McCardwell tops all-decade team

TRACK AND FIELD | B1

INDEX: Weather, markets, A8 | COVID-19 update, A4 | MAD Life, A7 | Local & State, A3 | Obituaries, A4 | Comics, B6 | Classifieds, B5

DEMI LAWRENCETHE HER ALD BULLETIN

ANDERSON — A former Frankton school principal who was convicted of official misconduct five years ago has been removed after a brief appointment as pastor of New Horizons United Meth-odist Church in Anderson.

“Because of the things we have dis-covered over the past 24 hours, Bishop (Julius) Trimble has ended the assign-ments of Mr. Hoss at both the New Horizons and Aroma United Methodist Churches,” reads a statement from the Indiana United Methodist Church emailed Tuesday night to The Herald Bulletin.

“We are caring now for these two con-gregations and addressing any harm that has come to them in light of this story.”

The statement is attributed to Larry Whitehead, executive assistant to Trimble, and Chris Nunley, superintendent of the North Central District of the IUMC.

Five years ago, Hoss was sentenced to 18 months in the Indiana Department of Correction for a felony charge of official misconduct after he sent inappropriate text messages to two female students when he was principal of Frankton Jr./Sr. High School.

New Horizons United Methodist Church posted a statement to its Facebook page Wednesday morning, saying the church recognizes the seriousness of the appoint-ment and is “profoundly embarrassed and sorry that this happened.”

“We have a small congregation of mostly older retired people who aren’t as tech savvy as younger people. More should have been done to vet Mr. Hoss by us,” reads the statement.

The Herald Bulletin reported Monday that Hoss’ appointment to lead the Ander-son church was announced June 23 via Facebook.

Anderson church pastor removed from his position

Former Frankton principal Hoss pleaded guilty to felony official misconduct in 2015

TheHeraldBulletin.com THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 $1.00

THE SHOW MUST GO ONREBECCA R. BIBBS

THE HER ALD BULLETIN

FRANKTON — It wasn’t exactly a run-way Emily Betz walked down Sunday to accept her crown, bouquet and trophy des-ignating her selection as the 2020 Madison County Fair Queen.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic, noth-ing was quite the same for the annual event that usually takes place in front of an audi-ence of hundreds at the outdoor pavilion in Alexandria’s Beulah Park.

But this year, the event took place vir-tually, with the six contestants competing from home in the formal wear, professional wear, speech, interview in impromptu question categories before only the judges.

“I’m so proud, and I’m so happy to repre-sent Madison County,” the Frankton Jr.-Sr. High School graduate said.

The pageant traditionally kicks off the two weeks of the fair. Though Betz, 18, nor-mally would have quite a few duties at the various events, those are postponed at least until the 2021 county fair.

Betz and the 2021 Madison County 4-H Fair queen each will represent the county at the 2022 Indiana State Fair Queen Pageant.

The pageant contestants each were assigned a specific time to report on the Zoom platform.

At 6 p.m., the judges reconvened with all the contestants and announced the win-ners. At around 7:30 p.m., they and the 2019 fair queen, Anahleisa Forrester, met at Betz’s house so she could be crowned.

“It was a different occasion. It was at my house instead of onstage,” she said. “This may not have been a traditional pageant, but everyone adjusted to the virtual competition and made it a good experience for all of us.”

In virtual pageant, Frankton’s Emily Betz named Madison County fair queen

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC’S IMPACT

Submitted photo

Emily Betz was crowned the 2020 Madison County 4-H Fair Queen in a virtual pageant on Sunday. The pageant traditionally kicks off the two weeks of the fair.

HSPA 2019BLUE RIBBON

WINNERAs Indiana’s best daily newspaper

ACS parents react to all-virtual school start

LOCAL EDUCATION | A2

Other winners• First runner-up: Sophia Chaplin,

Alex Ag 4-H Club• Second runner-up: Madisen Zen,

Happy Helpers 4-H Club• Prepared speech winner:

Sophia Chaplin• Essay winner: Emily Betz

See FAIR on A4

Governor extends limits as virus cases riseTOM DAVIES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s current limits on crowd sizes for restaurants, bars and public events will remain in place until at least the end of July as the state faces a growing number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday.

Holcomb lifted Indiana’s stay-at-home order and started easing coronavirus

restrictions in early May but halted those steps two weeks ago as the state started seeing infections grow again in a reversal of steady declines seen since April.

Indiana’s status — like that of many other states — has grown worse with a new jump in hospitalizations for coronavirus illnesses reported Wednesday by state health officials.

“It is a very volatile environment out there, not just in our state but surrounding our state, around country,” Holcomb said.

The governor, however, said he would not issue a statewide mask-wearing man-date or direct school districts on whether they should have children return to class-rooms for the start of new school years in the coming weeks.

Holcomb’s decision means Indiana res-taurants will continue to be allowed 75% capacity in their dining rooms, while bars, nightclubs, bowling alleys, museums and movie theaters can be open at half capacity.

The state will also continue its current

250-person limit on social gatherings unless health officials have approved safety plans for those events.

At least three large school districts — Washington Township in Indianapolis, Anderson Community Schools and Por-tage Township in Porter County — have decided to begin the academic year online and not immediately bring children back to the classroom. The state’s largest high

Eric Holcomb

NEW HORIZONS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

See HOSS on A2

See LIMITS on A2

Braun tells local police officers his qualified immunity bill is going nowhere

KEN DE LA BASTIDETHE HER ALD BULLETIN

ANDERSON — With more than 40 local law enforcement officers in attendance, U.S. Sen. Mike Braun said his bill to change qualified immunity is going nowhere in Congress.

Braun, R-Indiana, was at Good’s Candy Shop in Anderson on Wednesday to meet with local residents.

Qualified immunity is a legal protection for police officers, prosecutors and judges from being sued for damages in a civil lawsuit.

Braun last month introduced legisla-tion that would have changed the standard

to limited immunity for criminal justice employees operating outside the law.

He told the gathered law enforcement officials that the legislation was introduced so the issue would be discussed by members of the U.S. Senate.

The bill was meant as a template to bring the issue up for discussion through the leg-islative process, he said.

“Qualified immunity is not going any-where,” he said of the proposed bill. “It’s a political issue.”

Braun said Democrats in Congress wanted to pass legislation addressing no-knock serving of warrants, chokeholds and qualified immunity.

“Social justice, police reform and law and order should be important,” he said. “We should address any issue where there is injustice.”

Republican senator says police reform, law and order

are now political issues

Don Knight | The Herald Bulletin

U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, speaks to Anderson residents during a stop at Good’s Candy Shop on Wednesday. Several law enforcement offi cers were on hand to hear about his bill that would reform qualifi ed immunity.

See BRAUN on A2