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HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS

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The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) today announced that 693 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 34,211 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 40 percent of ICU beds and more than 83 percent of ventilators were available as of Saturday.

A total of 1,958 Hoosiers are confirmed to have died from COVID-19, an increase of 13 over the previous day. Another 167 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, 256,395 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 248,713 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 will host drive-thru testing clinics from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sunday at the following locations:

Shelbyville High School
2003 S. Miller Street
Shelbyville, IN 46176

Miller School – Hammond
6530 New Hampshire
Hammond, IN 46323

Ivy Tech Community College – Princeton
2431 S. Crabtree Drive
Princeton, IN 47670

Franklin County 4-H Fairgrounds
7178 Blue Creek
Brookville, IN

For details about these clinics, or to find other testing locations around the state, visit www.coronavirus.in.gov and click on the COVID-19 testing information link.

Shooting/ Homicide

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  At 3:57 this morning, the Evansville Police Department responded to report of a shooting at 1641 S. Kentucky (Conoco gas station).  Upon arriving officers located a female victim in the lot that was deceased. While still on scene at the gas station, officers were told that a second and third victim arrived at St. Vincent’s Hospital with gunshot wounds.  The second victim succumbed to his wounds. The third victim is in stable condition. 

  It is believed that there were two suspects that fled the scene before officers arrived. There are no descriptions of the suspects at this time. 

  Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to contact the Evansville Police Department’s Detective Office at 812-436-7979.

The Vanderburgh County Coroner Office and the Evansville Police Department are investigating deaths involving 2 shooting victims. The incident occurred at 1641 S Kentucky Ave. shortly after 3am this date. One victim Mariah Strother, age 20, died at the scene. A second victim, Keijuan Baker, age 20, died a short time later at St. Vincent Hospital. Autopsies are scheduled for 9am Sunday May 31. The Evansville Police Department can provide updates on the investigation when they become available. 

VANDERBURGH COUNTY RECENT BOOKING RECORDS

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

Gov. Holcomb Announces Nearly $44 Million to Aid Economic Recovery Effort

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New initiatives launched to help Indiana businesses restart, adapt and stimulate long-term growth

Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced several new economic recovery initiatives designed to bolster critical relief efforts while encouraging long-term planning and investments to stimulate Indiana’s economy well into the future. Through these initiatives, the state will allocate nearly $44 million to provide support and resources including approximately $37 million in direct funding through grants and investments to small businesses and manufacturers – two key drivers of the Hoosier economy.

“To restart Indiana’s economic engine, it’s critical that we provide Hoosier businesses and entrepreneurs with the support they need to grow and get back on track,” Gov. Holcomb said. “These initiatives will ensure that two critical drivers of our state’s economy have access to resources and technological tools that allow them to continue competing and leading in the 21st century economy, while further positioning our state for long-term economic growth.”

To safely guide a return to economic activity, the state is committed to deploying federal relief funds under the CARES Act in coordination with Indiana’s Economic Relief and Recovery Team, while targeting initiatives aimed at achieving long-term economic stabilization.

