Beginning Sunday, a new Indiana state law will allow any fire station staffed 24 hours to install baby boxes for the surrender of newborns.
The boxes have been established previously in two Indiana locations, and an influx is expected with the new law, which allows a mother to anonymously abandon an infant without fear of arrest or prosecution as long as the infant shows no signs of abuse and isn't more than a month old.
Apparently, there is a local effort to establish a baby box in Kosciusko County.
An area woman, who asked not to be identified until plans are solidified, said she began working on it after it became obvious the bill would become law. She is talking with local officials, has plenty of support and thinks the new law could eventually lead to boxes placed throughout the state.
One hang-up: The boxes cost about $10,000 each.
She said she’s looking at a regional approach with fundraisers in Kosciusko, Whitley, Fulton, Wabash and Grant counties.
She said she hopes to announce plans for community fundraising in about a month.
More about Wolkins – Folks with a Facebook page closely aligned with Curt Nisly on social issues did not apparently like the Potpourri item last week about State Rep. Dave Wolkins’ frustration with fellow Republican state lawmaker Curt Nisly.
Wolkins said he’s fed up with Nisly over his legislative approach and the fact he stayed on the sidelines while the group, Exposing Indiana Politicians, blasted Wolkins during the primary.
The group called Wolkins’ reaction a “temper tantrum.”
The group issued a 311-word reaction and concluded with the following:
“We're not sure if Wolkins is mad because Nisly isn't his puppet and can't be controlled by him or the Republican establishment, Or if he's just mad the store was out of his favorite ice cream, But either way, this next session promises to be quite fascinating. Stay tuned.”
Speedway spinoff – OK, this is starting to feel like a circular firing squad, but here goes.
In the world of Facebook drama, it seems as if those who run the local FB page “We Want Another Warsaw Speedway” have annoyed some folks to the point they created their own FB?page with a slight variant. The alternative group is calling its page “We Want Another Warsaw Speedway For People With Common Sense.”
The original group then (briefly) countered by adding “The Official” to the beginning of its name.
If you’re keeping score, the original goup has about 2,844 fans. The new page has 35.
Sewer Talk – Warsaw City Council meets Monday for a regular meeting, but the looming proposal to raise sewer rates for a second time in the past year is not on the agenda. A spokesperson for Mayor Joe Thallemer said the topic is not expected to come up anytime very soon.
Quote of the week – Congressman Jim Banks, of Columbia City, struck a tone for civility in a tweet this week. The statement came after Democrat Rep. Maxine Walters suggested people continue to harass members of the Trump administration the same way they confronted White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders a week ago at a restaurant.
The 3rd District Republican, who tweets at @Jim_Banks, retweeted a New York Times story about whether Dems should stoke anti-Trump outrage and offered the following thought:
“While Democrats are divided over civility I’m hopeful statesmen from both parties will rise up and work harder to change the tone to restore discourse & respect in our nation’s Capitol.”
