on-training with full time law enforcement and emergency services personnel. Training included: first aid, handcuffing and arrest techniques, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, criminal investigations, and community emergency response.

Along with the class room and hands on training, Explorers interacted with children at the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office Tent at the Vanderburgh County 4H Fair, the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival, and staffing positions during Field Sobriety Check Points. Explorers have also participated in several “Ride-A-Long” opportunities.

Agencies from federal, state and local levels coordinate the Law Enforcement Exploring programs throughout the United States. The majority of the community programs are managed by local police departments, including sheriffs, chiefs of police and state police.
Nationally, over 33,000 explorers participate in Law Enforcement Exploring. The program highlights include: the National Law Enforcement Exploring Leadership Academies, motor patrol ride-alongs, career achievement awards, National Law Enforcement Exploring Conferences and scholarship opportunities.

Law Enforcement Career Exploring posts typically meet on a monthly basis during the school year. Most programs parallel the high school calendar and begin in the fall. There are a number of programs that start at other times during the year to meet the needs of the host organization and participants. Programs are flexible enough to fit in with other activities.

For more information contact Lt. Jim Martin at (812) 421-6263 or email him atjmartin@vanderburghsheriff.com. You may also follow the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office Law Enforcement Explorer Post on Twitter @LEPost82 or on face book at VCSO Explorer Post 82. For more information on Explorer Posts visitwww.learningforlife.org/exploring.

 

 

Evansville Clinches #2 seed in MVC Tournament with 1-0 Win

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The Purple Aces have earned a bye, will play the winner of Missouri State/UNI on Nov. 6

 The University of Evansville women’s soccer team (5-10-2, 3-2-1 Missouri Valley Conference) won 1-0 at home over Missouri State (9-6-1, 3-3 MVC) on Thursday night, clinching the #2 seed and a bye in the upcoming MVC Tournament (Nov. 6, 8 at UE).

The Evansville victory guarantees the Purple Aces a spot in the MVC Semifinals (Friday, Nov. 6 at 6:06 p.m.) playing the winner of #3 Missouri State and #6 UNI.

“I am extremely happy for and proud of our team tonight,” said Evansville head women’s soccer coach Krista McKendree. “They battled hard for the full 90 and were committed to getting the result for each other.”

UE went ahead in the 22nd minute when the Purple Aces earned a penalty kick and senior midfielder Allie Arguello converted the opportunity for the 1-0 advantage.

Evansville maintained the lead into halftime and withstood a number of second half attempts from Missouri State.

The Bears put all four of their second half shots on frame, but each one was saved by UE junior goalkeeper Whitney Biggs. The Bloomington, Ind. native made back to back saves in the 62nd and 63rd minutes, and turned away an Erin Stewart shot with just four seconds left to secure the Aces win.

“I think that everyone that stepped on the field played with great intensity and grit,” added Biggs. “We fought for the entire 90 minutes. It’s a great feeling getting this win and having the next week to recover and prepare for the tournament. I’m really proud of everyone tonight and their amazing effort.”

The MVC Tournament will be held at Arad McCutchan Stadium with a pair of Semifinal contests on Friday, Nov. 6 and the Championship match on Sunday, Nov. 8.

The semifinals start with #1 Drake and the winner of #4 Illinois State and #5 Loyola at 3:36 p.m. The opening match will be followed by #2 Evansville and either Missouri State or UNI at 6:06 p.m.

The Funk Was Brought to Victory Theatre

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 ‘Here Come The Mummies’ brought the funk back to fans in Evansville Thursday night at Victory Theatre. The rockin mummy group from beyond the grave surprised the audience as they paraded through the theatre, making their way up to the stage, pumping up the fans before starting the show.

“This is the third year in a row Here Come the Mummies has been in Evansville and you can really see ghow much the fans enjoy their show,” said Executive Director, Scott Schoenike.

The jam band continued with fan favorites that the whole crowd sang along to. There was no sitting the entire peformance as the Mummies and the fans danced the night away. The electrifying mummy group ended the night with a surprise autograph session for all their die hard fans.

The Victory Theatre continues a busy schedule with
Andrew Peterson – December 2, Lightwire Theater: A Very Electric Christmas – December 17, Shadows of the 60’s: Holiday Tribute to Motown December – 19 and Brian Regan January 14.

Sheriff’s Office K-9 Apprehends Stalking Suspect

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On Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 9:00am a resident of Ridgewood Estates in the Greater Oak Hill area of Vanderburgh County returned home and noticed the gate to her backyard was open. On her way home she had also taken note that her ex-boyfriend’s truck was parked a couple blocks away from her home. Having been the victim of both repeated and ongoing harassment by her former boyfriend, the victim elected not to enter her home and instead called 911.

The Sheriff’s Office responded and observed additional indications that someone had recently been in the backyard. Deputies shouted warnings through an open window of the house and also banged on the garage door.

A Sheriff’s Office K-9 handler team was called to assist. During a search of the residence, K-9 “Boss” located the victim’s ex-boyfriend, Mr. Brandon William Alka, inside an attached garage. Mr. Alka sustained a dog bite during his apprehension and was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. Mr. Alka was later booked into the Vanderburgh County Confinement Center.

At the time of his arrest Mr. Alka was subject to an active protective order, which prohibited him from having any contact with the victim.

ARRESTED:

Brandon William Alka (pictured above), 42, of Evansville. Stalking as a Level 6 Felony, Residential Entry as a Level 6 Felony, Invasion of Privacy as a Class A Misdemeanor.

 

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