The Indiana Gazette, Sept. 23, 2015

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Indiana Gazette

The

www.indianagazette.com Vol. 112 — No. 32

24 pages — 2 sections

September 2015

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Who’s in the news There is good news today in The Indiana Gazette about these area people: Kristin Bell, Doris Daskivich, Jesse Sam, BA Harrington, Barry Toldi Jr.

Inside QUICK SESSION: State lawmakers held an unconventional House session Tuesday that lasted just minutes, was not broadcast as usual and did not include a roll call./Page 3 VA ACCUSATIONS: The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to retaliate against whistleblowers despite repeated pledges to stop punishing those who speak up, employees say./Page 4 IN OPPOSITION: Hillary Clinton broke her longstanding silence over the Keystone XL pipeline, telling voters she opposes the project assailed by environmentalists./Page 7 COPYRIGHT INVALID: A federal judge has found that the song “Happy Birthday To You� is entirely in the public domain./Page 7 HOMELESS IN LA: Los Angeles officials on Tuesday declared a state of emergency on homelessness and proposed $100 million to reduce the number of people living on the streets./Page 8 19252015: Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra died Tuesday at age 90. Page 13

Weather Tonight

Tomorrow

52°

77°

Clear tonight. Sunny; pleasant tomorrow.

See Page 2.

Deaths Obituary on Page 4

Index Classifieds ...............22-24 Comics/TV....................19 Dear Abby .....................10 Entertainment ..............21 Family ...........................20 Lottery.............................2 NASCAR ........................14 Sports.......................13-17 Today in History...........10 Viewpoint .......................6

U.S. welcomes Pope Francis By NANCY BENAC and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Mustering all the pageantry the White House has to offer, President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis to Washington today and credited the pontiff for setting a moral example that is “shaking us out of our complacency� with his reminders to care for the poor and the planet. The pope arrived before an adoring crowd of thousands and a nation that seemingly cannot get enough of the humble pontiff who is rejuvenating American Catholicism while giving heartburn to some of its conservatives. With flags snapping, color guard at attention and a military band’s brassy marches playing, Francis stepped from his modest Fiat onto the South Lawn on a crisp fall morning that felt as optimistic as his own persona. Pope and president stood on a red-carpeted platform bedecked with red, white and blue bunting to stand at attention for the national anthems of the Holy See and the United States. Just before the pope arrived, Obama had tweeted to the Holy Father: “Welcome to the White House, @Pontifex! Your messages of love, hope, and peace have inspired us all.� Obama, joking that his backyard is not typically so crowded, told the pope that the excitement surrounding his visit was a reflection of Francis’ unique qualities, mentioning “your huContinued on Page 12

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POPE FRANCIS stood with President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Malia Obama, right, upon arrival Tuesday at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. SUSAN WALSH/Associated Press

Rabbi, pontiff meet on interfaith exhibit By KAYLA CIOFFO

kcioffo@indianagazette.net

A rabbi who celebrates high holidays at the Beth Israel Synagogue in Indiana had an audience with Pope Francis last week, just before the pope left for his historic trip to Cuba and the United States. Rabbi Abie Ingber, executive director at the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement at

Xavier University in Cincinnati and a visiting rabbi, was at the Vatican to mark the closing of an exhibit that he co-created. The exhibit, “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People,� closed Friday after a brief stay in the Vatican’s Braccio di Carlo Magno Hall. Created by Ingber and two of his colleagues, Dr. James Buchanan and Dr. William Madges, the exhibit spotlights the late pope’s

journey that led him to building a bridge between the Catholic and Jewish faiths. “We had always thought it would be really incredible if somehow the Vatican might bring in this exhibit to tell the story of the now St. John Paul II, and that all came into place this year,“ Ingber said during an interview at the Gazette. About 12,000 people visited Continued on Page 12

RABBI ABIE I. INGBER

Police chase ends in death

Woman’s song goes viral on Facebook

By The Indiana Gazette

BURRELL TOWNSHIP — Investigators reported a Blairsville-area man died early today when he wrecked his car while fleeing from police. Indiana County Coroner

