12222005 - News Article - 'No-kill' shelters scrutinized by humane society, PETA

'No-kill' shelters scrutinized by humane society, PETA

Post-Tribune (IN)

December 22, 2005

www.newsbank.com

Animal shelters proclaiming themselves "no-kill" facilities are the new fad in American society, but not at the Hobart Humane Society.

"They are not 'no kill' shelters," said Carol Konopacki, president of the society. "They are 'somebody-else-kill' shelters."

The fall issue of the Hobart Humane Society's newsletter devoted a page to the topic, along with an inserted letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also scornful of "no-kill" shelters.

Konopacki said three major area animal shelters have taken a "no-kill" stance and have been praised by many who think it is a humane position.

"All it means," she said, "is that they turn animals away, leaving them in the hands of people who do not want them. They are going to be turned loose or killed by someone else."

She also made the point that animals kept for long periods of time tend to become unadoptable.

Konopacki said the "no-kill" shelters deny that they turn animals away, "but they are not able to keep all the stray animals brought to them for long periods of time.

"We do not want to have to put any animal to sleep," she said, "but sometimes, it is the only humane thing to do."

Konopacki said the Hobart shelter normally has 75 to 80 animals on hand and has about 200 adoptions a month. She had no figures on how many were put to death.

11152005 - News Article - White to skip city council meeting

White to skip city council meeting

Post-Tribune (IN)
November 15, 2005

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* Councilman decides not to take his seat tonight amid council confusion. 

Councilman Robert White, convicted last week in federal court on multiple fraud counts, will not take his seat at tonight's city council meeting, his lawyer said. 

The move by White spares council officials who said Monday that they were confused by sections of state law that allow White to stay in office until he is sentenced in January, or required him to leave his post immediately after the jury read the verdict last week. 

"We're not going to push it," said Frederick T. Work, White's lawyer. "He won't be there." 

Work said Monday that White does not have to submit a formal resignation. 

The conflicting state laws will be "cleaned up" next week, when the state Legislative Services Agency submits a revised version that says public officials are out of office as soon as a jury verdict or guilty plea is entered, said Staci Schneider, spokeswoman for state Attorney General Steve Carter. 

Either statute, the one that would remove White after the jury issued a guilty verdict or the one that would allow him stay until he is sentenced, would be valid until the Legislative Services amendments are passed. 

White, who has said he is considering an appeal, was convicted on nine counts of fraud in connection with a scam in which a company owned by his nephew was paid $30,000 to install a gate at the entrance to a city park. White paid another contractor $5,000 to do the work and pocketed the rest, according to court records. 

Carter last spring had lobbied to change to state law to automatically remove public officials as soon as they plead or are found guilty at trial after a pair of councilmen in neighboring East Chicago were convicted for their roles in a paving scam that misspent more than $20 million in city funds. 

Frank Kollintzas and Joe De La Cruz last spring seemed poised to continue in their jobs until they were sentenced more than a month after their jury verdict was rendered. 

Gary City Council President Charles Hughes said Monday that he had gotten conflicting advice from city attorneys, and would not have kept White from attending the meeting. 

"All I know is the accounts that I follow in the newspaper," said Hughes, who said he had not spoken to White. "To this point, his concerns are geared more toward his family and he's not preoccupied with this chapter in his life, and the council will move on as well." 

Hughes said no moves had yet been made to block White from using his city-issued American Express card or spending from the $10,000 promotional accounts assigned to each council member. White is chairman of the council's Towing Committee and city Planning Commission, and serves on more than a dozen city committees. 

"We can safely assume that those matters will be attended to as well," Hughes said. 

Lake County Commissioner Rudy Clay said Monday that control of the 2nd District seat will be cleared up this Saturday, after district's Democratic precinct organization meets at noon at the Ambridge-Mann Community Center to vote on a replacement. There are two years left on White's term. 

The council Tuesday will vote on an ordinance authorizing the city to pay legal bills for city officials who are found innocent of criminal charges or have charges against them dropped before trial. The statute would not apply to White, who was convicted by a jury. 

The legislation, which mirrors state laws also pushed by Carter last year, could help Redevelopment Department Director Vanesse Dabney. Dabney was indicted for lying to federal agents in 2003, but charges against her were dropped a year and $5,000 in legal bills later. The council meets at 6 p.m. at City Hall. 

10302005 - News Article - Cantrell holds ground amid county politicos - ROBERT CANTRELL

Cantrell holds ground amid county politicos
Post-Tribune (IN)
October 30, 2005
Robert Cantrell has enjoyed many titles in the more than three decades he has been involved with Lake County politics: East Chicago Republican chairman, political powerbroker, North Township poor relief investigator, East Chicago poll worker, father of four children in the legal profession.

