The Daily Journal from Franklin, Indiana • Page 5

DAILY JOURNAL, JOHNSON COUNTY, IND. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013 A5 Voletta Jean Beck GREENWOOD Voletta Jean (Eastham) Beck, 89, died Sunday, June 23, 2013, in Indianapolis. She was a resident of Greenwood. Survivors include two daughters, Shirley (Stanley) Hughes of New Whiteland and Sharon Smith of Texas; a brother, Jack Eastham; three grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Chester and Sarah Churchill (Hensley) Eastham; her husband, William John Beck; and four sisters, Irene Temple, Lois Meacham, Bobbi Russell and Patty Harmon.

A funeral service will be conducted at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Jessen Funeral Home, Whiteland Chapel, 729 U.S. 31 North. Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until service time Wednesday at the funeral home.

Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 383 Main Fifth Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851. Information: 535-6880, www. jessenfuneralhome.com Larry A. Bright NEW WHITELAND Larry A.

Bright, 69, passed away Sunday, June 23, 2013, at his home in New Whiteland. Larry was born Feb. 15, 1944, in Elwood to Charles and Eugenia (McDaniel) Bright. He married Gloria Reynolds on July 14, 1962, in Whiteland; they were married for 50 years. He was employed with Edmundson R.V.

Sales in Edinburgh for five years. He retired in 2007. Larry enjoyed being outdoors with nature, playing golf, reading and going to auctions. He loved spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He was a lifelong Green Bay Packers football fan and an enthusiastic Indianapolis Colts football fan.

He is survived by his wife, Gloria Bright of New Whiteland; three children, Michael Bright of Greenwood, Laurie Campbell of Whiteland and Stephanie (Ron) Collins of Nashville; a sister, Lorna Bright of Arizona; a brother, Gordon (Denise) Bright of Kentucky; an uncle, Gary McDaniel of Crawfordsville; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Charles Bright; and a grandson, Tyler Deputy. A celebration of life service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Jessen Funeral Home, Whiteland Chapel, 729 U.S. 31 North.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home. Information: 535-6880, www. jessenfunerahome.com Hazel Pitman Holderman GREENWOOD Hazel (Easter) Pitman Holderman, 93, of Greenwood, passed away Thursday, June 20, 2013. She was born Feb.

8, 1920, in Ravenna (Estill County), the daughter of Everett and Provie (Brinegar) Easter. On April 17, 1977, she married Charles Holderman; and they enjoyed their years together until his death on April 4, 1996. Also preceding her in death was a son, Gordon J. Pitman; a grandson; and 10 siblings. Hazel retired from Dow Chemical Co.

She was a member of Greenwood Christian Church. Well known for her up and spirit, she enjoyed dancing at the local Moose lodge and American Legion. Among her favorite hobbies was fishing on the St. Johns River in Florida. But her real passion was her home of 67 years, with its well-kept lawn, flowers and trees.

She is survived by a son, Gordon J. Pitman of Greenwood; three grandsons, Todd (Stacey) Pitman of Venice, Greg (Christine) Pitman of West Hills, and Dale (Kelly) Pitman of Indianapolis; eight great-grandchildren; and one brother, Harry Easter of Cincinnati. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at Singleton Community Mortuary and Memorial Center, 7602 Madison Indianapolis.

A private family graveside service will be conducted at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Greenwood Christian Church or Greenwood Senior Services, in care of the funeral home. Information: www.singletonmor tuary.com Cody Micheal McDonald WHITELAND Cody Micheal McDonald, 21, of Whiteland, passed away Sunday, June 23, 2013. The son of Craig M. McDonald and Jill D.

Johnson McDonald, Cody was born Sept. 30, 1991, in Beech Grove. Cody worked in construction and was attending Ivy Tech Community College. He was a 2010 graduate of Whiteland Community High School and enjoyed playing basketball and working on cars. Cody is survived by his mother, Jill D.

McDonald of Whiteland; father and stepmother, Craig M. (Virginia) McDonald of Kokomo; a brother, Dyllon M. McDonald of Whiteland; a nephew, Noah M. McDonald, Whiteland; grandparents, Terry R. and Violet L.

