Remains of Kansas priest who died in Korean War identified
1930 - 2021
WICHITA, Kan. – The remains of a Kansas priest who is being considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church for his ministry during the Korean War have been identified, U.S. military officials said.
The Rev. Emil Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, died on May 23, 1951, as a prisoner of war during the Korean War. The Defense
POW/MIA Accounting Agency of the Defense Department said his remains were identified Tuesday.
Kapaun was an army chaplain in World War II and the Korean War. He was captured on Nov. 2, 1950, near Unsan, North Korea, while tending to soldiers. He continued to minister to fellow prisoners until he died of pneumonia, the Defense Department said.
Kapaun was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor in 2013. In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Kapaun a Servant of God, the first step toward sainthood.
Virginia O. Van Horn “Ginny” of Grove City, Ohio, beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, passed away on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Ginny was born on July 30, 1930 at Otway, Ohio to Estol and Mary O’hara. She was employed many years at Ohio Bell in Columbus, Ohio. She found joy in traveling, golf and her family and activities at Life in Christ Fellowship Church where she was a member. She is survived by her son, Samuel (Pam); her granddaughters, Christy (Shane) Tucker, Alissa (Frank) Markusic and Carabeth (Chad) Kelly; and nine greatgrandchildren, Neve, Aidan, Keely and Liam Tucker, Jacob Fisk and Grace Markusic, Brady, Hudson and Ari Kelly; and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her loving husband Ed, of 64 years, her son Stephen, her parents, her brothers John, Robert, Donald, David and her sisters Nellie Timmons, Dorothy Seaman, Edna Rudd, and Ruth Koenig. She said many times that she lived a wonderful life and that she was very blessed. As a believer in Christ Jesus, she will be welcomed into the body of Christ. She was in the Gideon Women’s Auxiliary since 1974, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, Doctors Hospital, the Columbus Symphony and a tutor for the Columbus Public Schools. A celebration of her life will be held on Monday, March 8 at Life in Christ Fellowship in West Jefferson, Ohio, where the family will receive friends from 10am until the start of the service at 11am. Rev. Isaac Shupe and Rev. Robert Steinbrecher will be officiating. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Life in Christ Fellowship, Gideon’s Women’s Auxiliary or Life Care Alliance. Interment will be at Alton Cemetery. For more, visit www.newcomercolumbus. com.
Ohio arts advocates want state lawmakers to allow the state’s 14 largest counties to tax cigarettes for the purpose of funding the arts.
The request follows a rough year for visual and performing arts, which have been closed in many cases for much of the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A 2006 law granted Cuyahoga County the ability for a special cigarette tax: 30 cents per pack on top of the state’s $1.60 per-pack tax. The tax was put in place in 2007 and renewed for 10 years in 2015 with 75% approval.
The tax has provided $207 million to
more than 435 nonprofit organizations in Northeast Ohio, according to Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the group that allocates the tax revenue money.
Supporters include the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
A coalition of more than 80 arts groups want the tax to be expanded to other counties. Supporters include the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Oberlin Center for the Arts, Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Western Reserve Historical Society and Dayton Society
of Natural History.
Arts advocates want the tax tweaked to become 8% of sales on all tobacco products instead of a per-pack rate, due to declining tobacco sales. The Cuyahoga County tax brought in $12.5 million during the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to the Ohio Department of Taxation. That’s half of the $23 million it generated in 2008.
And they want the option for local arts tax to be expanded to counties with more than 200,000 residents, if the counties choose to do so.
Proposed counties include Hamilton, Franklin and Summit
Census Bureau estimates from 2019 put 14 counties above that mark: Franklin,
Hamilton, Cuyahoga, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas, Stark, Butler, Lorain, Warren and Lake counties
Ohio’s arts and creative industry employed nearly 300,000 people and generated $41 billion annually for the state’s economy before the pandemic, according to industry estimates.
Museums, dance studios, theaters and more closed in March 2020 with Ohio’s stay-at-home order, allowing only “essential” businesses to remain open.
Even with new health orders, groups wants local tax in Ohio budget bill
Theaters were among the last to reopen in August, but the state’s initial 15% capacity limit wasn’t enough for most to resume performances. Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine expanded that to 25% indoors and 30% outdoors in a Tuesday health order.
“Unfortunately, this pandemic has devastated our ability to keep our doors open which has resulted in major layoffs due to the inability to properly budget during these uncertain times,” Fred Bidwell, a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art, told lawmakers Thursday.
The groups are asking for language allowing for the local tax to be placed in the state budget bill moving through the Ohio House.
The bill will likely be revised in the coming weeks before being debated and revised by the Senate. It must be signed by Dewine by July 1.