Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers

The (Munster) Times. December 22, 2017

Crown Point council should reconsider Hallmark vote

It's one thing to oppose a feasible government idea to fix a long-standing problem when the naysayer also is proposing a better alternative to solving the issue.

But when opposition digs in and simply says no, offering no counter-solutions, it's a clear sign of bad government.

A majority on the Crown Point City Council recently exhibited such deficient judgment in rejecting an economic development designation - and potential tax abatement - that would have paved the way to making use of a long-shuttered and moldering property on the doorstep of city's downtown.

The council should reconsider its position unless it has a better plan for ensuring the productive use of a property that has been vacant and blighted for 10 years.

At issue is the former Hallmark building on Main Street, just north of the downtown square.

Petitioners for a proposed child day-care center sought a designation for the site as an economic revitalization area, which would make it eligible for a tax abatement.

The designation is something often used for blighted properties, and the long-shuttered Hallmark building, visibly in internal disrepair by anyone peering through its windows, fits the bill.

The Crown Point Economic Development Committee narrowly passed a recommendation for the designation on a 4-3 vote.

But by an inverse margin, the Crown Point City Council recently voted 4-3 to not award the designation.

Crown Point Mayor Uran, who supports the designation as a means to finally make use of a blighted property, said he now fears the project will evaporate and the building will continue moldering.

We also hope it's not too late for the council to realize its folly and reconsider.

The designation would open the door for a tax abatement for the day care project, which the petioners believe would allow the plan to financially move forward.

The payoff in a blighted property, so close to the city's downtown epicenter, finding new life would be worth it.

Meanwhile, none of the council members who opposed the designation - Scott Evorik, Laura Sauerman, T.J. Wigmore and Carol Drasga - appear to have any alternative plans waiting in the wings.

Crown Point is making great strides in becoming a true "Hub City" of Northwest Indiana.

Brownfields turned into youth sports complexes and many abandoned properties finding new use in recent years are proof positive.

The former Hallmark property should be front and center in those plans.

It's time for a change of heart and a new vote. Our Region won't improve based on "No" votes backed by no alternative solutions.

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The (Bloomington) Herald-Times. December 23, 2017

Sylvia McNair displays courage for coming forward with story of assault

Sylvia McNair has displayed courage and grace in being public with her accusation of sexual misconduct against world-renowned opera and classical music conductor Charles Dutoit.

McNair is a two-time Grammy Award-winning soprano and retired faculty member at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music who lives in Bloomington. She is one of four women who who have made accusations against the artistic director and principal conductor of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

She described to the Associated Press being assaulted by him March 1985 when she was 28. Retired mezzo-soprano Paula Rasmussen also told AP of an assault in September 1991. The other two women recounted assaults in 2006, but would not use their names because of fear of retribution in the industry.

The decision to come forward with on-the-record accusations against the rich and powerful is a personal one. McNair, a generous and engaged member of the Bloomington community, who has supported causes such as the Salvation Army, Monroe County Humane Association and the Shalom Community Center, deserves praise for her decision to attach her name to the story. She told AP she hasn't felt traumatized by the events, "But what he did was wrong."

Reason enough to come forward.

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South Bend Tribune. December 21, 2017

CO ordinance decision belongs in local hands

It likely will be January before St. Joseph County learns the fate of an ordinance council members adopted that would require carbon monoxide detectors in rental properties, apartments and hotels.

Right now the measure is before the state's Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission.

Council member Mark Catanzarite, a battalion chief with the South Bend Fire Department and co-sponsor of the measure, said commissioners wanted to further study the ordinance because it was "unique to them."

Several measures promoting the use of CO detectors have come before the commission with mixed results.

A CO detector law crafted by Michigan City was unanimously rejected by the commission earlier this month; a Chesterton CO detector ordinance was rejected in October, and the commission decided not to consider an appeal; and although commissioners approved a LaPorte ordinance in May that requires CO detectors in newly built homes, it took the city three attempts to accomplish it.

Those actions have caused some officials to question whether the commission is favoring the viewpoint of construction and building trades when considering such ordinances.

Of the 11 members, most are employed by engineering and construction firms, outweighing those with professional safety backgrounds.

A statement from a Indiana Department of Homeland Security spokesman said the commission is working through any potential conflicts between the local ordinances and current statewide fire and building codes.

There is a need to ensure consistency in the law and we understand if the commission wants to make sure that occurs. But members must make sure the bottom line intent of the ordinance - saving lives - doesn't get lost in the process.

The cost incurred by residents and landlords is diminished by the likelihood the county ordinance will prevent unnecessary deaths. One need only to look at the tragedy at a Niles hotel earlier this year when one boy died and more than a dozen others were sickened by carbon monoxide when a pool heater malfunctioned.

The ordinance was approved locally in November by the County Council and Board of Commissioners. The commission should work through any potential conflicts. Beyond that, it should respect the work of the elected county officials who crafted and approved this measure.

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The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. December 22, 2017

A fair exchange

A year in, needle-swap program proves its worth

A year after the start of Allen County's syringe-exchange program, the statistics have been impressive enough to win over some of the skeptics.

The Health Department proposed the program in the fall of 2015, after it became clear that intravenous drug users were spreading HIV and hepatitis C by sharing used needles. "We knew that the studies show these types of services do limit transmissions," said Mindy Waldron, the health department's administrator. Though a similar program was already helping curb an HIV epidemic in Scott County, Indiana, the Allen County proposal had to overcome the doubts of some local officials and thread a long bureaucratic process before the exchange opened on Nov. 1, 2016.

The weekly program has had 692 new and returning clients and is seeing as many as 15 new addicts per week. Return clients are bringing in as many used needles as they're taking out.

"We anticipated it would start slowly, as it did," said Jeffrey Markley, executive director of Positive Resource Connection, which provides space from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Tuesday at 519 Oxford St. for the clinic. Word had to get out, he explained, and trust had to be built. But those involved in the effort have no doubt there are more people who could be reached.

"This is probably just the tip of the iceberg," Markley, a member of the syringe-exchange's advisory committee, said in an interview Thursday.

"It's really not just a syringe exchange," said Markley, whose organization has been helping those with HIV and hepatitis C since 1985. "We have people there every week from mental health facilities and from addiction facilities. We can walk them 10 feet to an addiction counselor and they take it from there." Clinic visitors also have the option of being tested for HIV and hepatitis C or receiving care for needle-related wound infections.

This fall, the commissioners voted unanimously to extend the program for another two years, Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health officials, having received a state grant to cover operations and staffing, are contemplating expanded hours and days for the clinic next year.

HIV and hepatitis C infections are still going up, Health Commissioner Deborah McMahan said Thursday, "but not as fast as overdoses. In the middle of an epidemic, I figure we can at least slow the curve."

Even slowing the curve can ease the strain on public health services and budgets.

"It's really amazing how expensive some of these diseases are to treat," McMahan said. "One case of hepatitis C costs $80,000 to treat. HIV requires a lifetime treatment of $380,000 to $500,000."

For the first year, the cost of the syringe-exchange program was about $40,000, most it paid for through grants, Waldron said.

"You can do the math," McMahan said. "If you prevent one case, you're really ahead."

Getting people tested and treated may have prevented others from contracting infectious disease, and those who connected with an addiction counselor at the service are a step closer to beating the habit - and perhaps a step further away from a potentially fatal overdose.

The county may not need a syringe-exchange program forever. For now, though, it's vital.

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