Latest news with #CNHI
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: Help on the way for Indiana's attorney deserts
If asked whether there aren't enough attorneys around, many Hoosiers might respond off the cuff, 'Aren't enough? One is too many!' But those living in many areas of the state would answer differently should they find themselves in need of an attorney for representation in a civil or criminal case. A recent news article by CNHI State Reporter Carson Gerber illuminated the dearth of attorneys across Indiana. More than half of the state's 92 counties are considered 'attorney deserts,' meaning they have fewer than one lawyer per 1,000 residents. That puts the state in the bottom 10 nationally with an average of just 2.3 attorneys per 1,000 Hoosiers, the American Bar Association reports. As a result, many Hoosiers — unable to afford the considerable expense of bringing in an attorney from out of town — end up standing alone before a judge, trying to interpret the law without any expertise to do so. It puts them at a disadvantage and clogs court dockets with long hearings and delays as judges and other court personnel try to help unrepresented plaintiffs and defendants navigate the judicial system. As reported by Gerber, state legislators and the Indiana Supreme Court are moving toward solutions to provide legal services in underserved areas. In July 2024, a special commission released a 74-page preliminary report with recommendations to bolster legal services across Indiana by attracting more attorneys to practice in underserved areas of the state. A final plan from that report is expected to be released in July 2025. Reacting to the preliminary report, the state Supreme Court has already made some changes in its rules, now enabling business owners to represent themselves, rather than hiring an attorney, in small claims seeking more than $6,000, and relaxing rules to allow more lawyers with licenses in other states to practice in Indiana. The Legislature, as is its practice, responded more slowly, adopting into law just two of the report's 16 recommendations. Indiana law now allows municipal attorneys to live in a contiguous county, and the state has created a framework for a scholarship program that would provide up to $60,000 to law students who agree to serve as a deputy prosecuting attorney or public defender in Indiana for a minimum of five years after they pass the bar. Alas, lawmakers, in this lean budget session, did not provide funding for the scholarship program. The Indiana Bar Association is also addressing the state's 'attorney deserts' through several measures, most notably an incubator program to help new lawyers establish practices in rural and other underserved areas. These various initiatives and the two new laws promise to at least partially alleviate the problems caused by lack of court representation across many Indiana counties. And that's an answer to the attorneys question that all Hoosier should be able to appreciate.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Get out the vote Tuesday
Back in February, the Pennsylvania Department of State released data showing that 77.1% of Pennsylvania's registered voters and 68.5% of the voting-age population cast ballots in the 2024 general election, which was headlined by the presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. That was the highest turnout rate among registered voters since the 1992 election – and voter registration rates are much higher now than they were then. The 1960 election in which John F. Kennedy beat Richard Nixon was the last to have a higher percentage of the voting-age population as a whole participate, CNHI state reporter Eric Scicchitano wrote. Thirty-five of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, more than half, had turnout exceeding 80% last fall. Among them were most counties in this region, including Bedford, at 83.6%; Cambria, at 81.1%; and Somerset, at 82.5%. In comparison to that high-stakes, high-turnout presidential election, the primary election coming up Tuesday may seem low-key – but local residents who are eligible to vote in the primaries ought to review the candidates' positions, consider what issues matter most to them and to their communities in general, and then cast their ballots if they have not done so already. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Top races on the primary ballots include statewide Superior Court and Commonwealth Court contests and a Cambria County judge election in which county District Attorney Greg Neugebauer is running unopposed. In the City of Johnstown, there is a contested Democratic mayoral primary, and members of both major parties will cast votes for Johnstown City Council nominees. Around the region, there are races for school boards and municipal offices. These local elections will help shape the future of the area's municipalities and communities, and we encourage everyone to have their say. If you are a registered voter who can cast a ballot in the primaries, please get out and vote.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Guest Editorial: A letter to my faint-hearted congresswoman
