State News from Muncie Free Press
House supports statewide smoking ban
By Rick Yencer
INDIANAPOLIS - A statewide smoking ban passed out of the Indiana House this week, but still has a long way to go, judging local history on the public health issue.
Republican lawmakers still have big problems imposing laws on business and industry, even a smoking ban that would protect public health and ensure clean air.
That's why eastern Indiana's Republican House members Jack Lutz of Anderson, Kevin Mahon of Hartford City, Bill Davis of Portland and Tom Saunders of Lewisville, all voted against the statewide smoking ban. Rep. Mike White, D-Muncie, was the only yes vote, although look for him to oppose the bill in the Senate. And that's where smoking ban have died as the Republican majority in the Senate had nothing to do with the bill in recent years.
Lutz, who smokes, says the issue is more about telling a business what to do, something that Republicans generally don't do unless it is something about union labor like Right to Work. Saunders said he would not want to be told to what to do if he owned a bar or tavern. But then lawmakers regulate and tax bars and restaurants just like any other business.
Delaware County already imposed a smoking ban which was challenged by the local Licensed Beverage Owners Association. Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees rejected the lawsuit, kicking ithe issue to a state appeals court. Lewis Coulter, president of the local group, owns the Red Dog and End Zone, and has repeatedly said the smoking ban was killing the tavern industry that has been a haven for smokers and drinkers.
Legislating public health does have business consequences and it will be interesting what choice the Indiana General Assembly with 10 days left in the session. The house vote was 62-34 and bipartisan at that.
Right to Work the law in Indiana
By Rick Yencer
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Right to Work is now the law in Indiana, making it the first Rust-Belt state to pass the measure that prohibits labor contracts requiring workers to pay union dues.
For Fred Davis, a retired auto worker from Winchester, it was a sad day for working people, as he shed tears and then marched with 10,000 union workers through the Super Bowl Village shouting "Shame on You" and "Remember November." That type of protest has not been seen at the Statehouse since 1957 which was the last time RTW passed he Legislature only to be repealed in 1965.
Davis had delivered Gov. Mitch Daniels petitions signed by over 22,000 people opposed to RTW that are a tenth of the 290,000 union workers in Indiana who vowed to throw out Republican House and Senate members who supported the law which they say low wages and benefits and make for unsafe working conditions.
The Indiana Senate wasted no time after last week's House vote to impose RTW on Hoosiers. And Gov. Mitch Daniels spent even less time signing it into law, something he said he would not do five years ago.
The Senate vote split the Republican super majority with nine party loyalists voting with 13 Democratic senators against RTW. All of eastern Indiana's Republican senators, Doug Eckerty of Yorktown, Allan Paul of Richmond, Beverly Gard of Greenfield and Travis Holdman of Markle, voted for RTW. Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, who represents Muncie, voted no.
"Whether we want to face it or not, it is decent wages, decent working conditions and benefits that have built the middle class," said Lanane.
Lanane and other Senate Democrats lambasted Republicans for rushing to pass the law before the Super Bowl who thought protests would end. The only problem is that labor unions plan to protest throughout the week and into the Super Bowl and are waiting for union NFL players to respond to the attack against working people.
Eckerty and Paul were busy on the Senate floor Wednesday and never issued statements about supporting RTW wanted by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Indiana Manufacturers Association and other business interests.
Daniels wasted no time commenting on RTW after saying it would start a "civil war" and something he would not support a few years ago.
"This law won't be a magic answer but we'll be far better off with it," said Daniels. "I respect those who have objected but they have alarmed themselves unnecessarily."
Daniels insisted no wages or benefits would go down and the right to organize and bargain collectively is untouched and intact.
Congressman Mike Pence, who wants to be Indiana's next Republican governor, was more over the top with his support, saying RTW was a "victory for economic freedom and Hoosier workers."
Pence also commended all the Republicans in the House and Senate besides Daniels who took a stand for workers' rights.
"Ensuring freedom in the workplace will make Indiana an even better place to do business and help create new jobs," he said.
Minority House Leader Pat Bauer of South Bend said RTW begins Indiana on the road to the bottom.
"I am sure there will be great pleasure in the boardrooms of Indiana's largest corporations at the Republicans to make 'right to work for less' the law of the land in this state," said Bauer.
Senate passes Eckerty bill on eminent domain
By Rick Yencer
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - State universities could soon pay more for property they obtain through eminent domain after the Indiana Senate approved a bill Thursday to add future business costs to property acquisition.
