The Rushville Truth

Our own local Public Insurance Plan

The Rushville City Council recently had the opportunity to take part in something they have never before gotten the opportunity to take part in before ... but the questions will be "why now?"
 
To start, I'd like to shed some light on the actual responsibilities of a city council member:
 
The Council acts as the board of directors of the city, deals with policy and legislation matters only, and doesn't have any role in the 'administration' of city affairs. In terms of 'responsibilities,' then, stemming from the 'duties' role, the Council has the responsibility for adopting the Capital Improvement Budget (which describes all capital spending in the city each year), and the General Budget (which is the operating budget for the year).
The Council has an 'advise and consent' responsibility regarding the hiring and firing of department heads, but does not have performance review duties for these heads; the only (people reporting) to the Council are the City Administrator, the City Clerk and the City Attorney, and these are the only 'hire and fire' positions the Council owns.
"In terms of meetings, the Council sets their own schedules, rules, procedures, etc., subject to state law requiring open access and notice, so there is flexibility there. The Council also has 'hire and fire' responsibility for the Commissions, which are created by the Charter, and for all committees it feels it needs; our so-called 'task forces' are such 'committees' and operate under the rules the Council puts together.
All of this is the 'formability' of the job. In the real world, the Council's responsibility as what you'd expect: fiscal prudence, maintaining public access to city government, acting an 'ombudsman' for the people of this city, being prepared, reaching out to people and other communities.

Most of our elected council members have full time jobs on top of their regularly scheduled two meetings a month. Some of these members also serve on extra boards or committees who may require a special meeting or duty, but essentially, the job of a council member is part-time. That's not to say that their job in the public spotlight is "never-ending" with neighbors and constituents e-mailing, phoning or stopping them in a restaurant to talk about sewer increases and why the city won't fix their yard.
 
So, what benefit did the council get to hear about? In a recent council meeting the issue of health insurance coverage for the part-time council memberships became a topic of conversation, something never available to council members past. City employees and county-elected officials get the option of individual health insurance, but the current city council will get to ponder the matter at a future meeting.
 
So, will the city start offering health insurance to all part-time employees? As it stands, one council member is on the current plan and one member is a retired city employee so he should be covered too.  So who does that leave that would need to be covered?  In the future all council members could elect to take the coverage option and be on the plan.
 
What will this do to everyone's insurance rates? 

Will this offer be extended to the board of works and utility board?

Is a recession time benefit warranted?

What was the impetuous for the conversation on the benefits?

If all members of the board took a family option plan, what would the total cost to the city be?

Do part-time employees need this benefit increase?

Do the “deputy” positions rank getting a health insurance?

Milroy accident brings questions to light

On Sunday, Rush county was the unfortunate host to an accident that has become much too common. The accident involved a motor vehicle and an Amish buggy.  With the utmost respect and sympathy for all families involved in the accident, I will not try to report the details of the accident or those involved.  I feel comfortable that this piece of the story will be addressed in the local paper. 

This incident does allow the community to access many topics that have been touched upon in the paper and on this site.  If you listened to the communications between the responders, you are inclined to wonder if all the oft whispered concerns have been addressed to the satisfaction of the leader’s in-charge.

I will not approach this in a necessarily negative light (although I am sure some will claim so).  Here we go with the questions:

1. Is a buggy considered a vehicle?
2. Whatever happened to the buggy lanes?
3. How did Anderson Township’s much-maligned response team do?
4. If the experts think they did well responding to this accident, will they get more money as a reward?
5. What is the weight limit in an Air Evac helicopter?
6. If you are seriously injured and the local Air Evac helicopter is on another run, why do you have to wait for another Air Evac helicopter from another base instead of dispatching the Lifeline helicopter?
7. Is it protocol that the calls through our emergency response system exclusively use Air Evac no longer use Lifeline?

Duplicitous

I think the only thing that is nerve-racking about this site is that it tracks the promises and comments made, and then it watches for the corresponding action items that follow. It does play devil’s advocate on the press releases just to give examples of what might be asked if there was really any investigative journalism in existence. The concept seems pretty simple to me.

Sure, I understand that those in power are not used being questioned, and it annoys them. I am sure when they write a press release the last thing they want is a blog site dissecting their words and intentions. So what do they get? Mad…sorry.

If people stood up and said “no” to the “little white lies” for a couple of years, the problem eradicate itself. Once the community sets its new standards of behavior, the leaders would know what would and would not be tolerated, but that is going to take an exorcism of the present attitude.

Sometimes the angle, or desired results, is complicated and hard to follow. (Hint – most of the time they ultimately revert back to the almighty dollar.) Sometimes there are days, weeks, or months between the contradictions. Sometimes they happen in the same paper. Every once in a while they happen on the same page, but rarely do they happen in the same column. Here are two reader submitted morsels of knowledge and the comments associated to them made by the paper:

1. Do those trains of thoughts seem to be contradictory?
2. Is it okay to take away my freedom of speech?
3. Is it okay to take away a persons freedom of speech if they descent from what I am saying?
4. If this blog went away tomorrow, would the paper go back to the days went it won real awards, would the blade go back on the chopper, would the hospital be full, would the town have the Honda plant?
5. Historically, Rush County leaders have wanted to shirk their responsibility to make thing happen or to not make things happen. Are they really going to blame the present state of the community on this blog site?
6. I mean really… Are they serious?
 

