Dublin-Worthington News Stories
Communication Catch Up, April 7, 2021
By Christie BruffyFriday, April 30, 2021
April 7, 2021: Minutes by Christine Bruffy
Virtual Club Meeting
President Jim Miller opened the morning meeting at 7:34. This is the 31st meeting of the 46th rotary year.
Tim Moats gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
President-Elect Steve Payerle called for any “Happy Dollar” announcements:
1. He personally is happy to see this beautiful weather, receive his Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and to have a trip planned to Cambridge to hunt for morel mushrooms.
2. Harry Pukay-Martin is happy that he was able to return to a restaurant with friends after a year.
3. President Jim Miller is happy that he will be in southern Ohio next week, hiking in an isolated area. This will be his first outing since the pandemic started.
4. Dave Hansen is happy that his granddaughter will be attending Case Western Reserve for pre-med on scholarship. She would like to be a cancer researcher.
5. Christie Bruffy is happy that her shop, Highline Coffee Co. just started bringing customers back inside to place carryout orders last Thursday after using an online order system since the end of 2020. This enables staff to work more efficiently, and customers are happy to be back inside. Everyone is enjoying the more personal interactions.
President Jim Miller then called for announcements:
1. Jerry Katz announced that there will be a new community service/fundraising event instead of the July 4th Picnic this year. The new event, TBD, will occur on Labor Day. Volunteers will be needed for all aspects, including obtaining sponsors, set-up, assisting with games, and selling food. Please email him if there is an area that you are interested in helping with.
2. President Jim Miller reminded us about an email that was sent out with a link to the Sponsorship Drawing spreadsheet. The drawing will be done in person and broadcast virtually. If you have the ability to sell extra tickets (which are discounted), that would be great!
3. Rich Goldberg is looking for nominations as well as more committee members for the Paul Harris Community Service Award.
President Jim Miller then asked member Joe Patchen to introduce our speaker. Judge Carl Aveni is with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. A former law partner and longtime friend of Joe’s, Judge Aveni is a graduate of Boston University and American University for law school. His wife is an OSU faculty member, which is what brought him here in 1998. The Court of Common Pleas deals with pretty much everything- both civil disputes, of which the judge is more experienced with as a lawyer, as well as the criminal side. It’s actually rare to have someone who is experienced in both.
The focus of this conversation was on how the court system has been affected by COVID. Prior to the pandemic, hundreds of jurors were summoned. But since March of 2020, there have only been a handful of jury trials because jurors were not permitted to return for safety reasons. Many people were therefore incarcerated awaiting trial where they were exposed to the virus while living in tight, shared spaces in jail. Now there was no option to release them back into society.
The use of Zoom was found to be one positive in this situation as it was utilized for preliminary hearings. The remote aspect enabled more people to participate without worrying about losing time at work.
As of April 5, 2021, jurors have started coming back every week. The criminal docket is being addressed first for all those who have been sitting in jail as there is now a one-year backlog of trials. Jurors are placed far from the stand and separated from each other by plexiglass barriers, which are very confining and sometimes claustrophobic. Those taking the stand are also surrounded by plexiglass so that they may remove their masks in order for the jurors to accurately judge their credibility. This is resulting in the need for more frequent breaks, and more time is taken as jurors transfer to an empty, neighboring courtroom to safely deliberate. So as half the courtrooms sit empty, trials are now progressing at half the speed, until at least July.
The discussion led to the topic of bail, which is used to keep someone from fleeing before their trial as well as to keep the public safe. But setting bail isn’t ideal during the pandemic as jails have become an unsafe place to hold someone until their trial. House arrest can be the best option in certain cases.
Judge Aveni would like to see the improvement of re-entry programs like job skills, drug and alcohol counseling and stable housing. We need to keep criminals from returning down the same path.
The judge’s personal initiative is one of civil rights. He would like to see childcare at the courthouse for all witnesses, jurors and defendants. The lack of childcare is what is preventing witnesses from participating- mostly young, single women- and their voice is missing. He is looking for community support on this with a focus on jurors in particular.
Judge Aveni invited us to visit and observe the court any time to see how things operate.
President Jim Miller brought the meeting to a close at 8:35. He announced that next week’s speaker will discuss the technology and function of cryptocurrency. He also reminded us that everyone’s feedback is requested by replying to the email regarding the option for hybrid/in-person meetings starting at the end of April. He then lead us through the recitation of the Four Way test.
President Jim Miller announced that next week’s speaker for the noon meeting will be Kate LaLonde of the Worthington Historical Society. She will speak about African Americans in Worthington in the 1800’s. He then closed the meeting at 1:00 by leading us through The Four Way test.
