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USI to offer live-narrated, campus driving tours
On-campus walking tours to resume July 13
The University of Southern Indiana is offering prospective students and their families unique and interactive options to visit campus and engage with faculty and admissions staff in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Beginning Wednesday, June 10, USI will offer live-narrated, guided driving tours of its sprawling southern Indiana campus. Undergraduate Admissions staff members will lead the tours from an Admissions vehicle while narrating the tours in real time for up to five cars at a time. Families will have the ability to listen to the tour guide and ask questions via Zoom, while seeing and experiencing the USI campus from the safety of their vehicles.
“This is a very unique offering, and one we haven’t seen replicated elsewhere,†said Rashad Smith, Executive Director of Enrollment. “Our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our campus community and our prospective students and their families. These driving tours are a great way to showcase our beautiful facilities and connect with visitors while maintaining social distancing and protecting those at risk.â€
The narrated driving tours will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and on select Saturdays. More information about the tours, including availability and reservation forms, can be found on the USI Admissions website.
On-campus walking tours to resume
Beginning Monday, July 13, USI will resume on-campus walking tours. A number of safety measures have been put in place to ensure the safety and peace of mind of all participants. Some of the many precautions include health screenings, social distancing, signage, hand sanitizing stations and increased cleaning protocols. Size of groups will be limited and face coverings are highly encouraged.
“There really is nothing like seeing this campus in person,†said Smith. “But we’re putting the safety of our community and our visitors first. That always has to be our top priority.â€
For those who still may not feel safe taking a tour in person, USI will continue to offer its new driving tours and host virtual visits and tours, including a Virtual Open House this Saturday, June 6.
“These virtual events provide prospective students and their families an opportunity to experience the beauty of our campus and receive important information about the college decision-making process from the comfort of home,†said Smith.
For more information about scheduling a visit to the University of Southern Indiana campus, virtually or in-person, visit USI.edu/schedule-a-visit.
HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS
The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) today announced that 442 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 36,997 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, more than 37 percent of ICU beds and nearly 83 percent of ventilators are available.
A total of 2,110 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 32 over the previous day. Another 182 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, 297,530 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 291,638 on Friday.
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.
ISDH is hosting a free walk-up testing site today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., or while supplies last, in the parking lot at Capitol Avenue and Ohio Street in downtown Indianapolis. To find other testing locations, visit www.coronavirus.in.gov and click on the COVID-19 testing information link. More than 200 locations are available around the state.
Man Arrested after Shotgun Fired During Confrontation with Neighbor
On Friday, June 05, 2020 at 1:30pm the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a fight in progress at a residence in the 4000 block of Kleitz Road. The 911 caller reported that a shot had been fired.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived and learned from a victim that Mr. Waymon J. Rush had confronted him on his property. During the argument, Rush allegedly pointed a shotgun at the victim’s head and pulled the trigger. When the weapon failed to discharge, the victim fled and reported hearing the shotgun fire. The wife of the victim then grabbed the shotgun and disarmed Rush.
Rush fled to his next door residence and refused to exit. Sheriff’s deputies surrounded Rush’s residence while two Sheriff’s Office negotiators responded to the scene. After approximately 90 minutes of failed negotiation, the Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Evansville Police Department SWAT Unit. Evansville Police SWAT arrived with an armored vehicle at approximately 3:30pm. Rush surrendered to the SWAT team without incident. The standoff lasted approximately two hours in total.
Mr. Rush was booked into the Jail and is being held without bond. The incident remains under investigation.
Waymon Jerome Rush (pictured above), 56, of Evansville. Criminal Reckless while Armed with a Deadly Weapon as a Level 5 Felony, Intimidation while Armed with a Deadly Weapon as a Level 5 Felony.
Presumption of Innocence Notice: The fact that a person has been arrested or charged with a crime is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Ellis Park General Manager Told KTDF Members That “Ellis ‘Moving Heaven and Earth’ to Have Race Meet”
KTDF in ‘Fragile’ State; Ellis ‘Moving Heaven and Earth’ to Have Race Meet
Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at 6:27 pm Updated: June 3, 2020, at 6:29 pm
By T. D. Thornton
Thoroughbred Daily News
As the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) closes in on the three-month mark without being able to generate money via historical horse race (HHR) gaming and on-track wagering, Bill Landes III, the chairman of the fund’s advisory committee, warned in a public teleconference meeting Wednesday that the money that gets allocated to pay a portion of purses on the state’s racing circuit is running dangerously low.
