The Republic from Columbus, Indiana • Page 3

Local The Republic, Columbus, Ind, Saturday, June 22, 2013 A3 Passenger ejected, dies from injuries "We encourage everyone to buckle up because seat belts do save lives." Bartholomew County Deputy Sheriff Major Todd Noblitt On the importance of wearing seat belts By KirkJohannesen johannesentherepublic.com A Columbus man has died from injuries sustained in a one-vehicle crash on State Road 46. Lefty Rivera-Morales, 20, 817 Pence was ejected from an SUV in which he was a front-seat passenger Thursday night. He was transported by Lifeline helicopter to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was pronounced dead, Bartholomew County Deputy Sheriff Maj. Todd Noblitt said. Deputies responded to a report of a personal-injury accident at 7:03 p.m.

on State Road 46 in the area of County Road 400N, in eastern Bartholomew County. The driver of the Ford Escape, Jared D. Johnson, 18, 1020 Driftwood Columbus, was traveling west on State Road 46 when he became distracted when looking at his iPod, Noblitt said. The vehicle began to veer off the north side of the roadway. Johnson overcorrected, causing the vehicle to skid and roll over three times before coming to rest on the south side of the roadway, Noblitt said.

Johnson, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital. Two backseat passengers, who also were wearing seat belts, were not injured, Noblitt said. "We encourage everyone to buckle up because seat belts do save lives, and remind drivers that distractions should be minimized when driving a vehicle," Noblitt said. 0 LEFTY RIVERA-MORALES STABBING Fired workers claim unjust terminations N.C., located just southeast of Raleigh. Local authorities were notified that Hernandez, who had been living in a small Johnston County town called Four Acres, had been taken into custody on charges of driving while intoxicated and driving without a license, Noblitt said.

For the past several years, Hernandez has been known to use his brother's name, To-mas Gonzales, as an alias, Noblitt said. Johnston County authorities agreed to a request from Bartholomew County Sheriff Mark Gorbett to hold Hernandez until his extradition to Indiana could be arranged, Noblitt said. He was brought back to Columbus this week and booked into the Bartholomew County Jail Thursday, Noblitt said. Late Thursday, the criminal case was transferred from Superior Court 1 to Circuit Court, where it will be handled by Judge Stephen Hei-mann. No initial hearing date has been set yet.

struck her and threatened her with a knife, according to the affidavit. An arrest warrant was immediately issued by then-Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge Chris Monroe, who set a bond of $1 million that remains valid. However, for the next six years, it appeared the suspect had disappeared without a trace. But on May 18, Bartholomew County investigators heard from sheriff's deputies in Johnston County, Welcome Our New Physician Continued from Page A1 Hernandez forced his way inside, according to the court document. The following events then took place, according to witness testimony stated in the affidavit by Bartholomew County Sheriff's Detective Sgt.

Doug Roberts. After entering the home, Prospero Hernandez immediately went to a rear bedroom where his wife was sleeping, grabbed her by the hair and began dragging her toward the front room. As Lisa Hernandez struggled to get away, her husband spotted a 9-inch knife in the kitchen area, grabbed it and said to his wife that "he wasn't going to play games with her and if she didn't go with him, he was going to kill her," Silva was quoted as saying. During the assault, Prospero Hernandez struck his wife several times with his fist, Silva said. As Lisa Hernandez tried to get away, her husband poked her with the knife several times.

After being stabbed in the right breast, Lisa Hernandez attempted to grab the telephone to call 911. That's when Prospero Hernandez threw her on the floor and caused a deep stab wound in her left arm pit. The beating continued until the husband noticed that a sheriff's deputy, summoned by a neighbor, was outside. After placing the knife back in the kitchen, Prospero Hernandez walked outside as Deputy Ray Sims began walking toward the home. A few seconds after Sims asked the suspect what was going on, the deputy heard Lisa Hernandez scream inside the home.

Prospero Hernandez then immediately began running, despite Sims' commands to stop. While Sims first tended to Lisa Hernandez's wounds, he called in other officers and police dogs. Although deputies searched the area extensively in an effort to track down the suspect, the dogs were never able to pick up Prospero Hernandez's trail. Lisa Hernandez was treated at the emergency room at Columbus Regional Hospital and released the same day. But she told Roberts that her husband had previously DeguaLle Haile, MD We are pLeased to welcome DeguaLle Haile, MD, 0BGYN to our active medical staff.