Virtual Club Meeting
President Jim Miller opened the morning meeting at 7:34. This is the 31st meeting of the 46th rotary year.
Tim Moats gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
President-Elect Steve Payerle called for any “Happy Dollar” announcements:
1. He personally is happy to see this beautiful weather, receive his Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and to have a trip planned to Cambridge to hunt for morel mushrooms.
2. Harry Pukay-Martin is happy that he was able to return to a restaurant with friends after a year.
3. President Jim Miller is happy that he will be in southern Ohio next week, hiking in an isolated area. This will be his first outing since the pandemic started.
4. Dave Hansen is happy that his granddaughter will be attending Case Western Reserve for pre-med on scholarship. She would like to be a cancer researcher.
5. Christie Bruffy is happy that her shop, Highline Coffee Co. just started bringing customers back inside to place carryout orders last Thursday after using an online order system since the end of 2020. This enables staff to work more efficiently, and customers are happy to be back inside. Everyone is enjoying the more personal interactions.
President Jim Miller then called for announcements:
1. Jerry Katz announced that there will be a new community service/fundraising event instead of the July 4th Picnic this year. The new event, TBD, will occur on Labor Day. Volunteers will be needed for all aspects, including obtaining sponsors, set-up, assisting with games, and selling food. Please email him if there is an area that you are interested in helping with.
2. President Jim Miller reminded us about an email that was sent out with a link to the Sponsorship Drawing spreadsheet. The drawing will be done in person and broadcast virtually. If you have the ability to sell extra tickets (which are discounted), that would be great!
3. Rich Goldberg is looking for nominations as well as more committee members for the Paul Harris Community Service Award.
President Jim Miller then asked member Joe Patchen to introduce our speaker. Judge Carl Aveni is with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. A former law partner and longtime friend of Joe’s, Judge Aveni is a graduate of Boston University and American University for law school. His wife is an OSU faculty member, which is what brought him here in 1998. The Court of Common Pleas deals with pretty much everything- both civil disputes, of which the judge is more experienced with as a lawyer, as well as the criminal side. It’s actually rare to have someone who is experienced in both.
The focus of this conversation was on how the court system has been affected by COVID. Prior to the pandemic, hundreds of jurors were summoned. But since March of 2020, there have only been a handful of jury trials because jurors were not permitted to return for safety reasons. Many people were therefore incarcerated awaiting trial where they were exposed to the virus while living in tight, shared spaces in jail. Now there was no option to release them back into society.
The use of Zoom was found to be one positive in this situation as it was utilized for preliminary hearings. The remote aspect enabled more people to participate without worrying about losing time at work.
As of April 5, 2021, jurors have started coming back every week. The criminal docket is being addressed first for all those who have been sitting in jail as there is now a one-year backlog of trials. Jurors are placed far from the stand and separated from each other by plexiglass barriers, which are very confining and sometimes claustrophobic. Those taking the stand are also surrounded by plexiglass so that they may remove their masks in order for the jurors to accurately judge their credibility. This is resulting in the need for more frequent breaks, and more time is taken as jurors transfer to an empty, neighboring courtroom to safely deliberate. So as half the courtrooms sit empty, trials are now progressing at half the speed, until at least July.
The discussion led to the topic of bail, which is used to keep someone from fleeing before their trial as well as to keep the public safe. But setting bail isn’t ideal during the pandemic as jails have become an unsafe place to hold someone until their trial. House arrest can be the best option in certain cases.
Judge Aveni would like to see the improvement of re-entry programs like job skills, drug and alcohol counseling and stable housing. We need to keep criminals from returning down the same path.
The judge’s personal initiative is one of civil rights. He would like to see childcare at the courthouse for all witnesses, jurors and defendants. The lack of childcare is what is preventing witnesses from participating- mostly young, single women- and their voice is missing. He is looking for community support on this with a focus on jurors in particular.
Judge Aveni invited us to visit and observe the court any time to see how things operate.
President Jim Miller brought the meeting to a close at 8:35. He announced that next week’s speaker will discuss the technology and function of cryptocurrency. He also reminded us that everyone’s feedback is requested by replying to the email regarding the option for hybrid/in-person meetings starting at the end of April. He then lead us through the recitation of the Four Way test.
President Jim Miller announced that next week’s speaker for the noon meeting will be Kate LaLonde of the Worthington Historical Society. She will speak about African Americans in Worthington in the 1800’s. He then closed the meeting at 1:00 by leading us through The Four Way test.