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A Budget, A Funeral And A Cartoon

Well then, it's been quite a week in the news business. First of all, let me say that W's budget is pretty much dead on arrival. The fact that W is a lame duck in his final term notwithstanding, the budget is just too much for anybody in Congress, Republicans included, to stomach. W's budget is fatally flawed - politically and practically. He's proposing a five-year, $36 billion cut in Medicare and Medicaid. Congress already approved a five-year $39 billion cut in those programs.Do you supposed Congressmen are ready to sell that to their constituents? Especially the elderly and disabled? And what about all those insurance companies, hospitals, doctors and nursing homes? Do you suppose Congressmen are ready to stand up to them? W says - and it's true - that the "cuts" are really not "cuts" at all.They are reductions in growth.Medicare and Medicaid spending will grow during those years, just not as much.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Earnhardt Was More Than A Race Car Driver

I am not a huge NASCAR fan. I watch a couple races a season.I check out the highlights each week.I watch the points standings.I have to keep current on the sport a little bit.I have to be able to converse intelligently with the real NASCAR afficionados around here - Norm Hagg and Dale Hubler. My favorite driver was Dale Earnhardt.It's not like I have a giant No.3 on the back window of my car or anything.I don't wear a black No.3 hat.I don't own any 1/32- or 1/24-scale black No.3 Chevrolets.No posters, mugs or T-shirts, either.But I just really liked Dale Earnhardt. He had this reputation as the "Intimidator" because of the way he drove a race car.He bumped and scraped and drafted around the track like nobody else.It seemed as if he could squeeze his car through spaces that weren't really big enough for his car to squeeze through.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Burglar Leaves Plenty Of Clues For Police

The suspect in a burglary Tuesday night wears a size 12 boot, but that's not all police learned from their investigation. They also think they know the suspect's name, age, address and place of employment, thanks to the alleged burglar leaving behind a wallet and a trail of footprints in the snow. Warsaw police were called to Warsaw Health Foods on East Center Street Wednesday morning when an employee discovered the break-in.About $1,000 in cash and several items of merchandise, including body-building vitamins, were believed taken during the burglary. When police arrived, just one set of footprints was found exiting the business from a basement door.Officers tracked the prints south and found a cardboard box containing several of the stolen items hidden under a bush in a nearby alley.
Ruth Anne Lipka, Times-Union Lifestyles Editor- | July 28, 2016

Bow Hunters Taking Aim At Deer Reduction

More than 20 hunters attended a training session Saturday to qualify to be part of a team that will help reduce the number of deer in Warsaw. The session was held at the Warsaw Police Department and topics addressed included bowhunting safety, reduction zones and bowhunting guidelines and rules and regulations for the reduction effort. The Warsaw City Council passed a resolution and ordinance at its meeting Nov.6 that allows trained archers to hunt in declared nuisance zones in Warsaw. Deer Task Force chair Jeff Grose gave a report and recommendation presentation on the history of the Deer Task Force during the training session. Grose said the task force has spent the past nine months researching methods to control the deer herd near Spring Hill. "The mission of the task force is to reduce and maintain the population of deer in designated nuisance zones in Warsaw," Grose said.
JENNIFER PERYAM, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Syracuse Council Near Decision On Ind. 13 Plans

Syracuse - Town council will wait a month or so to make a decision on the Ind.13 road expansion project. Council was prepared to vote on the issue Tuesday, but was advised to wait by town attorney Robert Reed. Reed said he learned that the town could be liable for the federal share of the multi-million dollar project under certain conditions. He urged the council to listen to a consultant before voting on the issue. Council agreed to hear from the consultant Jan.6 when it meets to consider a budget matter.The meeting will start at 5 p.m. Council president Barb Carwile said the board was prepared Tuesday to give an "up or down" vote on the proposal that could expand the two-lane road through the heart of town to four or five lanes. She said she was unsure how council would have voted.A preliminary vote earlier this year supported the project's concept by a 4-3 vote.
Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

There's No Such Thing As Deficit Taxing

I noticed something curious in the news this week. The U.S.government has returned to deficit spending.(That's not the curious thing.It's a set up for the curious thing.) Anyway, when the government closed the books in late 2002, it was reported that the government spent $159 billion more than it took in. It was quite a turnaround.At the end of 2001, the government was $127 billion in the black. Prospects for the next year are only a little better, or a little worse, depending on whose estimate you care to consider.The White House says the deficit in 2003 will be $109 billion.The Congressional Budget Office says $145 billion. Any way you look at it, the days of budget surplus seem to have ended. Of course, Democrats were quick to blame the return to deficits on W's tax cuts.The true blame lies with a flailing economy and a floundering stock market.Those two things caused tax receipts to fall dramatically.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Flag Displays Being Pushed To The Limit

