The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1263122
The Press-Dispatch Opinion Wednesday, June 24, 2020 B- 9 Support our law enforcement officers Letter to the Editor but let's share again some of her longevity secrets. First, I think she chose her parents wisely. Sec- ondly, as I recall her jour- ney of life, she always was at peace with herself and her surroundings. She has always been seemingly blessed with a good attitude toward life. I never heard her use foul language, she was always kind and gentle, did not pursue worldly cares, did not have any grudge to- ward anyone. She ate well, slept well, and I don't recall her be- ing in a hospital except for childbirths. She is always prayerful and seems to be in a state of saintly virtue. She was a 4 th grade teach- er until her retirement ma- ny, many moons ago. I can tell much more about her but this is suffi- cient for now. Unfortunate- ly because of travel restric- tions across both US and Canada borders, the only way to communicate is by Facetime (thank goodness for this technology) pro- vided by the facility, which they do on a scheduled ba- sis. They keep her busy do- ing artwork and some easy games. Hopefully, when things come back to nor- mal, my first instinct is to head North to pay her a vis- it. I really have to do that. • • • If you are able, Red Cross will have a blood drive on Friday, June 26 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT at the Peters- burg Fire Station, located at Illinois Street. Visit Red- CrossBlood.org/Rapid- Pass to complete pre-do- nation reading and health history questions. Eric Hardin, local Red Cross co- ordinator is the local con- tact, 812-455 -5436. Thanks in advance for your sup- port. manity of all and is carried out fairly and equally, is the candidate America's major- ity will choose. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Re- newal and Education and author of the new book "Nec- essary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This is Good News for America." Readers can respond to Star's column by emailing star-parker@ur- bancure.org. Continued from page 8 RECOVER Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Jordon T. Earls charged with count I confinement, a level 6 felony, count II pos- session of marijuana and count III driving while sus- pended, prior. Lori Louise Hobby charged with count I pos- session of cocaine, a level 6 felony, and count II inva- sion of privacy. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike County Circuit Court Baron S. McCann charged with possession of paraphernalia. Peyton Grace Mathias charged with possession of marijuana. Draven Allan Harper charged with possession of marijuana. Ashley Earls charged with possession of mari- juana. Charles E. DeWeese charged with disorderly conduct. Leslie Maxfield charged with possession of marijua- na. Bryce E. Weightman charged with count I driv- ing while suspended, prior and count II possession of marijuana. Kyle Aaron Dersch charged with interfer- ing with a drug or alcohol screening test. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Portfolio Recovery As- sociates, LLC sues Aaron Roettger on complaint. Portfolio Recovery Asso- ciates, LLC sues Anthony Loveless on complaint. Portfolio Recovery As- sociates, LLC sues Jamie Wiscaver on complaint. Midland Credit Man- agement, Inc. sues Rod- ney Fretwell on complaint. Velocity Investments, LLC assignee of Prosper Funding, LLC assignee of WebBank sues Donna Roth on complaint. Connie R. Davis sues An- drew Porter as Special Rep- resentative of the Estate of Sharon Pokorski on com- plaint. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Landmark Enterprises, LLC sues A. Riley Farms, LLC on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Olivia D. Stanton charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 70 mph. Dakota T. Phelps charged with speeding, ex- ceeding 55 mph. Maverick J. Pancake charged with speeding. ness in black communities. That means black people must become intolerant of criminals who make their lives living hell, even if it means taking the law into their own hands. That brings me to one of the most disturbing as- pects of the rioting and looting. That is the seem- ing impotence of people whom we elect and pay to enforce the law. That in- cludes governors, mayors and police chiefs who re- fuse to use their law en- forcement powers to pro- tect citizens and their property from criminals. Unfortunately, politicians who call for law and or- der are often viewed neg- atively. But that makes lit- tle sense. Poor people are more dependent on law and order than anyone else. In the face of high crime or social disorder, wealthier people can afford to pur- chase alarm systems, buy guard dogs, hire guards and, if things get too bad, move to a gated communi- ty. These options are not available to poor people. Their only protection is an orderly society. