Home Blog Page 1036

HOT JOBS

0
Account Representative
Motion Industries – Huntsville, AL
The Account Representative drives sales, identifies, and generates opportunities for. This role fosters customer satisfaction by maintaining.
Jun 16
Hose Specialist
Motion Industries – Pensacola, FL
The Account Specialist-Belt role sells directly to customers with a technical focus on belting products. This role focuses on developing and implementing sales…
Jun 16
Warehouse Driver
Motion Industries – Corinth, MS
Under direct supervision, the Warehouse Driver operates a company vehicle to pick up. And deliver local orders and equipment. Road test is required upon hire.
Jun 14
Customer Service Rep
Motion Industries – Muscle Shoals, AL
Under close supervision, the Customer Service Representative is responsible for. Accurately fulfilling customer orders and managing incoming customer calls.
Jun 14
HVAC Technical Support CSR
Motion Industries – Riverside, MO
Motion Industries’ salespeople provide the highest levels of technical support in the industry. Our Customer Service Representatives professionally represent…
Jun 16
Lead Belt Technician
Motion Industries – Richfield, WI
Motion’s Service Technicians provide the highest levels of mechanical service and product repair to meet the needs of our customers.
Jun 14
Gerente de Sucursal
Motion Industries – Weslaco, TX
Mantener la responsabilidad financiera de todos los gastos, salarios y gestión de activos. Experiencia requerida y/o habilidades especiales.
Jun 12
Industrial Control Panel Builder
Motion Industries – Woodridge, IL
Motion’s Automation Technicians provide the highest levels of electrical service to meet the needs of our customers.
Jun 12
Division Repair Specialist
Motion Industries – Grand Rapids, MI
Motion is looking for a Division Repair Specialist with the knowledge and skills to grow our repair business throughout Michigan. High School Diploma or GED.
Jun 16
Fabricator
Motion Industries – West Chester, OH
A Motion Conveyance fabricator largely preps materials, performs production processes and finishes custom fabricated products.
Jun 12

More than half of states will recognize Juneteenth as an official public holiday in 2023

0

More than half of states will recognize Juneteenth as an official public holiday in 2023

for PEW RESEARCH CENTER

The newest federal holiday, Juneteenth National Independence Day, celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. But at the state level, governments vary considerably in whether they commemorate it as an official holiday, a day of observance or something in between.

This year, at least 28 states and the District of Columbia will legally recognize Juneteenth as a public holiday – meaning state government offices are closed and state workers have a paid day off – according to a Pew Research Center analysis of state human resources websites, state legislation and news articles. Connecticut, Minnesota, Nevada and Tennessee have made Juneteenth a public holiday at the state level starting this year.

How we did this

A map showing where state workers have Juneteenth as a paid day off.

In most of these states, Juneteenth is designated as a permanent state holiday and commemorated annually. In Alabama and West Virginia, Juneteenth has been authorized as a state holiday for this year by a governor’s proclamation; the holiday can become permanent in these states if their legislatures pass bills to make it so.

In addition to D.C. and the states where Juneteenth is an official public holiday, other states give certain government workers the day off but haven’t declared Juneteenth a holiday at the state level.

Starting this year, California state employees can choose to take Juneteenth off in lieu of a personal holiday. In Pennsylvania, the day is designated as an “official annual observance” and a paid day off for state employees under the governor’s jurisdiction. And in North Carolina, some state workers can choose to take a floating holiday on a day of “cultural, religious or personal significance,” including Juneteenth.

A table showing when states and D.C. first recognized Juneteenth as observance or holiday.

Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth. It commemorates the day more than two months after the end of the Civil War – and more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation – when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their freedom.

It is one of 11 official federal holidays – or 12 for federal workers in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas during presidential inauguration years – meaning that federal workers get a paid day off and there’s no mail delivery. Most federal offices are closed on federal holidays, along with most banks and the bond markets that trade in U.S. government debt. The stock markets generally remain open, as do most retailers and other businesses, though these vary by federal holiday.

Most states where Juneteenth is a public holiday added it to their calendars in 2020 or later. The exception is Texas, where the holiday originated and where it is also known as Emancipation Day. Juneteenth has been celebrated locally in Texas since the 1860s and became an official state holiday there in 1980.

Public awareness of Juneteenth grew in 2020 amid nationwide protests after the police killings of several Black Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. President Joe Biden signed the legislation that made Juneteenth a federal holiday in June 2021.