The Senate voted 34-13 on the bill filed by Sen. Doug Eckerty, R-Yorktown, that would benefit his Good Government friend Chris Hiatt who could lose his campus Hiatt Printing business to Ball State University. Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, voted against the bill that had been opposed by Ball State, Indiana University, Purdue University and others.
Eckerty said the change would rectify present eminent domain law, which does not require universities to consider loss of future income when providing compensation to business owners. Universities now pay the fair market value of the building and property.
“Location is crucial for many small businesses, and a forced move could cause a lot of financial hardships,” Eckerty said. “I am not opposed to the expansion of state universities, but I want to make certain that growth is not at the expense of small businesses – the backbone of our economy.”
Lanane, who represents Muncie and the university, said did not think universities should have to pay the extra cost property owners doing business.
Hiatt said he would have at least $40,000 in moving costs if the university took his property. There was talk at the Statehouse that Ball State had offered as much as $1 million for the printing shop on McKinley Avenue, although Hiatt and university officials would not confirm it.
Saying he was glad and optimistic of the law's passage in the House, state universities are not done objecting and can still influence Gov. Mitch Daniels to veto it if the House approves it.
Ball State spokesmen were busy at the BSU Board of Trustees on Friday and Gretchen Gutman, associate vice president of government affairs, later said the university appreciated the general assembly seeking a balance between competing interests. "We believe it is important to be good stewards of public money," said Gutman, adding the university would continue to work with lawmakers to resolve the issue. They had insisted that eminent domain was used in the public interest to acquire property for university use.
That power has been used to demolish a couple blocks of the nearby Neely neighborhood for the new Tom Kinghorn residence hall, and some still remember the six figure settlement the university paid for the David and Jackie Werner residence where a new parking garage was built.
Hiatt and Eckerty were part of the repeal property tax movement that imposed caps on residential, commercial and industrial property, costing millions in revenue for schools and local government.
This legislation moves to the House for further action. Hoosiers can get a full, updated copy of the legislation online.
The Dukes of energy in Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - Scandal continues to rock the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission with the indictment of its former chairman and ongoing questions about Duke Energy's $3 billion Edwardsport power plant.
A Marion County grand jury indicted David L. Hardy this week on official misconduct in his dealings with Duke and former IURC administrative law judge Scott Storms who he helped get a job with Duke. One of counts involves Hardy talking with employees at Duke Energy about getting Storms a job while Storms continue to handle IURC cases.
The other counts involve secret ex parte communication with Duke Energy over cost overruns at the utility's Edwardsport coal gasification plant. Hardy led the agency for five years until he was fired in October 2010 by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Storms took a job with Duke, then got fired and later was fined for violating state ethics laws. Other Duke exeutives also lost their jobs ovr a classic case of insider dealings with one of the biggest energy projects in the state.
Of course, Hardy and Duke officials say they did nothing wrong. But Marion County Prosecutor Tery Curry insists that all of the proceedings should be conducted in public, according to an Associated Press report. The law prohibits private discussions between IURC officials and utility executives. The Edwardsport project besides the tendency of IURC members to be former utility lobbyists continues to be he target of the Citizens Action Coalition that has been fighting higher utility charges and unnecessary utility expansions during the last 30 years.
Kerwin Olson, the CAC's interim director, said the organization believed failure to disclose communications between Duke executives and Hardy was at least improper and represented "a serious violation of the the public trust."
The CAC also maintains the Edwardsport power never should have been approved, claiming Duke does not need the power plant to serve its customers. Snd technology to convert coal into synthetic gas that is burned in a turbine plant to produce electricity is "unproven, too risky and far too expensive."
This type of clean energy is something that Daniels continues to support and has proven results elsewhere in the energy industry. Howvever, the CAC insists evidence continues to grow that the IURC is not protecting the interests of residential and small business utility customers.
"It is clear that the IURC is placing profits of utility companies and cheap rates for large industrial ratepayers over small businesses and homeowners having access to affordable energy," said the CAC.