Happy Birthday to You

This weekend was a special weekend for one Rushville legend. Saturday evening, a surprise birthday party and reception was held in honor of Marcia Blair. Marcia, you might know, is a retired Drama teacher from the local high school. Her husband, Les, is a retired from the local system from the English department. The reception was to honor Marcia on her 70th Birthday. The party was attended by friends and family in addition to many former students who where part of the Drama Department, the long-running Briar Patch and Slabtown.

As though the party was not enough, the weekend of activities were topped off by a surprise performance for the birthday girl on Sunday afternoon at the Laughlin Center. Many of the those former performers who had attended the Saturday evening event returned on Sunday to dust off the cobwebs on their thespian interests. They performed various skits in her honor.

The crowd on Sunday was treated with a three-act tribute performance that was both nostalgic and heartfelt. The efforts by those who care for this great community sage were appreciated by those who were able to witness the events. Marcia - thank you for all your efforts and dedication to this community; the tribute was much deserved.

Questions:

1. Was it truly a surprise?
2. Was that really Joe Hogsett?
3. Do you miss such efforts, like the Briar Patch?

No tough ones, again, thanks for the memories! 

Bring back the parks patrol!

I usually hate when people categorize "kids" as being blatantly disrespectful. They all get thrown into one lump sum and branded as "troublemakers" or "punks." That's not what I'm going to do in this story, so don't get me wrong. I'm going to place the responsibility the parents who force the adult population that encounters them to pass judgment.

I have a problem with what I lovingly call "the pit" in South Veteran's Memorial Park. At what I understand to be the encouragement of the present administration the local youths have been allowed to turn the garden into a dirty pipe with assorted internal hills and jumps. This appears to have been an olive branch gesture to appease some youths that were intimidating walkers on the trail. I assume that if they were to leave the walkers alone they got a bike park.  Why the reverse psychology that has allowed those who intimidate walkers on the trail to receive an official place to congregate in a city park and annihilate what I consider to be beautiful grounds puzzles me.

I understand that biking and skateboarding is a hobby, and I understand that the youth of our community are forced to be a little creative about how they spend their free time since there isn't much to do here. However, I find it sad that once given a little leeway, a mile gets taken in the course. For instance, I was taking a walk in the park the other night, and the kids are down in "the pit" doing their usual bike stunts, calling each other "m-er f-ers" in the presence of quite a few young kids, and oh, get this, using a shovel to dig a hole in the middle of the "pit" in order to make a dirt mound. I can’t imagine this what our city fathers had in mind when he allowed "the pit" to be used for this purpose.
 
And it's maddening as a parent when you pay taxes for the city parks, and you don't feel comfortable enough to take your children to the park because of instances like this, or perhaps, maybe like the one a few weeks ago when I was told by a teenager to "f-ck off" after I asked him to watch his mouth and stop throwing rocks in the presence of toddlers. I guess that's just out of line.

If you're a parent whose child congregates in this park, I ask you to teach your children just a bit of respect. Maybe if one or two listen, others will follow suit. In the meantime, I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and buy a swing set so I don't have to deal with the drama. Thus, I am officially throwing the taxes I pay toward the parks away.

Questions:

1. Who is liable if someone gets hurt on the dirt pipes?

2. Are there park safety standards, or can you build your own equipment?

3. What happened to the Parks Patrol?

4. Can we afford another “settle out of court”?

5. What happened to the oversight my tax dollars pay for?

Emergency Training Update

A little over a week ago, I wrote a blog on the concerns that increased railroad activity could affect response times, especially with the RFD’s only station on the south side of the tracks and the ambulance service located north of the tracks. Well, last Sunday I saw another incident that raises my level of concern even higher. As I was traveling north to my new favorite restaurant, I approached the same rail-crossing on Main Street that I discussed last week. A train was proceeding across at a low rate of speed. It became apparent the train was stopping. Sometimes this happens, and the train blocks the crossing for a few minutes as it switches cars at area businesses. It then became apparent that this would not be a stop that lasted a matter of seconds.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, I decided to seek an alternate crossing. I looked to the east and could tell the train stretched east toward Fort Wayne Road. So then I went to the west to test my luck. As I drove along 3rd Street, along with many other cars, I could see all visible crossing were blocked. When I finally made it to Spencer Street, there was unblocked and traffic, albeit heavy, was moving north and south across the tracks.  I was then delayed about 15-20 minutes by the time I got across. What would have happened if a fire run, traffic accident or medical run occurred? Taking into consideration the emergency worker motto of “time being critical,” it could easily have cost lives and loss of property. A friend “in the know” told me that it was about 10 minutes into the stoppage before 911 knew of the blockage and then several more minutes passed before they identified to accessible routes across the tracks.

How many times does t his need to happen? I think it is time for action. First, the City needs to begin discussions with CSX to find a solution to train stoppages. I am sure this could have been a rare incident, but I remember seeing trains stopped along this stretch of tracks before. The thought of it being more than an inconvenience though never crossed my mind until now.

Second, the City needs to work with the Hospital and area businesses to figure out placement of equipment to avoid this problem. One suggestion made by a reader was to locate an ambulance at the fire station and the reserve engine at the hospital. While I am not sure of the logistics, it is thinking outside the box, and we need more of that. I would hate for a tragedy to be the reason the “powers that be” decide to fix this situation.