  • Small Business Restart Fund: Gov. Holcomb approved $30 million in federal funding made available through the CARES Act to small business restart grants, helping accelerate the speed of economic recovery activity by providing working capital to cover certain expenses related to the global pandemic. Indiana small businesses with fewer than 50 employees and $5 million in annual revenue that have experienced a 40% drop in revenue will be eligible to be reimbursed for up to 80% of qualified expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, lease payments for real or personal property, and safety investments, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) and infrastructure improvements.Eligible small businesses that demonstrate a revenue loss of at least 40% will be awarded up to $2,500 for each month while small businesses that demonstrate a revenue loss of at least 80% will be awarded up to $5,000 for each month, with grants issued up to $10,000 per company. Of the $30 million allocated to the fund, at least $5 million will be reserved for certified minority- and women-owned businesses.More information on the program, including additional eligibility requirements, is available here.
  • Small Business Relief & Planning Resources: The Indiana Small Business Development Center (Indiana SBDC) received nearly $3.7 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through the CARES Act to support increased resources for Hoosier entrepreneurs and small businesses over the next 18 months. The funding, which will nearly double the organization’s annual federal appropriations, will enable Indiana SBDC to increase no-cost services, such as counseling and training, for businesses that were in operation prior to and that have been impacted by COVID-19. Services will be available through the Indiana SBDC’s 10 regional offices across the state and are expected to focus on financial assistance, e-commerce, business adaptation and innovation, disaster resiliency and planning, and reopening plans.More information on Indiana SBDC resources is available online; updates on new programs or initiatives that may be added with this funding will be forthcoming.
  • Manufacturing Support & Long-Term Growth: The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) board of directors approved $10 million to launch the Economic Activity Stabilization and Enhancement (EASE) program aimed at supporting technology and operational advancements in the manufacturing industry, which has long been a key driver of the state’s economy. EASE, which encompasses three complimentary initiatives, is designed to stimulate manufacturing investments that will position Hoosier operations, and the sector overall, for future growth and prosperity by prioritizing startup investment and resources, technology modernization and development, and training assistance.The three EASE initiatives include:
    • The new Smart & Advanced Manufacturing (SAM) Focus Fund, which will make seed and early-stage investments and provide entrepreneurship resources to Indiana manufacturing-focused startups through Elevate Ventures, the state’s venture development partner;
    • Manufacturing Readiness Grants, administered in partnership with Conexus Indiana, will provide matching grants of up to $200,000 to companies committing to modernizing their operations or integrating smart technologies and processes in order to improve capacity, or to companies investing in health care manufacturing technology, providing financial assistance to manufacturers supporting critical COVID-19 response efforts; and
    • A planned Smart Manufacturing Studio Lab, which will provide lab space and access to state-of-the-art smart manufacturing equipment, enabling businesses to train employees, validate technologies for their business models, and conduct third-party pilot manufacturing.

Of these programs, the SAM Focus Fund will launch immediately while the Manufacturing Readiness Grant applications are expected to be available in July with initial grant recommendations beginning in August. The IEDC will partner with industry stakeholders to develop a project scope for the Smart Manufacturing Studio Lab, mapping out next steps and a plan to source and supply the equipment, working toward a studio launch in early 2021. More information on EASE, which is funded through the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, is available here.

Indiana’s manufacturing and small business sectors play critical roles in supporting the state’s economy. With more than 8,500 manufacturing facilities and the highest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., manufacturing accounts for 27.8% of Indiana’s total economic output. Additionally, according to the SBA, Indiana is home to approximately 104,335 small businesses that employ fewer than 150 associates, supporting 941,578 Hoosiers across the state.

Today’s announcement marks another step forward for the state in providing resources and tools to Hoosier businesses and entrepreneurs impacted by COVID-19. The state recently launched the Indiana Small Business PPE Marketplace, which serves as an online hub for small businesses and nonprofits employing up to 150 associates that are in need of personal protective equipment (PPE). Since its inception, Indiana has received 26,130 orders for PPE and has fulfilled 25,500 orders, shipping bundles of hand sanitizer, face masks and face shields to companies across the state. To learn more about other COVID-19 resources, visit iedc.in.gov/response.

Gov. Beshear Provides Update on Fight Against COVID-19

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Gov. Beshear Provides Update on Fight Against COVID-19

Gov. Beshear also spoke about Louisville protest over Breonna Taylor’s death
Visit the Governor’s Facebook page to watch today’s news conference

FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 29, 2020) – Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday updated Kentuckians on the fight against the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

“We will get through this together because we understand the different steps that it will take, especially being healthy at work, to make sure that we can reopen, that we can revive our economy, that we can create our economy of the future,” said Gov. Beshear. “We can do this in a way that makes sure we come out stronger than we were going into this pandemic.”

The Governor spoke about the Thursday night protest in Louisville over Breonna Taylor’s death.

Gov. Beshear and other officials also offered updates about remote driver’s license and I.D. card renewal, Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) contracts and long-term care facilities.

Case information
As of 5 p.m. May 29, Gov. Beshear said there were at least 9,464 coronavirus cases in Kentucky, 283 of which were newly confirmed Friday.

