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  Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Dennis Lennartz, 55, Anderson , Indiana , was charged with defrauding the Indiana Medicaid program, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and The Indiana Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The information alleges that beginning in April 2006, Dennis Lennartz, knowingly defrauded the Indiana Medicaid program of $964,852.59, by billing for services not actually rendered. In furtherance of his scheme, Lennartz...

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According to my mapping software, it's 159 miles from Anderson to Merrillville.  Not having to be at my new job until 10:30 this morning, I set my alarm to give myself enough time to get on the road by 8:00.  Since Lake County is in the Central Time Zone, I gained an hour on the way up.  I have a habit of stopping at every rest area along the Interstate.  My bladder is about the size of a robin's egg and my love of coffee doesn't help matters.  There are three rest areas on I-65 between State Road 47 and Merrillville.  One in Lebanon, one in Wolcott, and one in Roselawn.

I rolled into my new station with about 20 minutes to spare.  But my good friend, Len, was already there -- having drove from Lincoln, Nebraska, the day before.  I met with my new news director and newsroom coworkers.  

The station's studios are still a work in progress and some minor issues have knocked the transmitter out of service.  However, we've been told that those items should be resolved next week and we may have to possibility to start streaming on the internet within the next couple of days.

What is unfolding in Merrillville will be precedent setting for public radio.  It will not be Morning Edition.  It will not be classical music.  It will not be All Things Considered.  What it will be is local news delivered in a commercial news radio fashion.  It will be live sports coverage from teams that get no love from the Chicago media.  It will be news-talk with a Northwest Indiana emphasis.

I filled out my paperwork before I left.  It's been six years since I've paid a state income tax.  Florida and Washington haven't levied those upon their residences (yet).  I was pleasantly surprised to find out I get two weeks paid vacation after a year with the station.  That was something I wasn't expecting to receive as a part-time employee.

I'm currently making my home in a $35 dollar a night motel that has a microwave, a fridge, and free wifi.  Upon entering the bathroom, I noticed the toilet had been "sanitized for my protection."  You don't see that much anymore.  The beds, much to my dismay, do not vibrate.

Hopefully I can find a place of my own within the next couple of weeks.

I've gotten a temporary repreive from my 3 am clock-in time.  Until we're up to speed, we all come in at 10.  So I can set my alarm a little later tonight.

This could be the start of something good.

What were the best and worst films you saw in 2008?

(Let's take that to mean films that were released in 2008, as opposed to films released in the '90s you're only now getting around to viewing.)

It seems like practically every movie I saw this year was a piece of crap, so it would be really hard to choose the worst, if I hadn't seen 20 minutes of 27 Dresses on cable. Holy Maude.

(And yet Bride Wars looks as though it has the capacity to make 27 Dresses look like a film adaptation of the S.C.U.M. manifesto.)

Best is probably The Dark Knight. Unless I can count Mongol, which only went into wide release in '08.

Easy Does It, Ladies!


For my (barely any) comment,

I've been spending so much energy "keeping beautiful" lately, that all I can muster as commentary is this (apologies for any commercials):


From Crackle: Mr. Deity and the Help Meet - Season 2, Ep 9

No autographs, please.

Anderson and Madison County have always had a love affair with fast cars and auto racing . From Anderson Speedway(Sun Valley) to Muncie Dragway to Winchester Speedway (Funk Speedway) and all points in between speed has always been an adrenaline rush for gear heads .

Here we can talk about what is currently going on in motorsports or better yet visit the good old days .

"Boogity Boogity Boogity let's go racin boys "

There were two letters to the editor in last Tuesday's Star, protesting the removal of the popular, humorous and family/values-oriented columnist.

Today marks the one-week anniversary of her disappearance, but as she herself said, she did not died -- the Star simply changed courses.

Nonetheless, readers remain upset. Here's a letter sent last week by a Star reader -- but perhaps not for long -- re: the decisions made by executive editor Dennis Ryerson:

"Dennis:

It's with disappointment that I write to you.

My wife and I are longtime subscribers of the Indianapolis Star(more than 20 years).One of her great pleasures of receiving the newspaper was regularly reading Lori Borgman's column.

My wife, Joan, always looked to Lori for a little humor and insight into raising a family and managing a husehold. Joan enjoyed her regular "visits" with Lori - just as if Lori lived down the block - and also felt that she had watched Lori's kids grow up.