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Continued from page 8 WHAT? that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immu- nity, or to give that protection." Certainly, we've seen many U.S. cit- ies suffer an abundance of violence and destruction in recent days. In some cases, the scope of the violence has clearly overwhelmed local law enforce- ment and National Guard units. Many law enforcement officers have been injured. Often it's because they have been simply overmatched. Police forces, after all, are sized for law en- forcement, not riot control, which re- quires much greater numbers. If the president decides to invoke the Insurrection Act, he would be on a sol- id legal footing, as were his predeces- sors when they invoked it to protect Americans from the Ku Klux Klan, vi- olence associated with labor riots, the looting in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, and numerous other instances. A separate and better question is whether it is a good idea to invoke the Insurrection Act. In short, the answer is "no." In his June 1 Rose Garden speech on the riots, Trump noted that he would deploy federal military assets only if cities or states refuse "to take the ac- tions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents." He later added "I don't think we'll have to." The White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for local lead- ers to take the appropriate action to prevent violence while preserving the rights of citizens to protest. The secre- tary of defense has stated he does not support invoking the Insurrection Act, suggesting it should only be used as "a matter of last resort." Why should the Insurrection Act be only employed as a last resort? Because active-duty military forces are poorly suited for missions to quell civil unrest. They receive little or no training in the task. Active combat units are trained to engage and destroy America's ene- mies—not restrain crowds. Active mil- itary forces also lack the close ties to the local community that the local po- lice and National Guard enjoy. Finally, using the active military at home puts at risk the great confidence that the American public places in their mili- tary. Gallup consistently reports that, of all institutions, Americans express the greatest amount of confidence, 74% , in the military. That trust should be hus- banded; using the military to quell ri- ots does not further that aim. More puzzling, the senators in their letter, take Milley to task for a supposed appointment to "lead" the Armed Forces response to protests. No such appointment has been made, nor would it be in accordance with law. Finally, some are aghast that Esper and Milley actually accompanied the president, at his request, on his walk to Lafayette Park, and that Milley wore a camouflage uniform. The most for- giving explanation for their contrived horror is that they do not understand the fundamentals of the U.S. military. When the president asks defense officials to accompany him on a walk, they go. And Milley already had made plans to visit National Guard troops de- ployed in the District after the press conference. A four-star general wear- ing a dress uniform, at night, in the midst of a protest and unrest would have been a novel sight indeed. Thus he was wearing his camouflage fa- tigues. These are unsettling and tumultu- ous times, to say the least. It's prop- er to debate whether the use of the In- surrection Act is a proper response. But the country is best served when our leaders focus on the key issues and keep the facts close at hand, rath- er than toss them aside in the rush to score political points. Thomas W. Spoehr conducts and su- pervises research on national defense matters. Continued from page 8 INSURRECTION Continued from page 8 BEAUTY EAST GIBSON To the Editor: I live in Petersburg, Ind. If you are a law enforce- ment officer and need a break, you can come park outside my home. If you are thirsty, I will bring you a drink. If you are hungry, I will fix you food. If you are hot, I will invite you in- side to cool off. If you need additional ammo just ask. If you need backup, I will stand with you. If you need to cry, I will hug you and let you. If you need to talk, I will listen. If you need to pray, I will kneel with you. If you are wrong, I will tell you. If you are right, I will support you. I only ask that you don't lose faith in Americans. We are not all against you. Our lives matter, as do yours. Take off your sunglasses and see the good people that are here for you. We are not as loud and obnox- ious as these whiney media seekers; we are strong and waiting to follow your lead. God bless you and your family. Verdayne Miley Zoning argument rekindled as state reopens By Janice Barniak Gibson County Citizens Against Zoning protested in front of the North Annex as Gibson County Commis- sioners met June 16. While there was no public comment during the meet- ing and attendance was capped for so- cial distancing, the group and their attorney spoke to the Star-Times by phone in advance of the event to dis- cuss their concerns, which centered on the costs to the county, the proce- dures of the commissioners, and the costs to property owners and develop- ers in the future. One anti-zoning constituent, War- ren Fleetwood, said he wanted the county to start at the beginning of the process and listen to citizens, instead of treating each stage as a way to pick up where the 2009 plan left off. "We know the county can pass zon- ing, but we have an issue with how it's being done," he said. "We feel the commissioners need to listen to con- stituents." He said he also opposes the way zoning can grow into what he called a time-consuming process for landown- ers, where they have to ask to make changes on their properties. "The thing with zoning is you reach a point no one can do anything with- out permission," he said. "Zoning, as far as economic development goes, doesn't have a good track record." Fleetwood was working for Fort Branch when Vincennes Universi- ty came to town, and he said one of the advantages the town had over a neighboring