South Carolina Senate adds firing squad to execution methods
94-year-old WWII vet was laid to rest with full military honors in Ohio
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senators Tuesday added a firing squad to the electric chair as alternatives if the state can’t execute condemned inmates by way of lethal injection.
The Senate approved the bill on a key 32-11 vote with several Democrats joining Republicans in the proposal which would allow South Carolina to restart executions after nearly 10 years.
The state can’t put anyone to death now because its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and it has not been able to buy any more. Currently, inmates can choose between the electric chair and lethal injection and since the drugs are not available, they pick the method that can’t be done.
The House is considering a similar bill without the firing squad option.
ZANESVILLE – A 94-year-old veteran who served in World War II was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery Friday afternoon with full military honors. An escort by the Zanesville Police Department led the funeral procession.
John Nelson was born in Cincinnati in 1926. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1945 and became a bomber with the Tuskegee Airmen - a group of primarily Black pilots.
After the service, Nelson worked for the New York City Transit Authority before moving to Zanesville with his wife, Maxine, who had family locally.
His closest friends remember him as a man who loved his country and his community.
“He had a very good sense of humor,” his goddaughter, Pamela Johnson said. “Very intelligent and would help the world if he could. Well, I guess that’s what he did as a Tuskegee Airman.”
Nelson served as an elder at Hillside Seventh Day Adventist Church, where he actively participated in community outreach programs and served as a mentor to youth.
“He was always willing to help anybody out,” his pastor of 22 years and caretaker, Rosalind Beswick said. “Anything that anyone needed his help, he was there.”
As Nelson grew older and became unable to walk, Beswick said he would still drive to the homes of shut-ins to deliver their Thanksgiving meals.
“He was a very dedicated Christian,” she said.
With a passion for youth advocacy, Beswick said Nelson helped the church obtain a bus to transport kids to activities.
“He kept teaching our young people to stay respectable and dignified so that they can be an asset to the community that they live in,” she said.
One teenager in particular spoke at Nelson’s funeral of the impact he made on his life.
“He was there for me when it was kind of hard,” 15-year-old Izaiah Mayle said. “I could always talk to him.”
Mayle said he has many good memories of spending time with Nelson after church talking and praying.
“He is one of my biggest reasons why I love the Lord,” Mayle said. “He helped me get closer to Him.”
Many looked up to Nelson and were attracted to his personality, including Zanesville Police Sergeant Tim Patenaude.
The pair met when Patenaude responded to a call Nelson made about five years ago.
They connected over their interest in the military and World War II. “I’d just go over and we’d hang out and he’d tell me stories about his time flying a B-25,” Patenaude said.
Patenaude said his brother works with World War II aircraft so he would share photos of his projects with Nelson.
“We’d go through airplane books and he’d tell me stories,” he said.
Patenaude said he will remember Nelson’s phone calls at odd hours just to tell him a story.
“I think the last time that I was actually over at his home, Roselind had found all of his military paperwork and he was so excited to have me come over so we could sit down and go over it,” he said. “We had his favorite sugar-free neapolitan ice cream and gingersnaps.”
When the Zanesville Police Department became aware of Nelson’s friendship with Patenaude and the service he gave to his country, they found it fitting to lead his funeral procession.
“We just felt compelled that he was part of history and that he deserved to be (given) a hero’s burial and brought to the cemetery,” Chief Tony Coury said. cmholmes@gannett.com 740-450-6758
Twitter: @cmholmesgannett
At an emergency meeting Monday, Ohio University trustees postponed a decision on a Faculty Senate recommendation to reinstate the tenure of a journalism professor suspended in 2018 after being accused of sexually harassing two women on campus.
Yusuf Kalyango has been the subject of multiple university investigations and lawsuits over the past several years after two women accused him of sexual misconduct. A Title IX Office investigation later found that Kalyango sexually harassed one of the women, a graduate student.
Kalyango is still employed at Ohio University in a research capacity and does not interact with students. He came to OU in 2008 and taught broadcast news and international journalism courses.
The board passed a resolution, expressing “serious concerns” with the Faculty Senate committee’s report recommending Kalyango’s reinstatement and asked the group to have the committee reconsider the issue. The matter will be readdressed at the trustees’ next board meeting in April.
At the beginning of the meeting, board chair Janelle N. Coleman acknowledged the gravity of the issue and said she understood that the board’s decision would affect both the women and Kalyango.