“Today’s report is up, and up a fair amount, in cases. We’ll have to wait the next couple days to see whether it is just labs getting caught up from the weekend or whether it is in and of itself significant and something we’ll see moving forward,” said Gov. Beshear. “If you look at the last four days on average, it would be 158 cases per day.”

Unfortunately, Gov. Beshear reported nine new deaths Friday, raising the total to 418 Kentuckians lost to the virus.

The deaths reported Friday include 51-, 74- and 88-year-old men and 70-, 83- and 90-year-old women from Butler County; 64- and 68-year-old men from Gallatin County; and a 55-year-old man from Oldham County.

“These are nine families that again need us to light our homes, places of business and places of worship up green for compassion,” said Gov. Beshear. “With the events of the last couple days, compassion is something we ought to have on full display.”

At least 3,231 Kentuckians have recovered from the virus. For additional information, including up-to-date lists of positive cases and deaths, as well as breakdowns of coronavirus infections by county, race and ethnicity, click here.

Louisville protest
Today, Gov. Beshear spoke about Thursday night’s protest in Louisville over the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Previously, he has called for further investigation of her death. Gov. Beshear encouraged all Kentuckians to seek justice peacefully and to listen to the concerns, fears and experiences of black or African-American community members.

“This is a very concerning shooting of an EMT, a young woman who worked to save lives of others here in Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear. “In a broader context, this pandemic we’re facing has laid bare the inequalities that still exist in our society and that many times are fatal.”

He commended the protestors for largely following CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He also highlighted the disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among black or African-American Kentuckians and committed to doing everything he could to reduce health inequality.

“While I’m trying to provide the right words, I don’t claim to understand the depths of pain and frustration that I know so many people feel,” Gov. Beshear said. “I can’t. But what I can commit to do is to listen and to do my best. To tell you that I want to move this world into a better place.”

Remote driver’s license and I.D. card renewal
Today, Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray signed an executive order temporarily authorizing circuit court clerk offices to process expired driving credential renewals and replacement requests remotely.

Cardholders whose operator’s license, permit or identification card was lost or expired between March 1 and June 30, 2020, may apply with their local circuit court clerk to receive a new card in the mail. For more information, click here.

“This order is the next right step to help clerks safely serve Kentuckians impacted by the office closures caused by the pandemic,” said Gov. Beshear. “The temporary measure will allow contactless service to help minimize crowding and help offices gradually return to full-service operations.”

Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) contracts
Gov. Beshear and Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander today announced the Commonwealth of Kentucky has awarded the state’s Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) contract to five health care companies that will manage benefits for the state’s Medicaid enrollees.

The five companies are Aetna, Humana, Molina Healthcare, UnitedHealthcare and WellCare. Aetna will also serve children in Kentucky SKY, the Medicaid risk-based managed care delivery program for the state foster care program and the Department for Juvenile Justice.

“Health care is a basic human right, and ensuring coverage for approximately 90% of Medicaid’s 1.4 million population is of the utmost importance to my administration,” Gov. Beshear said. “The expansion of Medicaid in the commonwealth has been lifesaving for many families who struggled to find and afford coverage. As we move forward, we must continue to provide equal access for every Kentuckian who needs quality care.”

For more information, click here.

Long-term care facilities
Secretary Friedlander said the state has acted swiftly and aggressively when long-term care facilities have been in distress. After testing indicated an outbreak at a Louisville facility over the weekend, state agencies and Louisville Metro worked together to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the residents and staff at Nazareth Home Clifton. They moved 39 residents who tested positive into local hospitals.

“This is an aggressive disease in long-term care. These are our most vulnerable citizens. These are our moms and our dads,” the secretary said. “We are testing over 1,000, sometimes 2,000 folks a day and we’ll continue to do that until we get every last person tested, and that’s our commitment.”

He said they have tested about 15,000 residents and staff in long-term care facilities so far and will test another 5,000 to 10,000 next week. By the end of next week, they will have tested residents and staff at 100 facilities.