Now for some questions:

1. Will the leaders of our community take action and work to stop this problem before a tragedy hits?

2. How long has this been a problem and why has no one thought to do something about it?

3. Did the city have a second station north of the tracks in the past?

4. Is 10 minutes a long enough delay for our leaders to address the problem?

5. And in an encore request, why did RFD and RTVFD split, and could this be the reason now to bring them back together?

6. Does it seem odd that the EMS issue in Milroy was quickly identified and addressed, and this situation doesn’t seem to warrant conversation?

Even the best of us can make mistakes, but…

Recently, the local paper published an article where they announced that a Carthage man had died from injuries received in a traffic accident. The only problem is – they received bad information. Hours later, they found they were incorrect, and the gentleman was, in fact, alive in an Indianapolis hospital.

An information source is only as good as its sources, and it is imperative, especially when dealing with issues such as these, that that information is correct. I can think of no worse error an information source can make than to falsely report a death. I am sure this caused great anguish and questions for the family and friends of the gentleman involved. I hope for the family of those involved in situations like this that better controls on reporting are put into place.

A retraction is a first step, but an apology might be more fitting. Mistakes happen, but mistakes like this should be avoided at all costs. At any rate, let’s move past this – after all we all make mistakes.

…and the questions are:

1. What is the current condition of the victim?

2. What is the long term prognosis?

3. Who reported the story?

4. What controls could help to avoid this type situation in the future?

An increase in "training" may hurt our emergency responders

Recently, CSX Transportation sent out a press release discussing that its business is up considerably. Among the reasons cited is that increased efficiency in operations make them more competitive with over the road trucks, and the high cost of fuel is making the more efficient rail traffic more attractive to shippers. While this is great for the economy, you may be asking what this has to do with our emergency responders. Rushville is divided in half by CSX Tracks at 4th Street. When a train rolls through, it cuts the City in half from a couple of minutes to 10 minutes or more, depending on the speed of the train and if it is switching rail cars. This can cause long back ups on our north-south streets causing inconveniences for the traveling public, but it can be more than that in an emergency.

Today as I was driving to church, I heard the familiar sound of a CSX train beginning its run through Rushville  (one of many that roll through here everyday). As I was preparing to stop at the Main Street crossing, I heard another familiar sound; the beginning wail of a siren from one of our fire trucks. As I sat waiting for the train, the siren grew louder. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the fire engine, lights flashing, passing stopped cars on Main St. and pulled up to the crossing to have to sit and wait for the train to pass. It probably waited no more than a minute or so, and when the train cleared the crossing, it went roaring up Main. As I parked my car and prepared to head for church, I noticed the engine heading back south, obviously having been disregarded. But it got me wondering what would have happened had this run been for a serious accident or fire run?

Every minute counts in emergency response times because those more knowledgeable then I say a fire will double in size every two minutes. A flashover resulting in 0% survivability can occur in less than 8 minutes. Brain damage will begin in 4 to 6 minutes with brain death occurring at 8 minutes. With our only fire station located south of the CSX Tracks and with an increase in the train traffic, could this be a good time to investigate all our options before a potential tragedy?

This raises some questions:

1. Should Rushville begin planning for a fire station on the north side of the tracks?

2. Could a way of making this happen include a merger with Rushville Township Volunteer Fire?

3. Are we playing with fire by ignoring the real possibility that a fire truck delayed by a train could cost lives and property?

4. In our current financial situation is that a risk we will have to live, or die with?

5. As we encourage the building of more commercial, residential and industrial properties north of the tracks, are we increasing the chances of such a tragedy?

6. In a time of decreasing revenues and increasing deficits, is the time right for rethinking how the city provides services to taxpayers?

7. Have I insulted any of the volunteers in this post?

8. Is this a city-vision question?

9. Does it hurt to think about things?

What can Brown do for you? Reignite an old rivalry.

Forty months ago, Rush County stars aligned to make it time for then varsity basketball coach Kerry Brown to resign. Along with coach Brown, went his fiercely loyal coaching staff. Most notable were names like Doug Laker and Dave Tucker.

Coach Brown took a basketball program that was in decline, one that had never regained the luster it once experienced in its glory days of the late 70’s, and slowly, methodically rebuilt it. The Coach Brown teams were best known for their defensive prowess. Often the wins lacked offense and were described as “ugly wins.” One supporter, a former player and assistant coach, described Coach Brown’s impact as having “taught me the importance of teamwork and competitiveness. The high expectations they had for every player made me have high expectations of myself.”

Coach Brown won sectionals for Rushville in 2003, 2004 and 2005. During the 2005-2006 seasons, the parents of some players on the team began to critique his coaching methods. As a result, the team chemistry suffered. Through it all, Coach Brown continued to play the very players who made such damning accusations of abuse against him and his staff. At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Coach Brown turned in his resignation.

From there, Coach Brown moved on to the position of varsity coach and athletic director of Edinburgh High School. Later, he moved on to be the varsity basketball coach at South Dearborn. After two years at South Dearborn and with a career record of 82-98 as a varsity coach, Kerry was tapped to take over the head coaching position of the Connersville Spartans. Connersville has, in its past, won two state championships and has taken great pride in its rich winning basketball tradition, but their program appeared to lack its former polish. The basketball program in Connersville seemed to parallel the Fayette County economy which has been in a steady decline. The decline in enrollment has gone so far as to result in Connersville slipping from a 4A school to a 3A school.

Coach Brown will be replacing Rodney Klein after coaching in the Connersville system for 10 years. The Brown hire has lead to enthusiastic support and venomous insults on the high basketball blogs.

