Religion

Mayor Ockomon and Local Pastors Working Together on Unemployment

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:24:20 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Mayor Kris Ockomon and the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance have joined forces in an effort to address unemployment. On Thursday, March 27, 2008, a job fair will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church’s Fellowship Hall located at 1610 Sheridan. “It is important that our citizens are given every opportunity to find employment,” stated Mayor Kris Ockomon.

“Working with organizations like the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance provides strength and stability to our ongoing efforts toward reaching the unemployed,” he continued. “I am overjoyed that my administration can partner with our citizens to make a difference for those who live in Anderson,” said Mayor Ockomon.

The City of Anderson’s Transit System (CATS) will provide a shuttle from the Anderson Zion Baptist Church, 2008 Rev. J.T. Menifee Street to the Allen Chapel Fellowship Hall, every half hour to assist residents in the area who are without transportation.

Employers who have already registered to participate include: Averitt Express, Indiana Wesleyan, Wachovia Securities, Arbonne International, Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, The Geo Group, and the New Castle Correctional Facility. Additionally, Job Source will be present with job training and resume preparation information and the Community Action Partnership will offer job training and employment for those 55 years of age and older.

There will be representatives with jobs that may be done from the home, those offering employment in neighboring communities as well as job opportunities within the city. Because the City of Anderson and the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance embrace diversity, those from all walks of life are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.

“The Anderson Pastor’s Alliance desired to be proactive in assisting local residents in finding employment and the city was a natural beginning point,” stated the Rev. Earlie Dixon, President of the Alliance. “We are proud to partner with the City of Anderson in sponsoring this job fair which will enable persons to apply for jobs, present their resumes, as well as secure information about future job opportunities,” shared Rev. Lenore G. Williams, the event coordinator. The Pastor’s Alliance, a diverse group of local pastors who meet the 2nd Mondays of each month, plan to make the job fair an annual event.

For additional job fair information, the public is asked to contact the Alliance’s Rev. Lenore G. Williams at (765) 642-3117.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Easter Egg Hunt Scheduled for Anderson Children

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:28:51 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - First United Methodist Church in Anderson, Indiana is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt (Egg-stravaganza) at Davis Park on Saturday, March 22 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm.

Children 9 years old and under are invited to participate with an accompanying adult. Four egg hunts are scheduled for the afternoon.

Registration begins at 3:00pm and refreshments will be served to all attending.

An Easter Craft Corner will be active while children are awaiting the egg hunts. There, children will be creating several crafts to take home which celebrate Easter Sunday.

An Easter Magic Program with music will begin at 5:00pm. “The magic show will tell the story of Holy Week. Jesus reminds us that the gospel is for children as well as adults. The Easter Egg Hunt provides us with the opportunity to celebrate children and God’s love at the same time,” said Senior Pastor John Wortinger.

In the event of inclement weather, all activities will be held indoors at Davis Park located at Nichol Avenue (State Road 32) and Layton Road.

For more information, contact Cindy Quirk at First Methodist Church. Her phone number is 765.643.6977.

Contact: cindy@andersonfirst.org

The Seven Deadly Offset Credits

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:35:04 -0700

By Daryl Cagle

The Vatican just announced a brand new, modern set of seven deadly sins to supplant the old seven sins which have grown pretty tired through the years. The old seven deadly sins: lust, wrath, gluttony, sloth, greed, pride, and envy were proclaimed by a sixth century pope and were made famous by Dante in his "Divine Comedy" and by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman in the movie "Seven," which was a pretty darn scary movie.

The new sins are:

1. Genetic engineering

2. Drug abuse

3. The disparity between the very rich and the very poor

4. Pollution

5. Abortion

6. Pedophilia

7. Causing social injustice

The church describes the new sins as social in nature and "a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization." Societies have experience regulating social issues, like pollution, and that experience gives us a great leg up on regulating the other sins.