He has never worn the title "indictee," though rumors have linked seemingly every one of the numerous federal investigations in Lake County in the past several years to Cantrell.

During a recent interview, the consummate Lake County political insider refused to discuss the investigations that have targeted him and those close to him.

Cantrell, who does not hold elected office, instead tried to focus on how he will remain relevant as a man who can deliver votes to help others get elected.

He said he loves politics for the sport and became a Democrat after years in the GOP, in part, because "the competition is better; the races are more fun."

More cynical observers of East Chicago politics have contended for years that Cantrell always was a Democrat who masqueraded as a Republican to help manipulate election outcomes.

Regardless of his allegiance, Cantrell has outlasted his sometime foe, former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, who has stepped out of the political limelight, and his longtime ally, Stephen Stiglich, who died in July.

With the political firmament in Lake County shifting away from East Chicago, Cantrell said he is trying to diversify his network of confidants and widen his sphere of influence.

He worked hard for John Petalas' election as Lake County treasurer, lining up support among precinct committeemen for weeks prior to the Democratic Party caucus last Monday.

Petalas, the longtime Merrillville clerk-treasurer, beat Lake County Councilman Ron Tabaczynski 232-135, and Cantrell was at center stage, embracing the winner.

"I'm a guy who has maybe been isolated in East Chicago and Hammond over the years, but now I have friends all over the county. My friends are spread out now," Cantrell said.

"Petalas' win shows that the Lake County Democratic Party has the ability to cleanse its problems," Cantrell said, pointing to the "indictments and stuff that has happened" as evidence the party has been having trouble recently.

"He's a qualified candidate with a clean background who will do a very good job as treasurer."

Cantrell counts Lake County Clerk Tom Philpot among his allies and boasted that had the two supported Tabaczynski, "He would have won in a landslide."

In the next breath, Cantrell admitted the ephemeral quality of his informal politicking leaves his actual influence open to interpretation.

"You could ask 10 people and probably get 10 different answers about that," he said. "I'm obviously opinionated, but I feel like I can look at the numbers and tell what's going to happen and that I can help candidates win."

Looking ahead to the spring 2006 primary elections, Cantrell said he is certain only of one race in which he will get involved. He is interested foremost not in helping a candidate win, but in trying to make certain Lake Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando loses.

Cantrell said Villalpando has not pulled his weight on the bench, maintaining a lighter case load than other Lake County judges.

"As a state legislator, he helped get the legislation passed that created that courtroom, then got appointed to the bench and spent more than a year hardly hearing any cases," Cantrell said.

Villalpando said that claim is patently untrue. He provided a copy of a report on judicial caseloads that he said shows his courtroom is now among the most efficient in the county.

The judge said Cantrell wants him off the bench because Villalpando has refused to refer more defendants in his courtroom to the Addiction and Family Care drug center.

Cantrell has worked as a consultant for Addiction and Family Care, which has a contract to provide treatment for people who appear in Lake County court.

Federal investigators have looked into contracts between Addiction and Family Services and the North Township Trustee's Office, where Cantrell works.

According to Villalpando, Cantrell also gets kickbacks from Addiction and Family Care contracts through the courts.

"He has tried and failed to take control of this court and to corrupt me in the process, so now he wants me out," Villalpando said.

Cantrell works as an office administrator for the North Township trustee, until recently Greg Cvitkovich.

But Cvitkovich pleaded guilty early in October to federal income tax charges and resigned his position, leaving Cantrell a man without a benefactor in the office.

Cantrell admitted that with recent changes in the party, particularly Stiglich's death, his power base is less secure than it has been in years past.

"I'm a free agent," Cantrell said. "I like to back winners."

Frank Mrvan Jr., the front-runner to replace Cvitkovich, has Cantrell's support.

"I'm behind him 100 percent, and I hope he chooses to keep me on," Cantrell said.

Federal authorities investigated allegations Cantrell was guilty of ghost-payrolling while working under Cvitkovich, but Mrvan said that was no reason to remove Cantrell from the position.

"First of all, Cantrell is an office administrator, and I would have to show cause to terminate him," Mrvan said. "And, I feel like I should give people the benefit of the doubt to comply with my rules, and we will go from there. History and reputation are not reasons to fire somebody."

Even Democratic Party adversaries had to give Cantrell credit for his ability to adapt and stay on top of the game.

"The inside joke is, he's a quadruple agent," one political insider said. "You never know where he's coming from. You'll say, 'I didn't know you talked to him?' and he says, 'What do you think, I sit around on my ass all day?' He loves (politics) and he works hard at it."