2012: Demos out, GOP in
By Rick Yencer
MUNCIE, IN - Outgoing Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker has one big feather in his cap that no other party leader had in the last 44 years. The first Democratic presidential victory with President Barack Obama since Hoosiers chose President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. From there, Democrats suffered the worst defeat by Republicans in the Indiana House now 60-40 while the Indiana Senate gives Republicans a supermajority at 37-13. And Republicans captured 22 Indiana city halls, compared to eight led by Democrats. And the party that now could now be led by party activist Tim Jeffers, faces Republican powerhouse and Congressman Mike Pence who wants to be Indiana's next governor and is well on his way. Parker, a top aide to former Sen. Evan Bayh, called its quits Monday, telling the media he looked around at a group of party leaders at a national Democratic Party meeting and found most were younger than him. Many thought after Bayh was out of office, Parker was done too, especially after 2010 and the re-election of Republican Dan Coats to the U.S. Senate. "Since elected to serve in November 2004, I have worked each day to make our state party more inclusive and diverse, more open, more efficient, and more successful at the ballot box," he said. Parker is right up to the point of last year when Democrats lost, handed over reapportionment to a Republican-controlled Legislature and then lost most municipal elections this year, making Indiana bright red again even with an accused felon and Republican Secretary of State Charles White still in office and overseeing elections. Parker did increase membership of its central committee and recruited a fulltime staff and built the infrastructure to get Democrats elected. Still, Republicans have Pence to thank for throwing money and organization behind 2010 legislative races that helped gain that 60-40 majority in the Indiana House. Where Pence went, Republican lawmakers were elected. And any poll around besides the fact that Pence has campaigned in 55 of 92 counties for governor, shows him a heavy favorite against former Indiana Speaker of the House John Gregg,a Democrat from southern Indiana that was known a generation ago. And that with Libertarian Rupert Boneham on the ballot too. And just to rub it in, Eric Holcomb, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party, sent out a release reminding Parker that Republicans also picked up another U.S. Senate seat besides majorities in the Legilsature, nearly a 3-1 advantage in mayors and all other statewide office, including White who continues to ignore judgement in his voter fraud case. Holcomb, a former aide to Republican Gov. MItch Daniels also had the usual words for Democrats like devoid of ideas, corruption and rhetorical snark. So Indiana faces another presidential election year where Republicans are posed to repeat in the governor's office besides making sure after redrawing legislative districts that they could be the party in power for another decade. Hopefully Gregg and other statewide Democrats can remind voters that 250,000 Hoosiers are still out of work and 516,000 more have no health care.
State Road 356 Closure in Pike County Delayed
Closure now set to begin on or after November 14
PETERSBURG, Ind. –The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is announcing the closure scheduled for State Road 356 (S.R. 356) in Pike County has been delayed.
S.R. 356 will be now close on or after Monday, November 14. The road will be closed from the junction of State Road 257 (S.R. 257) to the junction of State Road 57 (S.R. 57). Crews will begin work at approximately 7:00 a.m. local time, and it is anticipated to re-open to traffic in August of 2012.
S.R. 356 will close to allow for the construction of bridge over the new I-69 corridor. No through vehicle traffic will be allowed, however local residents will have access to the point of closure. The official detour will follow S.R. 257, S.R. 56 and S.R. 57.
INDOT reminds motorists to follow the posted work zone speed limit, use caution and consider worker safety when traveling through a work zone. For the latest news and information about INDOT, please visit www.in.gov/indot or www.trafficwise.in.gov .
Indiana Arts Commission now accepting online applications for Individual Artist Program grants
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Indiana Arts Commission (IAC) announced today that it is currently accepting online applications for Individual Artist Program grants.
Hoosier artists in selected disciplines may begin the online application process November 1, 2011 through February 2, 2012.
Application guidelines and the online grant application system are currently accessible on the IAC website at www.in.gov/arts/individualartistprogram.htm . Artists should be aware that the application for IAP grants will only be available through the online grant application system, and artists are encouraged to read through the guidelines before beginning the application process.
Eligible projects will only be considered in the areas of crafts, design art, media art, photography, visual arts, and folk arts related to these traditional disciplines.
The IAC will also be conducting a series of workshops for artists to assist them in learning more about the grant program and the application process. A listing of these workshops, locations and times can be found at: www.in.gov/arts/2659.htm .
Individual artists living and working in Indiana may apply for up to $2,000 from the IAP grant, which requires no matching funds. The grants are intended to assist artists with specific project-related costs that will help them further their careers, and provide public benefit through the completed project.
“Projects developed through these grants not only help artists further their careers, but also provide vehicles for their talent to be shared in their communities through exhibitions, demonstrations, and other instructional opportunities,” said IAC Executive Director Lewis C. Ricci.