Johnson of Martinsville, and George and Lois Wolfa and Micheal and Linda McDonald of Paris, and great- grandmothers, Gladys V. Phelps of Martinsville and Patricia Siler of Fort Collins, Colo. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Forest Lawn Funeral Home, 1977 S. State Road 135, Greenwood.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Greenwood. Information: www.forest Marsha Lucille Pedigo GREENWOOD Marsha Lucille Pedigo, 75, passed away Sunday, June 23, 2013, in Indianapolis. She was a resident of Greenwood but was raised in Franklin and lived several years in Indianapolis.

She was born Dec. 15, 1937, in Indianapolis, to Loren F. and Floella (Clemmons) Ferguson. She married Roy Lee Pedigo on Dec. 15, 1953.

He preceded her in passing on Nov. 27, 1965. Marsha is survived by one son, Jeffery Lee (Tonya) Pedigo of Buford, one daughter, Lorena Gale Wilds of Greenwood; and one grandson, Spc. Evan Lee (Teresa) Wilds of Fort Carson, Colo. She was employed by Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Co.

for many years as a supervisor in the office services division, retiring in 1999. Marsha enjoyed reading and loved spending time with her cats. A service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Flinn Maguire Funeral Home, 2898 N. Morton St.

(U.S. 31 North) in Franklin. Friends may call from 11 a.m. until service time Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Humane Society of Johnson County, in care of the funeral home. Online condolences may be made at www.flinnmaguire.com. Dorse Raichel BROWN COUNTY Dorse Raichel, 74, died Saturday, June 22, 2013, at Indiana University Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. He was a resident of Brown County and a former resident of Austin. Survivors include his wife, Linda L.

(Cox) Raichel; nine children, Allenea Williams of Salem, Cathy Dille of Bloomington, Deborah (Ron) Riall of New Albany, Lesa (Kenny) Wagler of Brown County, Allen (Wanda) D. Moore II and David (Karen) C. Moore, both of Rock Hill, S.C., Gary (Diane) Raichel and Ronald (Vicki) Raichel, both of Austin, and David (Karen) Raichel of Hebron; 20 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren. The Rev. L.D.

Campbell will conduct a funeral service at 10 a.m. Thursday at Nashville Christian Church, 160 S. Van Buren St. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Meredith-Clark Funeral Home, Cremation and Personalization Center, 179 E.

Mulberry Morgantown, and from 9 a.m. until service time Thursday at the church. A Masonic service will be conducted at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Burial will be at Weeping Willow Cemetery in Bean Blossom, with military rites presented by the Brown County American Legion Honor Guard.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Indiana University Health Hospice, 1828 N. Illinois Indianapolis, IN 46202; or Shri- ners Hospital for Children, 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607. Online condolences may be made at Information: 812-597-4670 DAILY JOURNAL dailyjournal.net Greenwood Voletta Jean Beck, 89 Hazel Pitman Holderman, 93 Marsha Lucille Pedigo, 75 New Whiteland Larry A. Bright, 69 Whiteland Cody Micheal McDonald, 21 Elsewhere Dorse Raichel, 74 Opening NEW in Franklin! Super Yellow Cab Services In Around Franklin (serving Johnson Co. residents) 24 HOUR SERVICE FLAT RATE 317-738-9000 317-738-4CAB (4222) Jewelry Repair Let us give your old jewelry a new look for less than new LOCALLY OWNED! 948 N.

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10am-2pm, Sun. Closed Dave Shelley Owner Repairs Same Day to 3 Days BRIGHT HOLDERMAN McDONALD PEDIGO TEPHEN HLEMACHER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON ocial Security is approving disability benefits at strikingly high rates for people whose claims were rejected by field offices or state agencies, according to House investigators. Compounding the situation, the agency often fails to do required follow-up reviews months or years later to make sure people are still disabled. Claims for benefits have increased by 25 percent since 2007, pushing the fund that supports the disability program to the brink of insolvency, which could mean reduced benefits. Social Security officials say the primary driver of the increase is demographic, mainly a surge in baby boomers who are more prone to disability as they age but are not quite old enough to qualify for retirement benefits.

The disability program has been swamped by benefit claims since the recession hit a few years ago. Last year, 3.2 million people applied for Social Security Disability or Supplemental Security Income. In addition, however, management problems to and add to the financial ills of the program, investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee say. disability claims are often paid to individuals who are not legally entitled to receive three senior Republicans on the House committee declared in a March 11 letter to the agency. Among the signers was the chairman, Rep.