A few years ago, Lori also dropped by our church and met with the Mom's
Group. She was charming, funny, down to earth and pleasant. She sold a few books that day, made a few friends, and generated a world of goodwill for the Indianapolis Star.

So now the Star has decided to drop Lori Borgman's column.

I understand the economics of newspapering - having spent 15 years as a working reporter.

I could live with the gutting of an experienced, energetic staff that had insight, intelligence, history, and a feel for the city and state; I could live with the ever-shrinking local news hole; I could live with the
reduction in local news and political coverage; I could live with the
dropping of insightful nationally syndicated columnists and features; I
could live with the vapid drivel of local columnists who write about whether it's permissible to buy and return a dress for a job interview; I could live with the copy-and-pasting of news releases into "news stories" without a second thought; I could live with dropping the stock market listings; I could live with the front-page ads; I could l live with the illustrative stock photos instead of actual staff pics; I could live with the nearly full-page "photo features" that are comprised of four or five stock photos and two or three paragraphs of copy pulled off the Web.

I could even live with your weekly attempts to tell me how a smaller, less experienced, (cheaper) local newsroom staff, combined with a shrinking news hole, smaller pages, less news, fewer columns, bigger headlines, shallower coverage, larger pics, and shorter stories somehow - somehow - can magically provide me with a better newspaper.

But I can't live with a woman who doesn't get to read Lori Borgman.

And since I can't drop my wife, I may just drop that which disappoints her -- and that's the Indianapolis Star.

James W. Grass
j2grass@sbcglobal.net"

To read Lori's latest column, posted today, go to her blog:

http://www.loriborgman.com/

 

PERU, IN - Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell, Ph.D., recently announced the reclassification of Trooper Bob Burgess to the position of detective. Detective Burgess is an eight year veteran of the Indiana State Police Department. He earned his assignment into the Criminal Investigation Division through written testing and a competitive interview process.  Detective Burgess will work from the Indiana State Police Peru Post which is responsible for Wabash, Tipton, Cass, Howard, Miami, and Fulton Counties. 

Detective Burgess is a Cass County native and a 1986 graduate of Lewis Cass High School. He holds an associates degree in conservation law enforcement from Vincennes University. Detective Burgess graduated from the Indiana State Police Academy in June of 2000 and was assigned to the Indiana State Police Peru Post, where he has worked road patrol in Cass and Miami Counties.  Detective Burgess is a certified field training officer, emergency vehicle operation instructor and a member of the Indiana State Police Clandestine Lab Enforcement Team.  

Prior to his new assignment, Burgess was assigned to the Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Suppression Section, where he worked as the methamphetamine suppression officer for the Indiana State Police Peru Post. Burgess has also worked as the marijuana eradication officer for the Indiana State Police Peru Post.  

Prior to joining the Indiana State Police, Burgess worked six years as an officer for the Logansport Police Department. He also served the Indiana State Excise Police Department for two and a half years.  
 
 

As you may have heard, John Travolta's and Kelly Preston's 16-year-old son, Jett, died over the weekend as a result of what appears to be a blow to the head received in the throes of a seizure.

This post isn't about the family, the circumstances of the death, Kawasaki disease vs. autism, Scientology, or conspiracy theories (and the comments thread shouldn't be, either)—so let's just leave all that mess aside.

What this post is about is something I've noticed about the coverage of the tragic event:

TMZ: John Travolta's Son Dies—"Rand Memorial Hospital in the Bahamas tells TMZ the son of John Travolta died today. We're told 16-year-old Jett was vacationing with Travolta and wife Kelly Preston."

AFP: John Travolta's teenage son dies in Bahamas—"The family of Oscar-nominated Hollywood superstar John Travolta took a devastating emotional blow when his teenage son died after a seizure while on a family vacation in the Bahamas, US media reported."

AP: John Travolta's 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas—"John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after apparently suffering a seizure and hitting his head at his family's vacation home, authorities said Friday."

Reuters: Travolta "heartbroken" over son's death—"Actor John Travolta broke a two-day silence over the death of his 16-year-old son Jett on Sunday, saying he and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, were 'heartbroken' by their sudden loss."