Jerry Overman Jr. reported Ernest Edward McCleary III, 19, was thrown from the vehicle as it overturned into a cornfield along Campbells Mill Road near Pine Lane. Blairsville Borough police had been in pursuit of McCleary’s car, and state police

at Indiana have taken over investigation of the incident. A passenger, identified only as a 15-year-old girl, was sent to Indiana Regional Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries, Continued on Page 12

By ELLEN MATIS

ematis@indianagazette.net

Annie Morgan has been waiting for her big break since she was about 9 years old. The 25-year-old Mahaffey woman started writing her own music and playing the piano more than 15 years ago. She shares her music on her Facebook page, where about 14,000 users have followed her. So, it came as quite a surprise to her when a song she wrote Sept. 14 went viral — with more than 4 million Facebook users playing it. “I wrote a song this past Monday (Sept. 14). I got in front of my piano and played and sang, thinking that I was going to share it with a couple of friends. I woke up the next morning and it had over 40,000 views,� Morgan said. After sharing the video of the song, called “If You Could See Me Fly,� on the Indiana, PA, Flea Market page on the social network, the song blew up — now boasting more than 4 million views and counting. “It all started in Indiana,� she said. “I posted it ... and it

ANNIE MORGAN ... of Mahaffey had over 100 comments.â€? The song was written, she said, from the point of view of a child looking down on her mom from heaven saying “I’m going to see you again.â€? And while Morgan herself has not lost a child, she said that she “came closeâ€? to having a miscarriage at the beginning of her pregnancy with her daughter, Abigail, who’s now 15 months old. “I wrote the song from the perspective of anyone else that’s going through loss,â€? she said. “What if something happened to my daughter? How would I feel? “The lyrics just started coming to me. ‌ As I was thinking about the lyrics, I started to cry and went to the piano.â€? Once she started writing, Continued on Page 5

KAYLA GRUBE/Gazette

STATE POLICE troopers investigated the scene of a fatal accident just after 4 p.m. Tuesday on Route 119 in East Mahoning Township.

Accident claims MC man By The Indiana Gazette

EAST MAHONING TOWNSHIP — A Marion Center man was killed Tuesday afternoon when his speeding pickup truck hit a utility pole along Route 119 and rolled over several times, authorities reported. Anthony Scalise, 29, was ejected from the truck as it hit a ditch and overturned near Willow Run Road, according to reports from state police and the Indiana County coroner’s office.

Troopers at Indiana reported Scalise’s southbound truck crashed a few minutes after 4 p.m. The 911 center dispatched police, paramedics and Marion Center firefighters to the scene at 4:06 p.m., according to the Indiana County Emergency Management Agency website. Coroner Jerry Overman Jr. said investigators learned Scalise was driving to work, and officials believe the truck was traveling at a high speed. Continued on Page 5

State prosecutors consider Kane’s suspension order By MARC LEVY Associated Press

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HARRISBURG — The office of Pennsylvania’s attorney general began Tuesday trying to figure out how to comply with a state Supreme Court order to suspend her law license as it prepares to widen a pornographic email scan-

dal that has already spurred firings and resignations. The court notified Kathleen Kane on Tuesday that her suspension will take effect Oct. 21, creating the unprecedented situation of leaving the state’s top law enforcement official without the ability to act as a lawyer, but still in charge of the 750-

employee office. The office’s senior lawyers were examining which duties she would still be able to perform and which ones she would not, spokesman Chuck Ardo said. The decision Monday by the five high court justices came barely a month after Montgomery County author-

ities charged Kane with perjury, obstruction and other counts for allegedly leaking investigative information to a reporter to embarrass two former state prosecutors and then lying about it. State ethics enforcement lawyers had petitioned the court for the suspension. They argued that Kane, in her

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own grand jury testimony, admitted authorizing the release of information that she should have known was protected by criminal records secrecy laws. That allegation is also central to the criminal case against Kane. Bruce Antkowiak, a former Continued on Page 5

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