Although no specific dollar amounts were mentioned about how dry the funding is because of the recent COVID-19 business closures, a real-life example of just how dire the situation has emerged when executives from Ellis Park were asked several times by KTDF advisory committee members to address allegations that the track might be planning on scrapping its summer race meet over a lack of money.
“Maybe it’s time for a state of the union address,†said Landes, who represents the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (KTOB) on the advisory board. “And the state of the union for the KTDF is fragile. It’s fragile, and it’s obvious why it’s fragile because our funding sources have been suspended.â€
Yet there was enough KTDF money remaining for the advisory committee to unanimously recommend approval to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) to allocate purse money to Keeneland Race Course, Ellis, and Kentucky Downs for their upcoming race meets.
And board members also agreed to draft a letter to the KHRC asking, as Landes put it, “to advocate for our case with Kentucky government†to get racetracks and HHR establishments reopened to the public as soon as possible.
The KTDF is funded by three-quarters of 1% of all money wagered on both live Thoroughbred races and HHR gaming, plus 2% of all money wagered on Thoroughbred races via inter-track wagering and whole-card simulcasting.
Rick Hiles, the president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, is also a KTDF advisory committee member. At the June 3 meeting, he wanted Ellis officials to go on the record as to whether or not they are committed to running a summer race meet under a schedule that has already been curtailed because some July and September dates have been ceded to Churchill Downs and Keeneland.
“On two occasions, if not three, [Ellis executives Jeff Inman and Ken Mimmack] have just flat told me that they have no intentions of running if they don’t have a revenue stream from instant racing machines and live fans,†Hiles said. “And I’m just wondering if that’s still the case.â€
Inman, the Ellis general manager, was granted the floor to explain his track’s position.  “You know, it’s going to be tough. We’re working to get you a race meet. But again, if we don’t have any [revenues] at all, it’s going to be tough. With that being said, we’re very, very hopeful that come mid-June or so [the business climate is] going to break loose,†Inman said. “We are moving heaven and earth to have a race meet.â€
Doug Hendrickson, who represents the KHRC on the KTDF advisory committee, stressed the need for all of the tracks to keep working together so the year-round state circuit doesn’t fall apart.
“Please hang in there Ellis. You’re very important to Kentucky racing. We’re behind you and want to support you,†Hendrickson said.
In other business, Tom Minneci, the senior director of finance at Churchill Downs, Inc., reported on purses for the meet’s second condition book, which goes into effect with the June 6 races.
“We looked at our condition book for the second half of the spring meet, and overall purses are going to be commensurate with the first condition book,†Minneci said. “We did, however, reduce the amount of KTDF [funding] and we increased the association purses … Unfortunately, as of this point in time, Derby City Gaming has not been reopened, and that was really our only source of KTDF funds that we were counting on for this spring meet.â€
Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales, got his track’s $426,000 KTDF request approved by the committee while noting that 25% of purses at Keeneland’s upcoming July 8-12 meet would be funded by KTDF money. He said that’s up from the usual 20% funding level.
Keeneland’s maiden special weight races will be carded for $70,000. “That is down from where we were planning to be at the April race meeting, but we were planning on generating a heck of a lot of revenue stream from our on-track handle and on-track business as well,†Elliston said. He added that the July condition book could be online within the next day or so.
In consideration for Ellis agreeing to give Keeneland those July race dates, the committee also approved Keeneland’s request to transfer $125,000 of its KTDF money into the Ellis horsemen’s purse account.
Ellis’s request for $1.15 million in KTDF funding includes the Keeneland transfer but does not yet factor in a potential settlement with Churchill in exchange for September dates. Dan Bork, the racing secretary at Ellis, said that figure is being negotiated.