“We have been very aggressive and deliberate,” Secretary Friedlander said.

Testing expansion
Gov. Beshear continued to urge Kentuckians to get tested for COVID-19.

For information on how to register at sites throughout the commonwealth, visit kycovid19.ky.gov.

Absentee Ballot Application Portal online
Gov. Beshear is encouraging all voters to use a new Absentee Ballot Application Portal now available online. A link to the State Board of Elections’ portal can be found at govoteky.com. He urged everyone who plans to vote in next month’s primary elections to go to the portal and request an absentee mail-in ballot.

Today, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentuckians have already made 190,000 requests through the new portal announced a week ago.

“It’s not just your duty as an American to fill out the Census, it’s your duty to vote,” said Gov. Beshear. “We have our primary election coming up in June, and there is a safe way for you to do it. Go online and request your absentee ballot.”

The total number is well over 200,000 after including counties like Jefferson and Kenton that started their sign-up process earlier.

The Governor reminded Kentuckians to please be patient with clerks, as they are working very hard to get ballots out.

For those who just registered to vote, it takes a couple of days for their registration to be processed and for them to show up in the system to apply.

More information
Read about other key updates, actions and information from Gov. Beshear and his administration at governor.ky.gov, kycovid19.ky.gov and the Governor’s official social media accounts Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Kentuckians can also access translated COVID-19 information and daily summaries of the Governor’s news conference at tinyurl.com/kygovespanol (Spanish) and tinyurl.com/kygovtranslations (more than 20 additional languages).

Commentary: Protecting Parents And Grandparents In A Pandemic

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By Mary Beth Schneider
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS — For months now, Andrew Cuomo — governor of New York, the hardest-hit state in this COVID-19 pandemic — has been the voice of cold hard truths of our nation’s response.

This week his words rang too cold and too hard for me.

Asked by MSNBC anchor Chuck Todd about the brutal toll the virus has wrought on nursing homes, Cuomo said: “Can we keep nursing homes safe? No.”

“You have a vulnerable person. Best to keep them at home and not put them in a congregate facility,” Cuomo said. “Keep them in a situation where you have the most control. That is the blunt truth. That’s what I would do with my mother.”

That is what I tried to do for my mother and father when I moved them into my home in 2013, quitting my job to care for them. My father died on May 27, 2016. Four years later my mother is in a nursing home in Illinois, near her other children. She is there because we no longer could care for her in our homes. It wasn’t a choice as much as a necessity. And four years to the day of my father’s death, she was being tested for COVID-19.

My sister had gotten a call about a week earlier telling her a resident at the home had tested positive for the virus. We learned from the local newspaper the next day that it wasn’t one person; it was four. Now, we have learned there are 40 people infected there — nine employees and 31 residents. Sadly, we have learned one resident died.

I am nearly as worried about the staff — who have been unerringly kind and caring — as I am about my 93-year-old mother. But we only know about the nine cases because the county health department released the data, which was then reported in the local newspaper.

In Indiana, nursing home residents account for only about 12% of the COVID-19 cases, but about 46% of the deaths.

Getting information about where those deaths and infections are has been difficult at best. While in Illinois you can click on a state map to see nursing home cases and deaths by county — with county health departments releasing more specific information — only statewide information is being released in Indiana. The only site-specific data in Indiana is coming through arduous work by the news media.

While Gov. Eric Holcomb and State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box have handled this pandemic well in many regards, this area isn’t one of them. They insist the nursing homes should contact families directly about positive coronavirus test results and deaths, rather than telling the public. If families don’t get answers from the local nursing home, they’re encouraged to report that to the state which will investigate.

It’s clear that isn’t always happening. At almost every briefing, a reporter relays accounts from the families about the difficulty of getting information.

But this isn’t only about family members. The public has a right to know. If you need a nursing home now for a loved one — either for short-term rehabilitation or long-term medical care — you need to know what has happened in that facility and how they handled it. If you are considering a job at a nursing home, you want that information too. And being told that someone there tested positive is not the same thing as learning later that multiple people, both residents and staff, did so.

