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USA Today Network Michael Braun, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press 3:38 p.m. ET April 9, 2017

Since the first part of 2017, Vice President Mike Pence hasn't appeared before photographers in anything but a business suit. On Feb. 22, 2017, he took off his coat to help volunteers clean up Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., after vandalism at the Jewish cemetery.(Photo: Michael Thomas, Getty Images)

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. Red Anderson may not have seen Vice President Mike Pence when he stopped Sunday for early morning services at Sanibel Community Church but the 93-year-old former Purdue University basketball player surely noticed his security detail.

"All the guys over there I thought were a singing group," said Anderson, a spry and witty Indiana native and Sanibelsnowbird. "I asked them if they were going to perform. I wasn't awarethat they were Secret Service."

Anderson said the agents weren't too thrilled at his question, he said. "They kinda looked awry at me," said Anderson, who was manning the church coffee table outside the services.

Reports: Secret Service agent on Pence detail consorted with prostitute

Vice President Mike Pence spends spring break in Florida

Anderson said he played basketball at Purdue about 70 years ago. "I knew (former UCLA coach and Purdue player) John Wooden. But he was a bit older."

The vice president and his wife attended the olive-drab-colored church's 8 a.m. traditional service, said member Steve Solakar, and even took communion.

"Pastor (Daryl)Donovan acknowledgedthe vice president and prayed for him and the president," Solakar said.

The full-time Sanibel resident said that Pence is probably the highest level dignitary to have taken in the island church's services.

"Ben Carson was here once, but that was before he ran," Solakar said. "Nobody as high as the vice president has been here."

Red Anderson, 93, didn't get a look at Vice President Mike Pence when he attended services at Sanibel Community Church on Sunday morning but did see his Secret Service entourage but thought they were a singing group. Anderson, a church member, manned the coffee table for the church on Sunday.(Photo: Michael Braun/The News-Press)

Donovan said that Pence has been to the church beforewhen he would vacation here during his tenure as Indiana governor and other dignitaries who attend from time to time included former CIA director Porter Goss and the former United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence retired Gen. Jerry Boykin.

Donovan, who said a couple members also attend church with Pence in Indiana, said he had no idea that the vice president was inclined to come to services.

"I heard he was going to be on the island," he said. "About 7:30 a line of black SUVs started pulling in the parking lot."

Donovan said he felt honored, especially since Pence and his wife got in just last night and then attended the congregation's 8 a.m. service.

"He was so genuine and precious," Donovan said. "He was real sweet. I shook his hand and he said he's been coming here for several years and told me that we had a special ministry."

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife attended the 8 a.m. traditional service at Sanibel Community Church on Sunday morning. Church members said the couple took communion and the church's pastor offered a prayer for him and President Trump.(Photo: Michael Braun/The News-Press)

Jack David, a 25-year member of the church, sat in the back for the services but didn't catch a glimpse of Pence.

"I had to go and drive the church bus to pick up some members," he said. "I did hear he took communion."

David also said he had to show his ID to the vice president's security detail when he went to the men's room.

Other than that bit of divine excitement, it was a normal day on the popular tourist island. Early on traffic was rather light as cooler temperatures prevailed.

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Vice President Mike Pence, wife start Sunday at Sanibel Island church - USA TODAY

Patricia Borns, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press Published 10:23 p.m. ET April 8, 2017 | Updated 10:42 p.m. ET April 8, 2017

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Vice President Mike Pence, aboard Air Force Two, lands at 4:27 p.m. April 8, 2017, at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers on his way to visit Sanibel Island, Fla.(Photo: Kinfay Moroti, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press)

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. The sky turned spanking blue on the busiest Saturday of season for snowbirds soaking up their last winter rays, shark teeth hunters, weekend fishermen and residents anticipating the arrival of Vice President Mike Pence.

Rumors had been flying for days about the vice president's visit. Was he staying on nearbyCaptiva Island? No, Sanibel Island. No, its changed to Marco Island, where former House Speaker John Boehner gave a speech Friday night.

No, it's really Sanibel Island, about 20 miles southwest of Fort Myers, Fla., and 130 miles west of President Trump's Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

Related:White House photo reveals inside view of Mar-a-Lago situation room Related:Missile strike 'probably the best thing' Trump has done, Boehner says

There are all kinds of rumors going around. I think people just like to hear themselves talk, Sanibel resident Craig Allen said Saturday morning while shopping atJerrys, the local supermarket.

Pence and Air Force Two touched down at at 4:27 p.m. ET at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.His motorcade crossed the Sanibel Causeway about 30 minutes later.

Where Pence is staying, where he might play golf andexactly how long he will be here is not being revealed. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction Thursday for private planes around the island from Saturday through Friday, so he appears to be spending Easter elsewhere.

Related:Pence, House Republicans scramble to resurrect Obamacare repeal Related:Trump says Pence has 'one hell of a good marriage'

Year-round residents are used to seeing celebrities like Eric Clapton show up at George and Wendy Schnapp's Sanibel Seafood Grille; Johnny Depp at a Tween Waters Halloween party; and, regularly, NBC weatherman Willard Scott, for whom the island is a second home.

