The (Munster) Times. October 16, 2019
Engaged public must lead the way in Valpo, Portage, NWI
An engaged public often separates municipalities that thrive from others that molder.
If public engagement in recent events surrounding the mayoral elections in Valparaiso and Portage are any indication, there are a plethora of engaged citizens pushing for success in both of those key Region cities.
On Nov. 5, voters in both cities will be picking a new mayor.
In Valparaiso, longtime incumbent Jon Costas has elected not to seek re-election, opening the door for a contested race between two successful Valpo businessmen — Matt Murphy on the Republican side and Bill Durnell for the Democrats — to compete for the office.
In Portage, Republican interim Mayor John Cannon faces off with city Councilwoman Sue Lynch, a Democrat, in an office left crippled by the past scandals of former Mayor James Snyder, who was removed from office earlier this year because of a felony bribery conviction.
The Times Editorial Board will be conducting interviews with all four candidates in the coming days for purposes of possible endorsement.
In their own unique ways, both Valparaiso and Portage are about to turn a corner.
More than ever before, both need an exercising of strong will and direction to either build off past successes or move in new and healthier directions.
From all appearances, there is no shortage of engaged citizens ready to help power the change.
Last week, hundreds of interested citizens — including supporters of both Valparaiso mayoral candidates — packed the historic Memorial Opera House in the city's downtown to hear Murphy and Durnell debate their positions.
Questions from the audience kept debate panelists busy and ensured the candidates engaged with the concerns of those in attendance.
The issues and the city's future mattered, and people showed up to demonstrate the great importance this race holds over Valparaiso's future.
A debate Monday night in Portage showed similar signs of engagement.
Several hundred people filled the chairs of a Woodland Park building as Cannon and Lynch debated the finer points of Portage's identity and future pathways to success.
Anyone who cared enough to attend in person, read articles about the debates or engage in the races in other ways should take a bow.
Right now, through early voting, or at the in-person polls on Nov. 5, all eligible citizens throughout Northwest Indiana should show the same style of engagement and vote in the municipal elections.
Too often, we turn to our government leaders to determine direction.
Ultimately, the voters are the heart and soul of municipal identity in Northwest Indiana.
We must care enough to learn about, speak out about and vote regarding the issues that hold so much sway over whether we succeed and excel as a collective community.
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Kokomo Tribune. October 17, 2019
Advocate for access
On March 21, 2018, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Senate Enrolled Act 392. It guarantees every Hoosier can obtain electronic records — like Word documents and Excel spreadsheets — in the same format from state and local governments with no copying fees.
SEA 392 contains language that originated in House Bill 1258, which was authored by state Rep. Mike Karickhoff, R-Kokomo. And on June 27 of last year, Hoosier State Press Association Executive Director and General Counsel Stephen Key wrote Karickhoff, thanking him for his contributions to working toward an informed citizenry.
Under the previous Access to Public Records Act, a public official could decide to provide only a printed copy of such a record — and could demand a document requester come to his or her office and pay a copying fee for that document. What's more, existing Open Door Law language outlined only what could not be discussed in closed-door, "administrative functions" meetings of county commissioners and town boards, not what could.
The latter was of great concern to the Howard County commissioners. Karickhoff reached out to the state press association before the 2018 legislative session began to work on the administrative-functions language. During those discussions, the Kokomo representative agreed to include language that provided for free public access to electronic public records.
Karickhoff's HB 1258 didn't get a hearing in the House Local Government Committee. But committee chairman Dennis Zent, R-Angola, and state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, agreed to amend the language of the Senate bill at Karickhoff's request.
The amended SEA 392 passed the House, 93-3, and the Senate, 48-0. The state press association saw the changes in both the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act as improvements, particularly the ability to now obtain electronic records with no fee. We do, as well.
Karickhoff, as well as area Reps. Tony Cook, Heath VanNatter and Sen. Jim Buck, all have voted in the past to ensure Hoosiers have access to public records and meetings. We thank them all for looking out for the public's interest in keeping informed and count on them to continue such advocacy with their votes in 2020.
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South Bend Tribune. October 16, 2019
Fighting the opioid crisis through creativity
Sometimes there's no telling where you'll find a solution to a problem.
In this case, the problem is deadly — an opioid crisis that took more than 76 lives in 2018 in St. Joseph, Marshall, Elkhart and LaPorte counties.
A potential solution? An app developed by a group of Ivy Tech Community College students, including from South Bend and Elkhart, that would connect community members with Narcan, a drug that counteracts opioid overdoses.
The app was born out of the fourth annual AT&T FirstNet Public Safety Hackathon in Indianapolis. It also paid $7,000 in prize money. But the takeaway here is that students, faced with trying to help solve a real-life crisis that impacted one of the students in the group directly, came up with a possible solution.
The app could be used to signal the immediate need for the drug and have it sent within a certain distance, which would be potentially faster than an ambulance and without the need to call 911.
"Basically all you would have to do is push a button on a screen if you or someone you know is overdosing," said Soto Garcia, one of the team's leaders. "The goal was to have a far reach in order to get someone to respond to the emergency as soon as possible."
Time is critical in treating someone in the midst of an opioid overdose, and this app, created by a group of creative, caring college students could eventually help a lot of people.
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