Every state has at some point passed a resolution recognizing Juneteenth at least as a day of observance – even those that do not count Juneteenth among their official public holidays. An observance is a day of awareness that isn’t accompanied by a day off.

In fact, except for Texas, all states that currently recognize Juneteenth as a public holiday commemorated it as a day of observance years before it became an official state holiday. Florida, Oklahoma and Minnesota were the first states outside Texas to commemorate Juneteenth as a day of observance in the 1990s. New Mexico has recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday since 2006, observed on the third Saturday of June; it became a paid holiday for state workers for the first time in 2022.

South Dakota, North Dakota and Hawaii were the last states to give Juneteenth any formal recognition as an important date. The day was not observed in South Dakota until 2020, when the governor proclaimed it a state holiday. In Hawaii and North Dakota, Juneteenth has been a day of observance since 2022 but is not considered a state holiday.

Juneteenth is catching on as a holiday in major U.S. cities as well. Last year, cities including New York, Los Angeles and Phoenix declared the day an official paid holiday for city workers. In addition to Juneteenth, the District of Columbia celebrates Emancipation Day on April 16 in honor of the day Lincoln freed the enslaved people living in D.C., almost nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation.

“IS IT TRUE” JUNE 19, 2023

0
question
question
We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way City-County Observer Comment Policy. Be kind to people. No personal attacks or harassment will be tolerated and will be removed from our site.”
We understand that sometimes people don’t always agree and discussions may become a little heated.  The use of offensive language and insults against commenters will not be tolerated and will be removed from our site.

Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.

IS IT TRUE that U S Constitution gives presidents almost unfettered pardon power? …as long as a president steers clear of attempting to pardon a person in cases of impeachment, he is likely operating within his constitutional authority? … pardons can be given prospectively, meaning before a person is indicted or even charged with a crime?  … this is what happened in 1974 when President Gerald Fordprospectively pardoned President Richard Nixon shortly after his resignation?
IS IT TRUE that the modern-day history of presidential pardons is full of examples of presidents who provided a “Get Out Of Jail Free Card” to friends, family members, and donors?  …that President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, and campaign donor Marc Rich? …President George W. Bush pardoned his former chief of staff,  Vice President Dick Cheney, and Scooter Libby?  … we won’t be surprised if former President Donald Trump doesn’t receive a pardon from President Biden?
IS IT TRUE that since the first newspaper was published in 1690 through the turn of the century defined by the year 2000, newspapers have served as the most important medium for holding politicians accountable in an objective and fair manner?…the journalists of old were all about accuracy, fairness, checking their sources, and of course, being a good citizen business?…capitalism has rewarded newspaper owners with status, prestige, and profits turning names like Hurst, Bingham, and Scripps into household names?
IS IT TRUE newspapers have always been seen as game-changers in exposing corruption and government waste in a fair and honest manner?…sometime around the last half of the 19th Century things began to change?…with the widespread availability of the internet, cable news, and the opinion obsessions that followed, newspapers changed from their humble but noble calling into mass disseminators of the same national stories intermingled with biased opinion pieces about things that local people are not in tune to?… over the last several years many small papers weekly and monthly printed papers have folded, many large daily printed papers have either had to seek bankruptcy protection or close for good because they have been depleted to the point of being somewhat ineffective?
IS IT TRUE that a local businessman Joshua “Josh” Edwards (R) has filed to run in a Republican caucus for the First Ward City Council seat as a Republican? ….that his campaign treasurer is Zac Rascher, the husband of Mayoral candidate, Natalie Rascher(R)?…that if Mr.Edwards wins the Republican caucus he will then will run against incumbent First Ward City Councilman, Ben Trockman (D)?
IS IT TRUE that lifelong Evansville resident and community advocate, Joe Kratochvil (R) has formally filed his paperwork to launch his candidacy for City Council in the 3rd Ward of Evansville, Indiana?  … that Mr. Kratochvil has filed to run in a political caucus for the 3rd Ward Ward City Council seat as a Republican?  …we are told if Mr. Kratochvil wins the Republican caucus he will be extremely competitive in the 3rd Ward general City Council race?
IS IT TRUE that incumbent politicians should understand that they should have campaigned while they were in office and not when they are running for re-election?
IS IT TRUE the City-County Observer has always strived to serve as a “Community Watchdog” by sounding the alarm when our citizen’s rights are in danger of being violated by large Corporations, Federal, State, and Local Governmental agencies as well as elected or appointed officials?
 IS IT TRUE we realize that a community can have no greater ambassador of goodwill than one which keeps its citizens informed about the accomplishments, failures, and triumphs of individuals, the business community, church, hospitals and community groups, educational institutions, and elected and appointed officials?
IS IT TRUE that the free printed monthly edition of the City-County Observer is a smashing success?  …we had to re-fill every rack that displays our June 2023 printed edition many times during this month?   …because of the popularity of our complimentary monthly printed paper, we are forced to increase the numbers of our July 2023 edition?
IS IT TRUE that we wonder why we haven’t heard any complaints about the noise level at KC’S Marina Point Bar and Grill?  …could the reason be that the adjoining property owners can’t hear the live music anymore because of the work done on the building to reduce the noise level worked?
IS IT TRUE we are hearing that several politically savvy individuals are talking about starting a local government watchdog group? …we are told that the mission of this organization will be to encourage locally elected officials to practice fiscal responsibility and good public policy?   …if this group decides to organize it should be a fun group to watch?
IS IT TRUE that it’s with prayerful resolve we hope that the compassionate advocates of the downtrodden and disadvantaged will convince the career politicians and bureaucrats to create government-funded programs that will start offering the disadvantaged a helping hand, not governmental handouts?
IS IT TRUE that the newly elected Vanderburgh County Sheriff, Noah Robinson is doing a creditable job?  …he is laid back, fair-minded, honest, extremely knowledgeable about law enforcement, and very personable?
IS IT TRUE that we would like to personally thank Missy Mosby for spearheading a fundraiser effort to help the officials of South Little League Baseball Park to raise many thousands of dollars to replace stolen food, money, and baseball equipment from the storage building and concession stand?
IS IT TRUE that we hope in the future that PPP money will be allocated to deserving For-Profit businesses and Not-For-Profits organizations only?
IS IT TRUE that the 2022 city budget has $1,000,000 of the American Rescue Plan Funds for Robert’s Park infrastructure?  …that we wonder how can spending a million dollars on “Roberts Park” will rescue America?
IS IT TRUE  that we would like to thank the Director of the Evansville/Vanderburgh County Building Authority for during an excellent job in keeping our buildings clean and safe?  …did you know that Dave Rector is a Facility Engineer by trade?
Please take time and read our articles entitled “Statehouse Files”, Law Enforcement, Weekly Birthday, Hot Jobs, and “Local Sports”.  
You now are able to subscribe to get the free City-County Observer daily.  Please go to the top upper right corner of the front page of the CCO and click the “Subscribe” link to sign up.
If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-CountyObserver@live.com.