And this isn’t about protecting patient confidentiality. No individual names need to be released. But the numbers and locations should be. As State Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said recently: “At a time when the free flow of information could help families save lives, Gov. Holcomb is hiding behind privacy laws intended to protect individuals, not nursing homes or regulators.”

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now requiring nursing homes to report this data to it and the Centers for Disease Control, and CMS administrator Seema Verma said it will be posted soon on the CMS Nursing Home Compare site. In early May, though, the Trump administration said nursing homes didn’t have to include the cases that occurred before May 6 — making the information seriously incomplete.

But Indiana can require public disclosure on its own. I know the state is worried about its nursing home residents. I have seen Dr. Box’s humanity. I know they send out a strike team to help a facility when a positive test result occurs. Making information more publicly available won’t change any of that. It will, though, make the public more aware of the cold hard truths of what our parents and grandparents face.

Mary Beth Schneider is an editor at TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.

Why It’s Dangerous That The Pandemic Is Hitting Red And Blue America Differently

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Insider Today
with Henry Blodget & David Plotz

Why It’s Dangerous That The Pandemic Is Hitting Red And Blue America Differently

Quick question: Are we experiencing a public-health catastrophe or an economic catastrophe?

You can pick only one answer.

You can’t say “both.”

How you answer probably reveals a lot about where you live and your political beliefs.

This crisis has entered a dangerous phase: Americans no longer feel they’re in it together — partly because they’re not.

Some remarkable New York Times data crunching reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has slammed blue America and only grazed red America. Counties that Donald Trump won in 2016 have experienced only 21% of the pandemic deaths. The cumulative infection rate is twice as high in counties Bill Clinton won as in counties Trump won. The Times points to multiple explanations for the higher cost in blue America: Infection rates are generally higher in densely populated areas, and infection and death rates are vastly higher in minority communities.

So we have a public-health disaster ravaging some places and some people, but an economic disaster that is ravaging everywhere and everyone. Even in counties with a handful of infections, movie theaters are shut and restaurants are struggling.

What’s tragic about the divide between places devastated by both the virus and the economic depression and places merely devastated by the depression is that it happens to break right along political lines.

The disparate impact fuels conflict that wouldn’t exist if the pandemic affected America evenly. Because red and blue America have been hit differently, we don’t agree on the precautions Americans should take, and that has become a partisan squabble. That prompts President Trump to go mask-less against the recommendation of his own government and to mock Joe Biden for wearing a mask. Because red and blue America have been hit differently, we don’t agree on the best way to restart the economy and when to do it, and that too has become a partisan squabble.

The pandemic has devastated Europe, but because it has struck more indiscriminately, there’s more public consensus about how citizens should behave. The Dutch prime minister is being lavishly praised for not breaking COVID-19 restrictions to visit his dying mother, while Britain’s government is teetering merely because a top adviser broke quarantine.

Here’s a mental exercise: Imagine if instead of hitting red and blue America unevenly, the virus had slammed states east of the Mississippi River only. The US would still be divided, but there would be no partisan rancor to the divide, no ratification of previously held political positions. It would also be a tragedy, but a much less corrosive one. —DP

The worst fears have not come to pass: Most states that began reopening early have not seen the dreaded “second surge.” Back in April, when Georgia and other states began reopening before they had met even the White House’s guidelines, many observers worried that they would see a big second wave of cases by mid-May. Well, mid-May has come and gone, and, happily, the number of new cases in most of these states is either flat or declining. Of course, these states still have problems to deal with — and other states are still seeing increasing cases—but, so far, the reopening has gone better than many feared. —HB

Trump dusts off an ancient, debunked conspiracy theory and uses Twitter to wonder aloud whether a critic committed murder. I’ve long defended Twitter’s decision to continue to allow Trump to use the platform. After all, Trump is the president of the United States, so what he says is news. But Trump routinely abuses his privileged Twitter status, using the platform to harass or bully his critics, spread misinformation, and encourage violence — any of which would get normal people booted off the service. This weekend, Trump wondered aloud whether TV host and Trump critic Joe Scarborough murdered a former staffer — decades after an autopsy determined that the staffer’s death was the result of a tragic accident. Obviously, the president of the United States should be above such behavior, on any platform. But the fact that Trump continues to use Twitter to smear critics should have consequences. The husband of the woman who died merely asked for Trump’s odious tweets to be deleted. Twitter has refused. —HB

