https://www.vanderburghsheriff.com/jail-recent-booking-records.aspx
UE Plans To Resume Face-To-Face Instruction For Fall
The University of Evansville is preparing for students to return to campus in August for face-to-face classes this fall. The semester is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 17, nine days earlier than originally planned. Social distancing and protective measures will be in place to ensure the health and safety of students and employees.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the fall semester, including final exams, will end prior to Thanksgiving Break. Students will not return to campus until January for the spring 2021 semester. The earlier start-date will accommodate for a shortened semester that advances the public health of students, faculty, staff, and the Evansville community.
“This fall will look different for our campus community, but we are fully committed to providing the complete higher education experience for our new and returning students,” said President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz. “Our plans recognize the importance of face-to-face learning and campus activities while focusing on the health and safety of each individual.”
UE is moving forward with its reopening plans following guidance from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a campus-based COVID-19 Healthcare Task Force. Due to the ever-changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University is prepared to adjust plans at any point throughout the remainder of the year.
To prepare for the return of students, UE employees are using the summer months to establish protocols and prepare all aspects of campus for the safe return of students. This includes setting guidelines and policies for cleaning, social distancing, PPE and other supplies, course scheduling, set-up of physical spaces, guidelines for events, food service, and more.
A phased approach will be implemented for moving into residence halls. Details regarding the move-in dates and schedule will be communicated directly to students.
Employees and students will be required to wear masks or face coverings while on campus and inside buildings. All students and employees will be provided with a mask or face covering when they return in August. Signage will be posted throughout the campus to educate students on proper social distancing and required personal protective equipment.
The dining hall will make several adjustments to food serving and seating to follow recommended practices for community dining. UE will encourage carry-out options and increase the utilization of sustainable, disposable products. Self-service stations will be eliminated, and protective barriers will be installed at all points of service. All food service lines will be clearly marked for proper social distancing.
Classrooms and learning environments will be given new layouts to promote social distancing. Faculty may develop plans for specific classes or offer hybrid courses to further these efforts.
“Our faculty did a stellar job transitioning classes from a face-to-face to online format in the initial stages of the pandemic, and they will again be prepared for any necessary adjustments this fall,” said Dr. Michael Austin, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “Our faculty members are looking forward to returning to the classroom, with necessary modifications.”
Changes will be made to living arrangements in residence halls to lower the risk of exposure between students. UE will be reducing the number of rooms utilized on each floor, and residence halls will be frequently cleaned and sanitized. Housing assignments for students will be confirmed and communicated to students in July. Additional changes regarding visitation policies and lounge areas may be announced at a later date.
The University eagerly awaits the return to face-to-face learning and remains committed to the health and safety of the campus community. As these steps are implemented, the University is looking forward to welcoming new and returning students on campus for a new semester of classes and activities.
Indiana’s K-12 Schools Won’t Face State Funding Cuts, Holcomb Says
Indiana’s K-12 Schools Won’t Face State Funding Cuts, Holcomb Says
Indiana school districts will not face state funding cuts next school year, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday — an assurance that had seemed unlikely amid steep state revenue shortfalls.
State lawmakers have agreed to move forward with the current budget, including a planned $183 million increase to school funding, Holcomb said during a scheduled video conference.
“We did not want to limit resources as school corporations must prepare and execute a productive and safe learning environment,†said Indiana Office of Management and Budget director Cris Johnston during the announcement.
The news came as a relief for school district leaders who were preparing for cuts and need to take potentially costly coronavirus precautions to open in the fall. But it’s a far cry from what teachers had hoped for when thousands rallied at the statehouse months before the state’s first coronavirus case.
Facing pressure, Holcomb, who is up for re-election in November, pledged in January to boost teacher salaries by spending $250 million of the state’s reserves to free up more money for schools. But on Wednesday, Johnston said keeping the budget steady is “the best we are going to be able to do during this time period.â€
The state is expected to end the fiscal year this month with a nearly $2 billion budget shortfall, Johnston said. Without cuts, planned spending could significantly deplete the state’s $2.3 billion surpluses.
Budgets for other state agencies have already been reduced and plans released last week propose public universities take a 7%, or $103 million, cut. Many school district leaders were preparing for similar reductions since funding for K-12 education accounts for about half of the state’s spending — more than $7 billion a year.
“I am pleased our state decision-makers will not cut funding from Indiana K-12 education,†State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick said in a statement following the announcement. “Schools will have one less stressor as they continue to educate our students during this unprecedented time.â€
Holcomb also said he supports the Indiana Department of Education’s decision last week to protect schools from losing funding for students who choose to take classes online. Typically, online students are funded at 85% of what brick-and-mortar schools receive.
The Indiana State Teachers Association thanked teachers for being vocal about their funding concerns, applauding the state’s decision.
