The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1464422
C-4 Wednesday, April 13, 2022 The Press-Dispatch Letters to the Editor SIGNED LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED BY NOON ON MONDAY ADMIT Continued from page 3 CLIMATE Continued from page 3 facts, don't speak up when censors are wrong and don't remove mistakes when they're caught making them. Apologizing for mistakes is something we teach little kids to do. Is that too much to ask of our media and social media giants? John Stossel is creator of Stos- sel TV and author of "Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Huck- sters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." ry, we remain with a big prob- lem that young Americans are getting college degrees and learning how not to think. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." BAKERY Continued from page 3 Court Report CIVIL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Citibank NA sues Gary Sloan for civil collection. LVNV Funding LLC sues Sabrina Margan for civil col- lection. Fifth Third Bank, Nation- al Association sues Edward L. Myers, Indiana Dept. of Revenue Collection Division and Teachers Credit Union for mortgage foreclosure. In re: Title request for Ver- non Martin. In re: the marriage of Kassie R. Carroll and Joseph Carroll. CRIMINAL DOCKET Pike Circuit Court Sheila M. Cash charged with battery with bodily injury to a public safety officer, vic- tim is a public safety officer, a class Level 5 felony. Bambi Wyatt charged with possession of meth less than five grams, a level 6 felony and possession of paraphernalia, a class C misdemeanor. Phyllis L. Stepanek charged with possession of meth less than five grams, a level 6 fel- ony and possession of para- phernalia, a class C misde- meanor. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR Pike Circuit Court Shon M. McGehee charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class C misde- meanor. Trevor Daniel Wikle charged with operating a ve- hicle with a blood alcohol con- tent of more than 0.08 percent, but less than 0.15 percent. Akya N. Thomas charged with possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor. Brandon Daniel Hamm charged with domestic bat- tery, a class A misdemeanor. INFRACTIONS Pike Circuit Court Lacie Nacole Arthur charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Daniel C. Blessinger seat belt violation. Christopher D. Hatt charged with seat belt viola- tion. Baljinder S. Sidhu charged with operating a commercial vehicle with out a CDL. Darla J. Williams charged with speeding in a 55 mph zone. Heather J. Phillips charged with operating a motor vehi- cle with a false plate (plate be- longs to another vehicle). Michael J. Rigg charged with vehicle contents escap- ing. Vashistha Janakkumar Bhatt charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Kurtis M. Edmonson charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Steven Laark McCulland II charged with no valid license. Melody L. Casteel charged with driving while suspended. Madison Rain Orchard charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Katharin Lehman Barren- tine charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Sohil Pramtesh Sheth charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Dominique T. Stubbs charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Desire M. Hyde charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Berta L. Martinez charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Madison E. Morrison charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Tori L. Lowe charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Roderick Kentrell Lloyd no valid drivers license. Lacy L. Jeffers charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Jay P. Grams charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Joseph C. Gamble charged with operating a off-road vehi- cle on a public highway. Junior Cedey charged with speeding. Seth Robert Orren charged with speeding. Benjamin Taylor Decker charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. George R. Ruckman charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Luke D. Diekmann charged with speeding. Nicholas J. Sandullo charged with speeding in a 55 mph zone. Seongwon Yun charged with child restraint violation. Joshua H. Pauw charged with seat belt violation. Diana D. Schnakenburg charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Amie L. Boger charged with speeding in a 30 mph zone. Jason R. Miller charged with distract driving. Amber C. Pike charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Sydney R. Foerster charged with speeding. Kenneth Smith