 

News Organizations Collaborate To Fill In News Deserts Across Indiana

0

News organizations collaborate to fill in news deserts across Indiana

  • By Kyra Howard, TheStatehouseFile.com
  • Jun 19, 2023

Panelists discuss future plans to improve quality of journalism around the state.

Local news coverage is beginning to thrive in Indiana with several online news organizations taking root and a new newsroom to be opened by the end of the year.

VOX Indy and Chalkbeat Indiana hosted a panel Tuesday in Indianapolis that highlighted these changes in Indiana’s news market while discussing the future of local news.

Indianapolis journalists Camike Jones, Editor-in-Chief of the Indianapolis Recorder, MJ Slaby, Bureau Chief of Chalkbeat Indiana and Karen Ferguson Fuson, Board Chair of the Indiana Local News Initiative spoke on the panel. They discussed nonprofit outlets emerging in Indiana and what this means for media consumers.

The event began with time for attendees to network. The loud chatter declined as everyone sat down to hear other journalists share information about their organizations–Axios Indianapolis, Indiana Capital Chronicle and State Affairs Indiana. After the introduction of these nonprofit news outlets the panel discussion took place. It was guided by a moderator who asked a few questions before allowing the audience to jump in.

In response to the first question Fuson shared her perspective on the cutbacks of journalism positions, describing it as a ‘crisis’.

“I believe, and national research shows, that journalists and local news help connect people to their communities and help support our democracy,” said Fuson. “With such a significant decline in journalists, I believe information that we all need to live our day to day lives is not being provided to us. And so that, in my mind, is a crisis impacting our democracy.”

Indiana has seen an uptick in nonprofit news organizations such as Axios Indianapolis, The Indiana Capital Chronicle, State Affairs Indiana, even as journalism employment continues to decline across the country. The Pew Research center found that U.S newsroom employment has fallen by 26% since 2008. A 2016 article from The Guardian explained the fall of US newspaper jobs by almost 60% from 1990-2016.