Coach Brown has been described by his fans as: “won with teams with no talent”; “unbelievable at dealing with his players and understanding how to treat them”; “tremendous coaching ability”; “teaches basic fundamentals and team defense” and “a coach that gets the most out of his talent.” These are all pretty good compliments.

Some would say it is only fitting that Coach Brown’s career bring him to the point where he will coach against Rushville, an arch-rival.  Will his arrival help to rekindle the luster of the rivalry?

So when Rushville plays Connersville this year in basketball, you will see the familiar hairless coach in a red vest on the bench. The only problem is…it won’t be on Rushville’s bench.

Good luck, Coach Brown!

Question time:

1. So who will Lion fans root for?

2. Can a prodigal coach ever come home?

3. After the wave of parents and due to the departure of their children, will we regret the pressure we exerted for Coach Brown to leave?

4. Is it true that in high school coaching it is not a matter of if – it is a matter of when?

 

Dress…dress…dress, right, dress

Has anyone paid attention to the uniforms our local police department is now sporting? Do you remember the brew-ha-ha over the uniforms the officers wore under the past administration? The dark pants and dark shirts without the shiny buttons?  The same uniforms that where described as "militant" and intimidating-looking by the then former chiefs. Aren't you glad we got rid of those for...dark pants with dark shirts and ... well -- I guess we didn't go back to the 1970's uniforms that were so much more of a deterrent to crime?

It seems that the new standard uniform is the same one the former chiefs decried prior to the election. Appears that maybe - just maybe - they thought they knew more than they really did.  More and more police departments are switching to these type uniforms. This is because they are more practical than the old ones. Looking around, it appears like things aren't much different than they where under the Bridges administration. Oh! Except for the fact that I used to know a couple of the officers.

1. Do you fear the site of dark clothing?

2. Is black a color that can be worn in all seasons?

3. What is with the baseball caps? Please tell me these aren't standard uniform dress.

4. Does each city department get a clothing allowance?

5. Does this portray a “military look” to our police department?

6. With the aging profile, maybe baggy is better?

 

"That's Preposterous"

What I read was like a scene from Seinfeld where the famed attorney, Jackie Chiles, espoused his overused grandiose phrase “that’s preposterous”. The phrase was resurrected last week in a response to a lawsuit involving the local hospital.

Brad Smith, CEO of Rush Memorial Hospital responded to the lawsuit filed by the children of Flight Nurse Sandra Peterson in the Air Evac crash. He stated that the lawsuit is “preposterous”, and if what he says is true, then I tend to believe he is right. He stated that, “As I have stated in previous articles, RMH does not have any ownership, nor does it partner with Air Evac in any way. The hospital simply rents land to the company. RMH is not responsible for maintaining the aircraft, the hanger or the base itself. RMH does not influence or make any decision in the over-all operation of Air Evac. RMH does not dispatch the aircraft, as all Air Evac aircraft are centrally dispatched out of Missouri. RMH does not decide if the aircraft is to go on public relation, education or marketing runs. This is all decided by the company itself. I do not know how to be more clear about Rush Memorial Hospital's involvement with Air Evac.”

The only way he could have been more clear is to have been upfront from the start, but that is water under the bridge. We have heard many stories from the Hospital and the County as to the depth of their involvement in the Air Evac venture. Various quotes have included, “no financial involvement,” “some involvement” and “minimal investment.” So there are questions that will soon be clarified in the dispositions.

I have always questioned those statements only because, like a snowflake, no two were ever alike. Now, we are hearing that they do not partner with Air Evac and that they do not decide if the chopper goes on P.R. runs or charity events. If true, all is good. It means that the lawyer is just trying to find deep pockets to go after. I hope the Hospital/County attorney is successful in getting RMH removed from the lawsuit. If not, we the taxpayers could see a lot of our money go out the door. Even if the hospital were to win the case, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees.

I will express that the hospital needs to be careful what they say. His quote above that says, “RMH does not have any ownership, nor does it partner with Air Evac in any way” does seems to be contradicted by two “For the Republican” press releases published in the local paper. On Jan 24, 2008 he was quoted as saying, “Partnering with Air Evac simply allows this service to be based closer to home versus out of Indianapolis. And we are very excited about this." Again on Feb. 15, 2008, the article said, “The air ambulance company will be an active partner with Rush Memorial Hospital."

None of this explains why Air Evac was not included in the lawsuit. Of all the named parties, they would seem to have the most involvement in the case. If there is a party that is responsible for the accident through negligence, it would appear they need to be held proportionally responsible. On the surface, rotors do not routinely fall off helicopters in flight.

Now for some questions:

1. Will other parties be added to the lawsuit?

2. Could that include the

County

Commissioners

since they control the hospital board?

3. Should it include Air Evac?

4. Is there any connection between the attorney for the plaintiff and Air Evac both being based out of

St. Louis

?

5. Will this case come down to the definition in “partnering”?

6. If the hospital is found to be telling the truth, what then?

7. If the hospital is found to be not telling the truth, what then?

Squad 51

Let me say that while I still think a reduction of the fire department is a viable option to save taxpayer dollars, I have considered options that may provide an alternative to this. Here is one I want to put out there. I recently read that the city of Anderson, Indiana purchased a new pumper-truck that holds 750 gallons for $280,000. What I found interesting was the means in which it was paid for. The city has ambulance user fees that go to a fund that is used to purchase new vehicles. This would be their second vehicle purchase that has used these funds.

