Mayor Offers Kudos; Banks Wants Schools Open, Visits Border
June 12, 2020 at 10:19 p.m.
Mayor Offers Kudos; Banks Wants Schools Open, Visits Border
By David [email protected]
So here are a few bits and pieces left over from this week’s briefing we didn’t publish in our stories Thursday but we thought we’d share here. (By the way, the press briefings can be found on the city’s website and YouTube channel.)
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer opened the press conference with comments about the two protests held in Warsaw and one in Winona Lake over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer.
In part, he said, “Had a chance to meet with the organizers and I think it’s very good dialogue. The gathering on the courthouse lawn was about 200 folks, I think there was one in Winona Lake Monday this week and there was approximately 100 people there. Everyone was very respectful, very behaved and obviously very passionate about problems and concerns with their speeches and the information they were trying to get out. On behalf of the city, we feel it’s a very important message and it’s stimulating conversations that need to continue, can’t die, that needs to move ahead. I would just say right now the city is in the process of developing its next steps.”
He thanked Sheriff Kyle Dukes for speaking at the courthouse on behalf of law enforcement.
Maria Medina and Ofelia Rios organized the first two protests, with ONE Warsaw joining in on the third.
Thallemer gave the fair board kudos for making the “very difficult” decision of cancelling this year’s fair.
“I know they had a very difficult decision to make. I think they looked long and hard at all their options and comprehensive solutions. Certainly, like all of us, they didn’t want to pull that lever unless they felt like they really needed to,” he said.
The fair board asked Thallemer for his opinion and he said he told them what he thought based on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s reopenings phases and statements.
“I told them I think the biggest issue is trying to control social gatherings outdoors where it’s hard to control. At the end of the day, they had many, many other factors they had to factor in,” Thallemer said, adding he would stand behind the fair board’s decision “and I do.”
As for how longer the weekly COVID-19 press conferences will continue, which start at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Thallemer said they’d go through at least July 4, which is the start of phase 5 of Holcomb’s reopening plan. After that, it’s to be determined.
FEDERAL MANDATE – On Thursday, we received a press release from Rep. Jim Banks’ office (IN-03) about schools reopening legislation that the Democrat running against Banks this fall was swift to respond to.
Banks, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07) introduced legislation Thursday that would halt a school’s federal funding if they refuse to reopen for in-person learning in the fall. The legislation’s title is Reopen Our Schools Act.
“We need to change the subject from ‘our schools might not reopen in the fall’ to ‘our schools will reopen in the fall and here’s what we need to do it,’” said Banks in the release. “America is the land of opportunity where education is guaranteed to all children. We’re not living up that guarantee at the moment.”
"These open-ended school shutdowns have set students back, made it harder for teachers to teach and pushed parents to the breaking point," said Tiffany. "It's time to reopen America and get back to school."
The bill prohibits schools (elementary to university) from receiving FY20 funds unless they reopen by Sept. 8. Schools must provide a plan to reopen “safely” per their normal operations pre-coronavirus. The Secretary of Education can create a waiver process at her discretion. Only in-person classes count as reopening. Maximum liability protection for schools is provided, according to the release.
In response, Banks’ Democratic opponent, Chip Coldiron, released the following statement (edited for length):
“Rep. Banks can spin this all he wants, but the reality is that today he proposed to cut public education funding in the midst of a global pandemic and the worst recession our country has seen since the 2009 financial crisis. ... Blame for this lies in our leaders’ mishandling of this crisis and the historic underfunding of public education and community infrastructure, like high-speed internet access.”
Coldiron’s statement goes on to say, “The legislation Rep. Banks introduced would halt federal funding to schools that do not reopen for in-person education in the fall. This would most likely have a disproportionate impact on low-income school districts already hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak and rural districts expected to see later peaks in COVID-19 infections. I want nothing more than to teach my students in the classroom this fall, but schools should not have to choose between public health and their own bottom line. Coming from the representative who voted against an early emergency response to COVID-19 that could have helped us prepare for this, it is unacceptable to hand down this mandate from Washington that schools must disregard expert warnings or face further cuts. ... This federal mandate isn’t just bad policy, it is precisely the kind of government overreach into local issues that Hoosiers have grown tired of from their representatives in Washington.”
BORDERLINE – Speaking of Banks, on Monday the Congressman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, departed for a four-day survey of the Arizona southern border. The tour was led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) with four other members attending, according to a release Banks’ office sent out that morning. The purpose of the tour? “To inspect the newly constructed border wall and learn how President Trump’s policies have decreased the number of illegal crossings.”
