22ô°ô°nd restaurant in Indiana serving the brandô°s award-winningô°’ô°‘ Edge-to-Edgeô°“ piô°‰ô°‰zza
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (June 5, 2020)—Donatos Pizza is pleased to announce the opening of Donatos Pizza Evansville on Tuesday, June ô°Ž. Tri-State Pizza, led by managing partners Sean Byrne and Mark Riney, look forward to bringing Donatos premium pizza, salads, subs, and wings to the community after successfully opening their first location in Owensboro, Kentucky three years ago.
“We are really excited about getting our second restaurant opened,†said Byrne. “We can’t wait to introduce the people of Evansville to this great pizza and to also find ways to partner in the community.â€
The new location will offer online ordering at donatos.com for order-ahead pickup and delivery options. iPhone and Android users will also find the Donatos app extremely easy to order their favorite menu items. Donatos Pizza Evansville will feature seating for ô°†0 people in its 2,ô°†00- square-foot store located at ô°…10 S. Green River Road that will also feature a pickup window. This restaurant will employ approximately 45 full-time and part-time associates and will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
One of the hallmarks of Donatos Pizza has also been giving back in the community where they serve. Tri-State Pizza has already proven to be very active in the Owensboro community with its first restaurant and they plan to partner with schools, businesses, and charities in the Evansville community.
“We are excited to open this new location in Evansville,†said Donatos CEO Tom Krouse. “Our franchise partners, Sean and Mark, have done a tremendous job with their first restaurant and we are looking forward to more great things as they now have the opportunity to give a good thing in a new community.â€
The menu features Donatos’ famous Edge-to-Edgeô°“ pizza, with toppings loaded from one edge to the other, all atop a layer of aged provolone cheese. Each large pepperoni pizza boasts 100 pieces of pepperoni, and customers can mix and match from a variety of 25 toppings including fresh vegetables that are hand-cut daily. Donatos Pizza Evansville will also serve fresh salads, oven-baked subs, and boneless or traditional baked chicken wings that are available naked, sauced or dry-rubbed.
The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) today announced that 430 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 38,033 the total number of Indiana residents known to have the novel coronavirus following corrections to the previous day’s total.
Intensive care unit and ventilator capacity remain steady. As of today, nearly 39 percent of ICU beds and more than 82 percent of ventilators are available.
A total of 2,158 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 23 over the previous day. Another 181 probable deaths have been reported based on clinical diagnoses in patients for whom no positive test is on record. Deaths are reported based on when data are received by ISDH and occurred over multiple days.
To date, 315,390 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 309,503 on Monday.
Hoosiers who have symptoms of COVID-19 and those who have been exposed and need a test to return to work are encouraged to visit a state-sponsored testing site for free testing. Individuals without symptoms who are at high risk because they are over age 65, have diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure or another underlying condition, as well as those who are pregnant, live with a high-risk individual or are a member of a minority population that is at greater risk for severe illness, also are encouraged to get tested.
To find testing locations around the state, visit www.coronavirus.in.gov and click on the COVID-19 testing information link. More than 200 locations are available around the state.
AGENDA of the  Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners
Old National Events Plaza Ballroom B, C
June 9, 2020, at 10:00 am
Reconvene Emergency Meeting
Attendance
Pledge of Allegiance
Action ItemsÂ
County Treasurer: LawMan Security and Consulting Contract
Continuation of Public Hearing and Final Reading of Vacation Ordinance CO.V-05-20-001: Petition to Vacate a 12’ Public Utility and Drainage Easement at 2140 West Haven Drive
Public Hearing and Final Reading of Vacation Ordinance CO.V-06-20-003: Petition to Vacate a Portion of a 12’ Alley at 500 N. Woods Avenue
Computer Services:Â
Granicus Agreement ExtensionÂ
AT&T Contract for FirstNet Services
Sheriff’s Office: Memorandum of Understanding with LexisNexis
Superior Court: Contract for Professional Services with David Taylor Nellis
Department Head Reports
New Business
Old Business
St. Joseph Avenue July 6th Road Closure
Consent Items
Approval of May 26, 2020 Emergency Meeting Minutes
Employment ChangesÂ
County Treasurer April 2020 Monthly Report
County Auditor: Claims Voucher Reports 5/25-5/29/2020 & 6/1-6/5/2020
Capital One and Other Debt Collectors Are Still Coming for Millions of Americans
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Americans got protection from evictions, foreclosures and student debt. But debt collectors have continued to siphon off their share of paychecks from those who still have jobs.
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Since 2018, Capital One has been a looming presence in Julio Lugo’s life, ever since the company sued him, as it did 29,000 other New Yorkers that year, over an unpaid credit card. But when the coronavirus hit the city this March, it wasn’t on his mind.
At Mount Sinai in Manhattan, where he works, he’d been drafted into the hospital’s frenzied effort against the virus. He normally gathered patient information at the front desk of a radiology clinic in orderly shifts, 9 to 5. Now he was working 16-hour days, often overnight. At one moment he might be enlisted to help a team of doctors or nurses put on their full-body protective equipment and then he would rush to disinfect another team. He lost track of the days, only orienting himself by the need to juggle care with his ex-wife of their two young children who were now out of school.
But despite a global pandemic, Capital One didn’t forget about him. The company began in late March to seize a portion of his wages to collect on that debt — one that he says wasn’t even his.
Federal, state, and local officials have all taken some steps to protect Americans from the ravages of the economic crash due to COVID-19. Congress halted a substantial portion of evictions, foreclosures, and collection on student loans. And when it sent $300 billion in stimulus checks out to families, many states took steps to make sure that debt collectors didn’t grab the money. But one of the most aggressive and common forms of debt collection has generally been allowed to continue: the seizure of wages for old consumer debts.
The main protection Americans have gotten from debt collectors has been inadvertent, a byproduct of state courts being closed to most hearings, including those pushed by debt collectors. But this didn’t help people like Lugo who were the target of actions that began before the closures. Wage garnishments can run indefinitely once begun. As a result, essential workers and others who were lucky enough to keep their jobs have still been at risk of forfeiting a portion of their paychecks.
No one tracks wage garnishments either federally or at the state level, and that’s a key reason they get little public attention. But ProPublica has found that it hits workers earning $40,000 or less the hardest and is particularly common in predominantly black communities. Because garnishments are set at a percentage of income (25% in most states) regardless of whether someone can afford it or not, they often provoke a financial emergency and cause the debtor to let other bills go unpaid.
While new collection activity has dropped off, some major debt collectors have been laying the groundwork for a return to normal by filing suits by the thousands, according to a ProPublica review of online court records from county and state court websites. For example, in Maryland, two major debt collectors alone filed over 2,000 suits in April.
When the courts fully reopen, as they already have in some states, these companies will be first in line to win new court judgments. Those debtors who still have jobs will be forced to either make payments or risk their wages being seized. With 48% of American households have experienced a loss of employment income in the past few months, many will have no wages to take. But debt collectors can be patient and wait until they do.
Even more worrying to consumer advocates is what lies ahead. Households often rely on credit cards during moments of financial stress. In recent months, more have been paying the rent with their cards. Eventually, the bill will come due, which could lead to a wave of collection suits as the nation attempts to recover.
“There’s going to be a whole swath of people who never thought they’d be in a position to default,†said Pamela Foohey, a law professor at Indiana University who argues in a recent paper with two colleagues that Congress should impose a debt collection moratorium to allow for recovery. “It’s not productive to be garnishing people’s wages when they need to pay for food and get back on track financially,†she said.
