Well, quite a bit has happened since I brought you all news of different events, so I thought I'd take a moment to get you caught up. Henryville High School The students finished out this school year at a facility about 10 miles away. The new school building is expected to be finished in time for classes to start this fall. The Serial Killer Instead of waiting for more bodies to turn up, the county prosecutor has decided to charge that guy with three counts of murder, seeking the death penalty for two of those counts. Now, I know that some of you might have strong feelings concerning the death penalty. I'm not going to share my opinion on this. But I do want to let you know how it is in Indiana, since each state that has the death penalty has a differing attitude and set of rules. If this guy had simply murdered the women, the prosecutor would have gone for a life sentence per charge. But the women whose remains have been found were sexually assaulted and mutilated before they were killed. (The specifics weren't released to the general public -- it was agreed the details were far too gruesome....and, given the current state of the media, that's saying something!) So the prosecutor believed the death penalty is justified in this case. (I'm sure the fact that the creep has a tattoo commemorating the date he killed a woman 10 years ago helped!) My Dad This afternoon I signed the paperwork for having my dad buried at sea near Hawaii. His remains will be shipped to Honolulu Tuesday. This is better than he hoped for -- he was certain that the best I could do was get a local VFW chapter to scatter his ashes off the coast of San Diego. He never dreamed he'd get a full military burial near Pearl Harbor. (I guess he figured that was reserved for those who were there when the place was attacked in 1941.) Anyway, it might be another 3 to 6 months before the actual ceremony, but I'll let you know when it's happened.

Wow! A lot has happened indeed! Hope the kids enjoy the new school...I'm sure it will be bigger and better- it's a shame they had to go through all of this! All I want is for the serial killer to get what's coming to him. He should suffer for the horrific things he did! So glad that your Dad will have the proper burial that he wanted. May he rest in peace.

sounds like everything is working out for the best!! Hope all goes well for your father's ceremony, EW!

Aw, that's great that your dad is getting what he really wanted. Glad to hear it!

So glad to hear you father is getting what he wanted. And that everything else is working out as well.

EW, I'm glad to hear that your father is getting what he wanted as far as a final resting place. As for the serial killer, there are some people whose crimes are so heinous, so beyond redemption, that they do not deserve life. That might not be a politically correct thing to say, but it is what I believe, but I also believe that it such a penalty should be used cautiously and only for the worst killers.

EW, that's great news about your dad's burial.

EW, while things aren't exactly looking 'up' for you, I am very glad they're looking better. You've gone through enough lately so it's time things started coming together!

I'm so glad everything is working out as it should. It's things like this that give us faith and hope when things go wrong.

Good news to hear about the fulfillment of your father's wishes and the kids being able to have their school back in the fall. Sad to hear about the other mayhem...hopefully those poor victims families will have some closure to such a heinious act.... You have my thoughts.

EW, glad to hear things worked out for your dad's burial. So he fought in the war? As for the serial killer issue, I don't even want to think about it, so I won't comment.

Originally posted by Daniella T EW, glad to hear things worked out for your dad's burial. So he fought in the war?

When the US got involved in World War II, he was just 11 years old. But he served in Korea and Vietnam. And in between those two, he served as a driver to the US Special Envoy to the UN, and he participated in several atomic bomb tests. (He once told me that the most beautiful shades of green he'd ever seen were during an underwater test in the San Francisco Bay....I'm sure that memory will help anyone who lives in that area sleep tonight!)

That's very exciting! Where was he with the UN special envoy?

Glad to hear that things are stabilizing a little bit for you, EW! You're certainly been through quite a bit these past few weeks and, hopefully, things will calm down now. Hang in there!

Originally posted by Daniella T That's very exciting! Where was he with the UN special envoy?

It was in New York City, but I can't get more specific than that. (Mom and Dad wouldn't tell me more than that, really. But I do know that, at one point, Dad had the option to transfer to Governor's Island or to Pearl Harbor, so he chose Pearl.)