SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
 DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
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Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records
EPD Activity Report: March 22, 2014
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
 DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
Vaughn named editor of The Shield
James Vaughn, a junior journalism major hailing from Indianapolis, will soon be topping the masthead as the new editor in chief of the University of Southern Indiana student newspaper, The Shield during the 2014-15 academic year. Vaughn has served as news editor, reporter, and staff writer for the paper since January 2012, and looks forward to the responsibilities the new position holds. He takes the reigns from current editor in chief, Shannon Hall in fall 2014.
During his time working for The Shield, Vaughn has taken the time to analyze what does and doesn’t work. “I share one goal with all former editors of The Shield –retain readership,†he said. “But a secondary goal – my goal – is transparency. In other words, make what we are distributing to our readers understandable for our readers.†He plans to do this by building upon his predecessor, Hall’s ideas, and expanding into a more interactive avenue with the use of social media, photography, video, and blogs.
Erin Gibson, faculty adviser to The Shield, and instructor in journalism, understands that news must be distributed across an array of formats. In an on demand society, news must be timely, incorporating social media and visual elements. “James understands this and he recognizes that this understanding is what can set him apart in building his portfolio. He has this skill set,†said Gibson.
In addition to his experience with The Shield, he brings reporting, photography, and videography skills from internships with The Shelbyville News and the Evansville Courier and Press. He also has an understanding of the role of a student publication. “It’s role is to share knowledge – good and bad, be consistent and reliable, preserve history in a modern way, and promote dialogue between it and its readers,†he said.
As to what kind of leader he hopes to be, Vaughn says, “It’s important to be a developmental manager – to help and encourage reporters to develop their strengths and motivate them by providing professional development opportunities on a regular basis.â€
Andrea Smithson served as Vaughn’s supervisor during his internship with The Shelbyville News. She said of Vaughn, “James has a calm demeanor that would serve him well while juggling the stress of managing a student publication and his academic schedule. It’s the same steady nature that would be a benefit when leading other students with less experience.â€
USI students vie for big dollars in statewide ag-communications contest
A team of students from the University of Southern Indiana’s Romain College of Business has been named one of three finalists in the “Promoting the Good Works of Indiana Agriculture†competition. Other finalists include teams from Huntington University and University of Indianapolis.
Teams from universities and colleges across Indiana were invited to propose innovative, creative campaigns to connect young adults with Indiana agriculture. 38 teams, representing more than 200 students and 19 institutions, submitted proposals. “I want to thank all the teams their creativity and hard work to prepare very impressive and professional proposals,†said Indiana Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann. “Selecting the three finalists was challenging for our panel of judges.â€
USI’s Team Eagle Ag, including students Tailor Frymire (captain), Amanda Brinkman, Dylan Cox, and Wyatt Newman, will travel to Indianapolis on March 24, 2014, to present their ideas. Their proposal focuses on connecting, educating, and energizing young adults with the impact and innovation that characterize Hoosier agriculture. They proposed a complete rebranding of Hoosier agriculture, an integrated social media strategy, and an emphasis on agricultural career opportunities.
As finalists, Team Eagle Ag will make a 20-minute presentation to a panel of judges at the Indiana State Library on March 24. The winning team, to be announced that day, will receive $25,000, with $10,000 awarded to the university and $15,000 split between the winning team members.
Learn more about the competition:Â http://www.in.gov/isda/3006.htm.
Agency collecting credit card debt not a creditor, COA rules
     A debtor’s counterclaim that a collection agency violated the Indiana Uniform Consumer Credit Code by not obtaining a license was rejected by the Indiana Court of Appeals on the grounds that although the agency was trying to recover a debt, it was not a creditor.
Asset Acceptance LLC, a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Michigan, tried to recover  $6,594.26 from Nathan Wertz, who had defaulted on his credit card from Chase Bank/First USA/Chase.
Wertz claimed Asset Acceptance could not collect on payments for consumer loans debts because it is not licensed under the IUCCC. Accordingly, Wertz argued Asset Acceptance’s collection efforts violated both the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The Indiana Court of Appeals disagreed in Nathan Wertz v. Asset Acceptance, LLC, 71A03-1305-CC-175. The COA affirmed the trial court’s grant of the agency’s Trial Rule 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss Wertz’s counterclaim.
Wertz raised the question on appeal of whether Asset Acceptance “regularly engage(d) in Indiana†in taking assignments  of consumer loans or in the collection of payments from debtors arising from consumer loans as described in Indiana Code 24-4.5-3-502.  If so, then it was required to have a license from the IUCCC.
Citing Sheetz v. PYOD LLC, 3:12-cv-811-JD-CAN, 2013 WL 5436943 (N.D. Ind. Sept. 26, 2013), the Court of Appeals rejected the argument that the plain language of the IUCCC extends the licensure requirement to entities not physically located in Indiana.