I will give you that Rushville does not have the population base of an Anderson, but the vehicle rotation needs aren't the same either. Meaning the number of runs would be proportionate to population. What prevents Rushville from running a city ambulance service out of the fire department?  While the initial outlay of funds for the vehicle itself would be there, long term it would it generate enough funds to pay for itself? Ambulance runs are covered by most insurance policies as well as Medicaid and Medicare.  We have EMT personnel employed at fire department and, if you take the word of fire fighters I have spoken with, response time for the RFD is usually better than the ambulance service at RMH even though they drive a fire truck.  Looks to me like this could be a winning proposition for the city. I am sure it would not be popular with RMH but the city needs to consider its needs.

1. Would having a city run ambulance service with user fees be a way of keeping a viable way of keeping and justifying a full time fire department?

2. Could you appease RMH by letting them charge to cover the county outside Rushville Township?

3. Who/why would anyone be opposed to additional sources of income that isn't based on taxes?

4. Would this free capital for the hospital to put a full time ambulance in the southern part of the county? Seems that is what the plan is anyway.

5. Without a split in overage how do we implement the request of more county coverage by respected emergency persons like Verlin Custer?

6. How can we compare the economics of the options?

7. Do the commissioners or county council (or City Councilman Mike Buckley) have the costs associated with the RMH run service?

8. How that a new city service compare to the existing service?

9. What are the projected costs related to expanding services into the county?

10. What about the city, which has the most full-time, paid first responders, taking over the ambulance service, and getting the subsidy from the county? 

An Opportunity is Sometimes Well-Hidden

I read where the Library Board has put their expansion plans on hold. I applaud the Board for realizing that now is not the time for this kind of project. In time, this project will be built because Rushville needs it and because it will be a wonderful thing for this town. But with the uncertain effects of the Circuit Breaker and the recession continuing, this is probably more than Rushville can handle. I encourage the Board to keep the project in the forefront.

With that said, I feel the Board should consider a fourth choice to their list of three. They need to keep the design committee together and develop a plan to expand the library. That way, we will be ready for the expansion when the economy gets better and everyone has a better understanding of the Circuit Breaker. It may even be that this project can be broken into phases that can be built a little at a time. While everyone would love to build it all at once, maybe we should build a reading room, or storage, or more shelf space first and then the rest will as the community can afford it. I also encourage the Board to take advantage of any grants it may have to “spruce up” the Library. The Board should also consider using parts or all of the Carter Lanning Building for storage or programming. If they choose not to, they might entertain the idea of demolishing it to make room for more parking and to rid the town of a developing eyesore.

If the county is lucky, the state will pass the legislation mandating a county wide library system. I am afraid it may be years before that happens, if it ever happens. If it did ever happen, the county would benefit from having access to the library for all of its residents, and the City would benefit from the added revenue for such an extension.

Now for some questions:

1. How much money have we spent on design fees?

2. Do the citizens of Rushville pay more in property taxes per family than County residents do to buy a membership?

3. Why do some people continue to try to knock down brick walls instead of looking for other ways around them?

The Bird Came Home to Roost

Before I start this topic, I think this is a serious and delicate issue, and we should be very mindful of the family’s loss as the topic is discussed. I will personally avoid the name calling, and I will encourage my faithful readers to do the same. Even if you are an avid supporter of RMH, I will not tolerate the family of the deceased being called “money grubbing” as I saw on other online comment-able stories. 

Should anyone be surprised that everyone and their brother got sued in a case like this? The accident caused the death of three people who helped provide for their families. As a result of this accident, that opportunity has been taken away. Please be careful how we portray these individuals, because they are the same ones we elevated to hero status during their memorial services. I don’t see what would have changed that.

A recent article in the local paper and The Indianapolis Star seems to raise many more questions than it answered. The article is about a recently filed lawsuit by the family of Sandra Peterson, the Flight Nurse who was tragically killed in the crash of the Rushville based Air Evac Chopper. Her family is suing Bell, the company that made the helicopter and its rotor, which failed during the flight and Rolls Royce which made the engine on the chopper. That is typical in a case such as this. They are also suing Decatur County REMC which allegedly owns the power lines the rotor may or may not have hit causing the failure. Again, not that unusual.

Finally they are suing Rush Memorial Hospital for being the home base that dispatched the helicopter on what the family’s attorney was quoted as calling “a frivolous, absolutely ridiculous mission to demonstrate the helicopter to the Burney Fire Department.” Again, that part is not unusual. What really raised my interest in this is the second reason they are suing RMH. As the article states, “responsible for not properly maintaining the helicopter.” This accusation is what raises the most questions. Why would RMH be sued for helicopter maintenance? Now it is possible the plaintiff is casting a wide net and trying to snare anyone with deep pockets. But that raises the other big question: Why was Air Evac not named in the suit? The company that owned the aircraft and employed the crew seems to have been left off? It would seem to me the allegations vs. RMH should be the same against Air Evac. It was Air Evac’s company policy that allowed such flights. It was Air Evac that supposedly is responsible for maintenance of the chopper. So why have they so far received a pass?

I chronicled here, long before the Air Evac crash, the concerns of many in the community that the County owned and funded hospital was taking on serious liability by allowing the air ambulance service to operate off of their property. I also questioned what was the arrangement both physical and financial between Air Evac and RMH. To this point, neither question has been adequately answered. Now our hospital is being sued. Even if the lawsuit against them is dismissed, or they are found not liable in court, how much money, much of it county taxpayer money will be spent defending them? And if they are found liable, how many millions could we be liable for? There are also two other victims of this crash, what would the cost be to the Hospital/County/taxpayers if they sue?