Patriotic displays have become quite common since 9/11. Just the other night I was at the local chamber banquet.The table decorations were patriotic, we got little flag lapel pins, there was patriotic music and a color guard. It was nice.Patriotism can be moving, unifying. These days, you see the U.S.flag on cars, trucks, homes, buildings and clothing. Yes, the flag is everywhere.And in most cases, it's appropriate. Problem is, I've noticed the flag being displayed improperly with all manner of flag etiquette being ignored. A while back we ran a photograph on the front page.The picture showed a flag that was sent from New York to the airport near Kandahar in Afghanistan. The flag was flown over the debris of the World Trade Centers. A whole bunch of relatives of firefighters and policemen who died in the 9/11 attack wrote messages on the flag. Many of the messages were quite touching, quite moving, but they were written right on the flag.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Churches Hit By Apparent Con Artists

The term con artist seems a bit counterintuitive. I mean, I suppose there is an "art" to fleecing someone out of something valuable. I like to think of "art"Êin more positive terms.So for purpose of this column, I'll just use the term vermin to describe the people that are preying on the good will of local churchgoers. Seems the vermin - there are two women running the scam - show up at small country churches in the southern part of the county and tell a sad story. The story goes like this: The woman says she came from Colorado to be with a sister who lives in our county. She came to be with the sister because the sister just had a stillborn baby and she needed to console her. But no sooner than she arrived in Warsaw, she gets word from Colorado that her father died of cancer and she had to get back to Colorado right away.But there wasn't enough money for gas and food.
GARY GERARD Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

It's An Issue Of Character

Well, now we know W's teeth were in Alabama. This week, in response to Democrat criticism that W didn't fulfill his Air National Guard obligation in Alabama in 1972 or 1973, the White House trotted out some dental records. These records prove that W was, in fact, in the dental clinic at the Air National Guard base in Alabama where he was supposed to be serving. Of course, the Democrats say that doesn't prove anything.It doesn't prove he served. That, I suppose, is true.It doesn't prove he served.But I mean, really.If you were AWOL from the Air National Guard, would you go to the air base to have your teeth cleaned? Earlier, the White House ponied up W's pay stubs and a letter that said W fulfilled his duty and was honorably discharged.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Athletics Takes Priority Over Academics

A couple Saturdays back we ran a Potpourri column about the local spelling bee. The reporter who covered the bee, Laurie Hahn, found it ironic that the spelling bee, which was conducted over three nights, seemed under-attended by school officials. It seemed to her that attending a spelling bee would have been a good way for local school officials, school board members and others to show support for academics. Most of those same school officials attend several basketball games each year, so why not take in a spelling bee or two? Especially when we have heard complaints from educators who think that there is too much emphasis on athletics. Sometimes we stick something in Potpourri just to get people to think. This was one of those times. The debate over how much emphasis to place on athletics has been going on for a long time, especially in Indiana. People who move here from other parts of the country are amazed at how basketball crazy we are here.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

EDIT Meeting A Good Chance To Get Involved

Next Saturday will be a good day to see local government in action. That's when the Kosciusko County Council will decide whether an Economic Development Income Tax will be established in this county.The meeting is at 3 p.m.in the old courtroom upstairs in the county courthouse. If you are at all interested in the future of economic development in the county, you should attend.Regardless of what side of the issue you are on, you should attend.You should let your elected officials know how you feel about it. But there's one thing you should do first.Be informed. There have been several letters to the editor published regarding EDIT.All of them have been quite negative and most of them have been less than factual. Some of them bordered on the hysterical. This has been explained several times, but please allow me to go through it one more time.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Goodwill Needs Donations

It always makes you feel good when you help out a friend in need, doesn't it? Well, here's an opportunity to feel good. You see, Goodwill is in need. A local member of the Goodwill board of directors gave me a call a while back and told me Goodwill was running behind on donations. So earlier this week, I gave Larry Neff a call. Neff is area director for Goodwill Industries, based in South Bend. He told me the donation business is always cyclical. "Every January, February and March, donations fall off with wintry weather.People just aren't inclined to clean out closets, garages and basements when it's cold out," he said. "Usually, we're prepared for it.During strong donation months, we get more than we can use, so we incur the costs of inventory and warehousing to prepare for the slow periods we know are ahead." Goodwill business is seasonal.They get donations of winter clothes in the spring.Summer items come in the fall.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

CCS Places First Automobile In 'Wheels To Work' Program

The first car in Combined Community Services' Wheels to Work program was placed with an owner Friday. Wheels to Work was created to help people with the proper qualifications who need transportation.The program began in Bartholomew County.The program basically allows for people to donate vehicles to accountability programs.These vehicles are repaired and then sold below market price to help people who need transportation. Warsaw resident Angela Friend is the first person in the CCS program to receive a donated car.Friend will use her new car to get back and forth to school.She is a registered nurse student in her last year. The car was donated by Grace College student Andrew Doane and his father, Paul Doane.The Doanes decided to donate the car when they were told the cost of fixing it would be more than the car is worth.
ANITA WEISHEIT, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Why Do You Think They Call It 'Hysteria'?

