Daryl Bjoraas

INDIANAPOLIS - What do Betty White, B.B. King and Neil Armstrong all have in common?

Well, if they’re in Indiana anytime after July 1, they’ll all be required to show ID if they want to buy alcohol.

Senate Enrolled Act 75 is a new law that will require liquor and convenience stores, pharmacies and supermarkets to check photo IDs for anyone purchasing alcohol, regardless of their age.

And that was never the intention, according to the bill’s co-author, Republican Sen. Ron Alting from Lafayette.

“It caught us all off guard,” Alting said. “We thought we looked at the wording pretty carefully.”

Sen. Alting said Senate Enrolled Act 75 was supposed to help stop alcohol from getting into the hands of minors. Instead, it’s going to create a lot of confusion at the checkout counter.

It’s an example of poor public policy, Alting said.

The cloudy language was a result of Indiana legislators having too much on their plate.

The law had a number of alcohol reforms rolled up into one bill; they included extended Sunday hours for bars, liquor stores will be able to sell alcohol on Election Day and Sunday carryout sales for microbreweries.

“There were so many things going into one bill,” Alting said. “We apologize, that was never the intent.”

State Rep. Ryan Dvorak, D-South Bend, called the law sloppy.

Dvorak was one of 21 representatives who voted no to the changes in legislation.

He raised issues in regard to changing Election Day sales as well as the carding requirement.

“Making an 80-year-old person show their ID when you clearly know they’re not underage is unnecessary,” Dvorak said.

The bill passed through the Indiana House of Representatives 74-21 in February and through the State Senate 28-17 on March 1.

He agreed with Alting, saying the law was a result of having a limited amount of time to pass legislation. The carding change probably wouldn't have passed if it were on its own, he said.

Some people like Joe Lackey, president of the Indiana Grocery and Convenience Store Association said the law wasn't strong enough.

"That 85-year-old guy in a wheelchair has a small price to pay," Lackey said. "You got your wallet out anyway, what's the big deal?"

Lackey said customers will be surprised at first, but with time they'll get used to it.

He sympathizes with store clerks who will take the brunt of customer dissatisfaction.

"People are going to come in and they're not going to be happy," Lackey said. "I feel bad for those who are on the other side of the counter getting yelled at. That's very unfortunate."

He doesn't think it will hold up lines in grocery stores, because alcohol only accounts for around 2 percent of total business, he said.

Lackey wants to get rid of the human element of deciding who is young enough to get carded.

"This has been an ongoing problem with us," Lackey said. "Anytime you try to guess who reasonably appears to be of age, you're going to have mistakes and you're going to have errors."

Lackey wants Indiana lawmakers to put a universal product code on state licenses that could be swiped on cash registers to determine whether someone is of age or not.

Food distribution and the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles' software isn't yet compatible, he said, and it hasn't been tried anywhere else.

Daniel Rousseve, owner of City-Wide Liquor, which has four locations throughout Mishawaka and South Bend, has lost a few longtime customers due to the new law.

Even though it doesn't go into effect until July 1, he started enforcing it two months ago to get customers acclimated to the change.

"There has been a little resentment," Rousseve said. "These are customers who have been coming in here for 15 to 20 years and I have to start carding them."

Most seem OK with it once he tells them it's the law. He said despite having a business near the Michigan border, he doesn't expect to lose many customers.

"I really wish this law would've come earlier," Rousseve said. "Carding people based on whether they look under 40 is age discrimination. It's only fair if we card everybody." Lois Groszek, 60, of Vandalia agrees.

She said that despite residing in Michigan, a state that leaves it up to the clerk to make a diligent inquiry about a person's age, she will still come to Indiana for alcohol.

"It's not a problem at all," Groszek said outside of City-Wide Liquor on Grape Road. "The prices here are cheaper and there's a better selection."

People will get used to it, she said.

Other people like Dave Anthony, 75, of Granger think the law could lead to some problems.

He doesn't buy alcohol very often, but said he is concerned about days where there are long lines at stores.

"I think it's a bit ridiculous to card me at my age," Anthony said.

Alting will hold a news conference early next week to talk about the new law, he said, but a place and time have not yet been determined.

"Stick with us folks," Alting said. "We're working to get this fixed."

The soonest the law will be able to get changed, if at all, would be in January when the House and Senate resume session.

