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Around Town – December 14

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Staff Reports
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Orchids to …

• Bob Perdue for fixing my gas stove Sunday, from Linda Mitchell.

• Nancy Banta for her dedication and hard work shown during the “Christmas at Simmons School” program.

• all Hope Elementary students, staff and volunteers who helped make “Christmas at Simmons School” a success, from Barb Johnson.

• Jim Tedder and his crew who worked out details for set-up and tear-down for “Christmas at Simmons School,” from Barb Johnson.

• the inspiring architects and designers who competed in the Exhibit Columbus Miller Prize competition.

• Adam at the Kroger Pharmacy for being so helpful and professional with a prescription issue.

• Bill and Barbara Carr for providing transportation Saturday to a disabled person.

• Columbus Alliance Church for an awesome program and dinner Saturday at Otter Creek Golf Course.

• the good Samaritan at the west side Walmart for paying for the children’s Christmas, from a grateful family.

• carolers from the St. Louis Crossing Independent Methodist Church for a beautiful job.

• Pat at JoAnn Fabrics for the help with my bobbin, from Ginger Bloom.

• Marquitatuck for all the nice things you have done for me, from Rick.

• Jane Seelig and Marquitatuck for taking me to see the Colts play Sunday, from Rick.

• fourth-grade classes at Parkside for being such good art-smart listeners, from Mrs. Gilbert.

• Dr. Hart, nurse Dawn and the rest of the nurses and staff at intensive care unit at Columbus Regional Hospital, from Roger Keller.

• the beautiful Christmas lights on the trees downtown, from C.W.

• Steinmetz Pediatric Dentists for always being amazing to work with.

• carolers from Hope Moravian Church for the beautiful music.

• family that paid for my dinner Monday night at Amazing Joe’s.

Onions to …

• three ladies who came to the open house to scout out their completion and then were rude to the employees.

• the city for classless Christmas decorations downtown.

• whoever is responsible for all the street lights burned out in the parking lot at Taylor Road and 25th Street.

• the administration that has kicked the can down the road for an entire year.

• the store that makes fruit baskets, but does not include a single banana.

Happy Birthday to …

• Sandra Burton and Toshia Burton, from Pastor Lewis Burton and The Who So Ever Will Community Church.

• Susan Kloss, from friends at the Moravian Church.

• Erin Sullivan.

Happy belated Birthday to …

• Carletta White, from Mark, Mom, Barry, Jess, Nakia, Isabel, Dawson and Emmett.

Happy Anniversary to …

• Dick and Carol Gardner.

• Arthur and Rosie Poynter, on No. 62, with much love from Mom and Dad.

Looking Back – December 14

By
Staff Reports
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2006

The “small learning communities” program at Columbus East High School was featured in a “Teaching and America’s Future” segment on PBS.

1991

A fire fueled by vats of grease destroyed Ezzo Meat Co. in North Vernon.

1966

Construction work began on Candlelight Village mobile home park on Rocky Ford Road.

Legislative branch’s role drifts from founders’ vision

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Staff Reports
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By Adam F. Packer

Editor’s note: A Democracy’s Primer is a collaboration between the journalism and legal communities to aid the public’s understanding of how government works with citizen engagement.

“Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” said James Madison in Federalist No. 51, warning a young America that checks and balances are necessary in a republic.

Madison further instructs that of the three branches of republican government — executive, legislative and judicial — the legislative branch must be the most powerful. This instruction sounds odd to those of us who paid attention to this year’s election, but it is important to remember and critical to the founders’ design for a country free of tyranny.

Whether we preferred Hillary Clinton, Donald J. Trump or neither, the 2016 election for most of us focused heavily on the presidential race. This makes sense; the president represents the entire country.

Let’s return to Madison’s warning: certainly anyone who takes the time and energy to mount a major-party run for president must have plenty of “ambition.”

The first question for Madison and for us is why should we resist that ambition?

Concentrating power in one office has its appeal. For example, “gridlock” would be a thing of the past.

But Madison and the rest of the founders had learned a hard lesson in executive supremacy under King George. You will remember many of the abuses of power from history class: quartering of soldiers in private homes, limited legal rights, and, most importantly, taxation without representation.