I want to tell you about one of our sports staffers, Jeff Holsinger. I've been in the small newspaper business for 16 years now.In all that time I have never met a more level-headed kid. I say kid because he graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 1990.Then from Indiana University in 1994.Oh, to be young again.He came to the Times-Union in the fall of 1994. He is highly sports literate, has a strong work ethic and an easy-to-read writing style.From a human resources point of view, he is a manager's dream.Very little supervision required.Just a pat on the back once in a while. Until now, that is. Suddenly - and inexplicably - he has been transformed into a monster. Holsinger - according to Whitko Athletic Director Greg Roach - is out to destroy Whitko basketball. The most recent insidious act perpetrated upon the Wildcats by Holsinger was a six-column-inch story that appeared in Wednesday's Times-Union.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Lawmakers Miss Mark With These Bills

There are a couple bills in the state legislature right now that are a bit unsettling. First, the Indiana Senate passed a bill to repeal the state's charitable gaming law. Sen.Morris Mills, an Indianapolis Republican, sponsored that bill.The charitable gaming law was originally passed to allow charities to conduct bingo games to raise money. Most of the money raised by local groups goes to charitable causes. But Mills says statewide, the picture is different.He says this bill is necessary because big companies calling themselves charities have opened big bingo halls and pushed out the churches and other charity groups. This legislation is a good example of tossing out the baby with the bathwater.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Beware The Democrat Bearing Tidings Of Deficits

By Gary Gerard, Managing Editor I know I have been over this before, but these days it seems pretty important that people understand the concept of taxes. President W has proposed a $1.6- trillion tax cut over 10 years and the Democrats are really upset about this. They just can't stand the thought of that much money being withheld from the U.S.Treasury. So they start saying things to make people believe that tax cuts are bad things. After W's speech there was a Democrat response.In it we were warned that W's plan would plunge us back into the deficits of the Reagan years. OK, that really bugs me. I have one question for people who think that way.Was it deficit taxing that got us into budget trouble in the '80s or was it deficit spending? If you believe what the Democrats are saying about taxes, then you must believe federal budget deficits are caused by people being taxed too little. That, of course, is patent and overt nonsense.
Beware The Democrat Bearing Tidings Of Deficits- | July 28, 2016

Dollars Better Off In Private Hands

I must go on record as saying I am generally in favor of tax breaks. Tax breaks for everybody. That's because I think, generally, money left is the private sector is money better spent. I don't particularly believe that the government does a very good job of spending money. They seem really wasteful. Remember the $600 toilet seat and $400 hammer in that now-infamous defense contract of 1983? So anytime the government can collect less money, I think it's a good thing. Lots of people disagree with me on this, but I think Reaganomics works.That's the whole "trickle down" theory that says if you give tax breaks to corporations and business owners, they will expand and create jobs. When that happens, the benefits "trickle down" to workers and everybody else.
GARY GERARD, Times-Union Managing Editor- | July 28, 2016

Gunter Presides Over Her 'Last' Meeting

Brad Jacskon, this year's president of the county commissioners, handed the gavel over to outgoing commissioner Avis Gunter during the board's year-end meeting Friday. The commissioners made routine appointments for 2007.Bob conley, incoming commissioner, was assigned to board seats held by Gunter, including the Area Plan Commission and Warsaw Community Development. Bud Watkins was reappointed to the Drainage Board; Brad Jackson to the wage committee and Ron Truex will continue as the commissioner's representative on the drainage board.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Outside Experts Hired To Monitor Wastewater Treatment Plant

The Warsaw Board of Works has hired Plews Shadley Racher & Brown to represent the city in connection with a variety of matters pertaining to the wastewater treatment facility and charges, if any, arising from the state's notice of violations and the federal government's criminal charges. Both the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Environmental Protection Agency have investigated the sewage spill that occurred this summer. At its Friday meeting, Board of Works members said city officials will meet with IDEM Jan.24. Richard Denny, a contracted Class IV wastewater operator, is in charge of the plant now.An expert from Triad also will be on site to observe daily operations of the plant.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Trowbridge Supporters Sign Petition

BOURBON - A former teacher who left Bremen Schools last year in a swirl of controversy will no longer serve as a subsitute teacher for Triton despite a strong show of support Tuesday night. Between 30 and 40 supporters of Mel Trowbridge attended the Triton School Board meeting. Trowbridge, who was part of core of substitute teachers working regularly at Triton, was recently dismissed by the school corporation. Trowbridge resigned last year as a Bremen Elementary teacher after allegations of improper activities surfaced.Those allegations, which were never publicly disclosed, never led to any formal investigations or charges. Dave Gould, pastor of The Country Church, acted as spokesman for the group and read the following statement: "I come tonight as a friend of this board and am grateful for this opportunity to speak.I also plan on being a friend no matter what the outcome.
KARIN RETTINGER, Times-Union Correspondent- | July 28, 2016
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