The Daily Journal from Franklin, Indiana • Page 1

State law says the White River Township Board should determine every year how much to spend on poor relief, cemetery maintenance and other services. But the board last voted on a budget in 2008. The township board never approved a budget for this year after White River Township Trustee Jay Marks declined to submit one for review. Under state law, the main responsibility is to set an annual budget that outlines how much will be spent on burial assistance, maintenance, utilities and other costs. If no budget is submitted, the state approves the budget from the year before, Indiana Department of Local Government Finance spokeswoman Mary Jane Michalak said.

That happens infrequently, she said. Marks said he did not submit a new budget because the township already had all the funds it would need and a frozen budget would decrease the property tax rate because the tax revenues were expected to decline again. He said felt he could not agree with the board on a new budget proposal. The board and trustee have clashed recently over several issues, such as installing storm warning sirens, getting the board its own attorney and renewing funding for poor relief. FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 75 cents Johnson County, Indiana dailyjournal.net DAILY JOURNAL Police, TV Main switchboard 736-7101 Delivery: 736-2777, (888) 736-7101 Advertising: 736-2700 News tips: 736-2712 CALL US INDEX Franklin Naomi L.

Hasch, 76 Greenwood James Michael Shockley, 62 Harry S. Skaggs 73 Morgantown Edgar E. Graves, 83 Elsewhere Florence E. Medcalf, 92 Keith Pitman Nay, 37 Mary Frances Thurston, 97 WEATHER Today Skies: Mostly sunny Temps: High 68; low 38 MAP, PAGE A8 DEATHS FLYING START Woods among several players under par. GOLF THE MASTERS B1 SUPER MESSAGE Retired player talks about serving youth, community.

B1 Coupon queens offer tips to consumers. A6 FREE TIME Spread the word Want to have your own events added to our weekly Free Time listing? The best way to get your event publicized is to get the information to us at least three weeks in advance. Make sure to include all pertinent information and a phone number in case we have any questions. Send photographs if possible. E-mail the information to or mail it to Free Time, Daily Journal, P.O.

Box 699, Franklin, IN 46131. DAILY JOURNAL, JOHNSON COUNTY, IND. THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010 B3 THERE IS SOMETHING TO DO. SAVE THIS SECTION, PICK AN ACTIVITY, HAVE A BLAST. BINGO! BINGO NIGHT AT THE LIBRARY, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

April 1, Edinburgh library, 11 9 W. Main Cross Edinburgh, free, for kindergarten through Grade 5, prizes, registration, Sheila Carnes, (812) 526-5487 PHOTOGRAPHY FAMILY AS AN ART FORM PHOTO GRAPHY EXHIBIT, through April 30, Johnson County Museum of History, 135 N. Main Frank lin, free CHEAP THRILLS Free Time A GUIDE TO ACTIVITIES FOR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, FUN CHOO-CHOO Check out trains at swap meet EASTER FUN The South Indy Train Show and Swap Meet will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 3 on the southside.

Trains, books, DVDs, toys and accessories will be available for viewing and purchase. The show will demonstrate PacificandEasternoperatinglay- See for yourself Want more news? Visit the Web Extra section of dailyjournal.net for valuable stories, information and documents we fit in the paper. Recent additions include documents in the fight over land in the Center Grove area and proposed cuts to public school budgets. Get the early edition For a sneak preview of what stories reporters are working on, sign up for the Daily Journal e-mail news update. The daily e-mail keeps you up-to-date about what is going on in Franklin, the Center Grove area, Greenwood and central Indiana.

We will alert you to breaking news, tell you about stories we are planning and let you in on what is going on in the newsroom. You can subscribe by sending an e-mail to dailyjournal.net. Put in the subject line. WEB EXTRAS Ex-pastor gets 10 years Man sentenced for molesting A Franklin man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for molesting an 8-year-old girl. Eddie V.

Salinas, 31, 941 Ravine Drive, pleaded guilty earlier this spring to three felony counts of child molesting. He was sentenced by Johnson Circuit Judge Mark Loyd to 40 years, 30 years to be served at the Department of Correction and the remaining 10 on probation. ARAH ICHALOS DAILY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Plea deal in case involving sex with 15-year-old Daniel Moore has been sentenced to 10 years for child solicitation and sexual misconduct with a minor. A former pastor has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for having a sexual relationship with a teenage member of his church. Daniel Moore, 50, was sentenced Thursday as part of a plea agreement with the Johnson County Office.

Last month, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of child solicitation and sexual misconduct with a minor. Johnson Circuit Judge Mark Loyd accepted the sentencing agreement reached by the office and Moore, which also requires Moore to register as a sex offender upon his release from the Indiana Department of Correction. Twenty years in prison is the maximum sentence Moore could have received for his highest level felony, but a sentence of 10 years is appropriate because he has no prior criminal history, deputy prosecutor Doug Cummins said. The girl Moore had a relationship with will need years to recover, as will her family, the mother told the court Thursday. Last year, she asked Moore to offer her 15-year- old daughter guidance to help improve the relationship with her family and God.