ABC: Autopsy Today for John Travolta's Son—"On Sunday, John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, issued their first public statement since Jett died Friday."

This one, care of Star magazine, really sums it up:


Headline: John Travolta's Son Dies
Image: Entire family.
Lede: "The son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston has died."

What?—there wasn't enough room for Kelly Preston's name in the headline, too? Oh, wait; there is:


Huh.

And this one, from the Daily Mail is great: 'My agony at losing my beloved boy': 'Heartbroken' John Travolta breaks silence over death of teenage son (original story headline since changed: "Tragedy for movie star John Travolta as 16-year-old son Jett dies on family holiday")—"John Travolta tonight revealed his agony at the sudden death of his teenage son Jett. In a statement on his website the Hollywood actor said he and his wife Kelly Preston, were 'heartbroken' by their sudden loss."

Wait—his wife is heartbroken, too? Amazing. Especially considering she's not just John Travolta's wife, but is Jett Travolta's mother, not that you'd know it from the news coverage of her son's death, in which she is repeatedly referred to (if at all) as "John Travolta's wife." I saw that in headlines and ledes so frequently over the past few days, I actually started to second-guess my thought that she was Jett's mom. (She is.)

And Kelly Preston is also pretty famous in her own right. (I know I'm kind of a walking IMDb, but I could name at least half a dozen of her films off the top of my head.) It's not like John Travolta is married to an investment banker; he's married to an actress whose name plenty of people would recognize, so the calculation seems to be she's just not famous enough to warrant her name in the headline, to warrant her grief being its own, beyond some collateral heartbreak of her husband's after losing "his" son.

It's rare I actually compliment CNN on sensitive coverage, but they got this one right: Actors' son Jett Travolta dies at 16—"The 16-year-old son of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston died Friday morning after suffering a seizure while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas, Travolta's attorney told CNN."

Just moving that apostrophe from here—actor's—to here—actors'—makes all the difference. That's all it took, so simple, to avoid disappearing a mother and delivering a snide commentary on her career in the midst of a horrific personal crisis.

I'm sure some people would argue it doesn't matter—but I can think of few things more cruel than erasing the role of motherhood from a woman who's just lost her child, and I'm not sure it does any of us much good that we're so profoundly inured to such casual cruelty.

So…a little teaspoon of awareness never hurt anyone.

Ted A. Waggoner of Rochester sends along this invitation:Please join the Fulton County Bar Association for a Reception honoring Douglas...

A co-worker just brought this cartoon by my desk. (Note: the image above is only the final panel of the cartoon. Click through to see the whole thing.) My first reaction was "huh?" I couldn't see the joke. Then my next reaction was "Oh, so gay people are monsters; I get it. Gee, thanks" I might be reacting a little ultra-sensitively; my co-worker thinks it's an empowering thing that Frankenstein and his, ahem, "lover" are in the comic. Mainstream portrayal of gay couples and all that. Then I thought that maybe the joke is that the little green guy was upset because Frankenstein doesn't act like a monster; he's in a relationship and seems like a nice guy. Of course, they're stereotypical sissies and not monstrous, so maybe that's what's upsetting him, which isn't exactly the most empowering message, either. (For the record, the Frankensteins didn't return the next day, so they appear to be a one-off gag. This is the first time I've ever seen this particular comic strip, so I could be wrong.)

Anyway, I don't get it, my co-worker thinks I'm reading too much into it, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm running the Comics I Don't Understand page. It still looks like a joke at my expense, but what do I know; it looks like Fail to me. What do you think?

Update: I just found a few more comics with the Frankensteins, here, here, and here, so apparently they're not one-off characters. It looks more like the joke in the first one I saw comes from personality conflicts; the evil henchman monster is just put off by their "niceness," but I'm also seeing a lot of stereotyping.

Rar! Me humorless liberal!

 

PERU, IN - Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell, Ph.D., recently announced the reclassification of Trooper Bob Burgess to the position of detective. Detective Burgess is an eight year veteran of the Indiana State Police Department. He earned his assignment into the Criminal Investigation Division through written testing and a competitive interview process.  Detective Burgess will work from the Indiana State Police Peru Post which is responsible for Wabash, Tipton, Cass, Howard, Miami, and Fulton Counties. 

