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www.indianagazette.com Vol. 111 â No. 332
24 pages â 2 sections
July 2015
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Whoâs in the news There is good news today in The Indiana Gazette about these area people: Martin Brodrick, Elizabeth Bruner, Anne Minich, Nancy Matko, Cindy Hogue, Todd Fulton.
75 cents
By CHAUNCEY ROSS chauncey@indianagazette.net
For Ed Parks, the day he was invited to the prestigious Operalia singing competition in London is more memorable than the day he pocketed a $10,000 prize in the contest. Parks, the Indiana-raised opera singer, with the Metropolitan Opera of New York and Carnegie Hall on his credit list, took third place in the international competition held last weekend in London.
A renowned baritone, Parks was the top American in the 23rd annual Operalia, a program founded by PlĂĄcido Domingo. Two tenors, Ioan Hotea, of Romania, and Darren Pene Pati, of New Zealand, placed first and second in the menâs division, making Parks, in the eyes of many, the best baritone. In. The. World. Parks would be the first to put some perspective on that thinking. âItâs the best in the world under (age) 32. And thereâs a
lot that goes into it,â Parks said. âAnd there are a lot of singers that probably couldnât even audition because of having summer programs or summer festival work. âBut of the singers that I heard â and I didnât hear everybody through all the rounds â these are very high-quality singers.â Domingo started the program in 1993 as a vehicle for launching careers and bringing recognition to the worldâs most promising young opera singers.
Hundreds apply for the chance each year: men and women, from bass to soprano, from 18 to 32 years of age. This year, according to organizers, more than 1,000 singers put in entries. Parks, 31, was one of the most eager candidates. It was his final year of eligibility and his chance to overcome last yearâs disappointment. âI applied last year but I didnât make it past the first video submissions,â he said. âThe videos werenât very good, just not up to date or Continued on Page 12
FIRING UP THE CROWD
PLUTO REPORT: The mass of molecules in Plutoâs atmosphere appears to have fallen by half in just two years, a driving motivation for the rush to send the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto./Page 5 STRIKES PERSIST: Turkey continued its airstrikes today, hitting camps belonging to Kurdish militants in northern Iraq and more Islamic State group positions in Syria, authorities said./Page 7
FIVE INDICTED: Federal authorities said Friday that five men sold heroin that caused the overdose deaths of two men and one woman in western Pennsylvania earlier this year./Page 11 NOT THIS TIME: Washingtonâs Max Scherzer, who pitched a no-hitter the last time he faced the Pirates, was tagged for three home runs in the Bucsâ victory Friday night./Page 13
Weather Tonight
66°
Tomorrow
82°
Partly cloudy tonight. Shower/t-storm tomorrow. See Page 2.
Deaths Obituaries on Page 4 PUSHNIK, Mildred I. âSis,â 95, Indiana, formerly of Homer City
Index Classifieds ...............22-24 Comics/TV....................19 Dear Abby .....................21 Entertainment..............18 Family ...........................20 Lottery.............................2 Religion .......................8, 9 Sports.......................13-17 Today in History...........21 Viewpoint .......................6
ED PARKS
Wolf: Services funding may stall
Inside
BREAKTHROUGH DRUG: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first of a new class of drug that can sharply lower cholesterol levels but is expected to cost about $14,600 a year./Page 10
PA P A Bar #86865 #
Baritone Parks earns top spot in Operalia
COURT WIN: A federal judge threw out provisions in Pennsylvania law on Friday that he said make it unconstitutionally difficult for independent or minor political party candidates to get onto ballots./Page 3
DEAL APPROVED: AT&T has become the biggest traditional TV provider in the U.S. with its $48.5 billion purchase of DirecTV, and says it will launch new TV, Internet and mobile phone bundles in the coming weeks./Page 7
705 Gompers Avenue, Avenue, Suite Suite 206, Indiana
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
JESSICA UPTEGRAPH/Gazette
SHELLY REEFER, of the Plumville Belles drill team, twirled a fire baton Friday during a parade at the annual Shannock Valley Community Festival at Shannock Valley Park along Route 85 in Rural Valley. The senior squad took first place. Shelly, 16, is the daughter of Scott Reefer and Annette Frantz, of Indiana. The festival continues today.
Survivor describes scene of movie theater shooting By REBECCA SANTANA and CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press
LAFAYETTE, La. â Emily Mann and her friend had come into the theater a bit late for the evening showing of âTrainwreckâ so they quietly found seats near the top of the small theater. The 21-year-old didnât notice the man just a few seats down until 20 minutes into the movie when he got up and began firing into the crowd. âYou hear one loud shot and youâre sure thatâs not what it is because it would never be that. And then you hear another and another and another and you realize that those arenât just lights and sounds,â said Mann, speaking to The Associated Press about the brutal killing in a Lafayette movie theater Thursday evening.