Over the past couple of decades, Capital One, Lugo’s pursuer, helped lead the way in transforming the nation’s local courts into collection machines. As recently as the 1990s, these courts conformed to the picture most people have in their heads, primarily working as a venue where a judge resolved disputes between two sides represented by a lawyer. Now the most common type of case is debt collection, a recent Pew Charitable Trusts report found. Lining up against debtors who are almost never represented by an attorney, debt collection companies win millions of court judgments each year, which then allow them to seize debtors’ wages for years into the future. An old unpaid bill will fall off a credit report after seven years, but a court judgment can haunt someone forever.
The change has been obvious in courts everywhere, from New York to Las Vegas (where the local court decided to give such cases their own category, “Civil – Credit Card Collectionâ€) to rural Iowa.
“It does bother me that courts have become a sort of a tool for credit card companies. We’ve just become part of their business machinery,†said Judge Chris Foy, who presides over the district court in the small town of Waverly, Iowa.
The most common plaintiffs don’t tend to be household names that advertise with bold TV campaigns: Most are debt buyers, companies that buy up bad debts in bulk. The exception is Capital One.
Aggressive debt collection is key to Capital One’s profitability. Last year, the same year the company reported $5.5 billion in net income, it recovered $1.4 billion from its card accounts that had been previously charged-off, or recognized as losses. It was a haul hundreds of millions of dollars beyond any other card issuer, even much larger ones like JPMorgan Chase.
In a statement, a Capital One spokeswoman said the bank files more suits than other banks because it makes riskier loans. According to public filings, as of the end of this year, one-third of Capital One’s cardholders had a credit score under 660, generally considered the threshold that identifies those most likely to have trouble paying debts back. The bank’s current card offers for such customers carry an annual interest rate of 27%.
“Most regional, community, and especially large banks retreated from the subprime segment to focus on more affluent customers, resulting in a growing population of people with less access to the banking system,†the spokeswoman said. “Capital One remains a full spectrum lender.â€
“Debt collection for us is about helping customers resolve their delinquent debt and reducing losses, not making money,†she said, and the bank always attempts to work with borrowers before suing. As for Lugo’s case, the company said it couldn’t comment because it was currently in litigation.
The best estimate of the national scope of garnishments comes from ADP, the nation’s largest payroll services provider. At the request of ProPublica, ADP first undertook a study of payroll records six years ago. It followed up with a second survey in 2017. Both times, it found that 2.9% of workers had their wages garnished for consumer debts in the previous year. That works out to about 4 million nationally. Notably, both surveys were done during a period of economic expansion. In the Great Recession, between 2007 and 2009, the number of suits skyrocketed, according to ProPublica’s review of filings from several states.
Court judgments also allow collectors to seize money from bank accounts, often emptying them. But taking a portion of a paycheck is far more common, according to a ProPublica review of court data in Missouri and Georgia.
When the coronavirus outbreak hit, New York, like many other states, took several steps to protect vulnerable people, such as halting evictions or new garnishment orders. But the state let existing wage garnishments continue. Consumer advocates and the New York City Bar called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to fill that gap and suspend all garnishments. So far, he has not, despite moves by some other states, such as Nevada, to do so. In New York, plaintiffs can take up to a tenth of a debtor’s pay.
Cuomo’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the New York State Courts, told ProPublica that garnishments were allowed to continue because “existing orders were considered essential matters.â€
Those burdened with a garnishment amid the pandemic could request an emergency court hearing to have it suspended, according to guidance given to the city’s marshals, who administer garnishments. Michael Wolz, a spokesman for the marshals, said they “do everything they can to accommodate†people with hardships.
Susan Shin, legal director of the New Economy Project, a legal aid organization in New York City, said her group has been getting calls since March from New Yorkers asking for help with ongoing wage seizures. Capital One was often the plaintiff. People were afraid of risking their health to go out and seek help from the courts. “Why to put someone in that position?†she said. Relatively few people who need help find their way to legal aid.
ProPublica spoke with three New Yorkers who struggled to address seizures of their pay after the pandemic hit. Although all three managed to eventually halt the garnishments with the help of a legal aid attorney, the cases show how such suits can hang over people’s lives for decades. Two of them asked ProPublica not to use their last names out of fear it would displease their employers.
Capital One, asked about the cases, said, “Our policy is to work with any customer who needs help and is impacted by COVID-19.â€
Capital One sued Robert in 2007 for about $1,900. He is HIV positive and fell behind because of health issues, he said, and has been in and out of work over the years. For almost a decade, he said, he didn’t hear from Capital One. But last fall, soon after Robert began a new job, he received a notice telling him to arrange payment on the debtor he would be at risk of garnishment.
He eventually struck a settlement to pay Capital One a total of $300 on a payment plan of $20 a month. But shortly after he made his first payment, he was shocked to find that his wages had been garnished anyway. The seizures continued for weeks, well into March of this year. Both Capital One and the marshal’s office told ProPublica that Robert’s employer had been sent notice not to execute the garnishment, but that it had done so anyway in error and that the checks had been promptly mailed back to the employer.
Capital One sued Grace, a social worker in Queens, in 2013 after she lost her job and fell behind on her payments. Like Robert, she said she hadn’t heard from Capital One for years. In February, she received a letter from the marshal warning her that her pay would be garnished if she did not make other arrangements to pay off her debt of $2,800.
When the virus hit and the courts largely shut down, she assumed it was a problem that could wait. “I was just trying to get by,†she said. After the garnishment started, she searched online for help and found her way to Shin, the legal aid lawyer. The money has since been returned, but Grace knows the seizures could start again when the courts reopen.
Given Lugo’s hectic days and nights working at the hospital, it wasn’t until mid-April, when 500 New Yorkers were still dying every day from the virus, that he discovered $168 missing from his latest paycheck. Although he was sued in 2018, he didn’t find out about the suit until his wages began to be garnished last year, he said. One reason is that the debt is not his, he said.
In a legal filing, with the help of a legal aid attorney, he argued that his now-deceased father likely stole his identity to take out the card. A process server falsely claimed to have served his mother with notice of the suit, he said.
The filing stopped the garnishments last year, but in early March, he missed a court hearing because it conflicted with a parent-teacher conference at his child’s school, he said. He thought the hearing would be rescheduled, but unbeknownst to him, it triggered a new garnishment.
“Being that the courts were closed, I couldn’t understand how they could just start taking out money again without letting me know,†he said.
Eventually, again with help from a legal aid attorney, he was able to stop the garnishment and get a new court date, currently set for August.
After the virus hit in March, Capital One largely suspended filing any new debt-collection lawsuits. But other big debt collectors did not, including Encore Capital, the nation’s largest debt buyer. ProPublica reviewed online court filings in eight states where courts had largely stopped hearing new cases and found that Encore still filed over 1,600 lawsuits in April.
Encore reported collecting $1.3 billion in old debt in the U.S. last year and was looking forward to another good year when March came.
Encore CEO Ashish Masih told analysts last month that the company is still optimistic. Widespread unemployment and the courts closing hurt the company’s near term prospects, but Masih said this would only cause a “delay, not a permanent loss†in what the company hoped to collect in 2020. Eventually, he said, “the court processes will start working,†and “we hope to recoup about 90% of collections over time.â€
In response to questions from ProPublica, Encore said that according to its company policy, “We’ve suspended collections for any consumer who lets us know they’ve been directly impacted by COVID-19.â€
Across the country, courts are taking steps to resume full function. In Arkansas, where the virus did not initially hit hard but has been spreading faster lately, the state supreme court announced in early May that all courts could reopen to hearing any type of case starting May 18. How exactly to do this is up to local courts, and solutions range from video hearings to in-person hearings with a limited number of people in the courtroom and temperature checks before entering.
Wage garnishments in the state never stopped, said Susan Purtle, an attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas, which serves almost half the state. That’s partly due to a large number of meat processing plants there, she said. “Those clients have continued to work,†she said, and so had wages to take.
