The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1120204
The Press-Dispatch Opinion Wednesday, May 22, 2019 C- 9 SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? LET US KNOW AT 812-354-8500! Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Mary Shalabi, AK A Mary Petry, charged with count I dealing in meth- amphetamine between one and five grams, a level 4 felony, count II deal- ing in methamphetamine, a level 5 fel- ony, and count III maintaining a com- mon nuisance, a level 6 felony. Bennie D. Rust charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a level 5 felony, count II maintain- ing a common nuisance, a level 6 fel- ony, count III possession of marijua- na, count IV operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in person's body and count V possession of paraphernalia. Macey Nicole Hammock charged with count I domestic battery result- ing in bodily injury, a level 6 felony, and count II battery. Cody Wayne Hatfield-Lee charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony. Edward Lee Petry charged with count I maintaining a common nui- sance, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony. Laura Ann Morgan charged with count I possession of methamphet- amine, a level 6 felony, count II pos- session of paraphernalia and count III possession of marijuana. Nicole Traylor charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, and count II possession of paraphernalia. Jessie Lynn Griffin charged with count I domestic battery committed in the presence of a child less than 16 years old, a level 6 felony, and count II strangulation. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike County Circuit Court Joshua A. Tooley charged with count I criminal mischief and count II disorderly conduct. Joshua W. Loper charged with pos- session of paraphernalia. Sean P. Wood charged with count I operating a vehicle with an ACE of at least .08 but less than .15 and count II operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Cody B. Begley charged with pos- session of marijuana. Brooke N. Bays charged with count I operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its me- tabolite in person's body and count II operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Tyler R. Jones charged with count I operating a vehicle with and ACE of .15 or more and count II operating a vehicle while intoxicated, endanger- ing a person. Makayla Harmon charged with vis- iting a common nuisance - controlled substances. Ryan P. McIntyre charged with count I operating a vehicle while in- toxicated and count II resisting law enforcement. David Heichelbech charged with count I resisting law enforcement and count II public intoxication. Tammy Morgan charged with pub- lic intoxication. Daniel C. Blake charged with count I operating a vehicle with an ACE of .15 or more and count II leaving the scene of an accident. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Bramwell-McKay Masonry sues Mike and Monica Atkins on com- plaint. Second Round, LP sues Stancil Ed- wards on complaint. Braden Henson petitions for vehi- cle title. Pike County Health Department sues Ira W. Wilson on complaint. Marci L. St. John sues William A. St. John for dissolution of marriage. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Hoosier Accounts Service sues John Pauw III on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Jo- seph P. Morrison. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Danny R. DeWeese on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Er- ic M. Slunder on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Dy- la J. Barrett on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Timothy L. Loveless on complaint. Hoosier Accounts Service sues Cierrah L. Riley on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Faith A. Walker charged with count I no valid driver's license and count II speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Jarod M. Waggoner charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Anna L. Hill charged with seatbelt violation. James E. Keeton charged with seat- belt violation. James D. Poteet charged with seat- belt violation. Charles D. Hopper charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Aaron A. Hadley charged with seat- belt violation. Norman E. Braun charged with seatbelt violation. Haley N. Brattain charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. James L. Cox charged with seatbelt violation. Christopher T. Gates charged with seatbelt violation. Duangnapha A. Prairie charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Chad M. Western charged with seatbelt violation. Krista J. Stone charged with allow- ing unlicensed individual to operate vehicle on highway. Misty L. Morganett charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Melvin E. Maxwell, Jr. charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Raqueem S. Williamson charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Kevin M. Schmitt charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Johnel Ne Ron Brown charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Blake R. Vonderheide charged with boat equipment - USCG Type I, II, III or V float device per person required in boat. Kevin K. Claridge charged with op- erating an off-road vehicle on public highway, street or right-of-way. Michael D. Schleter charged with operating with expired plates. Connor W. Truitt charged with child restraint system violation. Erik R. Gardner