Staff writer Daryl Bjoraas: dbjoraas@sbtinfo.com

SOUTH BEND — Former South Bend resident Phil Levy was frustrated by the government bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.

So he expressed his discontent the only way he knew how: by making a heartfelt bumper sticker mocking the help.

The cleanly laid out black design with white lettering reads “Bail out Studebaker.”

Levy, who now works and lives in the Boston area as a technical writer, created 300 of the bumper stickers in 2008 and started selling them online.

He even took out an advertisement in the Studebaker Drivers Club magazine to promote the bumper stickers.

Studebaker has been gone long enough that people can appreciate the sarcasm, he said.

He first got the idea during the 1980 Chrysler bailout, but never acted on it. He buried the thought and said he was ready to go when it happened the second time around.

“The bumper sticker is the first one I’ve created that has actually paid for itself,” Levy said.

He’s sold all but a few.

At $4.95 each or three for $10, he’s not looking to make a lot of money, but he likes the idea that people share his love of the Studebaker automobile.

They were good cars, he said, recalling such model names as the President, the Hawk and the Commander, and it was a lot of fun to create the bumper stickers.

“I like the challenge of saying something funny and meaningful in just a few words,” said Levy, adding that he also has a personal connection to Studebaker.

Levy, who is a 1964 graduate of the former South Bend Central High School, said his great-grandfather worked in the Studebaker plant in the 1870s.

His family owned Studebaker autos and he can remember the day the factory shut down.

“It was tragic,” Levy said. “They made good quality cars and nobody appreciated them.”

The Studebaker National Museum in South Bend purchased 500 of them in all.

Rebecca Bonham, executive director of the museum, said Levy called her up one day and suggested the idea to her.

“I thought immediately, Oh, we’ve got to buy this,” Bonham said.

The museum’s gift shop has had to order and reorder them several times, she said, and up until they ran out two weeks ago, they were selling for 95 cents each.

“It was just kind of done as a hoot. I thought it was pretty funny,” Bonham said. “Turns out other people did too.

Levy and the Studebaker National Museum said there’s the potential of getting more, if the demand is there.

Staff writer Daryl Bjoraas: dbjoraas@sbtinfo.com

ELKHART — Like many employers in Indiana, the last few months have caused John Ganyard a lot of worry.

A new Indiana gun law set to take effect July 1, will allow workers to keep firearms locked and stored away in their vehicles while at work.

Ganyard, human resources manager of Keystone RV Co. in Elkhart, was among the sea of worried faces at the Matterhorn Conference Center Tuesday morning.

The Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel to discuss how companies would enforce the new law.

The panel discussed everything from doing extensive background checks on job applicants to the types of firearms permitted in a vehicle to the responsibility an employer has to inform its workers about the new law.

Ganyard said the presentation clarified some of the information in the statute, but he still has some concern.

This is a nightmare just waiting to happen, he said. “In the rare cases where there are heated moments after an employee is let go, this minimizes the cooling off period,” Ganyard said. “How are we supposed to counteract?”

Ganyard is worried that the law will make it easier for disgruntled employees to react to bad news in a dangerous way.

Michiana has had two incidents in the last 10 years where employees were injured or killed by gunfire in a work place.

Employee Robert Wissman killed himself after fatally shooting general manager Greg Oswald and injuring six others at Nu- Wood Decorative Millwork in Goshen in 2001.

Nearly four months later, the Bertrand Products plant in South Bend had a similar situation when longtime employee William Lockey shot and killed four of his co-workers and wounded two others before killing himself.

Capt. Sean Holmes of the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, assured employers that they should never risk the safety of their workplace. Recognizing a situation where you think you might need law enforcement is crucial, he said.

“If you’re in fear of your safety, call us,” Holmes said to the crowd. One man asked the panel if businesses can inquire whether employees intend to bring firearms or not.

Jeff Schwingendorf, an attorney at NIBCO Inc. in Elkhart, said doing so may have a chilling effect on employees.

“The question you have to ask yourself is what type of (workplace) culture are you creating by asking future action (of employees)?” Schwingendorf said.

The panel suggested that companies ask employees being hired for copies of legal gun permits.

Schwingendorf acknowledged an employer has no way of knowing whether a gun is legally licensed unless the employee provides a permit.

“Discipline those who carry weapons into the work place,” Schwingendorf said.

Staff writer Daryl Bjoraas: dbjoraas@sbtinfo.com