Japan has had one of the most successful coronavirus responses in the world. What can we learn? Why has Japan contained the coronavirus so well when so many other countries have struggled? Bloomberg’s Lisa Du and Grace Huang interview experts who conclude that success is likely attributable to Japan’s contact-tracing program, mask-wearing, hygiene, distancing, and communication. The Japanese government’s messaging was more sophisticated than just telling people to stay away from each other. The message was to avoid the three C’s: closed spaces, crowded places, and close-contact settings. What can the US, the UK, and other countries learn? Emphasizing the three C’s would likely help. So would universal mask-wearing. And contract tracing. —HB

 

NEWS

Storms may delay SpaceX’s historic launch on Wednesday. Elon Musk’s company is preparing to launch its first astronauts into orbit, but the forecast is poor. The launch window is only one second long! If they scrub Wednesday, they’ll try again Friday.

Amy cooper

A financial professional named Amy Cooper has apologized for calling the cops on an African-American birdwatcher in Central Park. What a terrible, miserable, no-good story. Cooper was walking her dog unleashed this weekend when she came upon birdwatcher Christian Cooper, who asked her to leash her dog, as required by law. Amy Cooper bristled, then called the police, falsely claiming that an “African-American man” was “threatening myself and my dog.” Christian Cooper filmed the encounter, which has now been viewed 18 million times. Amy Cooper’s employer, Franklin Templeton, suspended her, and she abjectly apologized — as she should.

Amy Cooper’s behavior was despicable, and she deserved to be shamed for it. If circumstances had unfolded differently, had Christian Cooper been met by different cops in a different place, it might have destroyed or even ended his life.

Still, enough piling on Amy Cooper. She has been humiliated, punished, disgraced. All of us sometimes behave stupidly and rudely, and few of us are defined by the worst thing we’ve ever done. Don’t revel in Cooper’s reckless stupidity. Let her learn from it. —DP

BUSINESS

5 statistics that show just how bad the economic crisis is. It’s not just the number of people who’ve lost their jobs. Have you seen how many people have lost their health insurance?

Stocks soar again — Dow back above 25,000. The headline index made another 2% move higher to a post-crisis high. Stocks are a “forward-looking indicator.” They reflect not what has happened or what is happening, but what traders expect will happen. And the market consensus right now is that the economic recovery is going to be rapid.

Meanwhile, “recovery trackers” in hard-hit industries continue to show that, one, we’re heading in the right direction and, two, we have a long way to go. The economics site Calculated Risk publishes “high-frequency indicators” that tracks economic activity. Restaurant reservations, for example, are improving but still far below their normal level. Same for air travel.

Calculated risk blog restaurant

calculated risk tsa

 

LIFE

Cruisers really, really want to get back to cruising. Insider’s Aine Cain talks to 18 cruise-crazy people who can’t wait to get back on the water. Some are afraid to tell their friends they still want to take cruises. It’s too politically contentious.

Tom Brady hit the golf shot of the year, then split his pants. It’s not quite March Madness or the Masters yet, but live sports are definitely improving. This weekend brought us German soccer, a professional cornhole tournament, and the spectacle of two of the best quarterbacks of all time playing mediocre golf. The Match II (Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning versus Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady) raised $20 million for charity and was the highest-rated cable-golf broadcast ever.

FOOTNOTE:  This publication was sent to us by our good friend and supporter Ron Riecken. Evansville.  We posted this publication without opinion, bias or editing.

 Vanderburgh County Primary Election Reminder

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Vanderburgh County Democratic Party
Vanderburgh County Democratic Party
Central CommitteeEdie Hardcastle, Chair; ediehardcastle@gmail.com
Nick Iaccarino, Vice Chair
Alex Burton, Political Director
Cheryl Schultz, Treasurer
Melissa Moore, Secretary
Attention Absentee Ballot Voters

Absentee ballots must be received by the
Vanderburgh County Election Office by
12:00pm (Noon) on Tuesday, June 2.