In Monday’s release, Banks is quoted as saying, “Restoring law and order to our southern border will be remembered as one of President Trump’s biggest accomplishments. I am looking forward to seeing the progress that’s been made on the border wall and learning how Congress can help the president continue securing our border.”
For what Banks saw and heard, you can check out his Twitter account (@RepJimBanks). But we’ll basically say he was impressed.
On Thursday, he tweeted, “Border agents tell me illegal border crossings are down and drug seizures are up because of @realDonaldTrump’s wall. We need to finish building the wall to keep drugs off our streets! #BuildtheWall.”
He also tweeted, “I’ve inspected it, so I can say in no uncertain terms: It would be extremely difficult to pass through or climb over @realDonald’s wall.”
You can read the reactions to Banks’ tweets on his account.
STATE CONVENTIONS – Previously, we think we published the wrong date for the convention for the Indiana Democrats.
Sorry for any inconveniences that might have caused anyone.
Well, lucky for us, both the Democrats and Republicans this week sent us updates.
The 2020 Indiana Republican State Convention will be broadcast live on Thursday – “a historic event that marks the first time the party's convention will be aired live for a statewide audience,” according to the GOP’s news release.
The convention will feature speeches from all Republican attorney general candidates, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer and a keynote address from Holcomb.
It will be broadcast live on WISH-TV (Indianapolis), WHME-TV (South Bend) and livestreamed on wishtv.com and Indiana.gop/stateconvention. It is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. ET.
On Friday evening, Illinois Congresswoman and Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Cheri Bustos (IL-17) was the keynote speaker for the Party’s Hoosier Hospitality Dinner; and today Democratic state delegates will hear a message from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the General Session of the 2020 State Convention.
Today, “nearly 2,500 Democratic delegates will gather online to conduct a first-of-it's-kind, virtual state convention,” according to the Democrats’ release. Along with Whitmer, delegates will hear from the 2020 statewide ticket.
The general session of the state convention will gavel to order at 2:30 p.m. today.
Other speakers will include Attorney General candidates Sen. Karen Tallian and Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel; Rep. Linda Lawson and Dr. Woody Myers.
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So here are a few bits and pieces left over from this week’s briefing we didn’t publish in our stories Thursday but we thought we’d share here. (By the way, the press briefings can be found on the city’s website and YouTube channel.)
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer opened the press conference with comments about the two protests held in Warsaw and one in Winona Lake over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer.
In part, he said, “Had a chance to meet with the organizers and I think it’s very good dialogue. The gathering on the courthouse lawn was about 200 folks, I think there was one in Winona Lake Monday this week and there was approximately 100 people there. Everyone was very respectful, very behaved and obviously very passionate about problems and concerns with their speeches and the information they were trying to get out. On behalf of the city, we feel it’s a very important message and it’s stimulating conversations that need to continue, can’t die, that needs to move ahead. I would just say right now the city is in the process of developing its next steps.”
He thanked Sheriff Kyle Dukes for speaking at the courthouse on behalf of law enforcement.
Maria Medina and Ofelia Rios organized the first two protests, with ONE Warsaw joining in on the third.
Thallemer gave the fair board kudos for making the “very difficult” decision of cancelling this year’s fair.
“I know they had a very difficult decision to make. I think they looked long and hard at all their options and comprehensive solutions. Certainly, like all of us, they didn’t want to pull that lever unless they felt like they really needed to,” he said.
The fair board asked Thallemer for his opinion and he said he told them what he thought based on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s reopenings phases and statements.
“I told them I think the biggest issue is trying to control social gatherings outdoors where it’s hard to control. At the end of the day, they had many, many other factors they had to factor in,” Thallemer said, adding he would stand behind the fair board’s decision “and I do.”
As for how longer the weekly COVID-19 press conferences will continue, which start at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays, Thallemer said they’d go through at least July 4, which is the start of phase 5 of Holcomb’s reopening plan. After that, it’s to be determined.
FEDERAL MANDATE – On Thursday, we received a press release from Rep. Jim Banks’ office (IN-03) about schools reopening legislation that the Democrat running against Banks this fall was swift to respond to.
Banks, a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07) introduced legislation Thursday that would halt a school’s federal funding if they refuse to reopen for in-person learning in the fall. The legislation’s title is Reopen Our Schools Act.