But recently, she said, calls about new suits have been coming in. Typically, she’s seeing court hearings scheduled for July or August. Once they begin again, collectors will resume winning judgments that can be used to collect on the debtors who still have jobs. For the ones who don’t, the companies will wait until they do.
Senator Braun Introduces Promising Pathway Act for Patients With Life-Threatening Illnesses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) introduced the Promising Pathway Act (S. 3872) to give those struggling with serious and life-threatening illnesses a fighting chance at receiving meaningful treatments.
The Promising Pathway Act requires the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to establish a rolling, real-time, priority review pathway to evaluate provisional approval applications for drugs intended to treat, prevent, or diagnose serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions, including those that pose a threat of epidemic or pandemic.
Under this pathway, provisional approval would be granted by the FDA to drugs demonstrating substantial evidence of safety and relevant early evidence of positive therapeutic outcome(s).
“There are things we can do right now to help those fighting for their lives every day against terminal illnesses that will also better prepare us for pandemics like the coronavirus,” said Senator Mike Braun. “The current system doesn’t work for those with a serious and life-threatening illnesses. A provisional drug approval pathway—designed to promote efficient access to effective treatments for patients with progressive diseases—will bring us closer to fixing the system for those who don’t have time to wait.â€Â Â
“In the current environment, Americans are all too familiar with the devastating impact of deadly, fast-moving diseases with no known cure. Unfortunately, many have been living with this reality for far too long, as they and their families deal with tragic diseases such as ALS. Accelerating and clarifying FDA approval pathways for promising new treatments is more important now than ever.â€Â said Senator Murkowski.“We know that ALS is a tragic disease, but with advances in research, treatment, and advances in clinical trials, my hope is that we are closer to a cure for ALS. Our legislative effort recognizes that patients suffering from life-threatening, fast-moving diseases may benefit from access to promising treatments earlier. While we work towards the day we have promising cures, anything we can do to accelerate pathways to treatment is a step in the right direction.â€
“Americans suffering from terminal conditions do not have time to wait months on end for the approval of potentially life-saving treatments,â€Â said Senator McSally. “Our legislation allows access to more 21st century therapies by creating another pathway at the FDA that will safely accelerate its approval process for drugs meant to treat chronic or life-threatening diseases for patients battling critical conditions like ALS or advanced stages of cancer.â€
“The FDA must be an innovation-enabler. A provisional approval pathway is consistent with the FDA’s goal of advancing 21st-century patient-focused medicine regulation. The Promising Pathway Act is a public health triple play—Good for patients, good for innovation, good for the broader public health.†– Peter J. Pitts, Former FDA Associate Commissioner, President and Co-Founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest
“Every year thousands of Americans are diagnosed with ALS and told to get their affairs in order. This legislation gets us ever closer to a place where we can say, ‘you have ALS, here is an effective therapy that will allow you to see your children and grandchildren grow up.’ We fight every day to make that day real,â€Â says Danielle Carnival, CEO of I AM ALS.
“We are grateful for Senator Braun’s commitment to and leadership in the fight to end ALS and to make real treatments for so many now. This critical legislation provides the opportunity to dramatically speed up the race for treatments for ALS patients and so many others by providing a real, long-overdue pathway access to promising therapies,” says Brian Wallach, ALS patient and co-founder of I AM ALS.
“The ALS Association strongly supports the Promising Pathway Act to create a faster pathway for new therapies,â€Â said Calaneet Balas, president and CEO of The ALS Association.“This bill advances efforts to bring effective treatments to everyone with ALS as soon as possible. We look forward to working together to ensure Congress passes this bill quickly.â€
“The Promising Pathway Act may serve a critical need we have for accelerated drug approval for children facing terminal brain cancers. For years we’ve watched promising treatments languish at bureaucratic hurdles set to consider side effects when the alternative for these children was almost certain death. We are hopeful that now these options can be offered as they develop and lives will be saved.†–Keith Desserich, Co-Founder of The Cure Starts Now International Cancer Foundation, Founder of the DIPG/DMG Collaborative, President of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Foundation.
Expediting beneficial outcomes for patients is the sole purpose of this Act.  For individuals with life-threatening, serious diseases, timely access to treatment is an essential element in the battle between life and death. The FDA drug approval pathways must be continually rethought and redesigned to promote efficient access to effective treatments for patients with progressive diseases that, if left untreated, may significantly affect their daily lives or lead to premature death.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Promising Pathway Act (PPA) requires the FDA to establish a rolling, real-time, priority review pathway to evaluate provisional approval applications for drugs intended to treat, prevent, or diagnose serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions—including those that pose a threat of epidemic or pandemic (e.g., COVID-19). Under this pathway, provisional approval would be granted by the FDA to drugs demonstrating substantial evidence of safety and relevant early evidence of positive therapeutic outcome(s). The FDA currently has the legal authorities to establish such a pathway—in fact, they did so in the 1990s with the parallel track system—but creating a clearly defined, modernized pathway under PPA ensures such a pathway exists for the benefit of patients and can be reliably utilized by drug sponsors.
I. Background
On December 21, 2019, to make good on the government’s promise to allow those with life-threatening illnesses better access potentially meaningful treatments, a first draft of PPA was introduced and interested parties were encouraged to submit questions, comments, and suggestions to be considered for a subsequent revision of PPA.
II. Comments on First Draft and Responses
Hundreds of Americans submitted feedback and proposed revisions—including personal stories, expert opinion, and stakeholder input. The great majority of comments either suggested changes to specific elements of PPA or requested clarification on certain elements of PPA.
A. Standard of review and how PPA differs from other FDA pathways and programs
(Comment 1)Â We received several comments seeking clarification on the standard of review for provisional approval and how it differs from the substantial evidence of safety and effectiveness standard utilized by the FDA in existing drug review pathways.
(Response 1) For a drug to be eligible for provisional approval status under PPA, it must be intended for the treatment, prevention, or medical diagnosis or serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions in which there is a reasonable likelihood that premature death or disability will occur without early medical intervention, a disease or condition that poses a threat of epidemic or pandemic, or a disease or condition that is associated with morbidity that substantially impacts day to day functioning. Additionally, to receive provisional approval status, a drug must demonstrate substantial evidence of safety and relevant early evidence of positive therapeutic outcome(s).
(Comment 2) Many comments requested clarification on how a new provisional FDA drug review pathway would differ from already established and utilized FDA drug review pathways—specifically, the Accelerated Approval pathway.
(Response 2) Several critical features distinguish provisional approval from accelerated approval. For instance, drugs being reviewed under the accelerated approval pathway are only accessible by patients enrolled in the drug’s clinical trial, restricting widespread patient access to beneficial drugs until granted full approval. Encouraging the FDA to accept rolling applications for the time-limited provisional approval status for drugs that are safe and demonstrate relevant early evidence of positive therapeutic outcome(s) will facilitate access to promising drugs for a broader patient population faster than accelerated approval. Additionally, the accelerated approval pathway requires the use of validated surrogates, or endpoints, to measure the efficacy of a drug—which limits clinical trial design for rare or lesser-studied diseases. The provisional approval pathway, however, allows drug sponsors to incorporate the use of scientifically substantiated surrogates—surrogate endpoints other than those previously validated by the FDA—to predict a drug’s clinical benefit based on epidemiological, therapeutic, pathophysiologic, or other evidence for provisional approval. This difference in pathway requirements will increase innovation in clinical trial design and encourage sponsors to use real world data to ascertain the benefits of the drug without reducing the standard of effectiveness.
(Comment 3)Â Additionally, several commenters requested clarification on how a provisional approval pathway would impact clinical trial designs and enrollment.
