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BREAKING NEWS: Join Us For A ReOpening Stage 2 Town Hall For Retail & Restaurant/Bar Industries.

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Join Us For A ReOpening Stage 2 Town Hall For Retail & Restaurant/Bar Industries.

Current guidelines on how to reopen and maintain your business during these transitions will be discussed along with the next steps. A medical advisor from the ReOpen Evansville Task Force will be in attendance to give specifics about health and keeping your environment safe for employees and customers. You may attend either town halls. Please submit any questions ahead of time through the registration page.

REGISTER NOW FOR THE RETAIL TOWN HALL – WED. MAY 6, 8:45 AM:
https://members.swinchamber.com/events/details/reopening-stage-2-town-hall-retail-4816

REGISTER NOW FOR THE RESTAURANT/BAR TOWN HALL – WED. MAY 6, 4 PM:
https://members.swinchamber.com/events/details/reopening-stage-2-town-hall-restaurant-bar-4817

A-Zoom link will be sent out to all registrants. 

For more information about ReOpening, go to https://swinchamber.com/re-opening-back-in-business/

 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS

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The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) today announced that 541 additional Hoosiers have been diagnosed with COVID-19 through testing at ISDH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and private laboratories. That brings to 21,033 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s total.

While the number of cases has increased, intensive care unit and ventilator capacities remain steady. As of Tuesday, about 44 percent of ICU beds and 80 percent of ventilators were available at hospitals throughout the state.

A total of 1,213 Hoosiers have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, an increase of 62 over the previous day. Another 113 probable deaths have been reported. Probable deaths are those for which a physician listed COVID-19 as a contributing cause based on X-rays, scans and other clinical symptoms but for which no positive test is on record. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days.

To date, 115,834 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 113,297 on Monday.

Marion County had the most new cases, at 97. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Allen (32), Bartholomew (30), Cass (36), Delaware (11), Elkhart (22), Hamilton (15), Jackson (16), Johnson (15), Lake (64), LaPorte (12), Noble (37), St. Joseph (19) and Steuben (10). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments.

Visit the ISDH COVID-19 dashboard at coronavirus.in.gov for additional information on cases. The dashboard will be updated at noon daily. All cases are listed by county of residence.

Gov. Holcomb to Provide Updates in the Fight Against COVID-19

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Gov. Eric J. Holcomb, the Indiana State Department of Health and other state leaders will host a virtual media briefing to provide updates on COVID-19 and its impact on Indiana.

 

WHO:             Gov. Holcomb

ISDH Chief Medical Officer Lindsay Weaver, M.D., FACEP

 

WHEN:           2:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, May 5

 

Media RSVP

Please register HERE by 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, May 5. Late requests will not be accepted. One confirmation will be sent per media outlet. If you are confirmed to attend the event, you will receive additional logistics in a separate email.

 

Logistical questions can be directed to agray@gov.in.gov.

 

VANDERBURGH COUNTY RECENT BOOKING RECORDS

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https://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx

Commentary: The News Is Goodbye, Goodbye Is The News

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Commentary: The News Is Goodbye, Goodbye Is The News

May 4, 2020, |   Posted by

By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – The news wasn’t a surprise, but it was sad, nonetheless.

Nuvo, an alternative newspaper in Indianapolis, plans to cease publication at the end of May. The word came in a note from Kevin McKinney, who was first Nuvo’s publisher and then it’s foundation director when the publication tried to reinvent itself as a non-profit.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

In its day, Nuvo was a sassy voice in the Indiana media chorus, often provocative, sometimes crude, occasionally completely off-base.

But it was lively and never failed to deliver on its essential promise – to provide a different and alternative perspective in a media world that too often moves in lockstep.

It will be missed.

For much of its 30-year history, Nuvo was a free print publication, one that survived courtesy of advertising revenues. But, as businesses have found more and more ways to connect with customers that don’t involve traditional media, advertising dwindled.

Last year, Nuvo ended its print publication run. McKinney and a stripped-down team made a valiant effort to reposition the paper as a not-for-profit digital presence, one that championed transparency and the importance of community conversations.

Such efforts, though, rarely succeed without major-gift philanthropic support. Nuvo stayed true to its grass-roots principles.

Right to the end.

Nuvo’s struggles are mirrored by much of the rest of the newspaper industry. Surveys show that newsrooms now employ less than half the number of people they did 20 years ago. And nearly one out of every five newspapers in the country – some with long and distinguished pedigrees – has gone under in the past 15 years.

Here in Indiana, the news that Nuvo would be closing its doors was accompanied by reports of large numbers of layoffs in the news business. Veteran journalists, many of them award winners, found themselves without work – and a paycheck.

Skeptics might argue that there is nothing unusual about this.