The Indiana Local News Initiative is another nonprofit newsroom that plans to launch later this year. The Initiative  is a new nonprofit formed by a coalition of locally based organizations and the American Journalism Project, according to its  website. Its mission is to provide residents with accessible local news that reflects the community’s needs.Through Indiana organizations and philanthropies the AJP raised $10 million to create the Indiana Local News Initiative.

The need for the Initiative was shown in a comprehensive study done by the American Journalism Project. The study found that ‘more than 1,000 Hoosiers across 79 counties said they needed more unbiased, fact based information about their communities’ according to the Indiana Local News Initiative site.

Speaking to The Statehouse File, Michael Ouimette, chief investment officer for the American Journalism Project and board member for the Indiana Local News Initiative, explained the steps AJP took to create the initiative after the study was complete.

“We partner to develop a set of solutions, in this case the Indiana Local News Initiative, and we work to rally interest from local philanthropists who see an incredible and urgent need for more local journalism in Indiana,” said Ouimette. “We recently announced our founding governing board. It is a really exceptional group of leaders who have come together to dedicate their time to local news. We’ve also made our first two staff hires and we’ll be hiring another 25 people or so by the end of the year.”

The initiative has three main strategies–fill gaps in local news by launching nonprofit organizations, facilitate investments in partner news organizations and foster collaboration between local news outlets, said Ouimette.

TheStatehouseFile.com is one example of a partnership between the initiative and a local news outlet. TSF received a $180,000 grantfrom the Lumina Foundation. TSF was able to eliminate its paywall on its website, allowing anyone to read the content produced by student journalists every day. Additionally, any news outlet in Indiana is now able to run TSF content without paying any sort of fee.

They are also partnered with IndyStar, WISH-TV, WFYI, the Recorder, Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism, Chalkbeat Indiana, Hoosier State Press Association, The Indiana Citizen and more.

Ouimette said the Indiana Local News Initiative will keep working to fill gaps in local news so Hoosiers have access to important information.

“Local news is so important because it holds communities together. It equips residents with the information they need to engage in civic life and have information about what’s going on in their schools, gives them information to hold their government officials accountable for their roles and responsibilities in the community, it helps build empathy and community and celebrate the vitality of Indiana. That’s why it’s so important that we have more local journalists on the beat doing this great work,” said Ouimette.

Fuson said the Indiana Local News Initiative is committed to making communities feel heard. This means implementing the feedback Hoosiers give by creating a news room that represents the population, having reporters out in the community on a regular basis and including residents wherever possible.

The initiative has hired Ariana Beedie as the community journalism director. A journalist who most recently served as director of neighborhood engagement with the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center, Breedie is currently recruiting Indiana residents for a paid program to attend public meetings and take notes for news outlets to use in stories.

“Her job is to create ongoing listening sessions with the community and understand what they’re interested in knowing, what they need to know and then delivering on that,” said Fuson. “It’s a circle. It’s a never ending circle. It’s not a straight line and I think the continuous feedback at all points in the process and then after is really important.”

Ouimette said it is a unique time for Indiana journalism and is looking forward to the future of the local media organizations.

“There’s a national movement in communities across the country for philanthropy to play a catalytic role in building a much more robust local news sector in this country,” said Ouimette. “It’s really exciting that Indiana is playing a leading role in ensuring that in a generation from now, dozens and dozens of nonprofit news organizations play a vital role in the civic life of our communities.”

FOOTNOTE: Kyra Howard is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

LINK OF THE ORDINANCE TRANSFERRING THE APPROPRIATION OF CITY FUNDS

0

ORDINANCE TRANSFERRING THE APPROPRIATION OF CITY FUNDS SP0NSORED BY CITY COUNCILMAN RON BEANE

LINK OF ORDINANCE 

F-2023-08 Attachment

An Ordinance of the Common Council of the City of Evansville Authorizing Transfers of Appropriations, Additional Appropriations, and Repeal and Re-Appropriation of Funds for Various City Funds.  Sponsored by At-Large City Councilman Ron Beane.

Discussion Led By: Finance Chair Beane Discussion Date: 6/26/2023

Notify–Russ Lloyd, Jr., Controller.

Jagoe Homes Plans New Community in Evansville, IN  

0

Evansville, INDIANA – Jagoe Homes has announced Goldfinch Cove, a new community on Evansville’s Northeast side.

Goldfinch Cove will be an excellent place to call home, offering the luxury of tranquil living with a sense of suburban life in Northeast Evansville. Area schools include the North High School District, along with shopping, restaurants, and Evansville Regional Airport nearby.