California's Governor Schwarzenegger likes to fly his jet home, from Sacramento to Los Angeles, each night after work, so he can spend time with his family. Schwarzenegger creates a lot of pollution in his daily commute, but the governor buys carbon-offset credits from businesses that are more environmentally friendly than they need to be, selling their eco-surplus back to the governor. Al Gore does the same thing, reducing his big carbon footprint from his private flights and his big houses by buying carbon-offset credits. It's cool. Offsets work. It's the free-market solution and the system works for other sins too.

"The disparity between the very rich and the very poor" is another great sin for offset credits. Very poor people could sell their "poor-people-offset credits" to very rich people who need to relieve their guilt about being rich and reduce the size of their very rich footprint. "Poor-people-offset credits" would create a free market of guilt-reduction exchanged for income redistribution that would work every bit as well as the carbon-offset credits work to reduce the guilt of polluters.

In fact, the system applies to all of the deadly sins. This afternoon I watched New York Governor Eliot Spitzer squirm, under the glare of his dowdy wife, at a one-minute press conference about his being caught as the customer of a high-priced hooker. I've never used the services of a prostitute myself, and I think I deserve some credit for that – credits that I should be able to sell to Governor Spitzer at a time when he really needs the "hooker-offsets."

In fact, I personally fare much better with this new set of seven deadly sins than I did with the first set. As an editorial cartoonist, I create very little pollution – I even use those curly light bulbs. Given the number of pencils I use, I probably haven't killed any more than one tree in my whole career. Two at the most. Not counting the paper.

I don't cause social injustice (not much anyway); I'm not a pedophile; I don't have abortions; I don't abuse drugs or do any genetic engineering. I score so well on the new sins test that I should be awarded plenty of offsets that I could sell back to the Vatican to offset their pedophile priest problem.

I'll be rich! (But not "very rich," because that would be a sin.)

Daryl Cagle is a political cartoonist and blogger for MSNBC.com. Daryl is a past president of the National Cartoonists Society and his cartoons are syndicated to more than 800 newspapers, including the paper you are reading. He runs the most popular cartoon site on the Web at www.cagle.msnbc.com. His books "The BIG Book of Bush Cartoons" and "The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Editions," are available in bookstores now.

Rev J.T. Menifee Citywide Fall Cleanup Saturday, November 3

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:46:50 -0700

ANDERSON, Ind. - Saturday, November 3, will be the city’s second annual Fall Cleanup Day. All Anderson residents are urged to clean their properties and neighborhoods from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is in memory of Rev. J.T. Menifee who originated the Westside Neighborhood Clean up 22 years ago.

The main staging area for the Cleanup will be at Athletic Park, 8th Street and Milton Ave., from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dumpsters will be available for trash drop off. Anderson residents may drop off limbs and yard waste at no charge at the city Yard and Garden Recycling Center, 2000 W. 8th St. (proof of residency required). Large item pickup will also be available that day for tires, major appliances, furniture, etc. by calling 648-6445.

The Clean Up is for Anderson residents only and no business or contractor disposal will be permitted. Tire disposal will be limited to four per household. The city of Anderson reserves the right to refuse any item or material it deems unacceptable for regular waste disposal.

Gloves and trash bags, will be available upon request at Athletic Park.

Scraps from my Table: Smith Eyes A Moon Shot

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:06:43 -0700

By "Mayor Buckwheat"

[editor's note, by kpaul] This is an excerpt (reprinted with permission) of a newsletter by "Mayor Buck Wheat" (a member of the Herald Bulletin forums) concerning Anderson, Indiana (aka Andersonia) Archives are available at the blog. The views expressed in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views of Anderson Free Press.

Centaur to build Andersonia Convention Center/Casino

Last Tuesday, Centaur Racing CEO Jeff Smith and Hoosier Park President Rick Moore announced the addition of a 90,000 square-foot casino facility to Hoosier Park. "We figured Andersonia needed just one more vice;" said Moore. "we couldn't legally build a meth lab so we figured this was the next best thing!"

Acting Mayor Kevin Smith was so happy he could spit, and did so multiple times during the announcement into a Styrofoam cup with a paper towel in the bottom. "Heck, I figured we'd let Centaur build this and we'll just take it over when they build the really big place south of the airport. Ahem...proposed airport. It really is a win/win/win."

