Off With The Masks; A ‘Hoosier’ For Office; Yes To Term Limits
May 29, 2020 at 10:42 p.m.
Off With The Masks; A ‘Hoosier’ For Office; Yes To Term Limits
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Holcomb, by the way, was scheduled to be the keynote speaker when the event was originally scheduled for mid April, but couldn’t make it after it was rescheduled for Thursday. Instead, former Secretary of State and attorney general candidate Todd Rokita took over the guest speaker duties.
As the Republican dinner got underway, Party Chairman Mike Ragan said they took every precaution to provide for the attendees’ safety and, in compliance with the government restrictions, including the 130-person limit to the room.
He noted the tables were limited to six people, instead of eight, and the tables were separated by 6 feet. There was hand sanitizer on every table, with the servers wearing masks and gloves “and they plated our meals.” Candidates were instructed to place their election literature on a table outside of the dining room.
“Anyone who desires to wear a mask, we encourage you to do it,” Ragan said.
So how many wore a mask? The staff certainly did. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, who has advocated for people to wear masks, especially in large groups or close settings, practiced what he’s been saying and kept his mask on the whole night. There were probably less than five other attendees wearing masks, but otherwise the majority didn’t.
THE IRON LADY – There’s a reason people refer to former Kosciusko County Republican Party Chair Jean Northenor as the Iron Lady. She’ll tell you exactly what she thinks and doesn’t take “no” for an answer.
While introducing Rokita as the keynote speaker at Thursday’s dinner, Northenor mentioned that Rokita has protected “our God-given Constitutional rights.”
And then she said, “You know, speaking of Constitutional rights, I’m not sure some of those haven’t kind of been bent around a little bit just lately.”
That drew a wide applause.
“I have been so angry that anybody – I don’t care if it’s the governor, the president or who – has the right to tell Jean Northenor, as old as I ... I’m old. And that’s OK. But I’m going to tell you, I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me to stay home, don’t go anywhere and only go if I say it’s OK,” she said. “Now, I’m going to tell you, that didn’t go over very good with this person.”
That drew another round of applause.
“And it’s still not. I’m here, as all of you are tonight,” she said. “Probably if you followed every darn rule that there is out there, we’d all stay home and sucked our thumbs tonight and not come in. It just makes me so mad. I love our governor. I kind of got tired though of our president on TV every day. I like him a lot, I like what he’s done, but holy smoke, every day and every day.”
ELECT RADE BUTCHER – Is local dentist Dr. Steve Hollar planning to run for political office?
Well, there’s been nothing official, but we’ve heard on and off for years that he would. Sooner or later.
And then Thursday night, while Ragan was introducing all the candidates and political figures at the GOP dinner, he introduced Hollar as the famous guy from the classic basketball film “Hoosiers” (Hollar played Rade Butcher, if you didn’t know because you’re the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen the movie) and indicated Hollar was going to run for political office. Of course, Ragan then backtracked and said he didn’t really know if Hollar was planning a run, he was “just throwing that out there.” What a tease.
We do know that Hollar has been a big part of Karin McGrath’s campaign for the Kosciusko Superior Court III judge seat and that he’s known to rub elbows with GOP politicians.
So, in the next few years, could we see a Mayor Hollar? City Councilman Hollar? State Rep. Hollar? Or even a U.S. Sen. Hollar?
Only Hollar, his wife Jennifer and God know for sure. It just wouldn’t surprise us.
CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS – Brandon Cavanaugh is a Democrat seeking the Indiana District 9 State Senate seat this year.
That seat is held by longtime Republican Sen. Ryan Mishler.
Cavanaugh has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the Term Limits Convention pledge. Cavanaugh is the first signer in this race. The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday.
U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the “leader in the national, nonpartisan movement to limit terms for elected officials,” is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation, according to a news release we received this week from the organization. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress.
USTL President Philip Blumel commented on Cavanaugh's pledge saying, “Brandon's support of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”
The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state legislatures. It reads, “I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.”
LOSS – A couple of weeks ago, County Commissioner Bob Conley unfortunately lost his brother, Ronald Paul Conley, 69, of Pierceton.