07302005 - News Article - More vote fraud charges - VOTE FRAUD: Seven people charged in 41 counts stemming from 2003 primaries - ROBERT CANTRELL

More vote fraud charges
VOTE FRAUD: Seven people charged in 41 counts stemming from 2003 primaries
NWI Times
Jul 30, 2005
nwitimes.com/news/local/more-vote-fraud-charges/article_e05687f5-aa45-5834-b7a9-c89c7620cfee.html
HAMMOND | The fallout continues for those involved in the election that led to the ouster of former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick.

Indiana Attorney Steve Carter and Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter announced Friday they filed 41 criminal vote fraud charges against seven people in connection with 2003 primary elections.

Six of those charged are in connection with the East Chicago Mayoral primary that pitted Pastrick against George Pabey.

Pastrick won the election, but lost the battle for mayor when the Indiana Supreme Court ordered that election redone. He subsequently lost to Pabey in October 2004.

At the time, two of those charged worked for East Chicago. Larry Battle was employed for the parks department; Florentino Guillen for the schools.

Brian Berkman is the sole person charged in connection with voting in the 2003 Democratic Primary that pitted Deborah Riga and Kenneth Anderson for Schererville town judge. Riga won by 11 votes, and that primary result was overturned as well.

Berkman, a Gary resident, is accused of voting illegally in the Riga/Anderson election. He is charged with one count each of voting in other precincts and perjury.

Bernard Carter asked the attorney general for help looking into the 2003 primaries that fall. Federal investigators took over, checking for violations of federal law, but found none. They handed the case back to state and county officials in March, the attorney general said.

The Carters were assisted in the investigation by the Indiana State Police.

And they're not done yet, the attorney general said Friday at the Indiana Welcome Center.

"The assignment continues," he said at a news conference. "Public corruption is a serious issue in Indiana wherever it occurs, but it's occurred too many times in Northwest Indiana. The public's confidence is undermined by the acts of corruption by public officials in the election process."

The probable cause affidavit reports Battle, 51, lived in Gary but voted in the East Chicago primary. He is charged with seven counts of vote fraud, ballot fraud and perjury.

Allan "Twig" Simmons, 37, of Hammond, faces 20 charges including perjury, obstruction of justice and vote fraud.

Those are in addition to nine charges filed against him in March.

According to the affidavit, Simmons encouraged several people to vote absentee, provided them with ballots -- some of which were already filled out -- and took them from the voters for delivery.

Two of those whom Simmons helped vote absentee were legally blind, the report states. Many of the voters were elderly or weren't fluent in English, Steve Carter said.

"It's hard to think those people would seek out those opportunities to participate in illegal activities," he said.

07282005 - News Article - Feds continue Cantrell, drug center inquiry - Records of E.C. political insider's consulting work again under review - ROBERT CANTRELL

Feds continue Cantrell, drug center inquiry 
Records of E.C. political insider's consulting work again under review
Post-Tribune (IN)
July 28, 2005
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Federal investigators have again requested documents about work political insider Robert Cantrell did for a Hammond drug addiction counseling center.

Nancy Fromm, head of Addiction and Family Care drug center, confirmed Wednesday she had complied with a written request from the U.S. Attorney's Office to supply records relating to consulting work Cantrell did for the business.

The business has drawn the interest of federal investigators since at least early 2004, because of Addiction and Family Care contracts with the North Township Trustee's Office, where Cantrell works.

"They asked for the same records they did last year, the ones about Bobby Cantrell, his work as a consultant for me," Fromm said.

The records request did not detail on what the investigation is focusing, nor did it request Fromm to appear before a grand jury, she said.

"I'm assuming it's the same thing as last time," Fromm said. "(Cantrell) has worked for me, helping me bring in clients, though not so much any more."

Cantrell could not be reached for comment.

A clerk at the East Chicago office of the North Township Trustee's office, where Cantrell works, said Wednesday that Cantrell was on vacation.

When federal agents took records from North Township Trustee Greg Cvitkovich's office last year, there was widespread speculation they were looking into contracts between the trustee's office and Addiction and Family Care.

Those contracts included taxpayer-funded massages for North Township employees on taxpayer time.

Though Addiction and Family Care has long been linked to Cantrell, Fromm lamented the impact the continuing investigations have had on the business.

"It definitely hammers at my business," she said. "We're just now getting back on our feet."

A secretary for Cvitkovich said Cvitkovich had no comment about the federal investigation.

Fromm has been at the center of other federal inquiries.

Former Schererville Town Judge Deborah A. Riga awaits trial on charges she extorted money from Fromm for addiction counseling services Fromm offered through Riga's court.

"This time, (federal authorities) didn't ask for any records having to do with Riga, obviously," Fromm said.

"They asked for the same records they did last year, the ones about Bobby Cantrell, his work as a consultant for me."

