Fort Wayne Observed

Pence: Some Bloggers Should Be Protected

Indiana Parley reports that Congressman Mike Pence, whose district includes a few Allen County townships, thinks that some bloggers should qualify as journalists under the Free Flow of Information Act that he has co-authored with Senator Richard Lugar.

From Editor and Publisher:

"Frankly, there are some that are out there gathering news," Spence (sic) said at Inland [Press Association]'s 120th annual meeting. "There are many people though, who just link to your newspapers. It would be hard to argue to anyone that privilege applies to those people just because they have a Web site."

From Indiana Parley:

Two weeks ago, Lugar stated that his assessment was that bloggers would probably not be considered as protected under the proposed legislation. However, Lugar thoughtfully noted that the discussion over the interpretation of who was protected was an ongoing one as the legislation was being considered.

MORE: Pence Says Shield Law to Protect News Bloggers

RELATED: Leo Morris on Pence

New Development

The JG's Krista Stockman reports that the U.S. Department of Education has expanded its investigation into Fort Wayne Community Schools' education of special education students.

Last month, Donald and Tammy Stein filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that the school district did not follow their fifth-grade son’s education plan as required under law.

After a 30-day review, the Department of Education decided to open a full investigation, which could take six months to complete, said Jim Bradshaw, spokesman for the department.

The Steins allege that their son, who has dyslexia, was not given the services outlined in individual education plans at Lincoln Elementary School. Such plans are created for special education students to outline their disabilities and the services the school district will provide to deal with the disability.

UPDATE: From the N-S's Sheena Dooley:

Tammy Stein filed a formal grievance with the department’s Office for Civil Rights Sept. 14, arguing the district denied her 11-year-old son, a fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary, a free and appropriate education with the services outlined in his Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

“I just hope that this will make the special education department realize these kids are important and their education is adhered to,” Stein said. “Just because a child has an IEP or learning disability it doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to an education.”

FWCS received a copy of the complaint from the federal government and responded, saying it would “cooperate fully” and provide them with information about the incident, said Bill Sweet, the district’s general counsel.

“I am confident when all is said and done that we did do what was appropriate once the situation was discovered,” Sweet said.

The federal department is still evaluating a second complaint filed against FWCS on Sept. 28, in which parent Terri Harless said North Side High School officials failed to notify staff that her 15-year-old daughter was a special-education student with a behavior plan. Their failure to do so, the grievance alleged, resulted in her arrest after an altercation with a police officer, also known as a school resource officer, at the school. The department takes about 30 days to determine whether enough evidence exists to justify a formal investigation.

After taking more than a month to evaluate Stein’s complaint, the department found enough evidence to open a formal investigation, which could take six months or longer, said Jim Bradshaw, U.S. Department of Education spokesman.

During an investigation, officials use information from documents and interviews with those involved in the complaint to determine if the law was violated. If a district is found to have violated the law, district officials can agree to take corrective actions. If they refuse to do so, the department can take away its federal funding or refer the case to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Local Reaction

Days after Rick Farrant was honored for his feature on George Smith, Jr., the JG's Emma Downs talks with Smith about the death of Rosa Parks:

“I’ve been there,” he says. “I know what it’s like. I’ve sat in the back of a bus. I’ve been refused service at a restaurant. You have to salute Rosa Parks for being a strong woman. Back then, if you stood up against racism, you didn’t know if you were going to get murdered, thrown in jail or beat up.”

Smith, one-time director of the Congress of Racial Equality in Meridian, Miss., is one of many local people mourning the death of a woman many consider the mother of the civil rights movement. Parks died Monday in Detroit at age 92.

“Rosa Parks was one of the reasons I joined the (civil rights) movement,” Smith says. “If we look back on the accomplishments she made by not giving up her seat. That was a milestone.

“And we should all carry that legacy on today. You’ve got to stand up for something or you’ll fall for anything.”

MORE: Civil rights soldier remembers Parks

The Plot Thickens

The next chapter in the Don Schmidt - Metro incident, reported by Dan Stockman:

The debate over Fort Wayne City Councilman Don Schmidt’s actions surrounding a housing discrimination case continued Tuesday with council members weighing in on the issue, including one who called it appalling.

[...]Tuesday, [Delinda Phillips, a Metro employee whose complaint is at the center of the dispute] took the lectern during the City Council’s public comment period and said she was amending her discrimination complaint to add an allegation of interference and intimidation.

“Mr. Schmidt abused his power as a council member,” Phillips said. “Interfering with a housing investigation is illegal.”

Schmidt said the debate shows Metro is heading in the wrong direction.

“It grieves me greatly – Metro is supposed to be a conciliatory organization,” Schmidt said. “I don’t see anything conciliatory about what just went on at the mike.”

Councilman Glynn Hines, D-6th, said the timing of the debate, coming just after the death of civil rights legend Rosa Parks, is overwhelming – and appalling in 2005.

“It says to me we still have a long way to go when it comes to understanding the process – legally – to protect our citizens,” Hines said. “It’s a sad day for the city of Fort Wayne when the most senior member of the City Council has the gall to defend what was clearly out of order – if not legally, at least in the manner of conducting himself.”

Hines then went even further, citing a roll call of those who fought against civil rights in the 1950s and ’60s.

“It can be just as blatant today in terms of not supporting any progress,” said Hines, who then compared Phillips to Rosa Parks.