Resident Anita Smith wore a slightly irritated air as she went about her chores.

We dont have enough traffic without the vice president visiting? Smith asked.

Related:Stephen Colbert cracks himself up poking fun at Mike Pence Related:Mike Pence's 'Billy Graham Rule' has Internet yelling sexism

Yet traffic was surprisingly smooth for a day of the week when rentals all over the island were turning over. A police officer stood outside Royal Shell, calming traffic as half the real estate companys 500-plus rental properties were taking in new guests.

Many business people were afraid to share feelings about the visit because of sharp political divisions being felt across the country and even more so on a small island.

But Bridgit Stone-Budd wasnt one of them.

Stone-Budd, who opened Pecking Order Fried Chicken with her husband three years ago, wasted no time posting to Facebook Friday when she heard the news:

Then she tweeted to @mike_pence inviting him to dinner on the house.

I know Mike Pence is from Indiana, and Indiana is famous for fried chicken and waffles and fried pickles, she said.

Sois the Pecking Order.

Related:Pence jokes GOP health care bill needed help from WWE Related:Vice President Pence meets with his 'second-favorite' Reagans

Stone-Budd lamented that politics kept her from going gung-hofor Pence and the president, for fear of alienating patrons. After her tweet to the vice president, one customer said hed wouldnt be following her anymore.

Some of my customers replied, Goodbye, well miss you, she said.

Bridgit Stone-Budd, who invited the vice president to dinner, serves an order of her famous fried chicken. waffles and fried pickles April 8, 2017, at Pecking Order Fried Chicken on Sanibel Island, Fla.(Photo: Patricia Borns, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press)

How do islanders keep it friendly with each other in these political times?

One of my staffs parents have completely different feelings about the president, Stone-Budd said. Were friendsthough. We just dont talk about it.

Sanibel Island, like Trump's Palm Beach on the Atlantic, is a wealthier enclave than most of Florida. The median household income is almost $100,000, just several thousand less than Palm Beach's $105,000; however, the median value of an owner-occupied home is almost $300,000 less than in Palm Beach: about $665,000 vs. $950,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

For comparison, the median household income for the United States is less than $54,000, and the median value of an owner-occupied house is less than $180,000. The median is a value in the middle of a set of numbers; half are higher and half are lower.

Across the Sanibel causeway, Dave Bailey sat beside the bay with a slack fishing line in the water and a crossword puzzle in his lap.

Did Pences visit matter to him?

It depends on what he does while hes here, Baileysaid. The political furor of this country has been so ramped up over politics. In Florida, were like, ho-hum.

Related:Vice President faces backlash for photo of Freedom Caucus meeting Related:Mike Pence calls Obamacare a 'nightmare' at Kentucky stop

Bailey is especially sensitized to big-name politicians because he lives the rest of the year in Colchester, Vt., home of 2016 presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Closing on 5 p.m., police cars began stationing themselves on either side of the causeway. Sirens wailed in the distance.

Since the first part of 2017, Vice President Mike Pence hasn't appeared before photographers in anything but a business suit. On Feb. 22, 2017, he took off his coat to help volunteers clean up Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Mo., after vandalism at the Jewish cemetery.(Photo: Michael Thomas, Getty Images)

The base of the causeway was almost empty of onlookers, save two women, who hadbeen waiting patiently for Pence to drive by.

This is everything, said Tamara Leone of Illinois, who was spending a few days visiting her mother.

Leone had come to the spot to show her support for the vice president, whom she admires becausehes not afraid to show his faith," she said.

On the other side of the causeway, an excited Amanda Wilcox rushed to the side of the road as a police car screamed by. U.S. Coast Guard boats churned up the water below, and helicopters patrolled the sky.

A Cape Coral, Fla.,resident who was here enjoying a birthday picnic with friends, Wilcox wondered if a rescue were in progress for a man in a green kayak who had been missing in these waters since Friday night.

Did she know that Pence would be passing this way?

I have no idea who that is, Wilcox said.

However, she does know about Donald Trump.

Hes so controversial. Of course I do.

Follow Patricia Borns on Twitter:@PatriciaBorns

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Vice President Mike Pence spends spring break in Florida - USA TODAY

To the editor: Thank goodness for the open and honest words of Robin Abcarian. Her column on Vice President Mike Pences refusal to dine alone with a woman and the possible discriminatory effects of his behavior should be mandatory reading for all. (Mike Pence won't dine alone with a woman who's not his wife. Is that sexist? April 5)

How can we say that woman are allowed equal opportunity when we have men in the highest positions of our country who belittle our very existence? Wasnt it bad enough when President Trump used disgusting terms to describe how he treats women?

In addition to his dining restriction, Pence will not go without his wife to an event where alcohol is served. Does he imagine that women want to throw themselves at his feet pleading for attention?

I fear for the future of women during this administration.

Judith Braun, Woodland Hills

..