charged with speeding in a 55 mph zone. Rock Allen Chandler II charged with speeding in a 55 mph zone. Celeste E. Holmes-Collins charged with speeding in a 70 mph zone. Russell N. Monnett charged with driving while suspended. Jacob M. Bean charged with speeding. Cameron J. Unsworth charged with speeding. Dear Rusty: I'm 63, married, and we file a joint tax return. If I claim Social Se- curity now and keep working and earn $7,000 more per year than the annual limit of $19,560, I know I'd have bene- fits withheld at the rate of $1 for every $2 over the limit ($ 3,500). But if I were to contribute $7,000 to a conventional (not Roth) IR A and take the deduction, would this reduce my earned income and elim- inate the SS benefit withholding? And will such an IR A deduction help avoid taxation of my SS benefits if I am above the $ 32,000 taxation threshold for mar- ried- filing jointly? I'm trying to figure how much I can afford to earn while col- lecting Social Security benefits. Signed: Searching for Ways. Dear Searching: Contributions to an IR A will not reduce the income tax lia- bility on your Social Security benefits. Taxation of Social Security benefits is determined using something known as Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MA- GI), which is your normal AGI on your tax return, plus 50 percent of the SS ben- efits you received during the tax year, plus any other non-taxable income you had (which would include contributions to your IR A). As you know, MAGI over $ 32,000 will cause 50 percent of your SS benefits received during the tax year to become taxable, but MAGI over $44,000 will up that percentage to as much as 85 percent of SS benefits re- ceived during the tax year (taxed at your normal IRS tax rate). For the Social Security earnings limit, which ap- plies to anyone collecting early benefits, your gross income from working is what counts so contrib- uting to an IR A won't re- duce the amount you ex- ceed the limit by- they will use your gross W2 amount, not the Ad- justed Gross Income (AGI) from your tax return. FYI, the 2022 annual earnings limit is $19,560 and if that is exceeded, you'll pay the penalty ($1 for every $2 over). But claiming mid-year you'll also be sub- ject to a 2022 monthly limit of $1,630 and, if that is exceeded, you aren't en- titled to SS benefits for that month (the monthly limit will only apply for the re- maining months of 2022). What will hap- pen is SS will compute the penalty both ways and see which is greater – the one for exceeding the annual limit or the one for exceeding the monthly limit - and they will assess whichever penalty is smaller. As you may know, the earn- ings limit goes up by about 2.5 times during the year you reach your full retirement age (FR A) and goes away en- tirely starting in the month you attain FR A. But there's something to be aware of also: If you have benefits withheld because you exceeded the earnings limit, when you reach your full retirement age you will be given time credit for the months benefits were with- held, meaning that they will increase your FR A benefit amount according to the number of months you didn't get ben- efits before that. So, at least theoretical- ly, you can eventually recover the bene- fits withheld for exceeding the earnings limit by getting a higher benefit payment starting at your full retirement age. But income tax on SS benefits is different– there is no age cap for assessing feder- al income tax on your Social Security benefits. To submit a question, visit website (amacfoundation.org/programs/so- cial-security-advisory) or email ssadvi- sor@amacfoundation.org. Earnings test and taxation of SS benefits April Fool's Day jokes that tragically are not Social Security Matters By Rusty Gloor My So Called Millennial Life By Stephanie Hayes much better invested in cli- mate solutions already guar- anteed to make significant and equitable impacts." The professor seems to be saying that it makes far more sense to eliminate 80 percent of the world's cheap and abun- dant energy sources than to bring power to the world's poorest regions and institute an inexpensive and promising technology that could cut the number of droughts by half or more. It almost seems they don't want these innovative and nonintrusive solutions to work. Free markets and tech- nology may help save the world from doomsday, but they won't overturn a centu- ry of progress in human wel- fare and won't make the green energy lobby rich. