Following President Obama’s decree that all flags in America be flown at half-staff to honor four Marines murdered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, it was noticed today that the American flag at New Carlisle’s Smith Park was still atop the flag pole.
Citizens took to the popular Facebook page “You know you’re from New Carlisle if…” to alert city officials to the situation and to inquire as to why the flag wasn’t at half-staff like nearly all other flags in town. Main and Lake has gathered new information that sheds light on why the flag wasn’t at half-staff, as well as more information about local vandals.
Smith Park, one of New Carlisle’s most treasured sites, has fallen victim to local vandals.
Main and Lake began looking into the situation after a post on “You know you’re from New Carlisle if…” racked up dozens of comments, mostly from outraged and disappointed citizens. What we found may change the way you think about the situation involving Smith Park’s flag.
After investigating the flag at Smith Park, it was found that the flag had in fact been flown at half-staff, but someone had actually cut the flag pole in half, giving off the appearance that the flag was actually still raised to the top of the pole. From a distance it appears as if the flag is indeed fully raised, albeit on a ludicrously short flag pole. At this time it is unclear if the city intends to lower the flag to half-staff (which would actually be quarter-staff on the shortened pole).
The flag pole’s desecration brings to light concerns many citizens have about the state of New Carlisle’s parks. On a different thread on “You know you’re from New Carlisle if…” citizens called for the addition of cameras that look upon several parks in town, including Smith Park, New Carlisle Park, and Willowick Park. A few of the problems mentioned were: broken glass in play areas, a proliferation of drug dealers, terrifying hordes of loose dogs, discarded machetes, and pairs of enormous womens’ panties strewn about the children’s playground area.
Broken glass is just one of the many scourges on the surface of New Carlisle’s parks.
Whether the city can allocate funds to put surveillance on our parks is unknown at this time. It would seem like a worthwhile investment, as the primary city concerns are drugs, theft, stray canines, and the overall quality of life in town. Estimates suggest that it would take less than $60,000 to complete the project and, as we all know, the city seems to be able to come up with $60,000 without too much of an issue.