***Remember to submit your Absentee Ballot by the deadline if you have not yet done so.
***If you have already mailed in your absentee ballot, check to see if your ballot has been received by the Election Office by clicking HERE. Then follow these instructions.

1) In the blue box labeled, “CHECK VOTING                            STATUS”, click “Check your Registration                            Record”.
2) A fill-in form will appear. Fill it in with your information      and click “Submit”.
3) A box will appear with the search results (your name,        county, and date of birth). Click “Continue”.
4) A screen will appear welcoming you by name and              displaying your address, voting status, township, etc.      Scroll down to the bottom left of the white space to            see the statistics of your absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots are not counted until Election Day.

Dave Goldblatt of Dave’s Taxi has once again has offered to provide

FREE RIDES TO THE POLLS

during early voting and on election day.
Need a ride?

Call
812-205-8662
Early Voting in-person begins Tuesday, May 26 and ends at Noon Monday, June 1.
Primary Election Day is Tuesday, June 2
Election Day Voting Locations
for
Vanderburgh County
Our Primary Candidates

U.S. Representative, Indiana 8th District
Thomasina Marsili
Ron Drake
Mike Webster

Governor
Dr. Woody Myers

Attorney General
Jonathan Weinzapfel

State Representative District 64
Ian Gamroth

State Representative District 76
Steve Folz

State Representative District 77
Ryan Hatfield (Incumbent)

State Representative District 78
Tonda Pauley

Vanderburgh County

County Commissioner, District 1
Ben Shoulders (Incumbent)

County Council At-Large Position 1
Mike Goebel (Incumbent)

County Council At-Large Position 2
Amy Back

County Council At-Large Position 3
Ed Bassemeier

Vanderburgh County Coroner
Steve Lockyear (Incumbent)

Vanderburgh County Recorder
Ken McWilliams
Join Us
Tuesday, June 2
7:00 – 9:00pm
for
A Primary Election Night
Watch Party
on
ZOOM!

We are showing Leadership, Experience, and Safety at this time through a Zoom Party. No mask required!

This will be a space to watch results live, chat with fellow Dems, listen to candidates speak, and celebrate our wins! Pop in for a minute or two to say hello or stay the entire time. We will primarily use the chat feature to allow for positive feedback and questions.

Dress as you like, eat and drink what you prefer, and join us for some fun!  We will have most of the candidates and a few current office holders hopping on to give us short 1-minute speeches!

Facebook event link:
https://facebook.com/events/s/virtual-election-night-party/987950998289723/?ti=cl
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2020Contact: Zakiya Thomas
Zakiya@DrWoodyMyers.com
317-643-1751American Federation of Teachers – Indiana Endorses Myers for GovernorIndianapolis, IND – The American Federation of Teachers – Indiana announced its endorsement of Dr. Woody Myers for governor.
“Public education in Indiana has been attacked on all fronts over the last 15 years,” said the American Federation of Teachers – Indiana President GlenEva Dunham. “The American Federation of Teachers – Indiana is confident Dr. Woody Myers will fight to ensure the well-being of our teachers and students. His strong executive leadership is what Indiana needs today, and we are thrilled to support Dr. Woody Myers for Governor of Indiana.”
“As a proud product of Indianapolis Public Schools, I am honored to have the endorsement of Indiana’s teachers,” said Myers. “I pledge to be the leading advocate for our teachers and make smart investments in high-quality education for all Hoosier students.”

YESTERYEAR: 200 Block of SE Fourth Street

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200 Block of SE Fourth Street

by Pat Sides

This block of buildings in the 200 block of SE Fourth Street disappeared years ago when that area began to be redeveloped. It is pictured here in the 1950s, which was around the time construction was beginning at Welborn Clinic.