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at Freedom Works. He is also author of the new book: "Govzilla: How The Relentless Growth of Government Is De- vouring Our Economy." Your turf has met its match Premium upgrades and added comfort with a more premium seat and Flex Forks ™ for a smoother ride. • Up to 1 Acre • 21.5 HP & 23 HP Kawasaki engine • 42" & 54" Decks • 3-year/300 Hour Residential Warranty • Up to 1 Acre • 18 HP & 21.5 HP Kawasaki engine • 42" & 54" Decks • 3-year/300 Hour Residential Warranty All the performance and reliability Hustler is known for in a simple and durable design. Mon-Fri 7AM - 6PM Saturday 7AM - 5PM Sunday 10AM - 4PM Hwy. 41 N. at Lyles Station Rd Princeton • 812-385-2641 Memmer's Hardware & Outdoor Power LOUIE CAMPBELL Sales Professional lcampbell@sfaulknerauto.com CALL OR TEXT 812-899-6267 @LouieYourCarGuy HWY. 64 W. PRINCETON Looking for a Great Deal On Your Next Vehicle? It is time for the worst holiday of the year. Not Tax Day, nor Columbus Day, nor Talk Like a Pirate Day, nor Nation- al Pickle Day. The pestilence at hand is April Fool's Day. This is not the first time I've rant- ed about the awfulness of April Fool's Day, and by golly, it will not be the last. I might run for office just to push some Marco Rubio-type daylight saving time legislation and become known as the Senate's colorful April Fool's crank. "Ev- eryone has their thing," the others will whisper, shrugging. "Just let her have it. It's like Disney Adults." Go ahead, put plastic wrap on your brother's toilet; enjoy the cleanup. My annual beef is with the corporate pro- liferation of unfunny pranks in a world already drowning in misinformation. The brands, they cherish April Fool's. Cauliflower Peeps, Velveeta skin care, Bud Light pizza seltzer. Last year, Tele- tubbies announced their own crypto- currency, which — I cannot stress this enough — is completely believable in these times. The first fake press release of the year arrived on March 23, a full 10 days ear- ly. These people really want to drag this misery out. What's more, the joke story is embargoed, media-speak for "please don't share yet." This company wanted the fake news held until a date of its choos- ing. The mind reels! Reels, the mind does! Imagine the working hours in- volved in spoof announce- ments, the defeating fol- low-up emails, the metrics reports. No wonder people are resigning from jobs en masse. They must launder trash over and over, the way a raccoon cleans a pile of garbage. I am disconsolate! Real life is absurd enough, as my legislation will clearly state. Let's review a few to- tally true things that might as well be April Fool's jokes: The phrase "by golly." Chris Rock making that crack at the Oscars. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. The ensuing 37 think pieces on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. The discourse about the discourse about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. Changing gears, because you cannot take one more thing about Will Smith and Chris Rock, let's discuss giant squids. Their eyes alone stretch to the size of plates. They, perhaps, are canni- bals. Instead of a tongue, they eat using a long organ dotted with rows of teeth. We do not need April Fool's jokes when the Kraken is real, by golly! While we're here, basically every- thing about the ocean is unbelievable. It stretches more than 35,000 feet deep, or about 1,400 Airstream trailers. It's riddled with deadly black holes, monsters and virus- es, and that's only the 20 percent scientists know about. Happy spring, the ocean wants to kill you. Horned lizards can rock- et blood from their eye- balls. How about that, Burg- er King? That's way scarier than Whopper-flavored toothpaste. Harry Styles has four nipples, which is harmless and more common than you think. I support you, Harry; call me! Um, what else? Oh, there's some- thing known as a "rat king," which is when a bunch of rats accidentally get their tails tangled in a knot. The same thing happens to squirrels. The odds of a rat or squirrel king forming are slim, of course, much like the odds of me still bloviating about April Fool's Day as an octogenarian, registering my annoyance to anyone in earshot at morning senior coffee. No, no, that's a fact. Stephanie Hayes is a columnist at the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. Fol- low her at @ stephhayes on Twitter or @ stephrhayes on Instagram. INCREASE BEAT the New Subscription Rates Start May 1, 2022 476 or 477 zip codes LOCAL SUBSCRIBERS' PRICE $ 35 35 812-354-8500 812-354-8500 / YR One-Year Subscriptions Local ������������������������������$35 State ������������������������������$38 Out-of-State ������������������$55 Online Only �������������������$35 Senior Local rate ��������� $32 Senior State ������������������$35 Senior Out of State ������$52 NEW RATES BEGIN MAY 1