At the commissioners meeting Tuesday, Bob thanked the county for the support he received during the difficult time.
He said, “On a personal note, thank the commissioners and council for your kind words on the passing of my brother last week. I got the card and everybody signed it. You just don’t know how much that means that people around you cares, so thank you.”
Commissioner Brad Jackson told Bob he was sorry for his loss, as are we.
PERMIT NUMBERS – The Indiana Builders Association issued a news release Thursday responding to April permit numbers for Indiana.
“The impact of COVID-19 was no exception for the Indiana home building industry. However, through strong advocacy and continued demand for new home construction in Indiana, we are confident that Indiana permit numbers will gradually rise as the state begins to open back up and things return to relative normalcy. Now more than ever, we need to be aware of the needs of Hoosiers and work to make the home building industry a pillar of economic growth in the state of Indiana,” said Indiana Builders Association CEO Rick Wajda.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released statewide totals for building permits issued in April and shows 1,318 single-family permits were pulled. This number is down 8% from March 2020, when 1,428 permits were pulled. The 1,318 permits pulled in April 2020 are down 18% from the 1,602 permits pulled in April 2019. The single-family permit numbers (4,990) for 2020 are up 9% compared to the first four months of 2019.
BANKS ON CHINA – After President Trump’s Rose Garden announcement Friday that the U.S. would be ending its special trade status with Hong Kong, terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization, among other actions, China Task Force and House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) released the following statement:
“President Trump can boast about many foreign policy achievements. He led the effort to take out international terrorists Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and General Soleimani. He’s successfully encouraged our NATO allies to increase their contributions for our common defense. He’s rebuilt a military that Obama laid to waste. He’s negotiated a Turkish ceasefire in Syria.
“But none of these come close to President Trump’s biggest accomplishment: Changing the global dialogue on China. China is an existential threat to not just the United States, but the global order as we know it. They’ve cost the world trillions due to their malfeasance in addressing coronavirus. And their increasingly aggressive posture towards the U.S. and our allies must be addressed.
“President Trump’s tough-on-China announcements today are further proof that he is the leader for this moment. No president has been as clear-eyed about the China threat than President Donald Trump.”
Holcomb, by the way, was scheduled to be the keynote speaker when the event was originally scheduled for mid April, but couldn’t make it after it was rescheduled for Thursday. Instead, former Secretary of State and attorney general candidate Todd Rokita took over the guest speaker duties.
As the Republican dinner got underway, Party Chairman Mike Ragan said they took every precaution to provide for the attendees’ safety and, in compliance with the government restrictions, including the 130-person limit to the room.
He noted the tables were limited to six people, instead of eight, and the tables were separated by 6 feet. There was hand sanitizer on every table, with the servers wearing masks and gloves “and they plated our meals.” Candidates were instructed to place their election literature on a table outside of the dining room.
“Anyone who desires to wear a mask, we encourage you to do it,” Ragan said.
So how many wore a mask? The staff certainly did. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, who has advocated for people to wear masks, especially in large groups or close settings, practiced what he’s been saying and kept his mask on the whole night. There were probably less than five other attendees wearing masks, but otherwise the majority didn’t.
THE IRON LADY – There’s a reason people refer to former Kosciusko County Republican Party Chair Jean Northenor as the Iron Lady. She’ll tell you exactly what she thinks and doesn’t take “no” for an answer.
While introducing Rokita as the keynote speaker at Thursday’s dinner, Northenor mentioned that Rokita has protected “our God-given Constitutional rights.”
And then she said, “You know, speaking of Constitutional rights, I’m not sure some of those haven’t kind of been bent around a little bit just lately.”
That drew a wide applause.
“I have been so angry that anybody – I don’t care if it’s the governor, the president or who – has the right to tell Jean Northenor, as old as I ... I’m old. And that’s OK. But I’m going to tell you, I don’t think anybody has the right to tell me to stay home, don’t go anywhere and only go if I say it’s OK,” she said. “Now, I’m going to tell you, that didn’t go over very good with this person.”
That drew another round of applause.
“And it’s still not. I’m here, as all of you are tonight,” she said. “Probably if you followed every darn rule that there is out there, we’d all stay home and sucked our thumbs tonight and not come in. It just makes me so mad. I love our governor. I kind of got tired though of our president on TV every day. I like him a lot, I like what he’s done, but holy smoke, every day and every day.”