With Madison’s urging and approval, we have a strong legislature to counteract the “ambition” of the president. No matter how ambitious a president may be, Congress alone has the power to tax, borrow, provide for defense and welfare, regulate commerce with foreign nations and the states, establish immigration and bankruptcy laws, protect intellectual property, create and regulate the armed forces and declare war, among other powers.

It is not enough to just have a legislature to counteract the president’s ambition, Madison said. As the most powerful branch of government, there is plenty of ambition in the legislative branch that itself needs to be checked.

Madison tells us that the legislature must separate its powers, again showing his well-founded fear of concentrating power. He suggests that there should be different methods of electing the two houses and different functions for them.

We have mostly lived up to Madison’s instructions for the legislative branch, with one exception.

Before the 17th Amendment, senators were elected by state legislatures to represent the interests of the states. This different method of electing the Senate was designed not only to represent state interests in Washington, but also to keep the Senate and the House from becoming too similar in their “ambitions.”

Whether justified or not, political pressure spoiled this check, and the 17th Amendment was easily ratified, placing election of senators in the hands of the people.

This resulted in more democracy, but pushed us further from Madison’s ideal, providing much less separation of powers and arguably less of a role for the legislative branch.

No discussion of the legislative branch would be complete without acknowledging poor Congressional approval ratings. Perhaps this is in part because Congress has strayed from the purpose and structure that Madison recommended.

Yes, Congress still makes laws and sets budgets, but it has watched countless actions by presidents of both parties erode its authority. A restoration of Congress’ original purpose and structure would reduce the chances of the executive becoming too powerful and possibly tyrannical, and could even increase approval ratings.

Sources as diverse as prominent pastor Franklin Graham and The Nation magazine called the 2016 election the most important of our time. It’s a statement sure to get attention, but I don’t think the founders would agree with that assessment. I think they would see the current state of the separation of powers and take the position that the most important election of our time is still to come.

The most important election of our time will be the one in which candidates for Congress from both parties pledge to do their part to restore the balance of powers as explained by Madison and as designed in the Constitution.

Until then, the executive will continue to increase its power and get all of the attention, which is exactly what the founders feared following their poor treatment by the King.

Adam F. Packer is an Indianapolis attorney and a volunteer for the Indiana Bar Foundation. Second comments to editorial@therepublic.com.

Humane Society still plays vital role after half century

By
Staff Reports
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Organizations that focus on helping those who don’t have a home or are in ill health serve an important role in a community because of the safety net they provide. Even for animals.

The Bartholomew County Humane Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and continues in its mission to find homes and provide humane treatment for animals.

That is significant, because attitudes that pets are disposable objects still exist.

Before some people answered a call to action and the Bartholomew County Humane Society incorporated June 15, 1966, the city had a pound where residents could deposit any type of animal into a pen, making for terrible living conditions for the unwanted and discarded pets.

Fortunately, the situation has improved because of the Humane Society and its mission, meeting a significant and growing need in the community.

Two women have been especially instrumental in the Humane Society’s role: Cheryl Zuckschwerdt-Ellsbury, a board member for all but four years, and Jane Iwrin, shelter manager for more than four decades. They have helped drive the organization’s great growth.

Consider some of the significant differences over the Humane Society’s time as a community resource.

The society’s first shelter, which opened in 1971, had eight dog kennels, four cat cages and a small office. Its second shelter increased to 2,400 square feet, allowing more animals to be housed. Two years ago, the Humane Society moved into a $1.5 million, 8,000-square-foot facility at 4415 E. County Road 200S. Besides sheltering animals, the new facility has:

  • A surgery room and recovery area
  • A training area
  • A community education room
  • Two family greeting rooms

Those services allow for an interactive role with the community through training and education programs.

Education is important, because some residents still view animals as disposable — particularly cats, shelter staff said. More cats are admitted into the shelter than dogs. Of the 200 animals the shelter cares for daily, 125 of them are cats. Each feline stays at the shelter an average of a year.

While finding animals a new home remains a main goal, the Humane Society has found itself with some new and growing challenges:

  • Providing help to struggling families for food or vaccines for their pets, so they can keep the animals.
  • Geriatric dogs suffering from illnesses, physical ailments or behavioral problems.