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a guest editorial by Jim Shultz. Shultz is an occasional CNHI columnist and founder/executive director of the Democracy Center. He resides in Lockport, N.Y. Reach him at: jimshultzthewriter@ Republican members of Congress across the country have chosen, in the Trump era, to no longer participate in public town halls. This includes my congresswoman in western New York, U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney. My public letter to her is not only about her, but also the other cowardly Congress members. Dear Congresswoman Tenney: Your face has been a presence recently at citizen town halls across your district. More than a thousand of your constituents have gathered in meeting halls to express their concerns about the chaos unleashed on America by President Trump. It isn't actually your face. It's a life-size cutout in your absence. That's because, since Trump took office, you have refused one request after another to meet with the people you supposedly represent. We understand the reason why; it's fear. You are afraid to meet with veterans who want to know why you talk so much about being their champion and then stay silent while President Trump and Elon Musk take an axe to veterans services. You say how much you support children, but are afraid to meet with parents and teachers who are concerned about cuts in education. You won't meet with constituents concerned with cuts in health care or environmental protection. You are afraid to meet with anyone who wants to ask you hard questions. Last week, you blamed local newspapers for reporting your absence. Your chief of staff scolded one paper, 'You are doing a disservice to your readers and giving local journalism a bad name.' The problem is not reporters doing their jobs. The problem is your refusal to do yours — to listen to the people you are supposed to represent. Coward is not a word I use lightly. But when a congresswoman is unwilling to meet with her own constituents in public, that is not only cowardice, it is arrogance. Here is another word I don't use lightly — concentration camp. I am the grandson of Jews who fled Europe. I understand quite well what that word means. Last week, as Christians celebrated the peace teachings of Jesus Christ, you marked Holy Week with a taxpayer-funded junket to a concentration camp in El Salvador. A prison is where governments confine people who have had their day in court, with rules about treatment. A concentration camp is where you throw people who you grab off the street (no legal process required) and leave stockpiled until they die. The only rule is brutality. The concentration camp that you visited in El Salvador is the same hellhole where Trump is dumping hundreds of people he has labeled as foreign terrorists — no proof needed. One of them is a young father who was living in Maryland. The Trump administration admitted his deportation was 'an administrative error.' The Supreme Court ordered his return. Even Joe Rogan said that shipping him there was wrong. But you weren't concerned about any of that on your visit. You just wanted to make sure you got your photo taken standing in front of cells of shirtless men with shaven heads, a handy political souvenir. Here are a few other people who have been caught in Trump's new policy of 'disappearing' off the street. A terrified young woman (a foreign student with a legal visa) was nabbed outside her apartment in Boston. Her sin was publishing a pro-Palestinian opinion article that Trump didn't like. In Florida last week, ICE grabbed a native-born U.S. citizen and tossed him in jail. They kept him there even as his frantic mother presented his U.S. birth certificate in court. It is not hard to imagine why you don't want to answer any hard questions from your constituents about all that. You are safely gerrymandered into a lopsided Republican district designed to hand you easy victories every two years. Your concern is not with representing us. What you really care about is how many times you can get on Fox News in a week and keeping President Trump happy. If that means that veterans, farmers, children, and the elderly suffer cuts that make their lives harder, what do you care? If innocent people are tossed into brutal foreign cells with no hearing, so what? You have other things on your mind. Last week, you boasted about 'a massive fundraising' of more than a million dollars — most of it from wealthy corporations and special interest groups. That is who you really represent, Rep. Claudia Tenney, not us. There is an expression, 'If you have something to say to me, say it to my face.' Your constituents have a good deal to say to your face right now, even if it has to be your cardboard cutout.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Region remembers former Daily Telegraph Editor Samantha Perry
bluefield — People across the region were sharing fond memories Thursday of a journalist who, with passion and dedication, recorded life's good and the bad moments while striving to give people a voice and improve their quality of life. Susan Samantha Myers Perry, known to many as Samantha or Sam, passed away Monday, March 24 at the age of 58 after a long illness. Born March 7, 1967, at Bluefield Hospital to the late William 'Bill' and Nancy Myers of Montcalm, she was a lifelong Montcalm resident who lived with her husband of 33 years, Joe Perry, and their dogs Cassie and Bear. Samantha devoted much of her life to journalism when she joined the Bluefield Daily Telegraph and covered the region's events for over 30 years until she retired. She started out as a stringer before becoming a reporter in 1989, advancing to Lifestyles Editor and then becoming Managing Editor in 2001, becoming the newspaper's first female editor since it started in 1896. She later became a regional editor for CNHI, the parent company of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, for the Bluefield market as well as Georgia and Florida. Samantha was also editor of Prerogative Magazine, which started in 2007. During her long career, Samantha earned multiple local and national awards. Nationally, she was named Columnist of the Year in 2021, 2018, 2016, 2015 and 2014 by CNHI. 