Industries rise and fall all the time. Not that long ago, for example, a lot of people made good living selling and servicing fax machines. Now, not so much.

The skeptics have a point – sort of.

In most other instances, an industry disappears because something better has come along to replace it. The fax machine departed because email and cell phones provided the same sort of service, but better, faster, and more efficiently.

That hasn’t been the case with newspapers – particularly local newspapers. As they go, they leave a void, one that nothing else has been able to fill yet.

Many studies now show that the decline of newspapers has produced a corresponding decline in civic participation and a basic understanding of our communities, states, and country. We simply know less about the world around us than we did when newspapers were a thriving concern.

Worse, those studies show that, even as we know and understand less, we have become more strident and rigid regarding our beliefs and affiliations. In other words, as newspapers die, we have become more and more confident in our ignorance.

Thus, we end up spending much of our time shouting at each other across a widening chasm.

At one time, there was hope that social media might replace traditional news media, but that hasn’t been the case.

For one thing, most social media platforms still rely on traditional media for content.

For another – and this is perhaps more important – the algorithms that determine so much of what we see on social media are set to confirm, rather than confront, our biases. We get a lot of reinforcement of preconceived notions in this new media world – and not nearly enough encouragement to think again or consider events from a different point of view.

Nuvo’s demise and the large numbers of layoffs in the newspaper world tell us things are going to get worse still.

And that’s sad.

Because, when we say goodbye to a newspaper such as Nuvo, we aren’t just saying goodbye to it.

No, we Americans, we Hoosiers, we neighbors, and fellow citizens, also are saying goodbye to each other.

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.

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VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL MAY 6, 2020 10:00 A.M.

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AGENDA Of VANDERBURGH COUNTY COUNCIL

MAY 6, 2020 10:00 A.M.

Locust Meeting Room BC

Old National Events Plaza

  1. 1)  OPENING OF MEETING
  2. 2)  ATTENDANCE ROLL CALL
  3. 3)  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
  4. 4)  INVOCATION
  5. 5)  APPROVAL OF MINUTES
    (A) County Council April 22, 2020
  6. 6)  PERSONNEL REQUESTS: (A) Sheriff
    1. Request to fill vacancy for Deputy Sheriff 10001050-105080
    2. Request to fill vacancy for Executive Secretary/Office Manager 10001050-105158

    (B) Coroner

1. Request to increase hourly pay for Assistant Coroners 10001070-107121

(C) Prosecutor
1. Request to fill vacancy for Deputy Prosecutor 10001080-108103

(D) Health Department
1. Request to fill vacancy for Bookkeeper/Insurance/Payroll 11590000-115951

(E) Superior Court INDOC Grant
1. Request to fill vacancy for Extra Help 93040000-199000

  1. 7)  APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE: (A) Local Drug Free Community (B) Local Roads & Streets
    (C) Prosecutor Pretrial Diversion (D) COIT/Sheriff
  2. 8)  REPEAL: None
  3. 9)  TRANSFERS: (A) Clerk(B) Auditor (C) Sheriff (D) Assessor (E) Jail

10) OLD BUSINESS: None

  1. 11)  NEW BUSINESS: None
  2. 12)  AMENDMENTS TO SALARY ORDINANCE:

(F) Superior Court
(G) Health Department (H) LIT – Jail
(I) Sheriff Misdemeanor

(A) Clerk
(B) Auditor (C) Sheriff
(D) Coroner (E) Prosecutor (F) Assessor

13) PUBLIC COMMENT

(G) Jail
(H) Superior Court
(I) Health Department
(J) Superior Court INDOC Grant

14) REMINDER NEXT MEETING DATE/TIME:

(A) Personnel and Finance next meeting May 27, 2020 @ TBD

(B) County Council next meeting June 3, 2020 @ 3:30 p.m.

15) ADJOURNMENT

Red denotes Personnel and Finance meeting

Blue denotes County Council meeting

Indiana Won’t Decide Whether To Reopen Schools Until July At The Earliest, Holcomb Say

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Indiana Won’t Decide Whether To Reopen Schools Until July At The Earliest, Holcomb Say

by Emma  Kate

CHALKBEAT INDIANA

Indiana will wait until the last step of its reopening plan to decide whether K-12 schools can resume in-person instruction, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Friday.

The decision is expected to be made around July 4 at the earliest, Holcomb said — about a month before many Indiana districts typically return.

To get there, Holcomb said the state will have to continue to see the number of hospital admissions decline on a biweekly basis and maintain hospital bed and ventilator availability. If there’s a new spike of COVID-19 cases, some counties or areas may take longer to advance through his plan.

“As life starts to slowly return to that new normal, making progress toward being fully back on track will require constant vigilance from all of us,” he said.