Bork said maiden special weight purses at Ellis project to be in the $20,000 to $25,000 range, “so it’s not looking that great right now. Hopefully, we’ll get something up and going soon to generate some more revenue.â€
Kentucky Downs had a KTDF request approved by the committee for up to $4.7 million for its September turf meet.
Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs’s senior vice president and general manager, said maiden special weight races would go for $90,000. “That’s a 30% decrease from last year, and our allowance races will probably take a 30% haircut as well,†he added.
For part of the committee meeting, advisory board members batted around various ideas about how to phrase the advocacy request letter to the KHRC that Landes proposed. The opening-up strategy touched on three issues: Allowing owners to watch their horses race, opening tracks to some spectators, and opening the HHR facilities.
Hiles said he met with Jonathan Rabinowitz, the newly appointed KHRC chairman, and “he iterated to me last week that he wanted to start having owners with horses in races back at the races on Friday and Saturday at the latest. But that did not happen.â€
Hiles explained that he’s okay with that decision for the time being because “It’s really not much fun to be on the [Churchill] front side right now. There’s nobody there and it’s vacant. Everything’s closed up. There are no concessions. It’s hard to find a bathroom. If the owners were allowed to come to watch their horses, I’m sure they wouldn’t hang around, because they would watch their horse and leave. With that being said, they don’t have any betting windows open. So if they can’t make any bets, there’s still not going to be any KTDF money generated.â€
J. David Richardson, who represents the KTOB on the KTDF advisory committee, said it is his belief that spectators could safely return to the races under proper protocols, but he pointed out that getting HHR venues open first should be the higher priority.
Richardson made reference to the anti-police brutality protests in Louisville and other cities nationwide over the past week, seemingly trying to make the point that social distancing precautions are already being ignored by people gathering in public places.
“As we’ve seen, there’s an awful lot of failure of social distancing in a lot of places in Kentucky in the last few nights,†Richardson said. “And compared to that, lord god, this [creating protocols to host bettors] ought to be the safest thing in the world.â€
Richardson continued: “But then you get into issues like cleaning the machines or having mutual clerks and face-to-face contact in the lines and that kind of thing. To me, what we really need to get online is HHR, frankly. That’s where we’re going to get more bang for the buck.â€
Richardson noted that he owns horses currently stabled in Louisiana, where gaming facilities are getting set to reopen, and another committee member pointed out that gaming in Arkansas is also being rolled out ahead of Kentucky.
“If we want to call ourselves the horse capital of the world, we can’t be last to do everything,†Richardson said.
This story was posted by the City-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Gov. Holcomb Launches $50 Million Initiative To Help Hoosiers Economically Recover
‘Rapid Recovery For A Better Future’ Focuses On Meeting Education, Workforce And Individual Needs
Governor Eric J. Holcomb today announced a new initiative to help Hoosiers, communities and businesses get back to work and connected to the resources that can help people move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indiana’s Governor’s Workforce Cabinet (GWC) launched “Rapid Recovery for a Better Future,†which is centered on meeting individual needs by providing comprehensive support for Hoosiers to secure a job, assess and grow their skills, and get the support they need to get back on their feet.
“Rapid Recovery for a Better Future†combines the leadership of the GWC, Indiana employers, education and training providers, policymakers, and state and local partners with the goal of ensuring Indiana’s recovery from COVID-19 and providing a pathway to a better future for every Hoosier.
“People are our state’s most valuable resource and they are what define Indiana as a great place to live, work and grow. It is critical that our state is not only providing these services but actively helping people get connected so they take that next step to a better future,†Gov. Holcomb said.
The Rapid Recovery initiative focuses on helping Hoosiers:
- Learn about options and connect to relevant, simple and real-time job, career, skill and educational resources and funding for personal advancement. An online hub, YourNextStepIn.org, provides connection and one-on-one supports for Hoosiers at the touch of their fingertips. A comprehensive outreach network will share the state’s resources with Hoosiers from their own trusted sources: community leaders, pastors or other faith leaders and employers. For those thinking through their education and training options, INvestEd will provide free, one-on-one financial aid guidance.
- Connect to opportunities with the assistance of career coaches and navigators to empower Hoosiers to assess and develop their skills and gain better understanding of job needs and opportunities.