“You could have just as easily gone to the back of the bus, been quiet and not said anything,” Hines told her. “I have the utmost respect for you for sitting at the front of the bus and demanding respect.”

Cindy Larson adds:

Schmidt said he’s a “go-to guy” for Realtors on a lot of issues. “I have sympathy for people who get caught in the snare of Metro,” he said. “People call me who have not had pleasant experiences.”

Gall said he considers Schmidt an acquaintance in the community, but doesn’t socialize with him or support him politically. Nevertheless, he turned to Schmidt when his calls weren’t being returned by Metro. His hope was that Schmidt could arrange a meeting with Gall and Foday. Schmidt wanted to include Metro Commissioner Lockwood Marine.

Gall said Schmidt didn’t know the details of the case, but “only knew that I was procedurally mishandled. … It wasn’t ‘Don, fix it. Don, get it settled.’”

UPDATE: Tracy Warner weighs in on his blog:

Councilman Don Schmidt misses the point when he claims "at no time did I use influence" in seeking a meeting with Metropolitan Human Relations Commission leaders to discuss a discrimination complaint filed against a friend. Simply by seeking the meeting, Schmidt was using his influence.

The City Council has expressed concern and opposition to Metro's activities over the years, even going as far to abolish and re-create the commission in order dump the existing board. The longest-serving member of City Council -- and no real friend of Metro -- seeks a meeting with the commission's director to discuss a friend's case, and Metro staffers are supposed to believe he's not using influence? His very presence was a use of influence. Schmidt cannot appear in the Metro offices as anything other than a City Council member.

IHSAA on Television

From today's N-S:

The IHSAA on Tuesday announced that its new media partner for televising championship events for the next five years will be cable-based, instead of over-the-air stations as has been the case in previous years.

Locally, Comcast Cable in Fort Wayne will be part of the network.

The partnership between the IHSAA and cable operators Comcast, Bright House Networks and Insight begins with the telecast of the Class 4A volleyball championship match at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Nov. 5.

Live telecasts of 18 championship events include all five final games in football, state finals for boys and girls basketball, and the Class 4A baseball final next June.

Also included in the broadcast schedule will be selected sectional, regional and semistate boys basketball games. That raises the possibility of a Fort Wayne-area sectional or regional contest being shown to a statewide audience, since individual cable companies have to air all of the state package of games.

MORE: IHSAA reaches deal with cable broadcasters

Wait a Minute...

Indiana Parley wonders why the Board of Health is recommending that medical providers restrict flu shots to high risk patients...when no one else in the rest of the country seems to be worried about a possible shortage.

A Google news search indicated that Fort Wayne was the only city in the country where restraint was continuing to be the recommendation.

MORE: Are the Alarm Bells Too Loud in Fort Wayne?

Coming Tomorrow:

The story behind 21Alive's suspension of Keith Edwards and the controversy in the newsroom surrounding it...

PREVIOUSLY: Edwards suspended

Historical Perspective

The News-Sentinel's Jennifer Boen provides a helpful timeline tracking the Fort Wayne State Developmental Center, which will close by June 30, 2007.

TIMELINE: 1886 - Present

Conflicting Reports

Dan Stockman reports:

Fort Wayne City Councilman Don Schmidt made a phone call to the director of the city’s civil rights agency on behalf of a friend under investigation by the agency, demanded a meeting with the director and a hand-picked commissioner, then showed up at the office and berated the staff when the meeting was canceled.

People who witnessed the exchange say Schmidt was using his clout to influence a discrimination case; Schmidt said that he was seeking information on behalf of a constituent and that the debate shows the city agency has a long way to go in how it treats people.

Staff members at the Metropolitan Human Relations Commission who witnessed the Oct. 18 altercation said Schmidt demanded to see Metro’s Executive Director Gerald Foday, and when told he was unavailable, began shouting and intimidating employees. Metro investigates discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation and education, looking into cases of bias based on sex, race, religion, handicap, ancestry, national origin, place of birth and sexual orientation.

Metro investigator Larry Geans said Schmidt, R-2nd, could be heard shouting from down the hallway. “It was embarrassing,” Geans said. “I had clients trying to hand in intake papers, and he wouldn’t move out of the way.”

The altercation was so loud and sustained that some staff members considered calling security.

Schmidt admits he was angry, but said it was because of the way he was being brushed off.

“I was hot. I will admit I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Schmidt said Monday. “They wouldn’t give (Foday) a note, wouldn’t go talk to him, nothing.”

Layoffs? Nevermind

The Associated Press picks up Arundhati Parmar's report in Sunday's JG that a Dana spokesman "misspoke" when he said the company's Churubusco plant would be closing.

From the AP report:

A Dana Corp. spokesman who stunned workers by stating that the auto parts maker's Churubusco plant would be sold made an error because there are no such plans, company officials said.

Todd Romain, a Dana spokesman in Toledo, Ohio, said Friday that the plant, located about 10 miles northwest of Fort Wayne, was "marked for divestiture."

His comments came a day after Dana, which has been battling a slowdown in the domestic automotive industry, announced plans to cut its salaried work force by 5 percent, close two plants and sell parts of its business as part of a restructuring.

But in an e-mail sent Saturday to the Journal-Gazette of Fort Wayne, Romain took responsibility for the erroneous information about the plant, which employs about 170 hourly and salaried workers who package and distribute gaskets and sealing products.