An August 2018 investigation by the OU Office for Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC) found that Kalyango had violated the university’s policy by: engaging in sexual harassment by quid pro quo; creating a hostile work environment; and harassing a student based on her sex.
Three months later, the University Professional Ethics Committee
unanimously agreed that OU should begin a “loss of tenure” procedure for Kalyango, the most-serious disciplinary action the group can recommend against a faculty member, according to the OU Faculty Handbook.
The Faculty Senate committee was asked in December to review Kalyango’s tenure revocation appeal and voted 5-1 in favor of Kalyango’s appeal.
One of the women who testified in the two-day hearing in December was Tess Herman. A former Ohio University graduate student, Herman brought her case against Kalyango to OU’S Title IX office in 2017. She said that Kalyango made several uncomfortable advances toward her in person and over text messages.
Just before a university trip to Rwanda with the Young African Leaders Initiative , Herman learned that he had reserved a room at a resort hotel for the two of them to share, saying it was the only room available. After she rejected his offer, Herman said Kalyango became cold toward her and severely criticized her work on the trip, according to an Equity and Civil Rights Compliance report.
Ohio University allegedly allowed faculty members to abuse power
In 2019, Herman filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Ohio against the university, alleging that it violated her civil rights by allowing Kalyango and other faculty members to abuse their power after she was harassed and retaliated against on the Rwanda trip. The case resulted in a $90,000 settlement.
Another woman, Lindsay Boyle, also testified during the hearing. Boyle reported Kalyango to OU’S Title IX Office in 2018, saying the professor made multiple unwanted advances on school-sponsored trips when she was a student in 2011 and 2012.
Boyle had previously lied to the ECRC in 2012 when allegations about sexual misconduct surfaced and were investigated by the office. Boyle said she had denied those allegations at the time against Kalyango because she had several career opportunities that couldn’t have worked out without her work experience under programs directed by Kalyango. The Title IX office ultimately substantiated her allegations against Kalyango, according to a report.
The Faculty Senate committee said it “did not hear or read clear and convincing evidence” of sexual harassment from either woman during the hearing, according to a report about the committee’s decision.
Kalyango, who is Black, filed a federal lawsuit in September 2020 alleging that two men — Scott Titsworth, dean of Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, and Robert Stewart, who recently retired as director of The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism — for discriminating and retaliating against him during his detenuring process because of his race. shendrix@dispatch.com @sheridan120
Arctic Panzer Wolf, Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, Indiana Details: Limited availability at Giant Eagle Market District at Grandview Yard, Gentile’s Carryout, Savor Growl Market and Grain and Grape (per the Three Floyds website); $14.99 for a four-pack; 9.0% alcohol by volume
Notes: This Imperial IPA pours a cloudy golden color, not overly hazy or heady. There is debate over the value of International Bitterness Units as a gauge of bitterness, but this one checks in at a hale and hearty 100.
Thoughts: Out of all the beers in the world — stouts, porters, brown ales, saisons, Belgians, dunkels, lagers, hefeweizens, pilsners, Land-grant’s collab with Buckeye Donuts (because why not?) — I find myself writing about the ubiquitous IPA. My apologies, but there is a minor story to tell here.
I first tasted Arctic Panzer Wolf at an area Local Cantina about five years ago, and I’ve been on an ultimately fruitless hunt for it ever since in my local stores. I have enjoyed several other Three Floyds offerings that are prevalent around these parts, such as Zombie Dust, Alpha King and Gumballhead.
But the Wolf continued to elude me. That is, until Feb. 12, when I stumbled across it by chance at the Market District in Grandview Yard (I’m pretty sure I made a geeky noise when I saw it.) And, despite the $14.99 price tag, I eagerly grabbed two four-packs. I wondered, in my half-decade-long search for this beer, had I built up the memory in my head and taste buds so much that I would be disappointed once I finally had it again?
Solid no. This beer totally rocks.
It’s big and majorly hoppy. There are notes of fruit, but this one’s all about the hop bitterness (hence the sturdy 100 on the IBU scale). If hops aren’t your thing, it’s probably best to skip this one.
If hops are your thing, well, there aren’t too many better offerings than this one. I find that the more of the Wolf I drink, the more acclimated I become to the hop onslaught. (The 9% ABV also might help me get acclimated as well.)
Reuniting with Arctic Panzer Wolf was an unexpected surprise, and it made the five-year wait almost worth it. Hopefully, there won’t be another such wander in the desert until I find it again.
Patrick Holbrook, Dispatch beer reviewer, pholbrook@gannett.com