- Take the next step and advance their careers with convenient access to accelerated programs and credentials that value prior learning and experiences, such as the Workforce Ready Grant and Ivy Tech’s Rapid Recovery program—which will provide free courses and training for 10,000 Hoosiers.
- In addition, the Rapid Recovery initiative is providing enhanced, consolidated and simplified resources for employers with the partnership of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
Federal funding through the CARES Act injects $50 million into the efforts, to scale up short-term education and training opportunities through theWorkforce Ready Grant and the Employer Training Grant, as well as expanded career coaching and navigation for those who need help figuring out their next steps.
CARES Act funding enables Indiana to:
- Grow short-term education and training by enhancing the Workforce Ready Grant to provide support to at least 10,000 more Hoosiers in the following ways:
o  Increasing the funding cap from $5,500 to $10,000 for eligible programs
o  Allowing Hoosiers with two- and four-year degrees who have been impacted by COVID-19 to qualify for the grant, and adding new programs, such as the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)
o  Support access to the 180 Skills library of online, non-credit courses for up to 100,000 Hoosiers
- Expand the Employer Training Grant to serve 25,000 more Hoosiers, specifically supporting women-, minority- and veteran-owned businesses; and doubling the amount of reimbursable funds to employers
- Provide outreach and promotion to create a single online network to direct Hoosiers to career coaches; and ensure Hoosiers who are most impacted by COVID-19 – especially underrepresented populations and rural communities – are aware of the available opportunities
“The goal of Rapid Recovery for a Better Future is to streamline access to resources, help Hoosiers identify and pursue a path forward, and reach people through trusted and local outreach networks. Utilizing federal funding through the CARES Act will allow us to expand these efforts and reach even more Hoosiers,†said Teresa Lubbers, chair of the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet and Indiana’s Commissioner for Higher Education. “Taking the next step toward a better future is a manageable way for people to move toward economic and workforce recovery, whether that is reskilling for a different job, finishing a credential or finding a new career.â€
Online Purchasing Now Available For SNAP Recipients In Indiana
Many Hoosiers May Opt To Have Groceries Delivered To Their Homes
Beginning today, SNAP recipients in Indiana may use their Hoosier Works EBT cards to purchase groceries online for pickup or delivery at two approved retailers – Amazon and Walmart. SNAP participants are automatically eligible to participate in this program and do not need to apply.
“We have been working with our federal partners to remove barriers and provide safety and convenience benefits for Hoosier SNAP recipients – particularly those who are most at risk for COVID-19 infection and those who are homebound,†said Jennifer Sullivan, M.D., M.P.H., FSSA secretary. “We are pleased to make this benefit available for SNAP recipients in Indiana. While this service will initially and immediately address needs caused by the pandemic, we intend to keep this service in place permanently.â€
Currently, Amazon and Walmart are the only Indiana retailers that have been approved for online purchasing by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Amazon offers online ordering and delivery of groceries to SNAP recipients. Instructions on how to use this service can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/b?node=19097785011&ref_=omps_hra
- Walmart offers online ordering and delivery and pick-up options at some stores, while other stores only allow online ordering and pickup of groceries at a designated spot outside the store.
- Information on online ordering at Walmart can be found here: https://grocery.walmart.com/
- Information about delivery of groceries from Walmart can be found here: https://www.walmart.com/cp/express_delivery/3696472
- Walmart customer service can be found here: https://wmt-grocery.custhelp.com/app/ask
It is important to note that any delivery fees that may apply to the online purchase may not be paid with SNAP benefits. If SNAP recipients have any problems using their card for ordering, they should call the number on the back of their Hoosier Works EBT card for customer service.
SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and was formerly called Food Stamps. SNAP benefits can only be used for food products and for plants and seeds used to grow food. A full list of items that can and cannot be purchased with SNAP is available here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligible-food-items
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) benefits, which are also provided via Hoosier Works EBT card, may not be used for online purchasing. Currently, more than 680,000 Hoosiers receive SNAP benefits and nearly 13,000 Hoosiers receive TANF assistance.
Hoosiers may apply for SNAP or TANF at https://fssabenefits.in.gov/. They may also call 800-403-0864 for assistance.