Applicants must be 18 years-of-age, must be an Indiana resident for at least one year prior to the application, and plan to remain in the state for the full grant period. Eligible artists may not be enrolled in a degree-granting program. All projects must be completed between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013.
Applicants are encouraged to carefully read the grant guidelines. If there are additional questions, please contact Susan Britsch at: sbritsch@iac.in.gov .
Applications must be submitted through the Indiana Cultural Grants Online (http://indiana.cgweb.org/ ) no later than February 2, 2012.
On behalf of the people of Indiana, the Indiana Arts Commission advocates engagement with the arts to enrich the quality of individual and community life.
One Vehicle Crash Injures Two
Staff Report
HENRY COUNTY, IN - This afternoon around 4:15 p.m. Henry County put out a report of a one vehicle crash on State Road 38 just east of New Castle. Pendleton Trooper Rusty Slater over heard the radio traffic and responded. He arrived at the scene, just west of County Road 375 East, to find a brown 1982 GMC Pickup off the south side of the road into a utility pole.
The driver, Cullen B. Carrender, 17, of New Castle, told Slater he and his uncle, Stephen Davis, 42, also of New Castle, were transporting two dogs to the vet when one of the animals hit the driver (Carrender’s) arm, causing him to lose control of the east bound truck. The truck left the south side of the highway striking and breaking off a large utility pole.
Carrender was transported by Henry County EMS to Henry County Hospital with non- life threatening injuries. Stephen Davis, the passenger, was also transported by Henry County EMS to Henry County Hospital, and then later flown by helicopter to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis with head and internal injuries.
State Road 38 was shut down for over an hour while units investigated the scene and Duke Energy worked to repair the broken pole. Trooper Slater was assisted at the scene by State Police Sergeant Bob Cross and Troopers Nick Razor and Eric Freeman; New Castle Police and Fire Departments; Henry County Sheriff’s Department and Duke Energy.
Petersburg Woman Arrested for DUI and Resisting
Staff Report
GIBSON COUNTY, IN - Sunday morning, October 23, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Indiana State Police arrested Audrey Martinez, 27, of Petersburg for driving while intoxicated and resisting law enforcement.
Preliminary investigation revealed Martinez was traveling northbound on SR 57 near Buckskin when she drove left of center, left the roadway and came to a final rest in a soybean field. When troopers and other emergency personnel arrived they detected an odor of an alcoholic beverage and noticed she was impaired.
When Martinez was arrested and handcuffed she fought with officers and refused to get in the patrol car. Further investigation revealed she had a blood alcohol content over the legal limit. She is currently being held on bond in the Gibson County Jail.
ARRESTED AND CHARGES:
Audrey Martinez, 27, Petersburg, IN
- Driving While Intoxicated, Class A Misdemeanor
- Resisting Law Enforcement, Class A Misdemeanor
Arresting Officer: Trooper Chris Dyer, Indiana State Police
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Troopers find several Meth Labs at Edwardsport Residence, Father Arrested
Staff Report
KNOX COUNTY, IN - On Saturday afternoon, October 22, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Indiana State Police responded to 109 South 5th Street in Edwardsport after receiving a tip that the homeowner was manufacturing meth.
Troopers obtained a search warrant and found meth labs in the residence, in a nearby garage and in a pickup truck located in the driveway. Troopers also found over three grams of meth, a small amount of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and anhydrous ammonia.
The homeowner, Brent Brazier, 38, was arrested for manufacturing meth and various other drug offenses. Brazier’s nine-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter were present during the investigation.
Both children were released to their mother, who does not reside at the residence. Brazier is currently being held on bond at the Knox County Jail.
ARRESTED AND CHARGES:
Brent Brazier, 38, 109 South 5th Street, Edwardsport, IN
- Manufacturing Meth, Class A Felony
- Possession of Meth over 3 grams, Class C Felony
- Counts of Neglect of a Dependant, Class D Felony
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Class D Felony
- Maintaining a Common Nuisance, Class D Felony
- Possession of Anhydrous Ammonia, Class D Felony
- Possession of Marijuana under 30 grams, Class A Misdemeanor
Arresting Officer: Senior Trooper Bill Gadberry, Indiana State Police
Assisting Officers: Master Trooper John Trotter, Trooper Paul Stolz and Trooper Ryan Johnson
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