Holcomb announced Friday a five-step plan to lift coronavirus restrictions and re-open Indiana’s economy over the next two months, following a wave of governors who have loosened stay-at-home orders and expanded the list of businesses considered essential. According to the Washington Post, more than half of the nation’s governors relaxed restrictions this week.

Indiana school buildings will remain closed through the end of the academic year, which the state defines as June 30. State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick has advised schools to plan on summer school programs continuing online. She also has warned that school likely won’t immediately go back to business as usual in the fall, even if buildings are given the green light to reopen. It’s more likely students will experience a hybrid approach, where they are brought back in waves or shifts while some continue online learning.

Schools nationwide largely remain closed, but governors are under pressure to start reopening schools after President Donald Trump on Monday encouraged them to “seriously consider” it as part of his push to jumpstart the economy. The White House is finalizing guidelines that suggest schools consider spacing student desks six feet apart, asking staff to wear face masks, and limiting how much student groups mix.

Most of the state is expected to move to the next stage of Holcomb’s plan on Monday, which loosens some restrictions by allowing social gatherings of up to 25 people and reopening restaurants at 50% capacity. Marion County, as one of the most populous counties, remains under a stay-at-home order until May 15 and will take longer to move forward, Holcomb said.

Holcomb reiterated Friday that plans remain subject to change as state officials monitor the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and available hospital beds. By Friday, the number of coronavirus cases in Indiana rose to more than 18,000, according to the State Department of Health. More than 1,000 Hoosiers have died of the disease.

 

Gov. Beshear Details Expanded Reopening of Health Care, Businesses

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Gov. Beshear Details Expanded Reopening of Health Care, Businesses

FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 4, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday offered new details on guidelines for businesses and health care providers looking to restart safely as we continue to fight the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

The Governor provided updated information for employers relaunching under Kentucky’s Healthy at Work initiative and announced new partnerships to expand testing in Northern Kentucky and provide masks for Kentucky businesses.

“Let’s remember: Even as we work at being Healthy at Work, we are still dealing with a very deadly virus out there,” the Governor said. “We have to be gradual and we have to be smart. We have to make the right decisions and we need everyone on board.”

Gov. Beshear launched the Healthy at Work initiative in late April to guide the smart, safe and gradual reopening of the state’s economy. The initiative sets out public health benchmarks for reopening Kentucky’s economy. These benchmarks closely follow the White House’s Guidelines for Reopening America.

What began with the phased reopening of certain health care services continues as other business sectors prepare to relaunch operations in Phase 1 of Healthy at Work. State leaders asked partners in the business community for proposals on how they plan to operate while keeping their customers safe, and the state has already received more than 1,000 plans. The proposals, while not required, are expected to include best practices to safely operate and each industry’s capabilities for reopening.

Under the schedule outlined by Gov. Beshear, more businesses will be allowed to open May 11 with new minimum requirements, as well as industry specific requirements. Among the businesses that will be allowed to operate:

“It’s important that you meet these guidelines, these requirements, because it allows us to be healthy at work,” said La Tasha Buckner, the Governor’s chief of staff and lead counsel. “That allows us the successful reopening and to make sure we’re making advancements and staying at the plateau level and hopefully declining.”

As long as progress in the fight against COVID-19 is not threatened, additional business sectors will be allowed to open May 20 and May 25.

Health care reopening Phase 2
Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said Health Care Phase 2 will begin Wednesday, May 6, 2020, outpatient and ambulatory surgery and invasive procedures may resume.

All patients must have COVID-19 pre-procedure testing per professional association guidelines consistent with KDPH guidance. The 10 rules of reopening also apply, which includes universal masking and personal protective equipment (PPE), closed common areas, along with requirements to follow specific procedure guidance.

“Healthy at work applies to being healthy at the hospital,” Dr. Stack said. “In fact, if anything there are additional protections because of the unique characteristics of hospitals and surgical centers.”

Northern Kentucky testing
Gov. Beshear announced a new partnership to expand coronavirus testing in Northern Kentucky.

The state is working with St. Elizabeth Healthcare to bring expanded testing to Erlanger and other locations. Free drive-through testing will be conducted May 11 to May 15 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 25 Atlantic Ave., in Erlanger. People should call 800-737-7900 to register. St. Elizabeth also is offering physician-consult testing at five testing locations.

“When we look back on our story of how we responded and what we had to do, what we’re going to see is that Kentucky’s labs stepped up to provide the testing that we needed,” the Governor said.

Partnership adds PPE, sanitizer
Gov. Beshear announced a partnership with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Distillers’ Association to get personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand sanitizer to our small businesses as they prepare to be Healthy at Work.