charged with allow- ing unlicensed individual to operate vehicle on highway. Andrew D. Rickard charged with expired learner permit. Kiara E. Jesch charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. cutting defense spending. That forced our military, in turn, to cut training. They've had to rely on planes, tanks and other equipment that should have been retired years ago. The reversal of this trend is certainly welcome. But we can't repair the damage in a year. On the Index's five- rating scale of "very strong, strong, marginal, weak, and very weak," the overall rat- ing for our military is "mar- ginal." You don't jump from "marginal" to "very strong" overnight, unfortunately. How does one judge the right size, strength and ca- pability of our armed forc- es? The Index editors use a formula long embraced by successive presidential ad- ministrations, Congresses and Department of Defense staffs: the ability to handle two major wars at the same time. For now, the Index edi- tors say, our military is like- ly capable of meeting the de- mands of a single major re- gional conflict while also taking care of its other on- going responsibilities. Add another conflict, though, and we'd be in trou- ble. Considering the threat levels out there, who can confidently say that second conflict couldn't happen? So while lawmakers should be praised for taking steps in the right direction, they now need to realize that it's high time we picked up the pace. Our enemies aren't wait- ing. And neither should we. Ed Feulner is founder of The Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org). Continued from page 8 DEFENSE The vision of Hussle and Gross was that the Opportunity Zone initiative be a community development initia- tive as well as a purely economic de- velopment initiative. According to Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, and one of the visionaries of Opportunity Zones, "In- stead of having government hand out pools of taxpayer dollars, you have savvy investors directing money in- to projects they think will succeed." Hussle and Gross added the crucial additional dimension to structure the deals to assure participation of and benefit to the local communities. This is public policy at its best and most creative. Structure policies that will encourage personal initiative and creativity. This is the way we will fix the broken parts of America that have been left behind. What we then witnessed was what happens when the destructive energy within the community proves too pow- erful for the creative energy. Hussle was shot and killed. According to the Los Angeles Times, Hussle's murder was one of 29 that have occurred so far this year in South Los Angeles. Hussle's story is a microcosm of the racial challenges of the nation. How do we overcome the destruc- tive energy and transform it to cre- ative energy? Hussle was showing the way. But his efforts fell short of overcoming the too-vast destructive energy long hovering in South L A and that hov- ers in similar neighborhoods across America. From what I read, David Gross will continue their work and move forward with the Our Opportunity fund. Good news. The complex history of black Amer- ica, coupled with poor welfare state policies, has left a legacy of hard, de- structive energy in our inner cities. More social entrepreneurs, like Nipsey Hussle and David Gross, and political leaders like Sen. Tim Scott, who championed the Opportunity Zones initiative from its inception and is now traveling across America to get it implemented, can turn things around. With the right policies and the right people, the creative energy will over- come the destructive. Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Center for Urban Renewal and Edu- cation. Contact her at www.urbancure.org Continued from page 8 OPPORTUNITY aged the wartime crisis as a political opportunity, and the American people were finished with them. When the party dissolved shortly thereafter, most Americans considered it good riddance to bad rubbish. More than 200 years later, the Baltimore Ravens foot- ball team traveled to London to play a game. They stood respectfully for "God Save the Queen," their hosts' na- tional anthem. But when their own national anthem was played, these men of Baltimore knelt in protest. One broadcaster, a re- cently retired Ravens player, went onto the field to kneel in solidarity with the young- er concussion-prone million- aire athletes, against our country. Together, they as- sert their protest as a high moral position immune to statistical evidence. The more emphatic their protest, the truer their grievance. I hear the clanging of bro- ken metal against masonry again. There will always be ambush, arson, invasion, bombardment and conten- tious backstabbing conspir- acy. Yet after Tecumseh and Robert Ross, after Ray Lew- is and Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, our flag is still there. May it fly over a land of the free, and home of the brave. Continued from page 8 1812 welcoming everybody, then the pro- gram commenced by prompting the children and guests to make the sign of the cross, then everyone recited the "Our Father" in unison. What a touch- ing moment. A fter the opening prayer, the kids went through a repertoire of the reci- tation of the Pledge of Allegiance, fol- lowed by songs and poems of "Hello, Guardian Angel Prayer, Five Little Hot Dogs, ABC song and sign and fa- vorite nursery rhymes. A fter a brief intermission, the