Darrell Issa of California. Social Security acknowledges a backlog of 1.3 million overdue follow-up reviews to make sure people still qualify for benefits. But agency officials blame budget cuts for the backlog, saying Congress has denied the funds needed to clear it. Social Security spokesman Mark Hinkle said the agency follows the strict legal definition of disability when awarding benefits. In order to qualify, a person is supposed to have a disability that prevents him from working and is expected to last at least a year or result in death.

with this very strict standard, there has been growth in the disability program, and the primary reason for this growth is Hinkle said. He noted that approval rates have declined as applications for benefits have increased. The most common claimed disability was bone and muscle pain, including lower back pain, followed closely by mental disorders, according to the latest annual report. cases and mental cases are extremely difficult because and even more so with mental cases no objective medical said Randall Frye, a Social Security administrative law judge in Charlotte, N.C. all Nearly 11 million disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security disability benefits.

up from 7.6 million a decade ago. The average monthly benefit for a disabled worker is $1,130. An additional 8.3 million people get Supplemental Security Income, a separately funded disability program for low-income people. If Congress act, the trust fund that supports Social Security disability will run out of money in 2016, according to projections by Social trustees. At that point, the system will collect only enough money in payroll taxes to pay 80 percent of benefits, triggering an automatic 20 percent cut in benefits.

Congress could redirect money from Social much bigger retirement program to shore up the disability program, as it did in 1994. But that would worsen the finances of the retirement program, which is facing its own long- term financial problems. The House oversight subcommittee on entitlements is scheduled to hold the first of several hearings on the disability program Thursday. The hearing will focus on the role of administrative law judges in awarding benefits. Most Social Security disability claims are initially processed through a network of local Social Security Administration field offices and state agencies, usually Disability Determination Services, and most are rejected.

If your claim is rejected, you can ask the field office or state agency to reconsider. If your claim is rejected again, you can appeal to an administrative law judge, who is employed by Social Security. The hearing process takes an average of a little more than a year, according to Social Security statistics. The agency estimates there are 816,000 hearings pending. So far this budget year, the vast majority of judges have approved benefits in more than half the cases decided, even though they were reviewing applications that had typically been rejected twice by state agencies, according to Social Security data.

Disability judges too lax? House investigators: Social Security easy on benefit claimants THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Social Security main campus is seen in Woodlawn, Md. U.S. House investigators said Social Security is approving state-rejected claims for disability benefits at strikingly high rates for people who might not deserve them. RICA ERNER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON The Senate headed Monday for a crucial test vote on White House- backed immigration legislation offering the prize of U.S. citizenship to millions and pouring new technology and manpower into the border.

Ahead of the vote set for early evening, around a dozen Republican lawmakers had indicated support, setting up a solid bipartisan margin of victory within reach of the 70 votes supporters are hoping for when the bill comes to a final vote at the end of this week. No defections have been suggested so far among the 54 votes controlled by Democrats. The measure includes changes to the original border security provisions in the bill that would double the size of the U.S. Border Patrol at a cost of around $30 billion and complete 700 miles of fencing. At the same time it sets out a pathway to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, who would be permitted to get permanent resident green cards only once all the border changes had been put in place, about a decade after enactment of the legislation.

At the White House on Monday, President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to take quick action on the immigration overhaul. would urge that the Senate bring this to the he said. I hope that we can get the strongest possible vote out of the Senate so that we can then move to the House and get this done before the summer The president spoke in the Roosevelt Room before meeting with business leaders supporting the immigration bill. He said the legislation represent everything he sought, it does adhere to the core principles that we need for comprehensive immigration is the time to do he added. Meanwhile, on the Senate floor, supporters and opponents traded arguments ahead of the vote.

my hope that this evening Republicans will join me in putting in place the toughest border security measures ever had in this said Sen. Bob Corker, who developed the new border security requirements with Sen. John Hoeven, Sen. Jeff Sessions, a leading opponent, insisted that the promised border security never would materialize. amnesty occurs first, and just like so often in the past, the promises never Sessions said.

But Corker and other supporters pointed to comments from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican immigration hardliner, who touted the proposed border changes as a for in an interview on Fox News Channel Monday. The developments came at the start of a crucial week for the immigration bill, a signature issue for the Obama administration, Capitol Hill Democrats, and even some Republicans. vote is the key procedural hurdle that would clear the way for a vote later in the week on revisions to the bill including the border security changes and a range of other new provisions aimed at locking down support from wavering senators. Vote on immigration overhaul set in Senate Visit us online dailyjournal.net.