I will readily admit that I think this topic has a lot of skeletons in the closet. I think that everyone involved has danced around the old adage of “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” but that should end when people have to take the stand. What has been told to the Rush County public doesn’t match the direction the attorneys are pursuing. Following are the people who will become the focus of this trial (all can be found on the hospitals website (except John Byrne for some reason) :

The hospital’s CEO - Mr. Smith
The hospital’s Board of Directors:
Sandy Gwinnup
Linda Levi
Tony Laird
John Byrne
Commissioner Ken Masters
Commissioner Tom Barnes
Commissioner Marvin Cole

The ultimate question that we will all wait to see answered is: “Who made the decisions?” Those decisions are varied.

Did the board go to the Director for pursuit of the Air Evac contract?

Did the director go to the board for pursuit of the Air Evac contract?

What really is the Air Evac contract?

Why is Greensburg’s paper in charge writing the story for the local paper when the local hospital is involved in the lawsuit?

The attorneys will want to know exactly what was known or wasn’t known.

In future posts, we might want to review the questions that have been asked and are yet to be answered. Simply put, this lawsuit raises many questions, but the most important ones to the taxpayers of Rush County are how deeply involved are we in the Air Evac project, and how liable are we in the accident that happened. After reviewing all the articles that were written on this topic by the media, will we try to come clean before this all becomes public record? Where does this leave those employees and citizens who ardently backed RMH and its leadership through claims of minimal investment?

The Connersville Dog and Pony Show

I was reading the Indy paper when I saw an article about how the community of Connersville recently came together to put out the red carpet for the head of Carbon Motors. Hundreds of citizens packed the former Visteon Plant to welcome the executive and to view the new E7 purpose built police car. For those not familiar, Connersville was one of five, and now is now one of the two finalist communities remaining from the country wide search seeking to lure the $2 billion plant and its 1,300 direct and thousands more in spin off jobs. The town launched a massive clean up campaign of planting flowers, sprucing up buildings and making the whole town presentable. The welcome included signs throughout town welcoming Carbon Motors, and they even included the High School Band. This welcome has received all kinds of publicity throughout the state and country when it was picked up by the national wire services.

This got me wondering if Rushville could do this. Could the residents of our fair town band together to clean up the city and put on a large-scale welcome? This kind of welcome has been successful in part for other towns including Greensburg, when they turned out by the thousands to welcome visitors from Honda, including hundreds in red t-shirts who spelled out the company name on the courthouse lawn. While these kinds of displays may seem silly, they do have an affect on companies looking to locate to a community. William Santana Li, CEO of Carbon Motors was quoted as saying, "It far exceeded our expectations. That will weigh heavily on us as we make our decision." That is more than just lip service; these companies want clean communities that epitomize the small town feel. 

Here is to hoping that Rushville gets its chance to impress potential corporate visitors and that we can come together to pull it off.

Now for some questions:

1. Will Rushville be able to lure Carbon Motors suppliers here…something we have so far have been unable to do with Honda suppliers?

2. Could the City and County leaders truly work together for the betterment of our community?

3. Would the citizens come out to support our community when needed?

4. When will we see the Mayor’s economic plan we were promised over a year ago?

5. Is Rushville desperate enough to change?

Good news or bad news?

The next week may turn out to be very important for Rushville. By next week, the dust should settle and, we should know what impact the closing of thousands of dealerships by GM and Chrysler will have on small communities. The local paper did an article focusing on the local Chrysler dealership and how they were still here and still doing business. The only problem with that is the letters went out via courier on Thursday the same day the article ran. The gamble did pay off and when the list came out (per the IBJ and Channel 6), Rushville Chrysler is not on the closing list. In fact none in our region were. Indy is losing 3. 

The company plans to cut 25 percent of its dealer force overall. The dealers likely will have a right to appeal to get off the list. Here are the Indiana dealerships Chrysler wants to trim:

• Bob Luegers Motors, Jasper Indiana
• Bob Rohrman Jeep Eagle, Lafayette
• Byrne Motors, Princeton 
• Coyle Dodge, New Albany 
• D. Patrick, Evansville 
• Donato and Sons Motors, Logansport 
• Evansville Chrysler Inc, Evansville 
• Gene Beltz Shadeland Dodge, Indianapolis 
• Gurley-Leep Dodge, Mishawaka 
• Heart City Automotive, Elkhart 
• Hendrickson Enterprise, Boonville 
• Isakson Motor Sales, Hobart 
• Memering Motorplex, Vincennes 
• Meyer Auto Sales, Monroeville 
• Palmer Dodge, Indianapolis 
• Palmer Dodge West, Indianapolis 
• Sorg South, Warsaw 
• Southlake Dodge, Merrillville 
• Thomas Dodge, Highland 
• Tomkinson Dodge, Fort Wayne 
• Trier Ford Lincoln Mercury, Columbia City

Back to the story, GM announced that they will be notifying dealerships next week as to which ones will remain open. Rushville is fortunate that we have two active and, appear to be, thriving dealerships. We hope it remains that way. Not only do Rushville Chrysler and Hubler Auto Center provide jobs and a solid tax base, but they are great corporate citizens who provide solidity to our community.