'Samantha was a great journalist who loved her community and making a difference in the lives of people she touched and helped,' said Terri Hale, publisher and regional executive. 'And she did make a difference in so many ways. We, her work family, love her and miss her everyday.' Andy Patton, news editor of the Register-Herald in Beckley and of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, remembered Samantha as a passionate wordsmith and strong advocate for community journalism. 'I worked along side Sam in the newsroom in Bluefield for more than 26 years,' Patton said. 'She had a way of choosing just the perfect word or phrase to paint a picture for readers and lift the story right off the page. She was a very gifted writer and excellent journalist. Her love for the community and passion for telling the community's stories were second to none.' While working at the newspaper, Samantha also worked on projects helping both children and homeless pets. For years, she coordinated the Community Christmas Tree. This annual event, also known as Little Jimmie, raised thousands of dollars every year so that hundreds of area children could have a good Christmas. She often took on Little Jimmie while also organizing the Prerogative pet food drive. This annual event brought in pet treats, food, bedding and other supplies to animal shelters across the region. Dedication to helping her community was a trait her parents helped instill in her. Craig Hammond, executive director of the Bluefield Union Mission, said he knew both Samantha and her family well. An award that his radio show, Radioactive on WHIS, presents annually, the William B. Myers Community Service Award, is named after her father. 'We identify somebody in the community who went above and beyond giving to their community and we've had a lot of recipients, sometimes it was an individual, sometimes it was an organization,' Hammond said. 'Samantha had a very important role in our public life because she was the keeper of our community's diary.' When new faces joined the Bluefield Daily Telegraph's newsroom family, Samantha patiently mentored them by sharing her knowledge and experience. Jamie Null, executive director of the Mercer County Convention & Visitors Bureau, remembered how Samantha helped hone her skills. 'I guess when I started at the paper I was in my mid-20s, and to me she was a role model and she taught me so much about journalism and how to write a story, how to write a column, and we had a connection because I was the lifestyles editor and she was lifestyles editor when she was very young,' Null said. 'We connected with features stories and Prerogative.' 'I think about how she did things and prepared me to move on in my career,' Null said. 'How she talked to people and her determination to get things done. And she always told me how proud she was of me. Even though she was my boss, she ended up being a friend and we talked every couple of weeks. She was more than a boss to me.' Photographer Tara Wyatt was the last person Samantha hired before going into retirement and like so many others, she said that she benefited from her guidance. 'I knew her for almost a year, though she retired before she could make it to one year, but she had made a good impact on me,' Wyatt said. 'She was the first person who gave me a chance on my abilities, she was the first person to call me back when I was applying to multiple places, she pushed me to become better at my craft, and has been so honest with me from the start.' Wyatt spoke about how Samatha helped her grow as a person. 'Samantha was also incredibly patient with me even when she had every reason to not be, but she probably could tell this was my first big girl, corporate job being 19 – okay, maybe not that young, but still young in the grand scheme of things – and she was able to shape me into the young, more mature woman I am now,' Wyatt said. 'She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful personality.' Even though Samantha often wrote stories for Lifestyles and columns about life in the community, she developed into a journalist ready to work with the law enforcement community and the court system while covering crimes across the area. Brian K. Cochran, a former sergeant in the West Virginia State Police and now Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney, worked with Samantha for years. 'I first met Samantha over 30 some years ago in the early 90's way back when I was a young state trooper, Cochran said. 'She was always looking for a great story involving a horrific murder case and it seemed like I was the trooper that got assigned to a whole bunch of them back in those days. She was always very nice, polite, and extremely professional and I always felt that she reported all of those cases fairly. She was so great to work with.' Cochran continued working with Samantha after he retired from law enforcement. 'Then I became a lawyer and became the City Attorney for the City of Bluefield. Our great relationship continued as she was heavily involved in reporting what the city was involved in at the time. I still thought she was always fair and honest in her reporting of what was going on in the city,' he said. 'She could be tough no doubt, but always fair. I am so very saddened to hear the news of her passing because she was such a huge asset to our community in reporting the news fairly and always being unbiased, and most importantly because she was just such a tremendous person. She is going to be greatly missed.' Mercer County Sheriff Alan Christian also said he had known Samantha for years. 