07072005 - News Article - Cat season crowds humane societies in summer months

Cat season crowds humane societies in summer months

Post-Tribune (IN) 

July 7, 2005

www.newsbank.com

The dog days of summer may not have arrived yet, but the cat days are well under way.

Local animal shelters say their cages are overflowing with unwanted cats and kittens, part of the annual summertime influx of felines workers call "cat season."

"I don't care if you have spaces for 20 animals or if you have room for 100, you're going to be filled," said Betty Clayton, who opened the Humane Society of Northwest Indiana in Gary two years ago.

Clayton took in 54 cats in June, and has had to turn away others.

Officials at the two largest shelters in the area, humane society operations in Hobart and Munster, say they are stuck with more kittens than they can hold, and few are being adopted out.

The seasonal surge mirrors the feline reproductive cycle, as cats in summer give birth to kittens conceived in the spring mating season.

But even though shelters know cat season is an annual event, there's no way to prepare when it starts raining cats and cats, said Carol Konopacki, director of the Hobart Humane Society.

Konopacki's group, which also serves as animal control for Hobart, Merrillville and surrounding unincorporated areas, received nearly 250 cats and kittens in June alone -- double the number they see in winter months.

Because few were adopted -- and others were feral or sickly -- shelter workers had to euthanize more than half of them.

"It's cat season, and everybody wants to get rid of their cats," she said. "What do you do when you get 40 in one day and adopt out five?"

A box of 16, 2-week-old kittens was waiting on the front steps of the Humane Society Calumet Area in Munster when Executive Director Cathi Daniels arrived at work Wednesday morning.

Daniels, whose shelter is the largest no-kill shelter in the region, already has more than 100 cats in her care or in foster homes.

"We have a special. When you get one kitten (for a $75 fee), you get another one free," she said.

When shelters turn away cats, reluctant owners turn them loose -- increasing the ranks of the stray cats and further increasing the burden on local animal control officials.

Those animals fortunate enough to get a cage at a Humane Society shelter in Gary and Munster can stay, so long as they remain mentally and physically healthy, which can be difficult for animals that don't get much human contact.

With 75 volunteer "foster parents," the Munster shelter can send most of its surplus kittens to temporary homes, but that's not yet an option in Gary, Clayton said.

Budget and capacity pressures mean that each month about three or four cats -- those that are sick, psychotic or very old -- are euthanized at her shelter, she said.

"There are worse things than death for these animals," Clayton said. "It is the absolute worst thing to play God over these animals."

Owners need to spay and neuter their pets or make sure they can find homes for kittens, Konopacki said.

"People say they want to let their cat have kittens so their children can see the miracle of birth," she said.

"They should have to take them here when we put them down so they can see the miracle of death," she said.

03112005 - News Article - Bill to oust convicted public officials altered

Bill to oust convicted public officials altered

Post-Tribune (IN)
March 11, 2005

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A bill aimed at ousting convicted city councilmen and other public officials may be one of the most hotly debated bills of the session, as House Republicans included a provision for a new state inspector general. 

The bill by Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, would require elected officials to be removed from office after they are convicted of a felony. 

Mrvan sponsored the bill after East Chicago City Councilmen Joe De La Cruz and Frank Kollintzas remained on the City Council after being convicted in November as part of the 1999 "Sidewalk Six" scandal. 

They continued to have their legal bills paid by the city from a controversial ordinance, while their attorneys argued that they did not have to step down under Indiana law until after they were sentenced. 

"This is not a theoretical issue. They remained in office, holding a position of public trust over three months," said Attorney General Steve Carter, testifying for the bill in the House Judiciary Committee. Cater is part of a civil lawsuit to recover more than $20 million lost in the 1999, preprimary scandal. "Lake County is angry and they want this stopped," Mrvan said. 

The bill passed 7-5 along party lines, but not before Speaker of the House Brian Bosma asked the committee to add language creating a permanent inspector general within the governor's administration. 

The key piece of Gov. Mitch Daniel's legislative package had died last week along with a raft of other legislation when Democrats walked out of the chamber. 

Labeling the bill a power grab by the new Republican governor, Democrats listed the inspector general legislation as one of the reasons for their walkout. 

They continued to argue that the new office would give the administration sweeping authority, by allowing the inspector general to ask a judge for the power to prosecute a criminal case. 

Monday, Democrats sounded a note of compromise, Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, suggested language in the bill should mirror the existing special prosecutor statute, which allows a judge to select a special prosecutor from a list candidates. 

The judge may or may not pick the inspector general. "If that change would help, I would be open to it," Bosma said, saying the Republican majority will continue to work with the minority Democrats. 

The bill now moves onto the House floor. 

Caption: "Lake County is angry and they want this stopped." -- State Sen. Frank Mrvan(PHOTO)