(Response 3) PPA includes an important provision that requires the FDA to issue guidance that establishes clear protocols for enabling sponsors to submit rolling, real-time, mid-trial provisional approval applications. Importantly, this provision preserves the integrity of ongoing clinical trial design, development, and enrollment, as well as prohibits sponsors from being penalized for utilizing this pathway mid-trial—further promoting expedited and broad patient access to provisionally approved drugs. PPA is distinct from programs such as Right-to-Try and Expanded Access, also referred to as Compassionate Use, because under this pathway, patients will receive timely access to provisionally approved drugs. Whereas Right-to-Try and Expanded Access grant patients access to experimental, unapproved drugs.
B. Transparency and Patient Monitoring Requirements
(Comment 4)Â Many commenters, rightly, raised concerns with overall transparency relating to the new provisional approval pathway and questioned how patients and prescribers would receive timely information from the FDA and drug sponsors on provisionally approved drugs.
(Response 4) PPA establishes the requirement of patient registries for all provisionally approved drugs.  Under PPA,the sponsor of a provisionally approved drug must ensure that all patients who use the drug participate in an observational registry and consent to the collection of, and submission of, data related to the patient’s use of the drug until the drug receives full approval.  Importantly, the registries must be readily accessible to patients—as well as allow approved researchers and medical professionals to access the aggregated and de-identified data for public health research. Additionally, patients will be immediately notified of any FDA decisions or adverse drug effects brought to light by review of any registry related to a provisionally approved drug—as the FDA is required under PPA to conduct an annual review of applicable patient registries. These registries can be run by third party governmental, for-profit, or nonprofit entities—but must track the effect of provisionally approved drugs on patients, including patient treatments, uses, length of use, side effects, scan results, and adverse drug effects. Finally, under PPA, any scientific, medical, academic, or health care journal publishing an article explaining, releasing, conveying or announcing research findings which were funded by the federal government shall be prohibited from publishing such research unless the article conveying the research findings is made publicly available on the journal’s website without a paywall or charge three (3) months after it was first made available to subscribers or for purchase.
C. Post Market Controls
(Comment 5) A few commenters raised the issue of compliance with post-market approval requirements. Specifically, these commenters sought clarity about how the FDA would ensure drug sponsors met post-market approval requirements under the pathway.
(Response 5) Under PPA, the period of provisional approval is time-limited and effective for a two-year period. Drug sponsors may request provisional approval status renewal for subsequent two-year periods, up to a total of six years. The FDA will review the drug and renew provisional approval status based on real-world data collected in the patient registries—which track patient usage of provisionally approved drugs—until the drug receives full approval or provisional approval expires. Additionally, under PPA, the FDA will review registry data as a part of the approval for a sponsor’s application for full approval or withdraw a drug’s provisional approval status. Sponsors may apply for full approval for a drug at any time under the pathway. The FDA may also withdraw provisional approval of a drug with a significant number of reported adverse effects. Importantly, PPA establishes the position of Patient Advocate General within the Office of the Commissioner at the FDA to increase transparency and provide assistance to patients, as well as their families and caregivers.
Time-limited provisional approval incentivizes drug sponsors to collect diligently and submit drug data to the registries to renew their drug’s provisional approval status. If a sponsor fails to meet post-approval requirements, the FDA will issue penalties and, in certain cases, withdraw provisional approval for the drug. For example, under PPA, if a drug sponsor has less than 90 percent of patients using a provisionally approved drug participating in the required registry—they will receive a $100,000 penalty, and if the violation is not corrected within 30 days the sponsor will be issued a $10,000 penalty every day the violation is not corrected. If patient participation is not at or above 90 percent within 6 months, provisional approval will be withdrawn.
D. Payment
(Comment 6) A great number of commenters—including patients and caregivers—raised the issue of payment in their comments. Specifically, commenters sought clarity on how patients would ultimately be able to afford drugs provisionally approved.
(Response 6) This issue is vitally important. Indeed, we cannot expect to expedite beneficial and positive patient outcomes if patients are ultimately unable to afford treatments provisionally approved under this pathway. Although there is no easy solution to this issue, PPA seeks to ensure better and greater access to provisionally approved treatments for patients.  Specifically, PPA prohibits any group health plans, health insurance coverage providers and federal health care programs (e.g., Medicare) from denying coverage of a provisionally approved drug on the basis of it being experimental and mandates that provisionally approved drugs be treated in the same manner as drugs fully approved by the FDA under other review pathways.
E. Priority Review and Evaluation Process
(Comment 7)Â Several commenters specifically asked how drug sponsors would request provisional approval under the provisional approval pathway and whether they would be required to pay user fees.
(Response 7) PPA allows for rolling, real-time FDA review of provisional approval applications, where the FDA may review various portions of new product applications as they become available, instead of waiting for a completed dossier. Under PPA, the FDA must evaluate provisional approval applications within 90 days of receiving a completed application.  If the drug submitted for review under this pathway qualifies for FDA special designations, including but not limited to, designations for a rare disease or condition under the “Orphan Drug Act,†all benefits of that designation shall be available for use under provisional approval, including any tax credits and waiving of FDA fees.
Amazon’s New Competitive Advantage: Putting Its Own Products First
Brands have long been able to bid for the premier slot at the top left of Amazon’s listings, but during the pandemic the online retailer has begun using this position for its private-label items, raising antitrust concerns.
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Until recently, when Amazon customers typed “melatonin†into the site’s search bar, a variety of sleep supplements would appear in the most coveted real estate on the listings results — top left on the first page.
One of consultant Jason Boyce’s clients, a seller of natural supplements, often sought to outbid competitors for the best spots by promising Amazon about $6 each time someone clicked on the product. While the brand never attained the top left slot, it regularly landed in the top row. But in late March, Boyce noticed that Amazon’s own brand, Solimo, had taken over the top left, while his client’s product had been bumped to a lower row. Then Boyce typed “ground coffee†in the search bar, only to find AmazonFresh Colombia ground coffee in the top left, pushing down another client.
“This is madness,†Boyce said. “They’re putting their own product right in the front of the line.â€
He said the clients, whom he declined to name because they feared retaliation from Amazon, were outraged. “They were thinking, ‘What is Amazon going to do next?’†he said.
Although customers don’t necessarily realize it, brands have for years been able to bid on search terms to secure the most visible listing positions at the top of Amazon’s product search results pages, where their products carry a “sponsored†tag above the description. Now, they still bid for top-row placements, but the best spot — the top left on the first page — is unavailable across dozens of product search terms, according to consultants and ProPublica’s own review. During the pandemic, Amazon has begun to use that position for its own private-label products, without bidding, under the heading “featured from our brands.â€
The domino effect of Amazon’s new strategy has demoted competitors’ listings for products including diapers, copy paper, kids’ pajamas, mattresses, trail mix, and lightbulbs. By putting its own private brands in some of the most valuable slots, Amazon is sacrificing short-term ad revenue to build up sales of its private brands over time, consultants said.
The new approach violates Amazon’s mantra that every decision must put the customer first, said Tim Hughes, a consultant who used to work in product management at Amazon. “Why would their brand be a better option for consumers?†said Hughes, chief operating officer of a firm that helps brands manage Amazon accounts. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be cheaper, or better, or anything. So then what’s their justification to say, ‘We’re just going to put this up in front of everybody else’? This is just another example of Amazon being able to manipulate the platform for its own good use.â€
While Amazon has promoted its own private-label products in various prominent spots on its site over the years, consultants and legal experts said this latest iteration takes advantage of the surge in online buying during the pandemic and may accentuate antitrust concerns for a company already juggling domestic and global probes. Amazon’s share price has increased more than 30% this year, although the company missed earnings estimates for the most recent quarter because of higher costs.