Traveling North on I-69, take the Boonville-New Harmony Road exit.  Turn left (west) onto Boonville-New Harmony Road and continue to Green River Road.  Turn left (south) onto Green River Road, and Goldfinch Cove will be located on the east side of Green River Road, north of Huebner Lane.

Your dream home will be just minutes away, with quick access to I-69 and Hwy. 57.  Nearby activities include Deaconess Sports Park, McCutchanville Park, Vanderburgh 4-H Center, and Blue Grass Fish & Wildlife Area.

Jagoe Homes prides itself on providing an atmosphere of worry-free living, creating more time for relaxation, family, and all the other important areas of your life. All new Jagoe Homes are built ENERGY SMART and TECH SMART and include a 2/10 Home Buyers Warranty.

Prospective Homebuyers and Realtors interested in this new community are encouraged to sign-up for the Jagoe Homes priority email list to inform you first of:

  • Updates on Community Progress
  • Floorplans and Options
  • Pricing
  • Available Home Sites

Sign up for the Jagoe Homes priority email list by visiting JagoeHomes.com.

Life, Death, And John Mellencamp

0

Life, Death, And John Mellencamp

On the day my brother went into the hospital for the last time, I ran to the store to pick up some things for him.

John Krull mug

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

Among them was a CD of John Mellencamp’s album, “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack,” which was just out.

We both had been fans of Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen for decades. The two singer-songwriters had been linked for 40 years, with Mellencamp at times being dismissed as the Midwestern—and therefore lesser—answer to the bard from New Jersey.

“Strictly a One-Eyed Jack” featured something new, the first collaborations of the two artists. My brother had been eager to hear the album.

I offered to play it for him on my phone with a portable sound system.

My brother, though, was old school. He never cared much for streaming and preferred to listen to his music the way he always had. He asked me to leave the CD at his home so he could enjoy it when he got out of the hospital.

He never made it back home.

He died before he got to hear it.

After my brother’s death, I listened to “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack” over and over, in an almost endlessly looping rotation. Many of the songs dealt with themes of reflection, regret and remorse, all of which suited and spoke to my mood.

Mellencamp’s music at times became the voice of my grief. Listening to his album became one way I came to terms with losing my younger brother.

The songs Mellencamp did with Springsteen—“Wasted Days” and “Did You Say Such a Thing?”—received the most attention.

And deservedly so.

Both songs were poignant explorations of the ways life and experience mark us, how we are shaped by the things we touch and that touch us and how life often slips past us while we’re worried about other things.

I really liked those songs, but the one on the album that haunted me was “Gone So Soon”:

“Getting back close to you

“I always thought I’d be close to you

“I never dreamed I’d see the day

“That you would go away

“And be gone so soon

“And be gone so soon.”

When my brother and I first started listening to Mellencamp all those years ago, his voice was a raspy tenor. Time and years of smoking had coarsened and deepened it, turning it into an earthy growl—the perfect instrument for communicating hurt, befuddlement and rage.

I’d talked with my brother about how odd it was that an artist I didn’t know somehow managed to sing, through the years, something resembling my autobiography.

Mellencamp’s early work captured the sense of my early manhood. He summed up all the questing, the confusion, and the sheer hunger to see and experience life that accompanied coming of age in the Midwest.

As Mellencamp and I both grew older, his music began to delve into more mature themes. He struggled to make peace with notions of responsibility—marital, familial, social and moral—in a world where many people had begun to believe they owed nothing to each other.

Not surprisingly, as my brother battled the cancer that would kill him, autumnal themes preoccupied him. He told me once as we ate dinner together that he thought about death all the time. It troubled him that so few people seemed willing to discuss the end that awaits us all.

He thought about the course of his life and talked with me about the choices he’d made, the twists and turns his path had taken.

After he died, among the myriad things I wished he’d lived long enough to experience was that of listening to Mellencamp’s album. The singer’s sometimes wry, sometimes rueful long view would have spoken to my brother.

But my brother didn’t have a chance to listen to it.

One thing I’ve realized in the aftermath of his passing is that those who survive owe a duty to the dead—a duty to remember, to reflect and at times just to experience.

John Mellencamp has a new album out. It’s called “Orpheus Descending”—a reference to the poet in Greek mythology who almost rescues his departed wife from Hades through the enticing power of his art.

My brother won’t be able to hear that one, either.

I’ll do the listening for both of us.

FOOTNOTE: John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. The views expressed are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.