People traveling along a southern Indiana roadway were doing a double-take as they passed a historic church Wednesday.
The sign usually features an inspirational remark, at least it did, until it was changed overnight to something highly offensive.
A usually quiet weekday morning at the rural church brings out reporters and the sheriff's department.
"We've been vandalized before, broken into, but nothing on the sign before. It's a sad situation," Pendleton said.
Overnight, the sign was changed. One side included the n-word. The other read, "Love Satan our ruler."
"You know, I found it very offensive. I wanted to shed light on it, so I posted it on Facebook and it really took off," Stephens said.
Not the kind of publicity the 150-year-old church was looking for and not what Pendleton said he preaches.
"We do apologize for this vandalism happening, for anyone who has been it, especially children. Something like that should not be seen," Pendleton said.
The sheriff's department took a report from caretaker Bob Graddy, who was married in the church more than five decades ago.
The Floyd County Sheriff's Department was checking other churches in the area Wednesday morning for any other signs of vandalism.
The Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church in Indianapolis said, "As United Methodist church leaders, we abhor the racial epithet placed on the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church sign. We see this as an act of vandalism and hope such an incident does not happen in the future."
Questions answered by Marc Hebert, president of The Harbor Group Inc., a registered investment adviser.
Reevaluating insurance coverage isnt top of mind for most newlyweds, and it wont ensure a long and happy marriage. But the right insurance can go a long way toward shielding couples against financial calamities.
Here is one key insurance area that newlyweds (and other married couples, for that matter) may want to review:
Life insurance. Its a given that couples may need life insurance if they have or expect to have children, or if one spouse earns most or all of the couples income. But it is often suggested that life insurance is not needed when couples have no dependents and when both spouses work in comparable-paying jobs. This may be suitable in some cases, but you may still want to consider additional life insurance beyond what is offered at work.
First, working couples typically raise their standard of living: a bigger apartment or house with a mortgage, nicer cars, new furniture and vacations. So the question becomes, if one of them dies, will the survivor be able to afford to maintain the higher standard of living on his or her own salary? The answer is probably not, unless each has sufficient life insurance to cover the gap.
Second, one or both spouses may bring debts to the marriage, such as student loans or credit card debt. The surviving spouse probably wont be responsible for debt accumulated by the deceased before the marriage (though there can be complications in this area). But the deceaseds estate would have to pay off the debt, thus leaving less for the survivor. The couple also may accumulate new debt together that the surviving spouse may find difficult to pay off without life insurance.
Third, life insurance may be necessary to cover funeral and possibly out-of-pocket expenses incurred from medical treatments associated with the death.
The fourth advantage of getting life insurance early for many newlyweds is that they can lock in low premiums while they are young and healthy.
Lastly, while group term is probably available at work, it cant go with you if you leave your job, and it is often inadequate. Also, you dont want to need additional life insurance at a time when you may be uninsurable for an individual policy.
If either one or both spouses bring existing life insurance to the marriage, they will probably want to rename their new spouse as beneficiary. Otherwise, death proceeds could end up going to an ex-spouse or parents.
"Reverie": Pictured, from left, are Sarah Shahi as Mara Kint and Dennis Haysbert as Charlie Ventana. (NBC photo by Sergei Bachlakov)
NBC has set premiere dates for its new immersive-reality drama series "Reverie," starring Sarah Shahi and Golden Globe Award nominee Dennis Haysbert, as well as last summer's No. 1 new scripted series, "Marlon."
"Reverie" will launch Wednesday, May 30 (10 p.m. ET/PT), immediately following NBC's popular summer alternative series "American Ninja Warrior."
From Mickey Fisher, the creator of "Extant," this grounded new thriller follows Mara Kint (Shahi), a former hostage negotiator and expert on human behavior who became a college professor after facing an unimaginable personal tragedy. But when her former boss, Charlie Ventana (Haysbert), brings her in to save ordinary people who have lost themselves in a highly advanced, immersive virtual-reality program in which you can live out your wildest dreams, she finds that, in saving others, she may actually have discovered a way to save herself.
"Marlon," which Variety said was "a refreshing take on family dynamics" in its first season, returns for season two on Thursday, June 14 (9 and 9:30 p.m.), with Steve Harvey's "Little Big Shots" serving as its lead in.
Last summer the 9 p.m. edition of "Marlon" averaged a 1.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.6 million viewers overall in "live plus seven day" ratings from Nielsen Media Research, making it the summer's No. 1 new scripted series on the "Big 4" networks in 18-49 and total viewers. "Marlon" concluded its first season by matching the show's "live plus same day" season highs with both its 9 and 9:30 p.m. telecasts.
Loosely inspired by the real life of star Marlon Wayans ("In Living Color," "Scary Movie"), this update to the classic family comedy centers on a loving (but sometimes inappropriate) father committed to co-parenting his two kids with his very-together ex-wife. While his misguided fatherly advice, unstoppable larger-than-life personality and unpredictable Internet superstardom might get in the way sometimes, for Marlon family really always does come first — even if he's the biggest kid of all.