Amazon’s dedicating of prime positions to its own brands could be viewed under U.S. law as “exclusionary conduct†— which, along with proving a company has substantial market power, is a key element of antitrust cases, said Christopher Sagers, a professor of antitrust law at Cleveland State University in Ohio.
“If I were their lawyer, this would definitely make me nervous,†Sagers said. “It’s hard to explain the search results finagling as anything besides a nasty, anti-competitive move.â€
Amazon acknowledged that it recently introduced this “featured from our brands†strategy, which the company described as “merchandising placement†rather than advertising. “Like all retailers, Amazon regularly makes decisions about how to use the space in our stores based on a variety of factors, centered on what customers will find most helpful,†a spokesperson said. “That’s a normal part of retail that’s happened for decades.†There is no real estate reserved for Amazon brands, and they may be placed anywhere, Amazon said.
The spokesperson said that Amazon did not adopt this strategy to take advantage of the pandemic. “The change in the labeling of this merchandising feature had been planned for many months,” he said.
Amazon highlights its private-label brands because customers prefer them, the spokesperson added. “Amazon’s private brand products have on average higher customer review ratings, lower return rates, and higher repeat purchase rates than other comparable brands in the Amazon store,†he said. “As a result, like other retailers, Amazon highlights its private brands in promotions and marketing.†Most private-label sales are for staples such as paper towels, baby wipes, and batteries, Amazon said.
Absent favored treatment by Amazon, though, its private-label brands sometimes don’t have enough sales under the algorithm’s criteria to justify a listing on the first page of search results, said consultant James Thomson, the former business head of an Amazon team that recruits third-party sellers. Amazon Essentials regular and slim-fit short-sleeve pocket Oxford shirts, both listed on the first page of results for “men’s shirts,†had about $4,400 and $1,600, respectively, in sales over a recent 30-day period, far less than the surrounding unpaid listings. Their sales should have put the Oxford shirts at best at the bottom of the second page, according to Thomson and Jungle Scout, a service that analyzes Amazon sales rank data.
Amazon “confuses consumers into thinking these products are more popular than they really are,†Thomson said. Amazon said its shopping results don’t favor private brands, and sales is only one of many factors considered by its algorithm.
Amazon has 45 private-label brands with a total of 243,000 products available, accounting for about 1% of retail sales, the company said. “Private labels are playing an increasingly important role in Amazon’s overall strategy,†Coresight Research said in a report last month.
Since people read from left to right, the top left is the most desirable spot in the search results. When we searched for “almonds,†Amazon’s Happy Belly brand whole raw almonds occupied that spot. In the “bra†results, it was Amazon’s Iris & Lilly brand. A search for “envelopes†revealed AmazonBasics security tinted version in the top left, ahead of three paid listings. A search for “shaving cream†featured Amazon’s Made For You shaving cream, to the left of two paid listings from The Art of Shaving brand. A spokesman for The Art of Shaving said “there aren’t any issues at the moment†with sales or how its products appear on Amazon.
The prominent positioning for its own products enables Amazon to boost prices, Boyce said. When Boyce, who used to own a home recreation equipment company and remains interested in the category, happened to type “bocce†into Amazon’s search bar in April, he saw an Amazon brand bocce ball set featured at the top, before all the other listings, he said. When he checked again weeks later, the price of Amazon’s product — still top left — had gone up several dollars, he said. “We’re always looking to deliver consistently low prices to customers on all products we offer,†the spokesperson said, adding, “No amount of advertising will fool customers into paying more than they want if there are competing offers for competitive products.â€
Amazon has an advantage over competitors because it doesn’t have to pay itself for the best placement, Boyce said. Brands pay between 10% and 30% of sales for a sponsored slot, he said. “The deck is hugely stacked in favor of Amazon,†he said.
Amazon is facing at least one European antitrust investigation and two in the U.S. The House Judiciary Committee last June announced an investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by large tech companies including Amazon. The House investigation is ongoing, according to a spokesman for Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, the chairman of the committee’s antitrust subcommittee. Cicilline last month threatened to subpoena Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos if he ignores a request to testify. The demand followed a Wall Street Journal report that Amazon used data about third-party sellers on its site to develop competing products under its private-label brands.
In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has reportedly been looking into possible anti-competitive practices at Amazon for nearly a year. The FTC declined to comment. Other big tech companies also have been under scrutiny. Media outlets reported last month that the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against Google, focusing in part on its online advertising business.
Amazon declined to comment specifically on the investigations. It said that it faces “intense competition in every segment†in which it operates.
Amazon represents less than 4% of the U.S. retail market but nearly 40% of U.S. online sales. It’s the third-biggest player in the U.S. digital advertising market, behind Google and Facebook, with about $10 billion in U.S. digital ad revenues in 2019, according to market research firm eMarketer. Amazon’s share of that space is about 8% and growing, eMarketer said. Three-fourths of Amazon’s digital ad revenues come from keyword-targeted, cost-per-click search ads, including the “sponsored product†listings, according to eMarketer estimates.
A desktop search on Amazon generally yields multiple pages of results. Each page may show a dozen or more rows of products, typically with three or four listings per row. The top row may feature between one and four paid listings, known as sponsored products. For example, a recent search for “curtains†showed AmazonBasics curtains in the top-left spot, followed by two sponsored and one “organic†— or unpaid — listing across the row.
Under what Boyce calls a “pay-to-play†system, brands compete for sponsored product placement on Amazon’s website, bidding on a specific search term such as “curtains.†Brands pay nothing upfront for these listings. Rather, they bid on what they’re willing to pay Amazon per click — amounts typically ranging from about a nickel to $20 per click, depending on the search term, consultants said.
Many brands may be competing for the same limited ad space, and they can learn estimated winning bids before placing theirs. Having the highest bid doesn’t guarantee placement. When determining which brands will get the coveted spots, Amazon’s algorithm takes into account a brand’s sales and inventory availability, and the product’s relevance to the desired search term. Placement for individual brands is constantly changing.
Amazon offers sponsored product ads at the bottom of the first search results page as well as on subsequent pages, but those are less expensive since they generally lead to fewer sales, consultants said. If products — like the sleep supplement sold by Boyce’s client — lose their sponsored position, they no longer have to pay for placement.
Amazon began offering pay-per-click ads on its site in 2012, said Mike Ziegler, a former senior product manager for Amazon’s advertising program. Since then, it has gradually increased both the number of paid listings on product search results pages as well as the amount of space that features Amazon-brand products, said Thomson, who advises brands working with Amazon.
In recent years, Amazon has sometimes featured its own products in headline ads that run across the top of the results page, just below the search bar. This area is now known as “sponsored brand†space and is available to brands willing to bid on it. In addition, Amazon has featured its brands in the middle of the results page in a section called “top rated from our brands.†It still sometimes promotes its products in this way. But, prior to the pandemic, Amazon’s private-label brands only entered the top row of listings through competitive bidding, the company said.
By giving itself the top placement, Amazon is guaranteeing the success of its brands, Hughes said. Since customers are more likely to buy products listed at the top of the search results, Amazon is boosting sales for its products — and increasing, by the same token, their rating in the eyes of the algorithm. So even if Amazon ultimately cedes the top left, its products will end up in a better position relative to competitors than before, Hughes said. Amazon said this isn’t part of its strategy.
When Hughes worked for Amazon between 2012 and 2015, his job was to maximize advertising revenue on the Amazon-owned website IMDb, a database of movies and TV shows that then had annual ad revenue of about $50 million, he said. For unpopular or unused advertising space, Hughes built relationships with so-called “remnant providers†that would fill the space with last-minute ads for a discounted rate. Although his job was to get the most revenue out of the available ad space, Hughes said his boss eventually told him to drop the remnant ad suppliers in favor of running unpaid ads for Amazon services including Prime Video.