Rushville has survived what Chrysler announced as a closing of more than 800 of their 2,400 US dealerships, but the bigger cuts come from GM which is planning to cut 2,600 of its 6,246 dealerships or more than 40%. Hubler is already losing one of its product lines with GM’s recent announcement that it is shuttering its Pontiac brand after reports from Detroit state that the Midwest, and particularly rural areas, are at most risk of losing their dealerships. In the early 20th century automakers encouraged the development of dealerships throughout the rural Midwest. There was a time where every town of any size had at least one new car dealer and many, like Rushville, had multiple ones. Now many small and medium sized towns are littered with empty lots where thriving dealerships once stood.

I hope that GM will look at more than town size when they choose to close dealerships. I hope they look at what a dealership means to a community…how their stability and civic mindedness mean a lot. But I am sure the bottom line will prevail, and many communities will lose some of the glue that holds them together. But here is hoping that Rushville is spared the other of our new car dealerships.

Now for some questions:

1. What impact would the closing of GM have on Rushville?

2. Will the Hubler name help the local GM dealership survive?

3. Shouldn’t we, the taxpayer, get more choice in the matter, since we are now part owners?

4. Which, if any, of the Big Three will survive the latest financial turmoil?

5. Do you remember when we used to have a Ford dealership in Circleville?

6. Ok, old timers – do you remember any other dealerships from the past?

7. Can empty car lots be seen as a great opportunities and buildings to fill?

Dude, look at the weeds

Another sure sign of spring has hit Rushville.  We have a weed problem.  No, not the kind you would find in Cheech and Chong Movies, but those that rear their ugly leaves out of the ground to great the returning Robins. And while homeowners work hard to eradicate those from their yards, there are many properties that do not have anyone to cut the high grass and weeds. This year seems worse than past years. I am sure the problem is compounded by the increase in foreclosures and abandonment’s brought about by the downturn in the economy. 

Every election in every small town in the Midwest, the look of the town and the control of the weeds is a campaign issue.  Five months into every term, for the duration of four years, the winning candidate usually chases his, or her, tail to get a better handle on the issue then their predecessor.  In this case during this administration, Rushville is firmly part of the crowd.  

In years past, the City usually is slow, early on, to cut the high weeds but after a reminder article they usually get on it.  I hope this is the case this year.   Weeds and high grass are not only an eyesore, but they can be breeding grounds for rodents and give an adverse image to the citizens and visitors.  For those who treat their yards, the over grown yards are a source of the undesirable weeds for which they treat their yard. 

One concern is that the City normally bills the cost to the property owners.  In this case with foreclosures, it may be sometime, if ever, that the City will see repayment for its services.  In a time where local governments are facing looming deficits, this is just another cost we will have to bear.

Now for a few questions:

1. Why does the City wait every year to be reminded to cut the weeds?

2. What is the percentage does the City get in reimbursement for weed cutting?

3. Should neighbors take it upon themselves to mow neighboring properties to keep up their property values?

4. What image do the high weeds give to passer-bys?

5. Would the look of the town, regarding weeds, have a bearing to people look to move or locate companies here?

6. Hey wouldn’t that be a good topic for Mr. Ward or Mr. ECDC’s Neighborhood?

A Balance of Education and Health

This article will be one that is not just confined to the City of Rushville but is more of a national problem I see. It is a serious situation that I think should be attacked with more vigor and urgency than it is.

I want to discuss childhood obesity and weight issues. I told you it would be a departure. It is not hard to see that kids are more overweight than any other time in history.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children (over 9 million) 6-19 years old are overweight or obese -- a number that has tripled since 1980. In addition to the 16 percent of children and teens ages 6 to 19 who were overweight in 1999-2002, another 15 percent were considered at risk of becoming overweight. Overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80 percent if one or more parent is overweight or obese.

Nearly one-third of U.S. Children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food every day, resulting in approximately six extra pounds per year, per child. Fast food consumption has increased fivefold among children since 1970.

With all that in mind, I began to consider a remedy for this situation. What can we as a society do to change this course and provide our children with better prospects than currently exists when it comes to managing their weight? Where can we make an impact?

At the risk of sounding like a local doctor we all know, the way I see it our kids are eating to much junk, not exercising enough and not motivated enough to change. Some of these things are ingrained and will not be able to be changed. The one area I wanted to put forth is the lack of exercising situation. I realize education is very important and teachers are under pressure to get performance results that show improvement on tests scores, which has led to more classroom study, but have we lost some balance. Growing up, we had three recess periods per day and gym class. Now recess periods have been cut back, kids are rushed through lunch (promoting bad eating habits) and gym class is once a week.

I put forth that kids should have some sort of daily-organized physical fitness class from kindergarten through their senior year in high school. I would like to see the Rush County School Corporation, in conjunction with the health care community, take the lead on this issue.  It seems as though each has their own program, but I would challenge them to develop unified countywide program, where the success or failure it not measure by whether it sounded good but more on whether it was successfully implemented.  Give me your thoughts on this issue. Not the traditional article you get from The Rushville Truth, but one I think needs some discussion. We talk about kids being our future.  If they are such an important component in our future their health should paramount. 
The link below has some more information on this topic:
http://www.childhoodobesityfoundation.ca/statistics

1. Would you be in favor of more exercise in school if it meant a little less math, English or reading?

2. Is there adequate time for physical fitness in our school system?

3. Are we to accepting of this situation as adults?

4. Would this be an area were the health care industry and the school would be applauded for devoting more time to?

5. Shouldn’t we lead by example?

 

The Sexting Phenomenon

A recent letter to the editor got me thinking about this topic, and it was a topic that no local leaders could whine and cry they were being picked on.  So here we go—

You may be down with Facebooking. Some of you might Tweet on Twitter. Maybe some are still a little old school and stick with MySpace ... but do you know what sexting is? If you don't, you may want to get wise quickly.

