Bill Would Help Protect Workers, End State Of Emergency
| Bill Would Help Protect Workers, End State Of Emergency | |||||
| by State Representati Wendy McNamara | |||||
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As the 2022 legislative session gets ready to kick off in January, I co-authored legislation to help protect Hoosier workers and end the statewide public health emergency.
House Bill 1001Â would allow Gov. Eric Holcomb’s state public health emergency to expire by ensuring Indiana could continue receiving the same federal reimbursements for SNAP and Medicaid, and maintain the state’s ability to hold voluntary community vaccination clinics. Holcomb recently announced that he will keep the state of emergency and the remaining, but limited, executive order in place until lawmakers take action in January.The legislation would also require businesses to accept medical and religious exemptions, if they require the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.As your state representative, I’ll continue working hard to protect individual rights and I look forward to helping move this legislation quickly through the process come January. |
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SAFE Family Travel BLITZ 111 Traffic Grant Announcement
 The Evansville Police Department would like to announce the SAFE Family Travel BLITZ 111 campaign beginning December 15, 2021 through January 1, 2021. The focus of this grant is for seat belts and impaired driving.Â
This time period encompasses the holiday season, which is an occasion where people enjoy alcoholic beverages. Officers working this grant will be looking for impaired drivers and seatbelt violations.Â
*Please make sure you have plans for a sober driver before you begin your celebrations. Have a safe and happy holiday season!Â
HOOSIER HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS: THE PLANE CRASH OF UE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
December 12 – December 18The Week in Indiana History |
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1888   Vice President-Elect Levi Morton and his wife Anna arrived at Union Station in Indianapolis.  They were taken by carriage to the home of President-Elect Benjamin Harrison where they had dinner and discussed the issues facing the new administration. Pictured: The Harrison Home at 13th and Delaware Streets in Indianapolis.  
1950   19-year-old James Dean gothis first paid acting job in a commercial for Pepsi-Cola. He had recently moved to California after graduation from high school in Fairmount, Indiana. He went on to a short but legendary career in Hollywood movies.
1958   Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to a crowd of 4,000 at Cadle Tabernacle in Indianapolis. The 29-year-old Baptist minister was welcomed to the city by Mayor Charles Boswell. King told the crowd, “If democracy is to live, segregation must die.”
 EPA Kicks-Off ‘Companies Crushing Pollution’ Video Challenge
WASHINGTON – Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of the “Companies Crushing Pollution†Video Challenge. The Challenge invites students and others including people who live near industrial facilities to create videos illustrating how businesses in the U.S. are reducing toxic chemical releases through innovative pollution prevention (P2) practices, and by having a positive impact on the environment and communities. Participants have a chance to win up to $5,000.
“This Challenge is an opportunity for anyone with access to a video camera – including a smartphone – to demonstrate creativity and highlight the incredible ways that businesses operating in the United States are reducing, eliminating or preventing pollution at its source,†said Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer in EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Pollution prevention helps protect the environment and cut costs for businesses. Winning entries from this challenge will help spread the word about these important practices.â€
The Challenge invites students and other individuals, including residents of communities with facilities that report to EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), to use the TRI P2 Search Tool to identify a facility that has reported innovative pollution prevention techniques to EPA and make a video illustrating those techniques.
EPA will award a total of $50,000 in prize money through the video challenge. Awards will be given to individuals and/or teams in three categories: High School, Colleges/Universities, and “Open,†with up to 9 awards in each category.  The “Companies Crushing Pollution†Video Challenge aims to:
- Promote pollution prevention innovation among companies operating in the U.S.
- Raise awareness of the potential for businesses to save money, reduce regulatory burden, and have positive environmental impacts on communities through pollution prevention.
- Increase knowledge of TRI reporting and analytical tools to find and communicate information about pollution prevention actions that have been implemented.
- Showcase companies implementing forward-looking pollution prevention practices and highlight their success stories.
On December 15, 2021, EPA will host a webinar to discuss challenge logistics and rules. Participants will also have an opportunity to ask questions. Register for the webinar.