While new challenges continually crop up for the Humane Society, what’s reassuring is that time and again the society over the decades has adapted and responded in ways to ensure that unwanted animals receive good care and best efforts are made to find them new homes.

The community has benefited greatly from the Humane Society’s efforts and services. Fewer homeless animals roam the streets and more families have experienced the joy of owning a pet.

Those who have contributed to the Humane Society’s goals, whether as a staff member or volunteer, are to be commended for their efforts with a valuable and worthy organization.

Drug dealer sentenced to 10 years

By
Mark Webber
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A citizen of Mexico living in Columbus who was one of four suspected high-profile drug dealers arrested a year ago has been sentenced in Bartholomew Circuit Court.

Carlos M. Martinez Perez, 31, 2683 Joseph Cox Court, was ordered Monday to serve 10 years in an Indiana Department of Correction penal facility.

But Judge Stephen Heimann also told Martinez Perez through an Spanish-speaking interpreter that the U.S. Department of Immigration will be notified of the sentence, and the federal agency could consider initiating deportation proceedings.

Last December, Martinez Perez became the third of four suspected drug dealers taken into custody following a long investigation into the sale of cocaine and methamphetamine, police said.

His bond was the highest of all four suspects, originally set at $1.5 million, jail records state.

Martinez Perez was accused of selling almost an ounce of cocaine to an informant for $1,000 in the early spring of 2013, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Two separate sales of a half-ounce of methamphetamine were made a month later in exchange for $1,000, police said.

The buyers were instructed to travel to two or more locations in an effort to avoid surveillance, and all drug purchases were made in public places, the affidavits state.

During his initial hearing on Dec. 29, 2015, the suspect — who was known locally as Carlos Martinez — stated his full name in court.

While Heimann agreed to reduce his bond to $900,000, Martinez Perez was still in jail last October when he pleaded guilty to dealing in cocaine as a Class B felony.

Besides the prison sentence, Heimann ordered the suspect Monday to pay $3,100 in restitution to the Indiana State Police.

State troopers worked with both the Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the investigation.

The Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is a combined unit of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, the Columbus Police Department and the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s office.

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Among four suspected high-profile drug dealers arrested as part of a single investigation, Carlos M. Martinez Perez is the second to be sentenced.

On July 28, Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Stephen Heimann ordered Jose Rodrigo Dominguez-Cruz, 31, to serve 10 years in prison for dealing in methamphetamine. That’s the same sentence Heimann handed down to Martinez Perez on Monday.

The cases against the remaining two suspects, both charged with two counts of dealing in methamphetamine, are still pending in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.

Judge Jim Worton has scheduled change-of-plea hearings starting at 9:15 a.m. Feb. 6:

  • Albin E. Asencio, 30, 3841 Longshore Drive
  • Erlin Lucero-Asencio, 24, 6902 Clark Boulevard

If neither defendant pleads guilty, the two men have a joint trial date tentatively scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Feb. 21.

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Winter slides in; vehicles slide off

By
Mark Webber
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A wintery mix of precipitation caused more than 40 accidents, with six of them resulting in injuries, Tuesday in Bartholomew County.

Just before 6 a.m., the first mix of sleet and ice hit the Columbus area, city public works director Bryan Burton said.

At 6:14 a.m., the first crash involving injuries took place southwest of the city, along the curves of South Gladstone Avenue, said Ed Reuter, 911 Emergency Operations Center director.

Initial reports indicated a 10-passenger vehicle flipped over during that crash, Reuter said.

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At 6:41 a.m., an eastbound pickup truck on East 25th Street east of the city slid out of control, smashing into the side of the bridge over Clifty Creek, just east of Petersville. The extent of injuries from both crashes, as well as names of the drivers involved, were not released by police agencies as of Tuesday afternoon.

That’s about the same time county crews began clearing rural roads, Bartholomew County highway engineer Danny Hollander said.

City crews got an earlier start, with three employees treating streets beginning at 5 a.m., while an additional three-man crew was brought in at 6 a.m., Burton said.

The remaining crews began clearing streets at 7 a.m., just as heavier amounts of snow began to fall with the sleet and ice, Burton said.

After snow became part of the mix, 22 fender-benders and slide-offs were reported in all areas of Bartholomew County by 9 a.m., Reuter said.