As longtime members of New Whiteland Baptist Church, where Moore was the pastor, the family trusted him to counsel her, the mother said. ARAH ICHALOS DAILY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER alcohol ban may be eased Officials rethink rules to assist major festivals Greenwood is looking at relaxing its ban on alcohol in city parks for an annual arts festival and other large special events. Just expect to be able to bring a cooler of beer to a family reunion at a park shelter. The city wants to allow alcohol in parks for events such as WAMM Fest, a celebration of local wine, art, music and micro- brews that a civic club put on last year. Festival organizers want to make it an annual event, so Greenwood has to change its total prohibition on alcohol in parks, Mayor Charles Henderson said.

Greenwood also hopes to encourage more community festivals that could bring people together and improve the quality of life in the city, he said. The change in the rules would allow other groups or people to put on festivals that could draw bigger crowds if wine or beer were sold, he said. Even with the change, no one will be able to bring, drink, have or sell any alcohol at city parks unless at a special event where the mayor said alcohol could be sold. The rule change cover family events, workplace outings or other large social gatherings at city parks, city attorney Shawna Koons said. Those are typical uses for shelter house rentals, and the exception would apply only to special events, she said.

The city council will consider the issue at its next two meetings. Park board members felt the city council should change the policy, since the park board legislate, president Mike Sawa said. Under the proposed rule, anyone staging a special event would have to get permission from the park board to use a city park on a particular date and then ask the mayor for approval to sell alcohol. White River Township operating on deja vu budget BY THE NUMBERS The White River Township trustee submitted last budget to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, which trimmed it by about 10 percent. The township board had an unapproved budget that would have cut spending on operations and capital expenses.

$365,581 Budget the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance set for the township this year $265,780 Budget the township board drafted $404,230 Budget the trustee sub- mitted to the state and that the board approved for 2009 $53,230 Salaries and benefits in the submitted budget $3,000 Supplies in the submitted budget $223,000 Operational expenses, cemetery maintenance, utilities, professional services in the submitted budget $50,000 Capital expenses such as land and buildings in the submitted budget ast year the talk of Center Grove was construction. About $142 million in building projects were moving forward, and the superintendent was pushing a new curriculum that divided the high school into small learning communities. The finances were stable enough to avoid serious staffing cuts, and teachers were set to get raises. Now the multimillion-dollar construction plan has been shelved, small learning communities are on hold, the superintendent is gone, and teachers are facing possible layoffs. And instead of building a new elementary school, the district is closing a school, West Grove, to save money.

climate has really school board member John Steed said. now kind of in a survival The district is faced with funding shortfalls and budget cuts from the state, uneven enrollments and the possibility of further state funding cuts later this year. CHANGING TIMES CENTER GROVE TO-DO LIST Budget cuts The school board has outlined $3.6 million in cuts to the $43 million general fund budget, used for operating expenses such as salaries, insurance and utilities. Board members need to decide which cuts will take effect before the start of next school year. Referendum The board plans to have a question on the ballot during general elections in November to ask voters to approve a $3.16 million property tax increase.

Part of the money would be to avoid $1.5 million in budget cuts. The rest of the money would offset future state funding cuts, fund technology and pay for new staff such as teachers, instructional assistants and clerical workers. Technology upgrade Board members had borrowed $1.9 million to renovate the English wing of the high school to make room for a small learning community called New Tech. The board has since postponed plans for New Tech. Board members need to decide whether to spend the money to renovate the English wing anyway, or to spend the money on something else instead, such as technology upgrades.

The money has to be spent on construction or technology. Redistricting The school board plans to redraw boundaries that determine which elementary school and middle school Center Grove students attend. The goal is to have a plan approved by the end of this school year to take effect in the fall. Long-range construction and maintenance plan The current 20-year plan for building construction and maintenance is outdated and needs to be updated. A committee formed to update the plan, but the committee is on hold and continue its work until fall at the earliest.

New superintendent The board does not plan to hire a new superintendent until next year, after elections. Three of the five school board seats are on the November ballot, but incumbents have said they do not plan to run for re-election, meaning three new members will join the board. The board wants to wait until new members are seated before making a hiring decision. ASON ICHAEL HITE DAILY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Tumultuous year forcing adjustments (SEE BAN PAGE A2) (SEE CHANGES BACK PAGE) OSEPH S. ETE DAILY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER OSEPH S.

ETE DAILY JOURNAL STAFF WRITER (SEE BUDGET PAGE A2) (SEE EX-PASTOR PAGE A2) (SEE MOLESTING PAGE A2) DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTOS Clockwise starting at top: West Grove Elementary will close in order to save money, while last plan had the district building a new elementary school; residents will vote on a referendum that school board officials say is necessary to offset budget cuts and keep the district functioning; Emmett Lippe is filling in as superintendent until next year, when the board will make a hiring decision; the 20-year plan is no longer applicable, but the committee formed to update the plan is on hold until at least the fall; and money borrowed for the New Tech project at the Center Grove High School likely will be redirected. Center Grove school priorities have shifted over the past year.