Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 April 2002 — Page 2

PAGE A2

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, APRIL 12,2002

BRIEFS Continued from A1

Circle gets spring makeover Sixty-three trees on Monument Circle will sparkle even brighter this year as the current twinkle lights are replaced with new strands this month. Indianapolis Downtown Inc. (IDI) has partnered with Barth Electric, Miller-Eads Co., Long Electric and ERMCO Electrical contractors and engineers (all NECA/Quality Connection members) to get the job done. This lighting project is an example of many successful public/ private partnerships initiated by IDI. Each electric company donates their labor and equipment to replace the tree lights on one quadrant of Monument Circle. The lights are purchased by IDI and the city maintains the lights throughout the year. Last minute tax ideas Many of us will be thinking taxes this week as approximately 1.2 million Hoosiers scramble to finish their federal income tax returns. Four ideas for tax stories include: • Can’t make the April 15 filing deadline? Get four extra months to file. You don’t need a form, just a phone or a computer and to ask the IRS for an extension. Historically, 182,000 Hoosiers file for an extension. • Waited until the last minute and now you need tax forms or answers? Tax help is available until the last minute. Some IRS services are available 24 hours a day. • If tax day is also “pay” day, IRS offers three payment options — check, charge or debit transfer. If you owe but can’t pay, check out the IRS Web site and see if you qualify for an installment agreement. • IRS urges caution with the new Rate Reduction Credit line on the tax form. This line is used

if taxpayers did not receive last summer’s Advance Payment in the maximum amount for their filing status. Children’s Bureau receives grants for new location Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis Inc. has received several grants to assist in the building of the new Family Place at the corner of East 38th and Temple. The grants were awarded by Indianapolis Foundation in the amount of $200,000; Bank One in the amount of $10,000; Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the amount of $ 10,000; Rotary Club of Indiana in the amount of $5,000, and the Moore Foundation in the amount of $1,000. The current Family Place houses the agency’s home-based counseling, adoption and teen pregnancy programs. The new Family Place will be an innovative center for adoption and family services. New voter ID cards New Voter Identification Cards will be issued to every registered voter in the county, said Voters Registration Board member Sherry M. Beck. The cards reflect new congressional districts and, in many cases, new House and Senate districts for the Indiana General Assembly. Each card also tells the voter where to vote. “Many polling places have changed,” Beck said, “and we want to make sure everyone knows where to cast his or her ballot.” The postcards will be postmarked from Buffalo, N. Y. Beck added, because that is where the vendor preparing the cards is located. Any voter who does not receive the card by May 1. should call the Marion County Board of Voters Registration at (317) 3275040. i

Community groups get tobacco prevention funding

Special to The Recorder Future Choices Inc. of Muncie will receive $41,400 this year from Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation to reduce tobacco’s toll on Hoosiers, especially in minority communities,, where tobacco-related health disparities are prevalent. Each lead agency manages multiple area partners within its county. ITPC, which is funded by a portion of dollars from the master settlement agreement with the tobacco industry, is sending more than $2.5 million in grants to fund community based programs, especially in the 29 counties that represent 95 percentof Indiana’s minority populations (2000Census Report). A lead organization for each of Indiana’s 92 counties coordinates local-level partnerships to support prevention and cessation programs in its local community. These community grants are an integral part

of ITPC ’ s comprehensive programming to prevent youth from starting to smoke and helping adults quit. Grants will be awarded over two years, with $41,400 going to Future Choices Inc. during the first year. “We know that people at the local level can provide solutions that will help their neighbors quit smoking and prevent them from starting,” ITPC Executive Director Karla Sneegas said. “We’ve focused on sending dollars to community programs that can directly impact people’s struggle with tobacco addiction and educate them on tobacco’s toll on Hoosier health.” Each grant award was based on the community group's plan to address four intervention areas: • Build strong community-based partnerships including diverse partnerships. • Protect Hoosiers from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. • Reduce youth initiation and access to to-

bacco. • Promote and use cessation resources. ITPC follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs recommendations by supporting community programs to reduce tobacco use. Effective community programs involve people in their homes, work sites, schools, places of worship and entertainment, civic organizations and other public places. Indiana ranks fourth among states for smoking. This statistic is the reason ITPC’s programming is designed to reach a wide audience of Hoosiers. A statewide media campaign is supported by grassroots initiatives that will educate minority Hoosiers about the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke, reduce access to tobacco by minority youth and promote cessation resources available in the community.