community was that Fort Branch was not zoned and the other community was, which allowed the university to come in quickly, with- out "strings attached." "I witnessed it firsthand. We found VU was a great neighbor for us. They went above and beyond...I think zon- ing will cripple people's rights with or without wind turbines." East Gibson farmer Jason Buck said he sees zoning as putting poli- tics above people. "It doesn't encourage us to go to the fence and talk to our neighbor," he said. He said taxpayers are also fi- nancially strained after coronavirus and he doesn't see this as the time for zoning. "If any citizen likes to be free or have liberty in their soul, they don't want zoning...just look south of us," he said, referring to Vanderburgh Coun- ty. "They started with a little monster and ended up with a Wreck-It Ralph." Jeff Seibert's concerns center on the possibility of zoning making de- velopment along I-69 a fight between who has better lawyers. "Truck stops have better lawyers than the poor hog farmers," he said, adding he has land on that stretch. "I really like to be out there. We're close enough to the exchange, any develop- ment will impact us." He's also concerned about the cost to the county. "We can't afford jailers. How can we have this zoning if we can't afford jailers? " Zoning in Princeton hasn't stopped commissioners campaigning from putting up eight times the legal limit of signs, he said. "If not going to be enforced, it's on- ly going to be used when neighbors are arguing," he said. He feels people worried about wind- mills are being used, and that if zon- ing passes, windmills will likely re- ceive exemptions or will approach the Board of Zoning Appeals that will al- low them to build anyway. "In the long run, we're going to end up with zoning and windmills both." The attorney for the group, Grant Schwartzentruber, said his farm and business clients believe the commis- sioners have done a poor job of an- swering the question on why county- wide zoning should happen. "They can easily address the 'wind- mill threat' without zoning. They have said they want to 'protect agriculture,' but have not exempted agriculture ac- tivities. Their strange, meandering, multi-year process has cost county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and we are still at the starting gate. The commission- ers are pushing to do something that most people don't want or even under- stand why they should want it. And they are foolishly spending a fortune to do it." He said commissioners haven't fol- lowed Indiana codes governing zon- ing, and have used the 2009 plan, even though the 2009 plan itself recom- mends it be updated every 10 years. He also pointed to several tables and figures that are now outdated or in- accurate. "The commissioners have now spent approximately $200,000 (as of April 2020), paying an Evansville law firm to draft a Zoning Ordinance based on an 11-year-old Compre- hensive Plan. It would be funny, if it weren't so foolish – such a breach of the public trust and a complete waste of money." Zoning protesters sit outside the County Commissioners meeting June 16; for social distancing, rea- sons most of the crowd could not be in the commissioners' meeting. The meeting was not open for pub- lic comment. Commissioners plan fireworks guidelines By Janice Barniak Gibson County Commissioners ap- proved moving forward on a county- wide fireworks ordinance in their June 16 regular meeting. Loosely inspired by the Fort Branch and Owensville ordinances, the coun- ty-wide fireworks plan will allow for shooting fireworks from 10 a.m. to midnight on Memorial Day, Labor Day and July 4, and until 1 a.m. New Year's Eve into New Year's Day. Additionally, from June 29 -July 3 and July 5 -July 9, fireworks are allowed from 5 p.m. to two hours after sunset. "People have to get up for work. That's basically the spirit of it," said County Attorney Jim McDonald. "I know we've had numerous complaints of fireworks set off in the county at all hours. We're not stopping fireworks." Commissioners advance $750k Lot 4 project By Janice Barniak Gibson County Commissioners vot- ed to send a Toyota Lot 4 improvement project on to the redevelopment board during their meeting June 16. Sr. Manager of Maintenance Mike Wingo told the board the Lot 1, 2 and Maple Tree Drive projects have im- proved flow, but as Toyota expands, Lot 4 will need to have better flow. With the launch of the new Highland- er, and the plant in the process of re- tooling to build a new van in Septem- ber, Toyota Indiana is gaining momen- tum post-COVID. "Volume demands are high, even with eight weeks of lost production," Wingo said. "If we can make more, they want more." He said TMMI anticipates building more vehicles in 2021 than they have ever built before. To accommodate increased de- mands, he said the company wants to address 6 a.m. traffic at Maple Tree and County Road 100, where it can get backed up as far as the childcare cen- ter. Engineer Scott Wilkinson said the engineering firm plans to add turn lanes and upgrade the Lot 4 intersec- tion, as well as increase capacity and address future needs for when the plant may expand. Currently, Lot 4 is near capacity with 1600 vehicles parking in that area, and it can take team members 20 minutes to park. Wilkinson believes the costs will be around $750,000 in the design phase, and would hopefully be bid out in No- vember or December. "It allows for the growth the plant's going to have. I know we're talking long term here."