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  PERU, IN - Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell, Ph.D., recently announced the reclassification of Trooper Bob Burgess to the position of detective. Detective Burgess is an eight year veteran of the Indiana State Police Department. He earned his assignment into the Criminal Investigation Division through written testing and a competitive interview process.  Detective Burgess will work from the Indiana State Police Peru Post which is responsible for Wabash, Tipton, Cass, Howard, Miami, and Fulton Counties.  Detective Burgess is a Cass County native and a 1986 graduate of Lewis Cass High School. He...

Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman Wins Pizza Hut Invitational

By Kevin Rockhill

Hamilton South Eastern High School hosted the 1st Annual Pizza Hut Invitation Saturday introducing a new format to the Indiana high school diving community. The field of  girls and boys  from across the state featured many of the state’s top 20 ranked divers.

The event format was identical to the Olympic Trials where each diver completed a list of 5 optional dives three times and their cumulative score determined the winner. Unlike a typical 6 dive meet or 11 dive championship event, this format required the divers to not only complete each of their dives well one time, they had to complete each of their five dives well three times to be in the hunt for the title.

Shenandoah’s Kate Hillman topped the field of girls with a total score of 660.20 points followed by Hamilton Southeastern’s Christina Beyerl with 618.60 points and Homesteads Mariah Kiefer with 569.65 points. Beyerl and Kiefer finished in the top 16 at the 2007-08 IHSAA State Championships.  Highland was represented by Kelsey Upperman (15th) and Cassie Gaton (26th). Pendleton Heights was represented by Kristen Sylvester (20th), Haley Dick (22nd), and Hannah Cochran. Cochran was delayed by and academic commitment and only completed 1 list of 5 dives, however a three list average would have placed her in 9th position.

On the boy’s side, Dakota Johnson earned top honors with a score of 550.60 points. Highland’s Josh Doggett was 5th with 441.10 points. Pendleton Heights’ was represented by Cody Thrasher (9th), Josh Wilson (11th), and Brady Tibbets (17th).

Hillman was also awarded the Pizza Hut Dive of the meet for her Inward 1 ½ somersault pike that topped all dives in the meet by scoring 50.4 points on her best one and averaged 47.2 points for the three attempts.

Shenandoah and Pendleton Heights will be in competition again Jan 6th against Anderson High School beginning at 5:15pm at Pendleton Height High School.  Highland’s next meet will be against Pendleton Heights at Highland on Jan 13th at 5:00pm.

2009 is our year, Madison County residents ;)

-kpaul

Hyperlocal websites have for a long time been an albatross of the 2.0 world; many have tried to create vibrant startups in the space, and many have failed.

There is some argument about the definition of hyperlocal; some say its news at a town or suburb level, while others argue its news for a community, but not an entire city or large town. For the purposes of this post, Hyperlocal means community news, serving a town or local Government area, often below a large city or State.

That there is demand for community news is a given, the issue has been delivering hyperlocal news online with a sustainable business model. The problem so far has been one primarily driven by competition: many towns and local communities have been served by a local community newspaper for years, and while some of the attention has switched online, the switch hasn’t been large enough so far to sustain hyperlocal news sites that by their very nature have a limited and small audience constrained by geography.

2009 though will be different. Hyerlocal websites, both existing and those to launch will thrive as they become the only place to find community news; in 2009 community newspapers will fold in record numbers.

 

http://www.inquisitr.com/14219/hyperlocal-websites-will-boom-in-2009-as-...

 

If you read this can you go to the story and let them know what you think of AFP?

Thanks!

Dear Netflix,

I know about you. You can give it a rest with the pop-ups and pop-unders.

If I run into anyone who's just awoken from a decades-long coma or relocated from their last residence under a rock in uninhabited Siberia, I promise to tell them about you.

Love,
Liss

"He's a good man, Chris. He's a very good, strong man. I'd like to see him run, I'd like to see him be president someday, or maybe senator, whatever. I mean, right now is probably a bad time. We've had enough Bushes in there."—Papa George H.W. Bush, in an interview with Fox Fucknut Chris Wallace, on his desire to see son Jeb continue his political career.

He also noted, btw, that he understands if Jeb doesn't want to continue in politics because he "needs to make a living, support his wife and family." And who can do that on the paltry salary of a US Senator ($169,300) or US President ($400,000)?

Erick Erickson

Link via: SadlyNo!