Pollution prevention is any practice that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source. Pollution prevention, also known as “source reduction,” is the “ounce-of-prevention is worth a pound-of-cure†approach that helps businesses to succeed. EPA works closely with stakeholders including companies, consumers and organizations serving overburdened and underserved communities to help facilitate adoption of pollution prevention practices. Reducing the amount of pollution means reduced costs for businesses because there is less waste to control, treat, or dispose of. More importantly, less pollution means less hazards posed to workers and communities, helping to improve public health and environmental conditions.
Between 2011 and 2019, EPA’s P2 technical assistance grants helped American businesses save an estimated $1.9 billion, reduce 706 million pounds of hazardous materials, and eliminate 16.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses.
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Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation Meeting
 The Board of School Trustees of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation will meet for the regularly scheduled Board meeting Monday, December 13, 2021 at 5:30 PM in the Board Room of the EVSC Administration Building located at 951 Walnut Street, Evansville, IN. Seating will be limited to allow for appropriate social distancing. As always, Board meetings can also be observed by tuning to EVSC’s radio station, 90.7 WPSR or live streamed online at https://www.wpsrhd.com/.Â
Prior to the regularly scheduled Board meeting, three members of the Board, along with district administrators, will hold a Town Hall beginning at 5:00 PM. This Town Hall is for Vanderburgh County residents to speak directly with Board members in attendance about issues involving EVSC schools. The Town Hall will be the process utilized to receive Public Comment. The Town Hall will be held in the Technology and Innovation Center located at 951 Walnut Street, Evansville, IN. Members of the public who would like to attend the Town Hall should register by completing the Town Hall Registration Form located on our website at district.evscschools.com.Â
Eagles hit century mark in rout of Kentucky Christian
Twelve players scored at least five points, with eight scoring at least eight points, and University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball reached the century mark for the first time in five years as the Screaming Eagles rolled to a 108-42 win over visiting Kentucky Christian University Friday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena.
The 66-point margin of victory was the Eagles’ largest margin of victory since they defeated Mid-Continent University, 109-42, November 18, 2012. The last time USI reached the 100-point plateau was November 20, 2016, when the Eagles defeated Hannibal-LaGrange University, 106-44.
USI (7-1) scored eight straight points in the opening two minutes of the game to build an 8-0 lead. The Eagles shot 52.4 percent (11-21) in the first 10 minutes and led 31-13 heading into the second period. They outscored the Knights 26-5 in the second quarter to extend their advantage to 57-18 at the intermission.
The Eagles went 9-of-19 (.474) from the field in the third period as they extended their advantage to 83-29 heading into the final 10 minutes, before a 62.5 percent shooting effort in the fourth quarter led to 25 more points and USI’s highest point total since it put up 109 points in a 48-point win over Salem International University November 22, 2013—the 108-point performance is tied for USI’s 10th-highest point total in program history.
Freshman guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) paced the Eagles with a game-high tying 16 points to go along with three assists and four rebounds. Shafford went 7-for-7 from the field and 1-for-1 from three-point range as she matched sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana), who also scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) finished with eight points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while junior forwards Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) and Tara Robbe (Wildwood, Missouri), fifth-year senior guards Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois) and Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana), and freshman center Lauren Carie(Vincennes, Indiana) each finished with eight points.
Junior guards Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) and Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) joined sophomore guard Lexie Green (Indianapolis, Indiana) with seven points apiece, while junior guards Lexi Thompson (Lafayette, Indiana) and Soffia Rieckers (Evansville, Indiana) rounded out USI’s scoring with five and two points, respectively.
Rieckers added five rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Eagles, who out-rebounded the Knights, 54-23, while Robbe dished out a career and game-high tying four assists. Green also had three assists and three steals for USI, which forced the Knights into 28 turnovers.
Kentucky Christian (7-5), which played Friday’s game as an exhibition, was led by sophomore guards Jasmine Flowers and Anna Keeton, who each finished with nine points.
USI closes out the calendar year December 18-19 when it takes on the West Texas A&M University and No. 13 University of Tampa at the Las Vegas South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Notes: USI finished the game with a 23-of-27 (.852) effort at the free throw line. The Eagles made their first 20 shots from the free throw line before going 3-of-7 (.429) during the final 10 minutes of the contest.