Remediation steps Steps the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission takes to resolve any charges: Investigate to determine if a violation occurred. Can include interviews with employee and employer, and request for documents. If the investigation determines no violation has occurred, the employee receives from the EEOC a notice of a right to sue, permitting them to file a civil lawsuit. If the investigation determines a violation has occurred, voluntary remediation is offered to both parties to resolve the problem. If remediation doesn't fix the problem, the EEOC can pursue a lawsuit against the employer.

Source: Christine Nazer, EEOC spokeswoman information, according to the commission's website. Barnes said he would not confirm whether community corrections had received any notifications from the EEOC because all EEOC charges are confidential. The EEOC wouldn't confirm if it was helping Jordan and Brown. Specifics about alleged charges or investigations are confidential until a lawsuit is filed by the commission, said Christine Nazer, spokeswoman for the EEOC. However, the process for determining if violations by an employer occurred and resolving a case can take about eight months, Nazer said.

The EEOC first tries to determine if a violation occurred and then offers a voluntary mediation process for the employee and employer to resolve the case. A lawsuit by the EEOC against the employer is a possible, later step, but one that is infrequent, Nazer said. In fiscal year 2012, of about 100,000 charges filed with the EEOC only 122 a little more than 1 percent resulted in a lawsuit against an employer, she said. Jordan said all he wants from mediation is to know why he was fired and a chance to fix any problem. Dr.

Haile graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and completed his residency at Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospital in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Haile has joined 0BGYN Associates, 3813 N. National Road, Columbus, He can be contacted at his office at 181 2 372-1581. By KirkJohannesen johannesentherepublic.com Two former community corrections employees who were fired earlier this month claim they were wrongfully terminated.

John C. Jordan and Hollie Brown said they were not given reasons for their dismissals. They held hand-made signs Thursday while picketing outside the Bartholomew County Community Corrections building at 540 First Columbus. By not providing a reason for their firings, they said the county agency violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. State law doesn't require providing a specific reason for termination, said Brad Barnes, director of Bartholomew County Court Services, the umbrella organization for community corrections.

Indiana is considered an "at-will" state, meaning employees can be terminated without advance notice and without a reason provided. Employment matters are confidential, Barnes said. Jordan and Brown said they had been residential officers for community corrections, which oversees work-release and home-detention programs, among other alternatives to imprisonment. Brown was employed a little more than three years, Jordan a little more than two, Barnes said. Jordan was fired June 5 and Brown on June 11.

They offered Thursday to passersby the opportunity to sign a petition asking for them to be reinstated to their jobs. Because Jordan and Brown want to know the reasons they were fired, they said they have sought the help of the Indianapolis district office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC enforces federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic JOBS Continued from Page A1 expansions of manufacturers such as Sunright America, which recently announced it would add another 100 employees by the end of 2016. Bartholomew County employed 39,056 in May, only nine jobs below the post-recession peak but still about 1,000 below the all-time record from July 1998. The county's labor force, at 41,679, was near a record, and expanded by 428, up 1 percent.

Only Indianapolis and Lafayette posted higher labor force growth rates. Economists generally say that a growing labor force points to a healthy economy because it indicates that people are moving to the area with high hopes of employment. The number of job seekers in May was 2,623, up 38 from a year earlier, and nearly twice as many as before the recession. To access our medical staff directory, visit www.crh.org and click on "Find a 1 1 l. snrs If i fv 1 1 Employment changes The following numbers show employment in Bartholomew County and other areas in May, with percent changed from a year earlier: Bartholomew.

...39,056 1 Brown 7,089 1.9 Decatur 11,835 Jackson 19,558 -1 Jennings 12,178 Johnson 69,631 1.9 Shelby 21,470 1.9 Indiana 2.9 million U.S 144 million 1.2 Source: Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Since October 2008, the number of people who are reported unemployed has exceeded 2,000 though it has declined by about one third since the height of the recession. VyH iltmBbI VB jH Tj'jFfjrf Above Ground Pool Kit Above Ground Caeledonia A 24' Round Eclipse Series 24' Round Resin-Hybrid: includes wide mouth skimmer, Includes Pump Filter A-frame ladder, Hayward Pump Filter, Maintenance Kit, flJH ttKrM TTtTTTH Visit us online for all the latest news therepublic.com.