“…Section 3-502(3), which is the licensure requirement relevant here, does not require ‘creditors’ to obtain a license and instead focuses on the actions undertaken by the entity in question,†Judge Edward Najam wrote for the court. “These actions, in particular that of taking an assignment or collecting on a debt, may or may not be the actions of a creditor.â€
EPD Activity Report: March 21, 2014
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 DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671
Commentary: Thanking our leaders for small favors
By Dan Carpenter TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS – You can call it a mountain laboring to give birth to a mouse: weeks of posturing and parrying over a “signature†tax proposal that only slightly turns the screws of a failed status quo.
Dan Carpenter is a columnist for TheStatehouseFile.com and the author of “Indiana Out Loud.â€
You can call it an affirmation of Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting – or promising – a different result.
Either way, the Great Business Tax Cut Showdown appears to have resolved itself pretty much in keeping with the rest of the results of the 2014 Indiana General Assembly session – with lots of room for relief and self-congratulation on both sides and little of substance accomplished for a state in dire need of some economic democracy.
The compromise that Gov. Mike Pence has indicated readiness to accept phases in the reduction of an already ludicrously low corporate tax rate, with options for local government entities to decide on personal property tax cuts — and supposedly, insulation against an estimated $1 billion hit to budgets that already can’t fix streets and pay police and teachers.
Whether the $1 billion figure is accurate, the loss would be real money, as distinct from the billions in new investment and job creation for which Indiana’s serial gifts to the top echelons have consistently left us waiting.
Cut corporate taxes, eliminate the inheritance tax, cripple collective bargaining, shovel contracts and subsidies into every scheme that comes from the well-connected, and voila! The Pence-Daniels-Bosma miracle, envy of Illinois, a businessman’s paradise with high unemployment, high poverty, low buying power, poor health, a sickly environment and municipalities on life support.
Einstein’s definition of insanity. It shouldn’t take a genius.
When one is governed by men whose imagination begins and ends with privilege and partisanship, one learns to be thankful for anticlimax.
No chance for marriage equality in Indiana, unless and until the federal courts intervene; but at least the law is unlikely now to be reinforced by a constitutional amendment. A pathetically timid preschool pilot, but at least the Trojan horse of voucher expansion got removed from it.
Mass transit for Central Indiana that may have to have bake sales and car washes to pay the fare, but at least it’s out of the station.
Egregious, probably unconstitutional, religion-based restrictions on insurance coverage for abortion; but with loopholes through which a woman may pursue her rights.
Guns in schools, if locked in the trunk. They’re already there, of course; but the National Rifle Association needs a token of love every year.
For the most part, it’s a good thing that big ideas are not the forte of this big GOP majority. The entire education and criminal justice systems might be run by the Walton family by now.
On the other hand, we’d have health care for roughly 400,000 low-income Hoosiers – at Washington’s expense – if fear of administrative adventure and Barack Obama weren’t keeping our governor from pulling the trigger as our “backward†cousins in Kentucky happily have done. And if we wanted to inject fuel into the economy where the tanks are empty, the legislature could raise the minimum wage. That’s an area where, not so long ago, we actually were ahead of Washington, with both parties on board.
Oh well. We got God and guns as usual, but not too much of either. Pretty light on the guts as well, which, by the standards we progressives set for this Statehouse, makes us three for three.
Dan Carpenter is a freelance writer, a contributor to Indianapolis Business Journal and the author of “Indiana Out Loud.â€
Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
 DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
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VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
SPONSORED BY DEFENSE ATTORNEY IVAN ARNAEZ.
 DON’T GO TO COURT ALONE. CALL IVAN ARNAEZ @ 812-424-6671.
Below is a list of felony cases that were filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, March 17, 2014 – Thursday, March 20, 2014.