 

The buildings housed a variety of businesses, including a Goodwill store, market, café, flower shop, and Wesselman’s bakery. The street is wider than typical downtown streets because it was part of the old Fourth Street outdoor market that had operated for decades. Farmers’ trucks are parked along the curb, and vendors can be seen selling their produce under umbrellas. 

A 1962 Evansville map revealed that the building still stood, but they were likely gone by 1967 when the Agoga Tabernacle (far right, in the distance) was razed for the clinic’s parking lot. Today the site is part of the large parking lot of the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences.

LEGALLY THINKING By Jim Redwine

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LEGALLY THINKING

Gavel Gamut By Jim Redwine

My brother, Philip Redwine, that is Philip spelled with the Biblical one “l”, graduated from the Oklahoma University Law School while I was an undergraduate at Indiana University. When I asked him what he had been taught he told me the entire process boiled down to “learning to think like a lawyer”. When I excitedly quizzed him about that arcane and mysterious subject he replied the whole three years of law school could be summarized by the following story:

“A client asked his attorney for advice as to whether he should file for a divorce. The client told the attorney that each time he tried to climb the stairs to the second floor of the couple’s home his wife would kick him back down. The man said to the attorney, ‘Doesn’t that show she doesn’t love me anymore?’ The attorney reflected on the situation and thoughtfully responded, ‘Either that or she just doesn’t want you upstairs.’”

So, to think like a lawyer means to objectively consider a situation from all sides and apply any relevant analogies to it. After three years of my own legal education at Indiana University, then ten years practicing law and forty years of being a judge, my conclusion is my brother was right and that lawyer-type analysis requires imagination and objective open-mindedness. I respectfully suggest we may want to try this approach to our COVID-19 impacted situation as some of our greatest legally trained presidents might have done. Yes, we must act now but we should do so with wisdom, courage and imagination.

Vision and objectivity have certainly been displayed by several of our greatest non-legally trained presidents. George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt readily come to mind. However, I would like to discuss with you a few of our legally thinking leaders who helped guide us through tough times by having the ability to seize opportunity from crisis by winnowing the wheat from the chaff.

Thomas Jefferson saw the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 as a means of expanding the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific and discovering the untold resources of our country. Jefferson did this at a time when most Americans still feared, or too much admired, Great Britain. And he had to maneuver the funding through a skeptical Congress.

Abraham Lincoln was faced with the possibility of California seceding from the Union and with slavery remaining as a state option even if the South were defeated. He boldly issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and that same year signed the bill funding the Intercontinental Railroad. Lincoln did not live to see the golden spike driven at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, but his use of grants of public lands and issuance of bonds helped preserve the Union he so admired.

Franklin Roosevelt saw the need for a great infusion of public funds for the education and re-employment of our out-of-work Americans during the Great Depression. Thanks to his vision America was much better prepared to respond to Japan and Germany in World War II.

John Kennedy started us on the elliptical route to the moon as financed with public monies. The vast number of jobs, products and conveniences the Space Program brought are still being enjoyed by our citizens.

I do not cite these heroes’ legal training as required for a novel approach to the Novel Virus. Millions of Americans can see that borrowing trillions of dollars to help people for a short time merely delays the pain. A cure requires applying our resources with a long view. We can invest in ourselves for the future while helping those in need now.

One need not be a lawyer to see an issue such as COVID-19 from all sides and apply similar solutions as were used in similar prior crises. President Eisenhower was a West Point trained soldier who planned the greatest military invasion in history and could envision the benefits from a German Autobahn-type interstate highway system for America. And my friend, Warren Batts, is not an attorney but a rock ’n roll musician who suggests we could build a national high speed railway passenger system utilizing the middle portion of our already existing interstate rights-of-way between the separated lanes of traffic.

What we need, from our lawyers and non-lawyers combined, is the vision to prepare for our new society as it will surely be transformed by the Corona Virus. We will be changed but we can transform not regress. New skills can be taught using public funds as we did with the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Space Program.

I realize these are not new ideas. That is my legally thinking point. You, Gentle Reader, will surely have several similar suggestions of your own, which I encourage you to share.

For more Gavel Gamut articles go to www.jamesmredwine.com

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