ELECT RADE BUTCHER – Is local dentist Dr. Steve Hollar planning to run for political office?
Well, there’s been nothing official, but we’ve heard on and off for years that he would. Sooner or later.
And then Thursday night, while Ragan was introducing all the candidates and political figures at the GOP dinner, he introduced Hollar as the famous guy from the classic basketball film “Hoosiers” (Hollar played Rade Butcher, if you didn’t know because you’re the only person on the planet who hasn’t seen the movie) and indicated Hollar was going to run for political office. Of course, Ragan then backtracked and said he didn’t really know if Hollar was planning a run, he was “just throwing that out there.” What a tease.
We do know that Hollar has been a big part of Karin McGrath’s campaign for the Kosciusko Superior Court III judge seat and that he’s known to rub elbows with GOP politicians.
So, in the next few years, could we see a Mayor Hollar? City Councilman Hollar? State Rep. Hollar? Or even a U.S. Sen. Hollar?
Only Hollar, his wife Jennifer and God know for sure. It just wouldn’t surprise us.
CONGRESSIONAL TERM LIMITS – Brandon Cavanaugh is a Democrat seeking the Indiana District 9 State Senate seat this year.
That seat is held by longtime Republican Sen. Ryan Mishler.
Cavanaugh has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the Term Limits Convention pledge. Cavanaugh is the first signer in this race. The primary election is scheduled for Tuesday.
U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the “leader in the national, nonpartisan movement to limit terms for elected officials,” is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation, according to a news release we received this week from the organization. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress.
USTL President Philip Blumel commented on Cavanaugh's pledge saying, “Brandon's support of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians.”
The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state legislatures. It reads, “I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress.”
LOSS – A couple of weeks ago, County Commissioner Bob Conley unfortunately lost his brother, Ronald Paul Conley, 69, of Pierceton.
At the commissioners meeting Tuesday, Bob thanked the county for the support he received during the difficult time.
He said, “On a personal note, thank the commissioners and council for your kind words on the passing of my brother last week. I got the card and everybody signed it. You just don’t know how much that means that people around you cares, so thank you.”
Commissioner Brad Jackson told Bob he was sorry for his loss, as are we.
PERMIT NUMBERS – The Indiana Builders Association issued a news release Thursday responding to April permit numbers for Indiana.
“The impact of COVID-19 was no exception for the Indiana home building industry. However, through strong advocacy and continued demand for new home construction in Indiana, we are confident that Indiana permit numbers will gradually rise as the state begins to open back up and things return to relative normalcy. Now more than ever, we need to be aware of the needs of Hoosiers and work to make the home building industry a pillar of economic growth in the state of Indiana,” said Indiana Builders Association CEO Rick Wajda.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released statewide totals for building permits issued in April and shows 1,318 single-family permits were pulled. This number is down 8% from March 2020, when 1,428 permits were pulled. The 1,318 permits pulled in April 2020 are down 18% from the 1,602 permits pulled in April 2019. The single-family permit numbers (4,990) for 2020 are up 9% compared to the first four months of 2019.
BANKS ON CHINA – After President Trump’s Rose Garden announcement Friday that the U.S. would be ending its special trade status with Hong Kong, terminating its relationship with the World Health Organization, among other actions, China Task Force and House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) released the following statement:
“President Trump can boast about many foreign policy achievements. He led the effort to take out international terrorists Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and General Soleimani. He’s successfully encouraged our NATO allies to increase their contributions for our common defense. He’s rebuilt a military that Obama laid to waste. He’s negotiated a Turkish ceasefire in Syria.
“But none of these come close to President Trump’s biggest accomplishment: Changing the global dialogue on China. China is an existential threat to not just the United States, but the global order as we know it. They’ve cost the world trillions due to their malfeasance in addressing coronavirus. And their increasingly aggressive posture towards the U.S. and our allies must be addressed.
“President Trump’s tough-on-China announcements today are further proof that he is the leader for this moment. No president has been as clear-eyed about the China threat than President Donald Trump.”
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