To the editor: In the 1950s, I attended college as an accounting major. In those days, accounting, especially auditing, was considered a male profession.

I knew that finding a job would be difficult, so I applied for a civil service position in the federal government. I passed the written test with the top score and moved on to the interview.

There, I was told that regardless of my stellar test score, a woman could not be hired onto the accounting staff, especially one who wants to go into auditing. The wives of the male staff members would object to me going on a field audit and sharing meals with men.

Thanks to the views of wives like Pences, I did not get the job.

Donna Handy, Santa Barbara

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

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Does Mike Pence think women want to throw themselves at him when he's not with his wife? - Los Angeles Times

Millennials and others of a certain age have not lived in a time when fidelity was universally valued and mostly supported by culture -- though sometimes hypocritically -- and its opposite was roundly condemned. There was even a time when a divorced person could not expect to become president, though plenty of married presidents managed to conduct clandestine affairs, often with the indulgence of the media.

How far we have come (or gone) as a country and culture was evidenced by the re-election of Bill Clinton, even after reports of his alleged sexual harassment of Paula Jones were made public.

This isnt about that. Its about Vice President Mike Pence and his recently rediscovered standard of refusing to dine alone with a woman not his wife, or showing up without her at a place where alcohol is served.

This is sometimes called the Billy Graham Rule, after the famed evangelist. It isnt about prudishness, as some have claimed in their criticism of Pence, it is about preserving ones reputation and avoiding the appearance of evil, as evangelicals like Graham and Pence would put it.

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Some years ago, Rev. Graham spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. There was a reception before his speech in the bar area. One of the guests asked Graham if he could have his picture taken with him, and Graham turned to me to ask if I would hold his soft drink while the picture was taken.

I later asked him why he did this. He said it was because some people who saw the photo could conclude that he was drinking an alcoholic beverage, a no-no among Southern Baptists, though some seem to have modified their position in recent years.

Graham once told me about his own policy of never being with a woman without his wife present, or having a woman pick him up at an airport when he traveled, unless she was with her husband. It is a standard I employ, not because Graham and I (and Pence) find it hard to resist temptations of the flesh, but because it is the best protection against all sorts of negative things that could happen, or someone reading something into a picture that has the potential of damaging ones reputation.

Pences comment was printed in a recent Washington Post profile, but he first made it in 2002 when he was a freshman in Congress at the height of the Gary Condit sex scandal, in which Condit was accused of being involved with the disappearance and murder of his intern Chandra Levy, with whom he was having an affair. Pence doesnt tell others how to live their lives. He just set a standard for his marriage. His spokesman, Marc Lotter, tells me clearly it is working.

Some feminists have written that Pences policy somehow harms women from making progress in the workplace. Recent newspaper columns by former female congressional staff members refute that claim.

Ive been in Pences office. Many women work there, including his deputy chief of staff, his national security adviser, his director of intergovernmental affairs and their top deputies.

So whats the problem? I think it is that the Pence lifestyle, for wont of a better word, stands as a rebuke to those who have chosen different ways of behaving, in or out of marriage. Deep down inside most of us know right from wrong, otherwise Judge Judy would not be so much fun to watch as she dispenses truths your grandmother probably agreed with and tried to teach you.

After all the criticism about President Trumps past with women, one might think the critics would welcome a wholesome example like the Pences. But in Washington, some people like having it both ways.

Cal Thomas, Americas most-syndicated columnist, is the author of 10 books.

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Cal Thomas: The Mike Pence-Billy Graham rule - The Saratogian

One of Vice President Mike Pences Secret Service guards was apparently caught with a prostitute according to ABC and CNN. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland). Buzz60

Pence departs after a meeting with House Republicans on health care legislation on Capitol Hill on April 4, 2017.(Photo: Aaron P. Bernstein, Getty Images)

A U.S. Secret Service agent who guards Vice President Mike Pence has been suspended after allegedly consorting with a prostitute at a Maryland hotel, CNN and ABC report.

The agency did not immediately respond to an e-mail sent to its press operation Wednesday night.

Both news organizations credited law enforcement sources.

The incident unfolded late last week when the manager of a hotel in Montgomery County, Md., became suspicious about activity in one of the guest rooms and called police, CNN reported. Police saw the agent leave the hotel and stopped him, according to ABC.

Police arrested the agent for solicitation, and the agent then reported his arrest to the agency, CNN reported.

The agent was off-duty at the time of the incident, both news organizations reported.

"The Secret Service takes allegations of criminal activity very seriously," the agency said in a statement to ABC. "This matter is being investigated by our Office of Professional Responsibility to determine the facts."

The agent turned over his weapon, lost all security clearance and lost access to Secret Service facilities, the New York Daily News reported, citing an agency spokesperson.

In 2012, Secret Service agents assigned to President Obama's detail allegedly took 20 prostitutes back to their rooms in Colombia. Eight agents wound up being fired.

The initial purpose of the agency founded in 1865 was to prevent the production of counterfeit money. Today, the agency's mission is to protect the nation's leaders and to protect the financial and critical infrastructure of the country.

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