John Russell Houser, 59, stood proached, reloading and firing up without a word and started into the crowd before killing himshooting, leaving a horrific scene self with a single shot inside the of blood, bullet holes, spent shell theater, police said. casings, and personal posâThis is such a sensesessions like purses and less, tragic action,â wallets in a movie theater Lafayette Police Chief Jim that was supposed to be a Craft said. âWhy would refuge from the stress of you come here and do daily life. something like this?â Amid the tragedy, a tale Investigators recovered of heroism emerged: High Houserâs journals, were school English teacher Ali studying his online postMartin, suffering from a ings and trying to recongunshot to the kneecap, struct his movements to made her way to a fire JOHN RUSSELL identify a motive and proalarm and pulled it. Police vide what Louisiana State HOUSER say she saved lives, alerting Police. Col. Michael Edsome 300 people in the giant mul- monson called âsome closureâ for tiplex that something wasnât right. the victimsâ families. Police say Houser then tried to Craft said Houser bought the blend into the crowd heading out- weapon legally at a pawnshop in side as the alarm blared. But he Phenix City, Ala., last year, and turned back as police officers apContinued on Page 12
Clinton emails said to have classified data By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and MATT APUZZO New York Times News Service
WASHINGTON â Government investigators said Friday that they had discovered classified information on the private email account that Hillary Rodham Clinton used while secretary of state, stating unequivocally that those secrets never should have been stored outside of secure government computer systems. Clinton has said for months that she kept no classified information on the private server that she set up in her house so she would not have to carry both a personal phone and a work phone. Her campaign said Friday that any government secrets found on the server
had been classified after the fact. But the inspectors general of the State Department and the nationâs intelligence agencies said the information they found was classified when it was sent and remains so now. Information is considered classified if its disclosure would likely harm national security, and such information can be sent or stored only on computer networks with special safeguards. âThis classified information never should have been transmitted via an unclassified personal system,â Steve A. Linick, the State Department inspector general, said in a statement signed by him and I. Charles McCullough III, the inspector general for the intelligence community.
HARRISBURG â Gov. Tom Wolf acknowledged Friday that nonprofit social services providers may have to borrow money during the state budget stalemate, but he said they should share his broader goal of doing the right thing for Pennsylvania. Spending on social services is not a major point of contention between the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature in their three-week-old stalemate. However, billions of dollars that would otherwise flow to counties and nonprofit groups that provide a range of social services, including child protective services and addiction and mental health counseling, are expected to be held up in a wider dispute over Wolfâs priorities. Wolf said he understands the concern over social services agencies having to foot the bill to borrow money while they wait for the state to reimburse them. âApparently, if they are forced to borrow money, the cost is not reimbursable in many cases by the state, so that is something that would not be good,â he said in an interview on KQV-AM radio in Pittsburgh. Wolf said he is doing everything he can to find ways to protect social services agencies from being harmed by a longer impasse, although he did not specify what, if anything, his administration is doing or could do. âI want to make sure that the disruption is as little as possible, so Iâll continue to work on that,â Wolf said. âBut ... in the long run, all of us, including the social services agencies, have a vested interest in making sure we do the right thing for Pennsylvania and thatâs what Iâm focused on.â Negotiations between Wolf and Republican lawmakers were at a standstill Friday. County and social service agency officials say a continuing impasse is sure to impact their services, in particular by creating service delays and longer waiting lists. âThese are people who are in crisis who are not getting services,â said Samantha Balbier, executive director of the Greater Continued on Page 12
âBreaking Amishâ star pleads guilty By The Indiana Gazette
HILLARY CLINTON ... speaking Friday The findings by the two inspectors general raise new questions about Clintonâs use of her personal email at the State Department, a practice that since March has been criticized by Clintonâs Republican adversaries as well as advocates of open government, and has made some Democrats uneasy. Voters, however, do not appear Continued on Page 12
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away. Much of the public court documents were âBreaking Amishâ star Jer- redacted. emiah Raber pleaded guilty Police said they followed Wednesday to charges of the vehicle to a Mansfield disorderly conduct Avenue driveway and public drunkand found Raber enness for cursing outside of the vehiat a state trooper cle and screaming at the driver who after a traffic stop had just given on May 23. Raber a ride home Raber, 35, of from Boomerangs Homer City, was asBar along Philadelsessed $789.50 in phia Street in Indifines after the plea ana. in front Magisterial JEREMIAH âBreaking Amishâ District Judge Susan premiered its fourth Steffee. RABER season in May. The According to court documents, Raber was in a TLC show follows former vehicle that was pulled over Amish and Mennonite men in White Township at 2:40 and women as they leave a.m. After the stop, Raber their native communities called the trooper an exple- and experience the wider tive as the car was pulling world. Rustic Lodge 70th Anniversary And United Way Benefit Sunday, Aug. 9. www.rusticlodge.net
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