The Governor also instructed the Cabinet for Economic Development to work with the Chamber. Together, we have been able to purchase 200,000 3-ply masks that are available for Kentucky businesses. Masks can be purchased at kychamber.com/maskorderform. They’re $1 each.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone wear a mask, but they don’t have to be disposable. You can also wear homemade cloth masks, but surgical masks and N-95 respirators should be reserved for health care workers.

Kentucky’s distillers, meanwhile, have retooled to provide needed hand sanitizer. To date, Kentucky’s distillers have donated more than 150,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to our health care providers.

Businesses in need can visit kyhandsanitizer.com and put in a request to purchase sanitizer with the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.

Green River Correctional Complex
J. Michael Brown, secretary of the Governor’s executive cabinet, provided an update on efforts to fight the coronavirus at the Green River Correctional Complex in Central City. Mass testing was completed Friday at the facility and results are pending. Secretary Brown spoke about a new effort to address the outbreak at the complex by dividing the facility into three housing units based on test results and contact with infected individuals.

“I know that it’s been a difficult situation for everyone down in Green River,” Secretary Brown said. “But I want to commend all of those, particularly our corrections workers, and in fact the inmates who have cooperated all for the health and well-being of everyone there.”

CHFS Secretary
Gov. Beshear announced Monday that Eric Friedlander is now the official secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, a position he had ably occupied as “acting secretary” through the pandemic emergency.

“He has more than earned the full-time job,” the Governor said. “He has shown grace in times of great difficulty and he is exactly the kind of person I want to have going forward.”

Case information
As of 5 p.m. May 4, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 5,245 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 163 of which were newly confirmed Monday.

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear also reported eight new deaths Monday, raising the state’s toll to 261 deaths related to the virus.

The deaths include six Jefferson County residents, men who were 69, 74, 86 and women who were 86, 89 and 98, a 79-year-old woman from Hopkins County, and 66-year-old woman from Hardin County.

“Losing eight people in a day to COVID-19, we want to do better,” the Governor said.

At least 1,921 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus.

For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here.

AG Curtis Hill: Closing The Dakota Access Pipeline Would Have Drastic Ramifications

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Shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline over the lack of an environmental impact study would create public safety hazards, threaten the environment and deliver an economic blow to grain farmers in the Midwest, Attorney General Curtis Hill said today.

In a brief, Attorney General Hill urged a U.S. district court to allow the pipeline to continue transporting oil while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepares an environmental impact study. An additional 13 states joined the brief.

The negative consequences of shutting down the pipeline far outweigh any concerns related to a procedural delay in an environmental impact study, Attorney General Hill said.

“Closing the Dakota Access Pipeline would have drastic ramifications for our economy, environment, food supply and personal safety,” Attorney General Hill said. “Should the pipeline cease transporting crude oil, we all stand to suffer.”

Closing the pipeline, which has carried roughly 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day from western North Dakota to southern Illinois for nearly three years, would force oil shipments to go by rail instead. Oil would then compete for train space with the agricultural sector, disrupting the economics of grain distribution and, in turn, threatening the food supply during a global pandemic that is already hampering food security worldwide.

“One way or another, oil will continue to pour out of the Bakken fields. The questions for this Court are at what cost and whether, pending study of an oil pipeline’s environmental impact, grain will too,” the brief states.

Transporting oil by pipeline is also safer than transporting oil by rail. Studies by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that the fatality and injury rates of pipeline transportation are, on average, significantly lower than those of rail transportation.

Trains hauling crude oil from the Bakken region have been involved in multiple fiery derailments. In 2013, an unattended 74-car train carrying Bakken crude oil derailed in Lac-Mégantic, a town in Québec, Canada. More than 40 people were killed in the fire that resulted, and another 2,000 were displaced from their homes. Much of the town was incinerated.

If the Dakota Access Pipeline is shut down – causing the oil it transports to be shipped by rail instead – communities will be threatened with similar disasters, the brief states.

“In short, a shut-down of (the pipeline) would create an entirely avoidable set of dangers and risks,” the brief states.

Scott Tabbed May Scholar-Athlete of the Month

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Scott Tabbed May Scholar-Athlete of the Month

Freshman Max Scott was named the IU Scholar-Athlete of the Month for May.

 “He persevered and was able to have a strong finish in a tough Math class in the fall, while at the same time preparing his portfolio and application for the Jacobs School of Music,” said Allen Kohn, IU’s assistant director of academic services. “We will display a photo and write-up detailing his academic achievements in the D. Ames Shuel Academic Center throughout the entire month. We appreciate the continued commitment to prioritizing the academics of the swimming and diving student-athletes.”

Scott closed out his inaugural campaign with the Hoosiers with season best times of 20.54 in the 50 freestyle, 45.36 in the 100 freestyle, 1:47.54 in the 200 freestyle and 52.99 in the 100 butterfly.

 

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