“I was told flat out we’re not doing remnant providers any more, we’re just showing Amazon house ads,†he said. “There was no rationale. It came from senior leadership. You have to do it.â€
Amazon said it only shows house ads in the program described by Hughes when it doesn’t have a relevant paid ad.
Hughes said that Amazon’s efforts to promote its own brands have become more aggressive over the years, first with the headline and middle-of-page placements and now with the top-left slot. “They don’t have to fight like everybody else to get positioning†for their private-label brands on the product search pages, Hughes said. “They just put ‘our brands’ there, and boom, instant sales. The difference between being in slot one versus slot 10, even on the first page, is going to be an order of magnitude different in terms of sales. It is an exponentially decreasing curve. It is a huge drop-off.â€
Dan Brownsher, CEO of an agency that advises sellers on Amazon, said brands compete to be in the top row of search results because the “further down you go on a page, the less likely you are†to click on a listing and buy a product, he said. “If you’re on Page 2, you’re basically dead,†he said. “If Amazon is taking up key real estate, then that’s pushing everybody else down.â€
Not all sellers are upset. Ziegler, the former senior product manager who now advises brands who advertise on Amazon, said his clients — which include Unilever Food Solutions — accept that Amazon has in the past promoted its own brands alongside competitors and that it will continue to do so. “It’s a fact of life,†Ziegler said. Unilever did not respond to a request for comment.
Randall Fields, CEO of retail advisory firm Park City Group, said grocery and discount chains have long created private-label products. Amazon putting its brands in the most lucrative webspace is akin to a grocery store featuring its own brand of trail mix in the most prominent shelf space, he said. Like Amazon, brick-and-mortar stores also charge fees for premier display space.
“They’re not doing anything that any other supermarket chain is not doing,†said Fields, co-founder of cookie maker Mrs. Fields. (He’s no longer involved with the company.) “It’s just the scale of it is so immense at Amazon.â€
There is an important difference, Thomson and Sagers said. Because of Amazon’s dominance over online retail, many sellers and suppliers rely on it as their primary or only source of sales revenue, they said.
“An open marketplace means anybody can show up, anybody can sell their products, anybody’s got an opportunity,†Thomson said. “But what happens when prime real estate gets created and only Amazon can have access to it? It only pushes you further and further away from the marketplace actually being so-called ‘open.’ It’s not like somebody else can say, ‘I’m prepared to pay to have that real estate.’ Nope. That real estate is not available.
FOOTNOTES:The â€Update, June 6, 2020: This article was updated to include additional comments from Amazon.
A one-time northern Indiana trial court judge who is accused in lawsuits of taking money from two estates in cases he represented has resigned from the Indiana bar rather than face disciplinary proceedings related to his misconduct.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday accepted the resignation of Monon lawyer Robert V. Monfort. In resigning, Monfort acknowledged that there was an Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission proceeding alleging misconduct and that he could not successfully defend himself if prosecuted.
Montfort, who once presided as a Jasper Superior Court judge, has not been criminally charged, but lawsuits filed on behalf of charities in Rensselaer allege he and/or his law office misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars that a deceased widow bequeathed to community charities. The commission filed a disciplinary complaint April 27 accusing Monfort of criminal acts and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,†among a litany of other ethical charges.
The discipline case against Monfort arises from two estate matters he handled that resulted in litigation in Jasper Superior Court against him and his law firm.
In one case, charities that stood to benefit from an elderly widow’s estate accuse Monfort of undue influence over Rose Jennette Nagel that “resulted in more than $600,000 in damages†to a Catholic school and the Jasper Newton Foundation, which the suit says stood to benefit from her bequests. The suit also makes claims of negligence and improper estate administration, and contests Nagel’s probated will that would have instead left her estate to an employee in Monfort’s office who also had served as personal representative for Nagel’s estate.
Monfort also is accused of attorney misconduct in handling the estate of Anthony Kaczorowski, who died intestate in 2014. Among other things, the commission says as recently as 2019, Monfort swore an affidavit that Kaczorowski had no known heirs, which he knew to be false. The commission likewise levels allegations of criminal conduct and fraud in Monfort’s handling of that case.
The commission alleged Monfort consumed nearly all of the $114,000 in Kaczorowski’s liquid estate assets through estate administration expenses, inappropriate fees, and“unjustified payments to the respondent and his office staff,†and more.
Meanwhile, Monfort faces one other civil lawsuit alleging professional negligence in his office’s handling of a third estate case, that of John Garling. Garling’s estate alleges, among other things, that the case dragged on for more than five years while a personal representative appointed at Monfort’s request caused assets to be dissipated and “may have taken certain assets for his own personal use.â€
The suit also alleges a house belonging to Garling’s estate was sold for an amount significantly below fair market value.
Monfort was a judge of Jasper Superior Court 2 from 1994-2000. The Indiana General Assembly dissolved the court, a decision affirmed by the Indiana Supreme Court in 2000.
Monfort, who was admitted to the bar in 1988, was previously suspended for 30 days with automatic reinstatement for helping a client in 2009 who previously had been a defendant in a drunken-driving case in which Monfort had presided as judge.
A Message from Sister Jane McConnell, OSF, Director of Mission Integration, Ascension St. Vincent Evansville: As we serve together in our communities and in our healthcare ministry, we promote and embrace the foundational principles of our Mission, our Value of Reverence for all people, our Catholic Social Teaching principles of Respect for the Dignity of all Human Life and Solidarity with Persons who are most vulnerable among us.  We pray for peace, understanding, and mutual respect among all people in our communities and in our nation. We take a firm stand against racism and pray for God’s peace, reconciliation, and justice for all people who are struggling and impacted at this time.
Ascension CEO, Joe Impicciche, calls for justice, peace and reconciliation in our nation:Â http://ascn.io/6186G1KWM
iPads Allow Patients and Families to Virtually Connect
Because of YOUR generous support to our Caregivers Response Fund, iPads were purchased to virtually connect patients with family members that are not able to visit face-to-face due to visitor restrictions or other limitations.
Thanks to your generosity, these stories took place:
A patient was able to say goodbye to their grandchildren while still conscious before all supports were removed.
A 90-year-old patient was able to see and talk to his wife and son.
A patient was able to virtually spend time with her family after being apart several days the night before surgery.
Each patient and their family members expressed heartfelt thanks for these moments that so often are taken for granted.
A special thank you to our Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Spiritual Care and Ascension IS departments who have been instrumental in assisting with this project.
Click the button above and select the fund from the designation dropdown menu.
Important 2020 Event Announcement
In light of ongoing precautions regarding COVID-19, and out of respect for our care teams, sponsors and guests, Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Foundation has made the difficult decision to cancel our 40th Annual Heritage Open scheduled for August 10, 2020 and our 33rd Annual Cornette Ball scheduled for Oct. 17, 2020. While difficult, we believe this decision is a responsible one. See full announcement here.
Please save the date for our annual events in 2021:
– 40th Annual Heritage Open – Monday, June 7, 2021, Evansville Country Club
– 33rd Annual Cornette Ball – Saturday, October 16, 2021, West Baden Springs Resort
Healthcare Hero Spotlight – Brian Marvell, Living our Mission Leadership Award Winner!
Congratulations to Brian Marvell, Director of Critical Care at Ascension St. Vincent Evansville, on receiving the Living our Mission Leadership Award!
Brian leads by example and exemplifies clinical expertise, best practices, and thorough communication. Brian is cool, calm, and collected in the most stressful situations. He is a true servant leader who leads with his heart and truly cares for those around him. Thank you, Brian, for always going above and beyond for your staff, peers, and the organization!
The Living our Mission Leadership Award is awarded twice a year to an outstanding Ascension St. Vincent leader that exemplifies the Ascension Mission.