Rescue Efforts Continue

City of Andersonia workers were still working feverishly Monday night to free Andersonia Economic Development Consultant Greg Winkler from an apparent accident at the Andersonia Money Mines. "There was some sort of a shift down there and everything just kinda collapsed," said Fire Chief Phil Rogers.

Witnesses on site stated Winkler had worked in the "money pit" for some time, though none really seemed to know what his job there was. Tony Yogway, one of the many workers attempting to free Winkler, stated, "I seen Wink working long hours down here, usually leaving the mine with barrels of money." When contacted for a comment Acting Mayor Kevin Smith said, "We've been digging for some time, and I think this makes it clear how important Winkler is to our organization thingie. Even if I'm not really sure what he does for, or with that money, I'm sure its a win/win." Phone calls to Democrat members of the Andersonia City Council were not returned.

Smith Eyes A Moon Shot

When Acting Mayor Kevin Smith isn't pondering the annexation of lesser Madison County, you just might catch him daydreaming about his employment future. Sources close to the Acting Mayor are speculating that he is considering a stellar new career at NASA as an astronaut in training and planet annexing guy.

Smith said, "That moon place is known to be made of cheese and I like cheese and Mo Long tells me that at even 10 cents a pound (which if you go to Kroger is a low estimate) there is enough profit there to fund astronomer consultants to lay claims to planets so distant that scientist consultants don't know if they're made of cheese or possibly even more valuable stuff. Yeah, I wanna be that guy."

RATS to Invade Wal-Mart

On Friday, Acting Mayor Kevin Smith hinted at a "major announcement about public transportation that will benefit Andersonia". Late Monday evening he unveiled those plans in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

The new Rail of Andersonia Transit System, or RATS, will service the Wal-Mart parking lot with a high speed monorail. "We noticed people had a real problem navigating Andersonia's largest parking lot. So Wink was able to sell me on this monorail thingie". RATS will service the parking lot and price drop zones. Riders who proceed through the checkout will receive change on transactions in the form of gaming tokens to be used at the new Andersonia Convention Center/Casino. Smith reiterated his pleasure at the city's new focus on all things touristy, "I just love showing them fellers at the Convention Bureau what a little outside the box thinking can do for a community. The wins just keep on coming!"

Maplewood Cemetery To Stay

According to Acting Mayor Smith, "Essential to a vibrant community's life are its places of eternal rest." Smith made this profound statement at the groundbreaking of Maplewood's new administrative building.

Smith continued, "when the owners of the cemetery announced that they were considering moving their graveyard to a neighboring state, my economic development team rolled up their sleeves and went to work to devise a plan to keep the cemetery here. I put together a kickin' incentive program with an innovative 'shovel ready' designation and one of those TIF thingies. This incentive package simply cremated our competitors. It's all a part of my new business retention plan that BW told me about. This is one business that won't be leaving Andersonia any time soon!"

Natural Resource Grab

Inspired by the recent Russian claim of the Arctic sea floor, Acting Mayor Kevin Smith has built a submersible capable of diving "several feet". Backed by Chinese technology that he picked up last year for the price of a Wonka Bar and a can of chew, Smith built his submarine at a secret "sub pen" on White River.

In the most agressive economic development maneuver of his administration, Smith plans to stake claim on the floor of Pendletonia's Pine Lakes Camp Grounds. "There's a real wealth of catfish in them lakes",said Smith, "When the dead catfish are done decompositioning there will be vast resources of oil or something. My administration intends to Continue the Progress even to the depths of Pine Lake! This could be our biggest win/win ever!"

Letters to Buckwheat

BW, My car broke down. Can you drive me to Keg and Bottle and Hoosier Girls? K.S. Andersonia

Buckwheat, Do you still have my beer bong? We're thinking of having another shin-dig and I'll be needing it. K.O. Andersonia.

The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the Smith Administration... but are pretty damn close. Please feel free to forward this letter to anyone that may be interested. I can be reached at Waynelafear@yahoo.com. Mr. Lafear will make certain that I get your message. Any and all mail directed my way will be held in the strictest confidence. Until next week.......BW OVER AND OUT!