Better Newspaper Contest

Page 40 Best General Commentary/Category 4 First Harry McCawley The Republic (Columbus) This writer makes me feel his love for the community and its people. Gives great insight into the interesting, hometown topics covered. Bet readers enjoy this commentary. Nice job! Second Grace Housholder The News Sun (Kendallville) Writer explores an interesting range of topics that matter to this community. These columns provide a sense of what it's like to live there. Well done! Third Chris Morris The News and Tribune (Jeffersonville) Writer tackles some emotional issues with a beautiful style. Not always easy to do, but this writer does it well. Best Editorial Writer/Category 5 First Leo Morris Fort Wayne News-Sentinel There were many good entries in this category. The News-Sentinel led the pack with a package that spoke to transparency and fair- ness, and closed with a fun piece about that inexplicable desire to be called a Hoosier. Well done. Second David Penticuff Chronicle-Tribune (Marion) Third Julie Crothers Beer The Goshen News Best Business/Economic News Coverage Category 6 First Michele Holtkamp, Annie Goeller & Ryan Trares Daily Journal (Franklin) Small Size, Big Care//Project brings investment of $100 million//Health providers think small Love the whole package in this series - stellar writing with design that makes it easy to comprehend. Second Danielle Grady The News and Tribune (Jeffersonville) Shuttering of stores signals new retail era Fantastic in-depth coverage of a local issue. A lot of time, re- search and effort undoubtedly went into this story. Nice variety of people included. Third Sarah Einselen Pharos-Tribune (Logansport) On notice; From night classes to the chairman's seat; Turning a hobby into an art Fantastic stories with a variety of subjects. Love the woman's perspective on the banker piece - that takes it a step further than a general announcement of her new post. Division 4 An immigrant's tale Harry McCawley The Republic (Columbus) It never occurred to me to ask Gus Potthoff what he thought about the ongoing debate over who to let into this country and who to keep out. That debate heated up this year during the presidential campaign, and it promises to get even hotter once the new administration comes into office. I suspect it will also get a lot uglier. With political emotions appearing to move the debate into a more exclusionary policy, Gus' story might be valuable for policymakers. Gus is one of those we let in. He came to the United States in 1962 after retiring from the Royal Netherlands Army. He eventually settled in Columbus in the home he still occupies on Caldwell Place. He became a citizen in 1986. His story is pretty well known around here — not the one about his coming to the United States but the horrifying tale of a young man who spent nearly four years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He had enlisted in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army as a tank mechanic in 1941. Six weeks after his enlistment he was taken prisoner by the Japanese. He spent the next four years as one of thousands of slave laborers ordered to build what came to be known as the Burma-Thailand Railway. He didn't just lose those four years of freedom, but he had to endure brutal torture at the hands of his captors in the oppressive jungles of Southeast Asia. He also had to witness the deaths of hundreds of his fellow prisoners, either to the beatings or the heat. An estimated 13,000 prisoners died during the construction of the system. In a loosely connected way, Gus' story came to occupy a larger stage several years after he was freed with the release of a popular movie called "The Bridge on the River Kwai." The movie was based on the experiences of the prisoners who built the Burma- Thailand Railway, but it was pure fiction. Gruesome though some of the scenes might have appeared to the audience, the true experiences were far worse. Closer to the reality were the images Gus put on canvas. Late in life he turned his home into an artist studio, painting scores of scenes dredged from his wartime memory. In a way those paintings served as a counterpoint to the fiction of the movie. It also brought attention to Gus and the true story. A television documentary was made of his experiences. He was invited to exhibit some of his paintings at art shows. I don't know the circumstances of how Gus immigrated to the United States in 1962. I seriously doubt that the vetting procedures at the time were anything like those in use today, but it would seem that his wartime experiences would have made entry a lot easier. Leo Morris Fort Wayne News-Sentinel When there is legislation pending before the General Assembly, there is usually a lot of communication between legislators and those the legislation would affect. Hoosiers need to know what is said in those communications. We may have a need for it, but we don't have a right to it. So says the Indiana Supreme Court, which in a 3-1 vote last week declined to rehear a case that sought to force lawmakers to release their email correspondence with lobbying groups and businesses. The ruling denied a request by consumer advocates for a rehearing following an April ruling that lawmakers can ignore public record requests for those emails and other documents. The court's original ruling was a small victory - emphasis on "small" - for transparency in government. The General Assembly has always maintained that it is exempt from the Indiana Access to Public Records Act that it insists other government agencies follow. Not so, the court said - the legislature is also bound by the IAPRA. But there is a great, big catch. There is a "work product" exemption. And who gets to decide what is work product? Why, the General Assembly. If a court decides that, it would violate the principle of separation of powers. So, basically, legislators have carte blanche to decide what citizens get to see and what they do not get to see. If the court applies the same separation-of- powers principle to the executive branch - and why wouldn't it? - then Hoosiers won't have the right to see any correspondence involving anyone in state government. Any little cozy deal anybody wants to talk about, involving all sorts of quid pro quos, will be forever free from scrutiny by the taxpayers who foot the bill. Citizen mistrust will grow, and cynicism will abound. That's no way to run a government. Since the courts will be no help, we must go the legislative route. We must continue the efforts to convince legislators that greater transparency is in the public's interest, and to get plenty of people to pressure legislators to give up on their secrecy. Since Republicans have a supermajority, they are now an unchecked governing force that never has to tell anybody how their decisions are arrived at. Legislators and powerful lobbyists can cut email deals all day long, and we'll never know the details. A bad day for transparency in government Small size, big care For the complete story, visit hspa.com. Michel Holtkamp, Annie Goeller & Ryan Trares Daily Journal (Franklin) Central Indiana is being targeted for the development of at least five standalone emergency rooms where patients could get trauma-level treatment before being moved to a hospital. Two of the five microhospitals are proposed for the southside. One will be built near the new Kroger under construction in the Center Grove area, and the other facility will go up on South Emerson Avenue, between the new Kroger and the Franciscan St. Francis Health southside campus. The proposals come from an asset group based in Texas, but no medical providers have been named. Johnson Memorial Health, Franciscan St. Francis Health and Community Health Network said they are not involved in the projects. Plans filed with Greenwood for the State Road 135 microhospital show a one-story 24-hour emergency room with eight rooms for treating and stabilizing patients who could then be moved to another hospital. The second southside facility, located just north of County Line Road, would include emergency care where patients could be stabilized before being transferred and eight inpatient beds for patients who need 24- hour nursing care for several days, according to plans filed with Indianapolis planning and zoning. Similar plans have been filed for three additional microhospitals in Noblesville and Avon. The concept has the interest of area hospitals, but Embree Asset Group has not yet disclosed who will operate the facilities and provide medical care. Noblesville city planners have asked Embree several times for details about who the company is affiliated with, but officials won't answer that question, Noblesville senior planner Joyceann Yelton said. "Does that mean they don't know or just aren't willing to say," Yelton said. Johnson Memorial Health President and CEO Larry Heydon said a standalone emergency room in the Center Grove area provides another access point to reach patients as a hybrid of an immediate care center and a true emergency room attached to a hospital. "The idea is a sound idea," Heydon said. "Nothing is wrong with the idea. Whether that area is saturated with immediate care centers, time will tell." For the complete story, visit hspa.com.

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