ABANDONED Continued from A1

tion Center (MAC) in reporting abandoned vehicles. By state law, a vehicle is defined as "abandoned" and may be removed from private property without the owner’s consent if it is at least three model years old, is mechanically inoperable and is left on private property continuously for more than 20 days in a location visible from public property. The city and MCHD had been using different statutory definitions of junk, inoperable and abandoned vehicles. By using only health and zoning codes, achieving compliance was difficult because only courts could impose significant fines or order cars removed from private property. Violations could persist for months — even years — if the case was challenged in court. Combining health and zoning codes with the state law provides a more effective remedy for local enforcement agencies, Mayor Peterson said. Under the new approach, zoning and health inspectors will send a towing referral to the MAC 18 days after their initial inspection — if the vehicle meets the definition of the state statute. City contractor. Last Chance towing, will then “red tag" the vehicle three days later and remove it from the property after 72

hours. “I'm hopeful this new approach will encourage violators to voluntarily come into compliance, without the forced removal of abandoned vehicles,” Peterson said. About two months ago, the city jumpstarted a pilot program using the new approach, and results have been positive. Six zoning inspectors in portions of Washington, Center, Perry and Lawrence townships, have filed 143 abandoned vehicle cases. Of those, 82 violators voluntarily came into compliance without forcing the city to remove the vehicles from their property, and 26 vehicles have been towed. On average, it took 25 days from the time when the case was initiated for the vehicle to be removed. As part of the new approach, the city recently amended the towing contract with Last Chance allowing their workers to enter private property and remove vehicles. Prior to the change, a court order had to be obtained for Last Chance personnel to enter private property. Also, residents may now file an affidavit with the city providing information on how long a vehicle has remained on private property unmoved, helping to expedite its removal if it qualifies under the state statute.

Florida minister says his father killed Dr. King (Special to the NNPA) — Ronald Denton Wilson, a minister in Jacksonville, Fla., alleges that his father, Henry Clay Wilson, murdered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Wilson, 61, believes his father and two men, whose identities were not revealed, received $100,000 cash from the Ku Klux Klan to carry out orders to kill King, believing he was a communist. Henry Clay Wilson died in 1990 at age 68, “I’m a minister and I wanted to clear my conscience,” Denton said. James Earl Ray, admitted to King’s murder in 1968, was convicted in 1969 and received a 99-year prison sentence. Ray later denied that he shot King and spent the rest of his life in prison, where he died of liver disease in 1998. John Campbell, an assistant prosecutor that handled Ray’s attempts to appeal his conviction after recanting his guilty plea, said he has never heard of Henry Clay Wilson. “James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968 at 6:01 p.m.,” Campbell told reporters. A spokesman for the FBI in Jacksonville said the agency has opened a preliminary inquiry into Wilson’s allegations. “We take statements like this seriously,” FBI agent and spokesman Ron Grenier told the Gainesville Sun, adding that the inquiry is not an official investigation. Family members in recent years have said they did not believe Ray killed Dr. King. A spokesperson for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said Martin Luther King III, executive director of the organization his father founded, had no comment.

mar

h *r-

Andrea Morehead & John Stehr Late news in central Indiana has a new face: Andrea Morehead joins John Stehr forthe Nightbeat, Weeknights at 11pm on Channel 13.

Eyewitness d*

NEWS

Coveraue You Can Count On