“We need to change the subject from ‘our schools might not reopen in the fall’ to ‘our schools will reopen in the fall and here’s what we need to do it,’” said Banks in the release. “America is the land of opportunity where education is guaranteed to all children. We’re not living up that guarantee at the moment.”
"These open-ended school shutdowns have set students back, made it harder for teachers to teach and pushed parents to the breaking point," said Tiffany. "It's time to reopen America and get back to school."
The bill prohibits schools (elementary to university) from receiving FY20 funds unless they reopen by Sept. 8. Schools must provide a plan to reopen “safely” per their normal operations pre-coronavirus. The Secretary of Education can create a waiver process at her discretion. Only in-person classes count as reopening. Maximum liability protection for schools is provided, according to the release.
In response, Banks’ Democratic opponent, Chip Coldiron, released the following statement (edited for length):
“Rep. Banks can spin this all he wants, but the reality is that today he proposed to cut public education funding in the midst of a global pandemic and the worst recession our country has seen since the 2009 financial crisis. ... Blame for this lies in our leaders’ mishandling of this crisis and the historic underfunding of public education and community infrastructure, like high-speed internet access.”
Coldiron’s statement goes on to say, “The legislation Rep. Banks introduced would halt federal funding to schools that do not reopen for in-person education in the fall. This would most likely have a disproportionate impact on low-income school districts already hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak and rural districts expected to see later peaks in COVID-19 infections. I want nothing more than to teach my students in the classroom this fall, but schools should not have to choose between public health and their own bottom line. Coming from the representative who voted against an early emergency response to COVID-19 that could have helped us prepare for this, it is unacceptable to hand down this mandate from Washington that schools must disregard expert warnings or face further cuts. ... This federal mandate isn’t just bad policy, it is precisely the kind of government overreach into local issues that Hoosiers have grown tired of from their representatives in Washington.”
BORDERLINE – Speaking of Banks, on Monday the Congressman, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, departed for a four-day survey of the Arizona southern border. The tour was led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) with four other members attending, according to a release Banks’ office sent out that morning. The purpose of the tour? “To inspect the newly constructed border wall and learn how President Trump’s policies have decreased the number of illegal crossings.”
In Monday’s release, Banks is quoted as saying, “Restoring law and order to our southern border will be remembered as one of President Trump’s biggest accomplishments. I am looking forward to seeing the progress that’s been made on the border wall and learning how Congress can help the president continue securing our border.”
For what Banks saw and heard, you can check out his Twitter account (@RepJimBanks). But we’ll basically say he was impressed.
On Thursday, he tweeted, “Border agents tell me illegal border crossings are down and drug seizures are up because of @realDonaldTrump’s wall. We need to finish building the wall to keep drugs off our streets! #BuildtheWall.”
He also tweeted, “I’ve inspected it, so I can say in no uncertain terms: It would be extremely difficult to pass through or climb over @realDonald’s wall.”
You can read the reactions to Banks’ tweets on his account.
STATE CONVENTIONS – Previously, we think we published the wrong date for the convention for the Indiana Democrats.
Sorry for any inconveniences that might have caused anyone.
Well, lucky for us, both the Democrats and Republicans this week sent us updates.
The 2020 Indiana Republican State Convention will be broadcast live on Thursday – “a historic event that marks the first time the party's convention will be aired live for a statewide audience,” according to the GOP’s news release.
The convention will feature speeches from all Republican attorney general candidates, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana GOP Chairman Kyle Hupfer and a keynote address from Holcomb.
It will be broadcast live on WISH-TV (Indianapolis), WHME-TV (South Bend) and livestreamed on wishtv.com and Indiana.gop/stateconvention. It is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. ET.
On Friday evening, Illinois Congresswoman and Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Cheri Bustos (IL-17) was the keynote speaker for the Party’s Hoosier Hospitality Dinner; and today Democratic state delegates will hear a message from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the General Session of the 2020 State Convention.
Today, “nearly 2,500 Democratic delegates will gather online to conduct a first-of-it's-kind, virtual state convention,” according to the Democrats’ release. Along with Whitmer, delegates will hear from the 2020 statewide ticket.
The general session of the state convention will gavel to order at 2:30 p.m. today.
Other speakers will include Attorney General candidates Sen. Karen Tallian and Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel; Rep. Linda Lawson and Dr. Woody Myers.
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