"Sexting" is the practice of sending nude pics of oneself via text message, and it's the latest trend to spread like wildfire through high schools around the country. It's the high tech way to flirt these days.

But law enforcement officials nationwide want it to stop, not just parents. Their solution to the problem? Adding "sex offender" to a juvenile's confidential record. Some examples:   

Greensburg, PA: three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves, and three male classmates who received them, are charged with child pornography.

Texas: An eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center after his football coach found a nude picture on his cell phone that a fellow student sent him.

Fort Wayne, IN: Right here in the Hoosier state, a teen boy is facing obscenity charges for sending a photo of his genitals to several classmates.

Newark, OH: a 15 year-old girl also faced child porn charges for sending her own racy cell phone photos to classmates. She got a curfew instead, no cell phone and no unsupervised Internet usage for the next several months. If she sticks to this agreement, the charges will be dropped.

Add to that list Rushville, IN. A recent letter to the editor spotlighted that our little community is certainly not immune to the temptations of technology. Stephanie Judd, a mother of 14-year-old and 16-year-old boys goes through her son's cell phones religiously to see who and what they're texting. She was floored to discover that her 16 year old and the girls who text him were sending each other naked pics and talking dirty. A 16-year-old girl went so far as to send Judd's son an extremely graphic video.    
No parent ever wants to face that their teens are talking about sex, having sex, etc. But the sad reality of it is that children do grow up, and they do the very same things that happened generation before generation in high school. However, this is the first generation to be armed and dangerous with camera phones and texting capabilities. Good ol' technology is bypassing that whole note passing thing of the past, and making it easier (and quicker) to do and say things you may not otherwise say in person.

But is it porn? That's where the argument gets tricky. In these situations, the texts/photos are usually explicit and they almost always involve minors, which fits the parameters of child pornography. But most teens that have taken and sent said photos to, say a boyfriend or girlfriend, and probably didn't ever think that anyone other than that person would ever see that picture. But, a week later, you break up and BAM! the entire student body gets to see things that were never meant to be seen by more than a few people in your lifetime. In that case, no consent was given for pictures to be distributed. And hey! What about freedom of speech? Yes, they're pulling that card too.

So what's the solution in all of this? Parents want to give their kids trust, but you've also got to trust what they're doing. Check your kids' cell phones, but let them know what you're doing. Don't invade their privacy by being sneaky about it ... you're probably paying that bill anyway, right? Use the opportunity as a chance to a) see what they're up to, but most importantly b) educate them about the harm that sexting can do, and the fact that once they're out there, they're probably going to get circulated.

Here's a scarier thought: the world of digital media is an extremely user-friendly phenomenon. Things get accidentally forwarded, copied and distributed. Your child might have thought they were copying a pic of "the gang" to Facebook, but instead, something that was never supposed to be seen by anyone other than you is up there for God and everyone to see. These images can find their way onto other people's phones (people you don't even know!), web pages and redistributed over and over again. Which of course leads to the legal consequences ... creating, transmitting and even having a semi-nude or sexually explicit image of a minor can be considered child pornography, which can be prosecuted as a state or federal felony. A little innocent virtual flirt could lead to your child having to register as a sex offender. Believe it ... it can, will and has already happened.

You might not get a straight answer from your kids if you talk about sexting, but you'll open up a dialog that can help them understand how to minimize legal, social and reputation risks.
 
QUESTIONS:

1. Does no texting = no sexting?

2. Could sexting have a life long impact?

3. Why?

Filling the Gap

I recently found out the old Doug’s flower building is in such a state of disrepair that it will need to be demolished. I find this to be such a shame and was considering what should be done with the hole this building will be leaving. It also brought to mind -- what does this mean for the surrounding buildings? If one looks at the building to the north of Doug’s flowers, it is clear this building isn’t in much better shape. Maybe someone with some insight on this could let me know if the wall between Doug’s flowers and the Edward Jones building is interlocked. I hate to see one building torn down, but understand the financial ramifications but if the wall is an interlocking wall that will require demolition of more than one maybe another course of action should be taken with Doug’s. What I am saying is maybe paying double to fix Doug’s wouldn’t be as bad an investment if it meant saving two buildings. With all that, let’s assume that Doug’s is the only building to be demolished. I would like your input on what the citizens of Rushville would like to see take its place. Things like a parking lot, another park or another building. Send me your thoughts!

Questions:
1. Should more be done to restore and preserve the buildings in the downtown area?

2. Is semi truck traffic thru town partly to blame for the demise of these historic buildings?

3. Do we have an inspector who is qualified to look at these buildings in the county or is he with IDEM now?

4. Even though it was considered wasteful in the last election, aren’t you glad that money was put aside for the Unsafe Housing Board about now?

5. Has the now non-existent Historic review Board weighed in on the building demolition?

6. Do you think Zoner Bill has figured out how to address the billboard left that used to be the inside wall of the adjacent building? (Hint: You might want to start thinking about that one soon…)