Andru Beasley                  Domestic Battery-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Intimidation-Class D Felony
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Robert Fisher                    Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance-Class D Felony
Theft-Class D Felony
Damion Floyd                    Operating a Motor Vehicle after Forfeiture of License of Life-
Class C Felony
Jose Garcia                         Domestic Battery-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Ricky Kiper Jr                     Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance-Class D Felony
Failure to Stop After Accident Resulting in Damage to Unattended
Vehicle-Class B Misdemeanor
Operating a Vehicle with an ACE of .08 or More-Class C Misdemeanor
Charity Lively                    Intimidation-Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor
Disorderly Conduct-Class B Misdemeanor
Joshua Roach                     Receiving Stolen Property-Class D Felony
3/18
Roderick Evens Jr              Theft-Class D Felonies (Two Counts)
Tarkea Hanes                    Theft-Class D Felonies (Two Counts)
David Darnell Jr                Burglary-Class B Felony
Theft-Class D Felony
Christopher Emery          Operating a Motor Vehicle After Forfeiture of License for Life-
Class C Felony
Joseph James                    Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Pregnant Woman-Class C Felony
Domestic Battery-Class D Felony
Alfred Lafayette               Theft-Class D Felony
James Ruby                        Residential Entry-Class D Felony
Invasion of Privacy-Class A Misdemeanor
3/19
Bart Anderson                   Operating a Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator-Class D Felony
Daniel Duke                       Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury-Class D Felonies (Two Counts)
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class D Felony
Kevin Frazier                     Auto Theft-Class D Felony
Theft-Class D Felony
Criminal Mischief-Class D Felony
Christopher Gross           Operating a Vehicle as an Habitual Traffic Violator-Class D Felony
Operating a Vehicle with an ACE of .08 or More-Class C Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Joseph James                    Battery Resulting in Bodily Injury to a Pregnant Woman-Class C Felony
Domestic Battery-Class D Felony
Blake Ramsey                    Theft-Class D Felony
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Jason Stuard                      Burglary-Class B Felony
Theft-Class D Felony
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Joseph Webb                    Theft-Class D Felony
Patrick West                      Auto Theft-Class D Felony
Theft-Class D Felony
Criminal Mischief-Class D Felony
Michael Brown                 Dealing in Cocaine-Class A Felony
False Informing-Class A Misdemeanor
Namita Brown                   Theft-Class D Felony
Shane Dillingham            Dealing in a Synthetic Drug or Synthetic Drug Lookalike-Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
James Gough                     Possession of Methamphetamine-Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
Nicholas Grayson            Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
William Harris                  Possession of Marijuana-Class a Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Stephen Hayhurst           Theft-Class D Felony
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
Charles Kasmer                Dealing in Methamphetamine-Class A Felony
Operating a Motor Vehicle after Forfeiture of License for Life-
Class C Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class D Felony
Resisting Law Enforcement-Class A Misdemeanor
(Habitual Offender Enhancement)
Anthony Parker                Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Dale Pounds                      Theft-Class D Felony
Jessica Spieth                    Theft-Class D Felony
Chance Woods                 Dealing in a Synthetic Drug or Synthetic Drug Lookalike-Class D Felony
Skyler Wright                    Theft-Class D Felony
Possession of Marijuana-Class A Misdemeanor
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
3/20
Billy Patrick Jr                    Dealing in Synthetic Drug or Synthetic Drug Lookalike Substance-Class D
Felony
Shean Strader                   Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance- Class D Felony
Lara Stidham                      Operating a Vehicle with an ACE of .15 or More-Class A Misdemeanor
(Enhanced to D Felony Due to Prior Convictions)
Possession of a Schedule IV Controlled Substance- Class D Felony
Bobby Givens                    Trafficking with an Inmate-Class C Felony
Unlawful Possession or Use of a Legend Drug-Class D Felony
Possession of Methamphetamine-Class D Felony
Possession of Paraphernalia-Class A Misdemeanor
(Habitual Substance Offender Enhancement)
Steven Russ                       Domestic Battery-Class D Felony
For further information on the cases listed above, or any pending case, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at KPhernetton@vanderburghgov.org
Under Indiana law, all criminal defendants are considered to be innocent until proven guilty by a court of
RIECKEN URGES RESIDENTS TO TAKE ACTIVE PART IN APRIL 14 VECTREN RATE HIKE HEARING
Â
INDIANAPOLIS – Now that state regulators have decided to conduct an April 14 public hearing in Evansville on Vectren Energy’s proposed rate increase for natural gas customers, State Rep. Gail Riecken (D-Evansville) said today it is important for area residents to register their concerns about the proposal.
Officials with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) announced the agency will conduct a public field hearing on the Vectren request on April 14 at the Old National Events Plaza, 715 Locust Street. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. local time.
“This is our chance to say something about the proposal, since both oral and written testimony will be accepted at the hearing,†said Riecken, who requested the field hearing back in February. “All of this testimony will be a part of the record of evidence the IURC is compiling before it makes its decision on the rate hike.â€
Vectren is requesting the increase to pay for improvements to pipelines and other infrastructure. If approved, customers served by the utility in Southwest Indiana would pay gradually higher gas rates over a period of seven years, starting in 2015. The increase initially would be around $1 to $1.50 a month, then increase to around $13 to $14 more per month by 2022. Right now, the average customer pays about $570 a year for gas service.
“I am very concerned about the impact this increase will have on all of us, but my concern is particularly acute for older residents and those people on fixed incomes,†Riecken said. “I am pleased that the IURC has decided to come to Evansville to see how this move will affect customers, and I believe it is important for them to see what homeowners and families think about it. While IURC commissioners will not be allowed to answer questions during the hearing, we will have the chance to let them know how we feel.
“The most important thing is for people to take part,†she continued. “It would be best to come to the April 14 hearing, but there are other options available for public comment.â€
Consumers who wish to submit written comments can do so through the Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor’s website atwww.in.gov/oucc/2361.htm or by mail, e-mail or fax:
Mail: Consumer Services Staff
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor
115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South
Indianapolis, INÂ 46204
E-mail:Â uccinfo@oucc.in.gov
Fax: 317-232-5923
Written comments received by the close of business on April 21 will be filed with the Commission and included in the formal record. Comments should include your name, address, and a reference to IURC Cause No. 44429.