Follow us on Facebook and like our page for more stories of the great work being done by our local associates.
It is because of your support many of our dedicated nursing staff are able to maintain their certifications and pursue higher education. This leads to better patient outcomes and higher quality care. To support nursing excellence and education, select the fund from the designation dropdown menu.
Double the Impact with Corporate Matching – Check with Your Employer
Did you know many local businesses offer corporate matching programs? A matching gift is a charitable donation by a corporation that matches an employee’s donation to an eligible nonprofit organization,such as Ascension St. Vincent Evansville Foundation, most often dollar-for-dollar. Some companies even double, triple, or quadruple donations! Please check with your employer to see if they offer a corporate matching program.
The following is a list of several companies offering matching programs.
First, I would like to say congratulations to all Hoosier Republicans elected on Tuesday to serve as delegates at our virtual 2020 Indiana Republican State Convention. Due to continuing impacts of COVID-19, our 2020 Indiana Republican State Convention will look a little different this year – but will still ensure our delegates select our nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general.
With our virtual convention on June 18 approaching quickly, we wanted to make sure that you had all the information about convention — including how voting will work.
That’s why we’ve put together this video taking you through the process step by step, and answering a few frequently asked questions. I’d really encourage you to take a few minutes to watch this video, and share it with anyone who will also be a delegate this year.
And then for more information — including upcoming deadlines, a link for paying delegate fees, and more FAQs — you can also visit our updated convention website here.
For Hoosiers serving as delegates, make sure you pay your $50 delegate fee by June 9.
Your Indiana Republican State Committee is committed to protecting our delegates’ rights to select our party nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general. Through it all, delegates’ voices and votes are fundamental.
Thank you,
Chairman Kyle Hupfer
Watch the 2020 Indiana Republican State Convention Explained HERE
Delegates Will Select Nominees for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General
Vanderburgh County Republican State Convention Delegates are invited to view the 2020 Virtual Republican State Convention with fellow delegates at GOP HQ Thursday evening June 18.
Time:Â 4:00 p.m. Doors Open
  4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (CST) live broadcast
Location: GOP HQ, Suite 160
 815 John Street, Suite 160, Evansville
Seating will be limited to Convention Delegates.
For more information contact Mary Jo Kaiser at 812-425-8207 or email beamerjo59@gmail.com
BALLOTS CAST – REPUBLICAN . . . . .     7,957    41.63
BALLOTS CAST – DEMOCRATIC . . . . .    11,157    58.37
********** (REPUBLICAN) **********
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Vote for not more than 1
DONALD J. TRUMP . . . . . . . . 7,143Â Â Â 92.35%
BILL WELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592    7.65%
GOVERNOR
Vote for not more than 1
ERIC HOLCOMB . . . . . . . . . 7,408Â Â Â 100.00%
UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE – 8th DISTRICT
Vote for not more than 1
LARRY D. BUCSHON . . . . . . . . 7,180Â Â Â Â 100.00%
STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 50
Vote for not more than 1
VANETA G. BECKER . . . . . . . . 3,374Â Â Â 100.00%
STATE REP DISTRICT 64
Vote for not more than 1
MATT HOSTETTLER . . . . . . . . 1,191Â Â Â Â 100.00%
STATE REP DISTRICT 76
Vote for not more than 1
WENDY (MAC) MCNAMARA. . . . . . . 1,614Â Â Â 100.00%
STATE REP DISTRICT 77
Vote for not more than 1
NO CANDIDATE FILED . . . . . . . 0
STATE REP DISTRICT 78
Vote for not more than 1
HOLLI SULLIVAN. . . . . . . . . 2,434Â Â Â 100.00%
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
Vote for not more than 1
CARLA J. HAYDEN . . . . . . . . 6,937Â Â Â 100.00%
COUNTY RECORDER
Vote for not more than 1
DEBBIE STUCKI . . . . . . . . . 7,140Â Â Â 100.00%
COUNTY TREASURER
Vote for not more than 1
DOTTIE THOMAS . . . . . . . . . 6,923Â Â Â 100.00%
COUNTY CORONER
Vote for not more than 1
NO CANDIDATE FILED . . . . . . . 0
COUNTY SURVEYOR
Vote for not more than 1
LINDA FREEMAN . . . . . . . . . 6,750Â Â Â 100.00%
COUNTY COMMISSIONER DIST 1
Vote for not more than 1
ZAC RASCHER. . . . . . . . . . 6,653Â Â Â Â 100.00%
COUNTY COMMISSIONER DIST 3
Vote for not more than 1
RANDALL B. CHAPMAN . . . . . . . . . 2,905    38.89%
CHERYL A.W. MUSGRAVE. . . . . . . 4,565Â Â Â Â 61.11%
COUNTY COUNCIL AT LARGE
Vote for not more than 3
WM. BILLY D. GARRETT. . . . . . . . . . . . 3,528    18.38%
JILL ANNE HAHNÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,000Â Â Â Â 26.06%
JOE KIEFERÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,628Â Â Â Â 29.33%
ANGELA KOEHLER LINDSEY . . . . . . 5,034Â Â Â Â 26.23%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN WARD TWO PRECINCT 17
Vote for not more than 1
TIM BRAY. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Â Â Â Â 32.43%
JOHN MONTRASTELLE. . . . . . . . 50Â Â Â Â 67.57%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN WARD THREE PRECINCT 17
Vote for not more than 1
STEVE SCHAEFER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Â Â Â 34.74%
G. MICHAEL SCHOPMEYER . . . . . . 62Â Â Â Â 65.26%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN WARD FIVE PRECINCT 5
Vote for not more than 1
FARLEY P SMITH. . . . . . . . . . 34Â Â Â Â 47.22%
ALICE B WORK . . . . . . . . . . 38Â Â Â Â 52.78%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN WARD SIX PRECINCT 5
Vote for not more than 1
ERIC B. SCHMIDT . . . . . . . . . . 23Â Â Â Â 48.94%
DOTTIE THOMAS . . . . . . . . . 24Â Â Â Â 51.06%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN ARMSTRONG TWP PRECINCT 1
Vote for not more than 1
JASON GERTEISEN . . . . . . . . . . 69Â Â Â Â 67.65%
VICTORIA LANGTON. . . . . . . . . 33    32.35%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN CENTER TWP PRECINCT 4
Vote for not more than 1
THERESA R. BASSEMIER. . . . . . . 107Â Â Â Â 62.57%
KATHLEEN KAT MOLLOY. . . . . . . . 64    37.43%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN SCOTT TWP PRECINCT 1
Vote for not more than 1
CHRIS LANTAFF . . . . . . . . . . . 56Â Â Â Â 52.83%
JOHN B. WILLIAMSÂ . . . . . . . . . 50Â Â Â 47.17%
PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN SCOTT TWP PRECINCT 5
Vote for not more than 1
STEVE HAMMER . . . . . . . . . . 61Â Â Â Â 62.89%
MARTHA C. STOTT. . . . . . . . . 36    37.11%
DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION
WARD ONE & KNIGHT TOWNSHIP
Vote for not more than 6
JEFFREY W. AHLERS . . . . .. . . . . . . . 565Â Â Â Â 10.71%
TOM BOZIKIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418Â Â Â Â Â 7.92%
JOSHUA A. CLAYBOURN . . . . . . . . . 553Â Â Â Â 10.48%
BETTY J HERMANN. . . . .  . . . . . . . . 757    14.35%
MARY JO KAISER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584Â Â Â Â 11.07%
TIM O’BRIEN. . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . 705    13.36%
WAYNE PARKE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472Â Â Â Â Â 8.94%
HOLLY DUNN PENDLETON. . . . . . . 760Â Â Â Â 14.40%
SEAN SELBY .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463Â Â Â Â Â 8.77%
DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION WARD TWO & WARD FOUR