“While concerns about the coming school year remain, these fiscal decisions give educators confidence that we can provide students a quality education in a safe environment this fall,†the state’s largest teachers union said in a statement. “We encourage the governor and legislators to continue making educators and kids a priority in the next budget year.â€
School districts have been looking to lawmakers for financial assurances as they put together plans to reopen in the fall. New coronavirus safety precautions recommended by the state could be costly to implement, and McCormick has cautioned that federal relief likely won’t go far for most districts.
Early in Indiana’s coronavirus response, state leaders said K-12 funding would not change under the current budget. But their promises didn’t initially extend beyond this past school year. The Indiana General Assembly is scheduled to set a new two-year budget in the upcoming legislative session, which is set to start in January.
“Well call me stunned,†Southeast Fountain Schools Superintendent Dan Foster tweeted, “but thank you…â€
When asked what this means for those future budget conversations, Holcomb said the state will “cross the January bridge when we get to January.†But he said he’s optimistic about the state’s economic recovery.
To make up for the expected shortfall, Johnston said the state will have to be “very disciplined†with the other cuts that have already been imposed and take another look at the list of planned capital projects for additional savings. The state will also rely on federal relief.
If that’s not enough, Johnston said the state might have to dip into the reserves “a little bit more.â€
Schools in other states are already facing proposed cuts, including in New York, California, and Colorado. A school district in Denver is asking teachers to forgo some of the pay raises agreed to after a three-day teacher strike last year.
Johnston did caution district leaders not to “overcommit†with their spending this year, saying it’s still unclear what restraints may be put on the state budget next spring after new forecasts are drawn.
The last time the country faced a recession, about a decade ago, then-Gov. Mitch Daniels cut $300 million from education funding. Public education advocates argue that school budgets have never fully recovered.
Masks Available Through Reopen Evansville Task Force, Feed Evansville
As part of our efforts to keep residents safe and healthy, the Reopen Evansville Task Force is donating 4,000 cloth masks to Feed Evansville, which has become an integral effort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Masks will be distributed during Feed Evansville’s “Farmers to Families†community food box pickup on Mondays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hartke Pool.
As our community continues to reopen, we’re committed to providing much-needed resources to our residents,” said Deputy Mayor Steve Schaefer. “I am extremely proud of Lisa Vaughn and Alex Burton for their efforts to coordinate Feed Evansville and help coordinate the many food resources in our area.â€
The Reopen Evansville Task Force has also secured a refrigerated truck, as Feed Evansville will be distributing 3,000 meal boxes per week through the “Farmers to Families†program until the end of August. The truck will be immediately put into operation for mobile food distributions.
“We’re constantly evaluating ways to get food out to those who need it most,” said Feed Evansville organizer Lisa Vaughn. “This truck will make our efforts a lot more efficient and help us reach more families.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reopen Evansville Task Force has been working closely with the Feed Evansville initiative to mobilize resources and source food donations.
How Public Art Programs Can Join the Movement Against Police Brutality, White Supremacy, and Anti-Black Racism
How Public Art Programs Can Join the Movement…
By Ms. Amina Cooper for Americans for the Arts
How Public Art Programs Can Join the Movement…
On May 25, 2020, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin brutally murdered George Floyd, an unarmed Black father accused of issuing a counterfeit $20 bill, while other police officers stood by. This tragedy, following many other recent police-involved shootings of unarmed Black men and women that have been broadcasted and protested nationwide, has sparked renewed and global visibility for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter began in 2013 after the murder of Trayvon Martin and continues today to demand change within America’s justice system that allows many of the police officers and other perpetrators of hate crimes to go uncharged and unsentenced. The movement demands an acknowledgment that anti-black racism and white supremacy is pervasive within police forces, in part because the laws designed to protect police officers also shields them from prosecution when they abandon their oath to protect and serve, and instead do harm. Statistics show that over the course of their lives, about 1 in every 1,000 black men can expect to be killed by police[1]. Other minority communities also are disproportionately affected by police violence; for example, Native Americans are 3.1 times more likely than white Americans to be killed by police[2].
This most recent wave of protests has prompted a discussion within the public art field: How can public art respond to the Black Lives Matters movement? Should it? What will we do about the public artwork that is being tagged and damaged during these protests?
First, let me assert the obvious: Black lives are more important than public art objects that can be replaced, conserved, or deinstalled. In some instances, the fact that certain works are repeatedly tagged, altered, or vandalized might signal that the appropriateness of the work to the community should be reconsidered.
Take for example the monument to former Philadelphia police officer and two-time Mayor Frank L. Rizzo. This sculpture finally was removed on June 3 after protesters physically attacked the sculpture and tagged it with the acronym “FTP.†This wasn’t the first time the community has defaced the work, and let us hope that it is the last time that the City of Philadelphia and its Public Art Commission will spend taxpayer money to conserve it. Current mayor Jim Kenney offered a fitting eulogy to the work after its deinstallation, stating, “The statue is a deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality for members of the Black community, the LGBTQ community, and many others. The treatment of these communities under Mr. Rizzo’s leadership was among the worst periods in Philadelphia’s history.†Given this, we have to ask ourselves why we would ever memorialize a racist bigot whose depravities include ordering a brutal beating of students protesting for black studies curriculum and a public strip search of Black Panther Party members after a raid of their headquarters. Why do we refuse to listen to communities when works are sited in their communities, without their support, when they tell our agencies that they no longer want them or find them relevant?