By that time, Bartholomew County Emergency Management had activated its lowest level of local travel advisory, indicating routine travel may be restricted in some areas because of hazardous situations, director Shannan Hinton said.

As of 12:30 p.m., six accidents resulted in injuries, Bartholomew County 911 director Ed Reuter said.

Emergency workers were also called to a total of 35 property-damage accidents and six slide-offs, Reuter said.

Besides the crashes during the morning commute, other accidents with injuries occurred at:

The junction of Jonathan Moore Pike and Carr Hill Road

The intersection of 25th Street and National Road.

U.S. 31 and Dionne Lane in Taylorsville

Near the intersection of North Gladstone and McKinley avenues.

None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, Reuter said.

Some forecasts had predicted the wintery mix would arrive several hours before it did, Reuter said.

When local residents got into their vehicles to head to work, they may have wrongly assumed they had dodged the bad-weather bullet, the 911 director said.

Most of the accidents were likely caused by drivers who did not realize an icy surface was below the freshly-fallen snow — who likely braked too hard when they began to lose control of their vehicles, Reuter said.

But what happened Tuesday morning is not unusual for the first significant winter event of the season, Reuter said.

“Motorists often don’t allow enough breaking time or stopping distance the first day we have weather like this,” he said.

Since dangerous driving conditions may return later in the week, Reuter urged motorists to slow down and use caution at all times.

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Pop-In to Pre-K events scheduled for area families

By
Kaitlyn Evener
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Elected officials, families and members of the community are invited to area preschools for tours and to learn about their prekindergarten programs this week.

Pop-In to Pre-K is a week-long celebration of the early childhood community in Indiana, featuring prekindergarten programs, professionals and the Paths to Quality system.

The event will take place at the following times and schools:

  • Busy Bees Academy: 9 to 11 a.m. today and Friday at the academy, 1209 Sycamore St., Columbus. Tours will be at 9 and 10 a.m. both days. RSVP: Shane Yates at yatess@bcsc.k12.in.us.
  • Community Center of Hope: 9 to 11 a.m. today and Thursday at 543 Washington St., Hope. RSVP: 812-546-4499.
  • First Presbyterian Preschool: 9 to 11 a.m. today through Friday at 512 Seventh St. Visitors should enter through the doors on the alley side of the building. RSVP: Barb Newton at barb@fpccolumbus.org.
  • Children Inc.: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at 715 McClure Road.

You can find more information online at allin4prek.com.

Yoga for Goats fundraiser set for people in Haiti

By
Kaitlyn Evener
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Uptown Yoga and St. Bartholomew Friends of Haiti are partnering to raise funds for Haiti through yoga.

They are holding a yoga event to raise money to purchase goats for families in Haiti after flooding claimed homes, belongings, crops and livestock in November.

Yoga For Goats will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Uptown Yoga, 422 Fifth St., Columbus. Free-will donations will be accepted. No prior yoga experience is required. Sign up at uptownyogacolumbus.com.

Information: Hunter Meyercord at 919-274-0678

Theater group seeks directors, producers

By
Kaitlyn Evener
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Mill Race Theatre Company, the city’s oldest community theater organization, is seeking directors and producers for the 2017 season of performances.

Individuals who have an interest in leading and executing the artistic vision of shows should apply for the director slot, according to the theater company. Individuals interested in leading productions from the business end including, but not limited to, securing sponsors and handling ticket sales and marketing should apply for the producer position, it said.

Applicants may receive interviews with the Mill Race Theatre Company board of directors.

These leaders will help with next year’s shows, including “Proof,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Deadline to apply is Jan. 10.

Applications and additional information can be found online at millracetheatre.org.

Online child care finder launched in Indiana

By
Kaitlyn Evener
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The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration recently launched a new online tool to aid families in finding child care and early education providers throughout Indiana.

The website, Childcarefinder.in.gov, allows families to search licensed providers, registered ministries and exempt providers. Families will be able to set search parameters to help meet their specific needs. Parameters include location, type of provider, hours, licensing status and whether or not the provider participates in Paths to Quality, the state’s voluntary quality rating and improvement system.

Inspection reports and validated complaints or enforcement actions for each provider are also provided on the site.

The website can be used from smart phones and mobile devices, as well as on a desktop computer.

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