grad- uates came back to receive their di- plomas. As a surprise (the parents were not told about this ahead of time) each graduate was asked what they dreamed they would be when they grow up. That was the nerve- challenging part, because you would not know what each kid would say. It was a combination of anxious antici- pation for each of the parents as the kids spoke of their dreams. Surprisingly, the responses var- ied from several of them telling they would like to be a police officer, a fire- fighter, a ballerina, a teacher, an an- imal caretaker, a farmer, a doctor, a mother and a nurse. I'm going to have to make you guess what our granddaughter said, because I'm sure these kids will change their minds a few times as they journey on with life. A fter the main program was over, a lot of picture-taking took place, fol- lowed by the yummy part of having snacks and drinks as a treat for all. Lots of pictures were taken by ev- eryone during snack time. At the final good bye part, the kids hugged their best and good friends. Picture this: two kids lovingly em- bracing and tapping their backs as they said goodbye. That chokes you up a little bit because they will be off for vacation for a couple of months as they enter the next phase of their lives. I'm telling you folks, that was the best hour of our lives. It will never leave our fond memories book. Rose and I are so proud of Isabella. Next week, the musical program of our oth- er granddaughter Sophia, age 10, is scheduled. Have a great week.! Wisdom of the week: Little Chil- dren indeed are precious gifts from God. Let us love them with all our hearts. Continued from page 8 DREAMS ence, with Christians ob- taining the highest rate of persecution for their faith. Solutions are hard to en- act when the persecution is rooted in the cultural ideol- ogy of a nation. Politicians may be quick to acknowl- edge that religious bigotry and persecution exists (al- ways has and always will), but little is done to curtail it. According to Italy's Cen- ter for Studies on New Re- ligions, "In 2016, a Chris- tian was killed for his or her faith every six minutes. To- day (2019), the persecution of Christians and other re- ligious minorities is ram- pant, especially in the Mid- dle East." In Syria alone, it is esti- mated that The Islamic State (ISIS) has forced nearly 5 million Syrian Christians to flee, which means Christian- ity, which has been in Syria since the apostles, is almost extinct. Let us not forget the re- cent killings in Nigeria, where Boko Haram mem- bers are targeting Chris- tian villages, and have been for almost 20 years. What needs to be said of the massacre of Christians on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka? The massacre was not the result of a delusion- al Christian running into a Mosque proclaiming "Jeho- vah is Great" then detonat- ing a bomb killing scores. Though no hard perse- cution as such yet exists in America, it is noteworthy to observe that there are ele- ments within government and society at large who do not like Christians, their schools, or anything about the Christian faith. Jesus said "they hated me, they will hate you." That may strengthen the resolve to stand firm in the face of adversity, but living in an age of enlightenment where Western governments stand aside and allow Christians to be afflicted by lack of initia- tive is not tolerable. The Apostle Paul likewise forewarned Christians who through the ages expected it and prepared for it. How- ever, that does not absolve the act. John wrote, "As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eter- nal life." This is our promise. Con- tinue to hold fast and fight the good fight of faith and pray for Christians world- wide. Think about it! Continued from page 8 PROMISE Vedder has several impor- tant ideas for higher educa- tion reform. First, we should put an end to the university monopoly on certifying edu- cational and vocational com- petency. Non-college orga- nizations could package ac- ademic courses and award degrees based upon exter- nal examinations. Regarding financial aid, colleges should be forced to share in covering loan de- faults, namely they need to have some skin in the game. More importantly, Vedder says that we should end or revise the federal student aid program. Vedder ends "Restoring the Promise" with a num- ber of proposals with which I agree: • College administra- tive staff often exceeds the teaching staff. Vedder says, "I doubt there is a major campus in America where you couldn't eliminate very conservatively 10 percent of the administrative pay- roll (in dollar terms) with- out materially impacting ac- ademic performance." • Reevaluate academic tenure. Tenure is an employ- ment benefit that has costs, and faculty members should be forced to make tradeoffs between it and other forms of university compensation. • Colleges of education, with their overall poor aca- demic quality, are an embar- rassment on most campus- es and should be eliminated. • End speech codes on college campuses by using the University of Chicago Principles on free speech. • Require a core curric- ulum that incorporates civ- ic and cultural literacy. • The most important measure of academic re- forms is to make university governing boards indepen- dent and meaningful. In my opinion, most academic gov- erning boards are little more than yes men for the presi- dent and provost. Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. Continued from page 8 COLLEGE