Vote for not more than 6
STEVE ARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318    6.64%
TIM BRAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238Â Â Â Â 4.97%
ARCHIE CARTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270Â Â Â Â 5.64%
MARY ELLEN COKER . . . . . . . . 280    5.85%
CARLA J. HAYDEN. . . . . . . . . . . 447Â Â Â Â 9.34%
GINA HERMANN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Â Â Â Â 5.14%
NICHOLAS HERMANN. . . . . . . . 445Â Â Â 9.29%
STEVE HERMANN . . . . . . . . . . . 245    5.12%
CAROL MCCLINTOCK . . . . . . . 581Â Â Â 12.13%
GREG PEETE . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 166Â Â Â Â 3.47%
NATALIE RASCHER. . . . . . . . . . 392Â Â Â Â 8.19%
ZAC RASCHER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291Â Â Â Â Â 6.08%
E. LON WALTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Â Â Â Â Â 3.80%
LLOYD WINNECKE. .. . . . . . . . . 687Â Â Â Â 14.35%
DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION WARD THREE & WARD SIX
Vote for not more than 7
DAVID CHRISTMASÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . 755Â Â Â Â 11.59%
WENDY JO CHRISTMAS . . . . . . . . 636    9.76%
SHERRY FARMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653Â Â Â Â 10.02%
GLEN J. KISSEL. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 683Â Â Â Â 10.48%
STEVE SCHAEFER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741Â Â Â Â 11.37%
ERIC B. SCHMIDT . . . . . .  . . . . . . . 750    11.51%
G. MICHAEL SCHOPMEYER . . . . . . 549Â Â Â Â 8.43%
LINDA SINGERÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568Â Â Â Â 8.72%
DOTTIE THOMASÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669Â Â Â 10.27%
GABE WHITLEYÂ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Â Â Â Â 7.84%
DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION WARD FIVE
Vote for not more than 5
MARSHA ABELL BARNHART . . . . . 609Â Â Â Â 16.08%
RICHARD F. BARNHARTÂ . . . . . . . . . 508Â Â Â Â 13.41%
VICKI BROWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485Â Â Â Â 12.81%
MICHELLE C. MERCERÂ . . . . . . . . . . 588Â Â Â 15.53%
CHRISTOPHER POLITANO. . .. . . . . . . 390Â Â Â Â 10.30%
PEGGY L. POLITANO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343Â Â Â Â Â 9.06%
FARLEY P. SMITH. . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 374     9.88%
JAMES F. TOLEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490Â Â Â Â 12.94%
DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION
ARMSTRONG & SCOTT TOWNSHIPS
Vote for not more than 5
JASON GERTEISEN .. . . . . . . . . . . 384Â Â Â Â 14.31%
STEVE HAMMER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460Â Â Â Â 17.14%
JOSEPH J. OPPEE. . . . . .  . . . . . . . . 158     5.89%
HOBART SCALES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Â Â Â Â Â 8.65%
MARTHA C. STOTT . . . . .. . . . . . . 396Â Â Â Â 14.76%
NICHOLAS J. WILDEMAN. . . . . . 395Â Â Â Â 14.72%
JOHN B. WILLIAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 305Â Â Â Â 11.37%
TERESA D. WINK . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353Â Â Â Â 13.16%
Note:Â Â Although every Indiana voter was provided a unique opportunity to cast an absentee mail-in ballot for the 2020 Primary Election, the unofficial vote total of 19,114 represents only a 15% voter turnout of the 127,062 registered voters in Vanderburgh County.
We must do better.
Visit Vanderburgh County Election Results Page HERE.
 PRECINCT COMMITTEEMAN
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Ward 1-1 Wayne Parke
Ward 1-5 Steven Matthews
Ward 1-6 Tim O’Brien II
Ward 1-9 Jeffrey W. Ahlers
Ward 1-10 Betty J. Hermann
Ward 1-14 Susan Kirk
Ward 2-10 Wayne Kirk
Ward 2-12 Steve Ary
Ward 2-13 E.L. Walters
Ward 2-14 Donald Boerner
Ward 3-4 Anna Melcher
Ward 3-11 J.D. Strouth
Ward 3-12 Gabe Whitley
Ward 3-13 Donald Davis
Ward 3-14 Greg Stilwell
Ward 3-16 Alan Leibundguth
Ward 4-1 Carol McClintock
Ward 4-14 Mary Ellen Coker
Ward 4-17 Archie Carter
Ward 5-1 Marsha Abell-Barnhart
Ward 5-3 Stacie Stanley
Ward 5-4 Michelle C. Mercer
WITH NO OPPONENT
Ward 5-6 Christopher Politano
Ward 5-14 Thomas Shetler, Jr
Ward 6-7 Jenal Vessels
Ward 6-12 David Christmas
Ward 6-14 Bill Fluty
Ward 6-15 Sherry Farmer
Ward 6-17 Glen Kissel
Center 3 Connie Carrier
Center-7 Gary Burdsall
Center-8 Debra Stucki
Center-15 Tom Gant
German-1 Frank Peterlin
German-5 Kyle Rudibaugh
German -7 Cynthia Vaught
Knight-1 Billy D Garrett
Knight-3 Sean Selby
Perry-2 Kevin Harrison
Perry-3 Sandi Brown
Perry 6 Jill Hahn
Scott-1 Chris Lantaff
Scott 6 Larry Downs
Caucus Called to fill House District 77 Ballot Vacancy:
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The Indiana Republican Party is calling a Republican Caucus for Saturday, June 27 to fill the Indiana House District 77 ballot vacancy. Only House District 77 Precinct Committeemen will be allowed to vote to fill this position. House District 77 Precinct Committeemen will receive official notification of the Republican Caucus. The Republican Caucus, which will be conducted by the VCRP, is scheduled as follows:
Date: Saturday, June 27, 2020
Time: 8:30 AM Doors Open
 9:00 A.M. House District 77 Caucus Starts Promptly
Qualified candidates for the House District 77 seat must file a Declaration of Candidacy (CAN-31) Form no later than 72 hours prior to the start of the caucus. The CAN-31 form must be filed in person with the Indiana Election Division in Indianapolis.
Contact VCRP Political Director Mary Jo Kaiser at 812-425-8207 for more information.
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Get the Latest Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information:
8th District National Convention Alternate Delegate Position OPENING
The 8th Congressional District now has an opening for an Alternate Delegate at this year’s Republican National Convention. The Republican National Convention will be held August 23-27, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The cost to attend will be $2,000, paid to the Indiana Republican State Committee. Additional costs for hotel, transportation, and others are estimated to be an additional $3,000. Alternate Delegates are not eligible to vote and may have limited floor access but are fully included in social activities and have access to the Convention Center for the convention.
Interested Republicans should email 8th District Chairman Don Hayes atin8gop@gmail.com as soon as possible. Please provide full contact information.
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Stay in touch with GOP state legislators representing our area (click links below):
On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress replaced the British flag with a flag of 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes. Old Glory was born amidst our forefathers’ fight to create a republican form of governance that would protect the individual from the excesses of an all powerful central government. Today the Star-Spangled Banner waves over the most powerful nation on the planet, and is the only flag you will find on the surface of the moon. Old Glory remains a symbol of the freedom and opportunity this country promises not only at home but around the world. Fly her high this Flag Day… and every day.
One cannot celebrate Old Glory without also remembering the Pledge of Allegiance. Back in 1969 a Hoosier comedian from Vincennes, IN recited one of the most poignant renditions of the Pledge of Allegiance ever aired on national television.
Watch once more (or possibly for the first time) as Red Skelton recites the Pledge of Allegiance.Â
