Post-Tribune

Jerry Davich: Go ask ALICE about school readiness plan

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:02:16 -0500

Last Friday, on the six-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings, I attended a cutting-edge training seminar for a new school lockdown program. The national program is called ALICE – Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate – designed in response to traditional, yet woefully outdated lockdown techniques, some with headline-grabbing fatal flaws. Created by law enforcement officers, the “common sense but not common knowledge” program can be easily implemented and effective for the average person under severe stress situations, including school teachers. “This is an excellent program, and the skills learned are invaluable for staying mentally prepared in case …

Jerry Davich: Some charities aren’t very charitable after all

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:01:58 -0500

The “worst charity in America” is the Kids Wish Network, according to the Center for Investigative Reporting. The Florida-based charity raises millions of dollars in donations in the name of dying children and their families, yet spends less than three cents on every dollar to actually help kids each year, according to a Tampa Bay Times investigative story that caught my eye last week. “Most of the rest gets diverted to enrich the charity’s operators and the for-profit companies Kids Wish hires to drum up donations,” the story stated. “In the past decade alone, Kids Wish has channeled nearly $110 …

Jerry Davich: On this Father’s Day, give the gift of memories

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:01:59 -0500

Today, on Father’s Day 2013, I offer you a few thoughts on a “holiday” that many of us treat as an obligation, not a celebration. What should we get Dad, right? We have to get him something, we tell ourselves. But do we really? Should we? Or is an obligatory gift even worse than no gift at all, as I believe. The average American will spend about $120 on their father this year, according to a new study that must have surveyed liars. I mean, $120? Did you spend that much on dear old dad today? I didn’t, but then …

Jerry Davich: Different grads, different paths - the future is all theirs

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 02:01:54 -0500

Zeda Pingel and Zachary Buchwalter have never met. They don’t know each other. And they’re just learning about the other’s life in today’s column. But I’m introducing them to each other, and to you, to contrast their vastly different paths as teenagers, as high school graduates, and as card-carrying members of the class of 2013. Although one of their lives has been filled with less pomp and more circumstance, I’m offering my congratulations to them both, for different reasons. ‘She is still in there’ Zeda Pingel sat in her wheelchair in the front row with fellow graduates at River Forest …

Jerry Davich: Can supporters save their ‘Lady’ from the march of progress?

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:29:00 -0500

A handful of peaceful protesters stood outside the gates of St. John the Evangelist Church in St. John on Sunday morning. They held signs stating, “Our Lady is for Everyone” and “www.saveourlady.com — 1,600 Supporters,” near the gaze of a towering statue in the background. It’s called “Our Lady of the New Millennium,” a stainless steel Virgin Mary that’s been in the church’s parking lot for two years now. But soon that 33-feet-high statue will be moved to replace an existing Blessed Mother statue on U.S. 41, just a mile or so away to the east. That marble statue, the …

Jerry Davich: Has your romantic relationship gone from soul mates to cell mates?

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 02:01:51 -0500

Have you ever been in a romantic relationship that went from a “soul mate” dream to a “cell mate” reality? Have you been reflexively drawn through the years to the same type of person, but only with different faces, or so it seems in hindsight? And why are patient, giving and selfless people predictably — and magnetically — attracted to selfish, self-centered, controlling and even toxic partners? An insightful new book explores this timeless topic, prompting “light bulb” moments in readers who immediately knew the answers to these questions. However, this is one pop quiz you’d rather fail. The book, …

Jerry Davich: Readers react to 3 recent columns

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 02:02:43 -0500

Reader feedback is something I enjoy and consistently encourage, but I’ve never received so much of it within such a short time span as I did this past week. First, in response to my column on prayers during government meetings, followed by my “memory lane” column of returning to my childhood home, and then my column on the recent lawsuit filed against TGI Fridays. Readers’ responses were angry, excited or thought-provoking, and all in one week’s time. In other words, a wonderful week for any columnist. Here is a small sampling. Let me begin by sharing an updated statement by …

Jerry Davich: ‘My name will be in there for Gary, Indiana’

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 02:01:30 -0500

Rudy Clay stood on a makeshift stage in front of political officials, wannabes, and sycophants at the Patio restaurant in Merrillville. During a political fundraiser in the fall of 2006, the former Gary mayor proudly proclaimed, “God is a Democrat.” And I’m convinced he truly believed it after shaking his hand for the first time that night. Mr. Clay died Tuesday, one day after I wrote his name in my daily planner to meet with him again. On Monday, I was reminded of a previous meeting we had at my favorite pizza joint in Gary, where we shared lunch together. …

Jerry Davich: So no senior goes hungry

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:46:25 -0500

Jim Wilson rang the lobby buzzer inside a building at The Residences at Merrillville Lakes senior living complex. “Good morning, it’s Meals on Wheels,” the 73-year-old Merrillville man said through an intercom to Cailena Amos, an elderly woman who was waiting for lunch last Friday morning. “Come on up,” she told Wilson, who’s a volunteer delivery driver for Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana. Wilson, a retired prison guard at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, carried a hot lunch and a cold drink to Amos’ fourth floor apartment. She was there waiting for him, along with her daughter, Jessica …