In the wake of these protests, we are seeing what was said could not be accomplished: the expedited removal of monuments dedicated to bigots, racists, and Confederates. This suggests that many of the reasons given as to why these objects could not be removed from the public were excuses. These excuses served to delegitimize the very earnest requests from the broader public to have their humanity validated and to help determine how the spaces that they support financially will look and feel.
It is time to talk about the lack of diversity within our public art commissions, artist selection panels, and our public art workforce. We need to address the elitism with which we dictate to communities which artworks are acceptable, and which persons and cultures are worth affirming with monuments and beautiful objects.
Public art, at its best, is an authentic reflection of our times and values. Public art should reflect the community around it, and represent the hopes, lives, and aspirations of the people in that community. What we can do as public art policymakers and administrators is uplift those voices in our communities that are calling for justice and equal protection for people of color under the law.
Black artists are creating brilliant, contemplative works—thematically centered around civil rights, cultural pride and racial justice—and have been for a very long time. The truth is, many of these works land outside of the awareness and Eurocentric aesthetic values[3] of our overwhelmingly-White workforce[4]. The artists creating these works and the organizations supporting their community-based practices often do so without our support, accolades, or interest.
We don’t need to create new programs or vehicles to support these artists and organizations. We don’t need to draft half-hearted statements to affirm that Black Lives Matter. We need to do the very difficult work of dismantling the institutional bias and racism that is built into the framework of our programming and policymaking.
We can provide funding support and resources to artists and organizations outside of those that we have been funding for the past 30 years, and we can do so without restrictions or caveats. We can create genuine partnerships with community-based artists and organizations to do work within the communities that we haven’t reached without coopting and whitewashing their work, as we have done in the past. Let’s not give them the smallest of our allocations for funding or support, either. And we should audit our staffs, boards, commissions, and panels to make sure they are not racially homogenous.
Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jab†June 19, 2020
Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jab†June 19, 2020
The majority of our “IS IT TRUE†columns are about local or state issues, so we have decided to give our more opinionated readers exclusive access to our newly created “LEFT JAB and Middle Jab and RIGHT JAB† column. They now have this post to exclusively discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB†AND “MIDDLE JAB†AND “RIGHT JABâ€Â several times a week.  Oh, “LEFT JAB†is a liberal view, “MIDDLE JAB†is the libertarian view and the “RIGHT JAB is representative of the more conservative views. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments in this column is free to do so.
Gov. Holcomb joins Jake Steinfeld in awarding fitness centers to Indiana schools
Governor Eric J. Holcomb and fitness icon Jake Steinfeld announced the three Indiana schools that were selected to each receive a $100,000 DON’T QUIT!® fitness center from the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC).
The NFGFC Review Committee has named Perry Meridian Middle School in Indianapolis, Martin T. Krueger Middle School in Michigan City and Southside Middle School in Muncie for demonstrating leadership in getting and keeping their students fit.
“Keeping Hoosier students focused on fitness and healthy living is key to letting them grow up and live fulfilling lives,†Gov. Holcomb said. “Wellness in all aspects is more important now than ever and we’re thankful to Jake for bringing the DON’T QUIT! Campaign to our state.â€
The NFGFC seeks to encourage and reward innovation in the field of youth fitness by awarding fitness centers to schools that use new and unique methods to promote student physical activity and wellness.
“This has been an extraordinary year. Even though COVID-19 impacted the school year, our DON’T QUIT! Campaign received an overwhelming response from schools around the great state of Indiana. We had many exceptional entries this year, but three schools really embodied our mission of building a nation of the fittest, healthiest kids in the world,†said Steinfeld. “We look forward to our DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center ribbon cutting ceremonies later in the year!â€
The NFGFC envisions a nation that—through innovation and a “DON’T QUIT!†attitude—boasts the fittest kids in the world. This year the NFGFC program will have completed 36 states and will make its way into all 50 states in the coming years.
Each fitness center is financed through public/private partnerships with companies like The Coca-Cola Company, Anthem Foundation, Wheels Up and Nike, and does not rely on taxpayer dollars or state funding. TuffStuff Fitness International provides all the fitness equipment, which is manufactured in the United States.
These state-of-the-art DON’T QUIT! Fitness Centers will be unveiled during ribbon cutting ceremonies this fall.
ADOPT A PET
Norman is a super handsome male black cat! He is just a tiny bit cross-eyed, just enough to make you look twice, which we think makes him even more adorable. He is a laid-back, friendly cat who loves the company of other felines. He’s currently adoptable at River Kitty Cat Café in downtown Evansville for $40! Apply to adopt him at vhslifesaver.org/adopt or make a reservation to visit him at riverkittycatcafe.com!