'From the first days of me becoming a police officer, I've been dealing with Samantha and those folks at the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, and I can't say I've met a more fair and honest woman,' he said. 'Anytime I called, she was there to answer and if I needed anything, she was there.' Christian said he considered Samantha a friend. 'I've known her that long and talked to her that much,' he said. 'She used me as a source for the paper. I knew when I told her something, that was exactly what was going to be in there. Nothing made up, enhanced or anything like that.' Former Raleigh County Sheriff Scott Van Meter, who is now Raleigh County Clerk, met Samantha when he was a sergeant, and later major, at the West Virginia State Police Welch detachment during the mid to late 1990s. 'She was just a very good reporter and a very nice person,' Van Meter said, 'She did her job and you could talk to her, and if you talked with her and said we really can't get this out just yet, you could trust her. She was a one-of-a-kind young lady.' Greg Duckworth, formerly a sergeant with the West Virginia State Police and now president of the Raleigh County Commission, said he remembered working with Samantha when investigations were underway. 'We had so many shootings and stabbings and different crimes,' Duckworth said. 'She always reported accurately, very balanced and I just had a lot of respect for her. She was very good, solid reporter and she will very much be missed.' Greg Bishop, another former sergeant with the West Virginia State Police and now Wyoming County Prosecuting Attorney, recalled how Samantha worked to cover crimes in McDowell County. 'She was always fair and impartial,' Bishop said. 'I felt comfortable talking with her. I could be frank about things and she always treated us fair and reported the facts. Sometimes law enforcement can be hesitant to trust reporters, but you learn quickly which reporters are going to report the facts. That was the trust I had with her.' Keeping with Samantha's wishes there will be no service. The family is being served by the Roselawn Funeral Home in Princeton, WV. Online condolences may be shared via their website. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Samantha can be made to the Mercer County Animal Shelter, 961 Shelter Rd, Princeton, WV 24740. Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Herald-Banner takes top top honors at annual Best of CNHI awards
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Citing its 'robust local news coverage, strong editorials and coverage of local topics,' judges this week honored the Herald-Banner as the top award-winner in the annual Best of CNHI journalism awards for 2024. The Herald-Banner was named Division II Newspaper of the Year. CNHI manages more than 70 newspapers – from weekly to daily – in 25 states crisscrossing the country. Finalists were the Crossville (Tennessee) Chronicle and the Lebanon (Indiana) Reporter. Judges applauded the Herald-Banner for overcoming challenges encountered by newsrooms across the country – 'placing its focus on its own community for the answers and it shows through concentration on being a hyper-local newspaper emphasizing comprehensive coverage.' Kent Miller, who came aboard as editor of Herald-Banner Publications in August of 2023, pointed to the 'C' in community journalism as his driving philosophy for the newspaper. 'Newspapers like the Herald-Banner need to aspire to be the storytellers and record keepers for their community,' he said. 'Community newspapers do what other news outlets can't or won't do – cover a community.' Miller continued, noting the state of the newspaper industry that has seen countless communities and small towns across the country left without local representation. 'It creates a desert instead of a snapshot when a local newspaper goes under and it leaves the people of those smaller towns without a voice,' he said. 'People don't realize what they've lost [when a paper closes its doors] until it's too late.' Judges also singled out the Herald-Banner for 'making great use of the available news hole by making sure almost every column inch is filled with relevant local content.' And unlike many smaller newspapers, judges lauded the Herald-Banner for 'producing hard-hitting, top-flight local editorials in every edition [and] publishing an editorial page that stimulates community conversations and serves as a marketplace of ideas.' Herald-Banner publisher Lisa Chappell credited the staff for working tirelessly for the community. 'We do this because we believe in true journalism and that our community deserves to have a local newspaper. To be recognized and celebrated by our peers is just icing on the cake,' Chappell said. "This newsroom is small but mighty. They do an excellent job and I am proud of each one of them. They publish three newspapers and a quarterly magazine as a four-person team and they do it with heart. They have earned their recognition as Newspaper of the Year. Along with the Newspaper of the Year Award, individual staffers also were recognized for outstanding work done in 2024. Miller was recognized as Editorial Writer of the Year, Warren Morrison was named Designer of the Year for the second year in a row and David Claybourn was awarded Photographer of the Year with judges particularly taking notice of his front page solar eclipse photo that ran last spring. The four honors earned by the Herald-Banner set a high-water mark for CNHI as the most captured in a single year by one newspaper. Additionally, Claybourn was a finalist for Sportswriter of the Year and regular freelancer Laurie White King was a finalist for Photographer of the Year.