Jerry Davich: Prayerful government meetings common yet controversial

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:01:33 -0500

Portage Mayor Jim Snyder was one of the few Northwest Indiana public officials to contact me and publicly voice support for prayers at government meetings. “The city has a local volunteer pastor come and pray before each council meeting,” he told me. “We also start our closed door department head meetings in prayer.” The practice of offering prayers of some kind at government meetings has been taking place for more than two centuries. But the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to finally address the controversial issue by ruling on a case of two women who are challenging this practice in …

Jerry Davich: Group of teens, parents takes discrimination claim to court

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 02:01:20 -0500

On the evening of June 1, 2012, Tawanna Staples’ son, Johnathan, went to TGI Fridays in Hobart along with several other teenage students from Theo Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary. They were celebrating their eighth-grade graduation. But the celebratory mood soon faded when they were told they couldn’t dine there because the restaurant’s posted policy states that any patrons under age 21 need to be escorted by an adult after 9 p.m. The teens then waited for their parents to enter the restaurant after parking their cars. “But when us parents showed up, we still weren’t allowed to eat there,” …

Jerry Davich: Easy to pick a winner when comparing memories to reality

Fri, 31 May 2013 02:00:39 -0500

The house looks much smaller than I remember, as if it shrunk since my childhood. Yet it still resembles the home where I was raised, on the 4500 block of Miller Avenue in the Glen Ryan Subdivision in Gary. The small but heavily populated neighborhood is nestled on the west side of the city’s Miller section near where U.S. 12 and U.S. 20 become one. From my parked car, I sat for a few minutes in front of my old home, staring a hole through it while my memories came back. It didn’t matter that the home is not kept …

Jerry Davich: What role should prayer play at a government meeting?

Tue, 28 May 2013 18:05:16 -0500

Should government meetings include a religious prayer? Northwest Indiana public officials are divided on this deeply embedded issue, and I suspect region residents are, too. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott believes it is “not appropriate” to begin government meetings with prayers of any kind. “I think the Hammond Council should cease this practice before Hammond gets sued for violating the First Amendment,” McDermott wrote on his Facebook page earlier this month, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to finally address the controversial issue. “Before each Hammond City Council meeting, a prayer is said aloud prior to the commencement of …

Jerry Davich: Cemetery does more than remember veterans

Mon, 27 May 2013 02:01:49 -0500

Denise Wrolen knelt down atop her husband’s grave and brushed off debris from his new permanent marker: “JOHN WILLIAM WROLEN — SP4 U.S. ARMY — VIETNAM.” “I didn’t know it was put in,” she said with surprise in her voice, attempting to hold back emotions. “What a wonderful Memorial Day gift. I didn’t expect this.” John Wrolen died March 18 at age 68. Wrolen was a 1962 Hobart High School graduate, a 36-year Gary police officer, a 26-year Methodist Hospital security guard, and a “proud Vietnam War veteran” who was heavily involved with the American Legion. His body was buried …

Davich: ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ awaits kids

Sat, 25 May 2013 17:30:00 -0500

Carolyn Ballenger had a sense of desperation in her voice. For the past 20 years, the retired Hammond school teacher has escorted students on a two-week “adventure of a lifetime” trek to the East Coast. There, the kids took part in a science, history and literature program with personal experiences that are both visual and motivational while designed for critical thinking. The activities include whale watching, a visit to the history of Revolutionary War, the home of Louisa May Alcott, a visit to historic Salem, Mass., white water rafting, zip lining, and a visit to the Sea Coast Science Center, …

Jerry Davich: Sky’s the limit for record-setting pole vaulter

Sun, 26 May 2013 02:01:28 -0500

Nick Stack’s arch nemesis isn’t any of the fellow high school athletes he competes against in track and field. Nor is it the fractured foot, hip injury or locker room full of other bumps and bruises from dozens of previous pole vaulting competitions. It’s also not his family’s record-breaking history in the ultrachallenging sport — his father, Andy Stack, and his uncle, Jimm Stack, both were known for their high-flying pole vaulting feats back in high school and college. And it’s not the weather that torments him, although an untimely wind gust can play a huge factor in propelling the …

Jerry Davich: How do you define success?

Wed, 22 May 2013 02:01:23 -0500

The caller didn’t mince words about a subject that always comes up this time of year. “You see, your column proves that you don’t always need a college education to earn a good living,” explained Matthew K. of Michigan City. “Kids can still learn a trade and be a productive worker in society, even in our global workforce. I did it, and so did tens of thousands of other workers in this region.” He was responding to my recent column on an innovative underwater welding class project at Kankakee Valley High School, which garnered plenty of reader feedback, mostly from …

Jerry Davich: New habitat, new life for families

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:28:00 -0500

Marella Rodriguez sat in her parents’ car and stared at the construction site of her new house. Birds chirped overhead. A neighbor mowed his lawn. And a building permit sign proudly stood in front of the new foundation of Marella’s house, at 753 Cyrus St. in Valparaiso. “This will be our brand new home, like a brand new life,” the 12-year-old girl told me. “I’m excited because we don’t have a home that’s ours.” Marella’s parents, Tony and Carol Rodriguez, sat together in an affectionate embrace on the edge of the site’s foundation, admiring their home-to-be. The couple was selected …