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HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
Responsive employerEPA Office of Air and Radiation Transfers Excess PPE for Use Fighting COVID-19
Vehicle and Radiation Labs to Contribute Nearly 9,500 Excess PPE for Use Fighting COVID-19
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) announced that it is transferring nearly 9,500 items of excess personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide emergency and health professionals on the COVID-19 frontlines. The agency maintains a supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for mission-critical work such as lab work and responding to emergencies, including chemical, oil, radiological and biological incidents.
“EPA is working hard to support our nation’s first responders as they make personal sacrifices during the coronavirus pandemic,â€Â said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After searching our inventory of personal protective equipment, we identified excess supplies and sent them to the first responders on the frontlines of this fight.â€
The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) in Ann Arbor, MI, the National Analytical Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL) in Montgomery, AL, and the National Center for Radiation Field Operations (NCRFO) in Las Vegas, NV identified nearly 9,500 pieces of excess personal protective equipment after assessing how much equipment would be needed to support EPA’s essential functions. Among the items are face shields, protective disposable gloves, and full-body protective suits. EPA is transferring the excess equipment while still maintaining its emergency response readiness.
EPA is following through on an agency-wide plan for distribution of available PPE to FEMA to support ongoing COVID-19 operations.
ADOPT A PET
Alley is a male orange tabby. He’s approximately 2 years old. He was found as a stray in the alley… obviously J… near River Kitty Cat Café, & never reclaimed! He’s a wonderful boy. Alley’s adoption fee is $25 through May 16th as part of the Bissell Pet Foundation National Empty the Shelters event! Apply online to meet him at www.vhslifesaver.org.
Governor Holcomb Announces STEM Team Award Winners
Governor Eric Holcomb today announced the four winners of the 2020 Governor’s STEM Team awards. Each student will receive a $1,000 scholarship, courtesy of the College Choice 529 Program administered by Treasurer of State Kelly Mitchell.
“Indiana is home to incredibly gifted and talented students. It gives me great pride to honor this year’s STEM Team for all their hard work. Each of these seniors have a promising future ahead of them. They represent some of Indiana’s finest and I look forward to seeing the amazing things they accomplish in the years ahead.†said Gov. Holcomb.
In lieu of an in person awards presentation, the students enjoyed a video call with Gov. Holcomb.
Science: Iris Yan, Carmel High School, Carmel 
Iris is a senior at Carmel High School in Carmel. Iris earned perfect scores on the SAT Chemistry, SAT Physics, SAT Math, and SAT II Math exams. Iris also earned perfect scores on the ACT Science and Math exams. She completed ten AP exams, earning a score of 5 on each one. Recognized nationally for her prowess, she was chosen to attend the MIT Research Science Institute in 2019 and was a two-time honoree in the United States National Chemistry Olympiad Exam in 2018 and 2019, one of the top 20 student chemists in the nation. She plans to attend Harvard in the fall.
Technology: David Simonetti, Penn High School, Mishawaka 
David is a senior at Penn High School in Mishawaka. David earned a perfect score on the SAT Math exam. He completed six AP exams and earned a score of 5 on every one. He led his team to a state championship in the Indiana Math Academic Superbowl, is a state champion and nationally ranked in Trig Star, a timed math contest, and was a standout at First Robotics Competition, a worldwide STEM program. During his junior year, David worked on a team in the Mission to Engineer program to design a robotic “Hulk Smash†Halloween costume for a young boy who is wheelchair bound. The intricate circuitry work was recognized in a feature on CBS National News. David plans to attend the University of Notre Dame to study computer science.
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Engineering: Ankush Dhawan, Signature School, Evansville
Ankush Dhawan is a senior at the Signature School in Evansville. Ankush has already earned several college credits via dual credit courses, getting a jump start on his college career. He earned a perfect score on the SAT II Math exam and nearly perfect scores on the SAT Math and ACT Math exams as well as ACT English and ACT Reading exams. Ankush was a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a top finisher in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the Indiana winner and overall 2nd place winner in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize U.S. National Competition, and the 2017 silver medallion winner at the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering, and Environment Project Olympiad. His long-range goal is to continue working towards sustainability through research in water contamination and a major in environmental engineering.
Math: Vivek Hebbar, Columbus North High School, Columbus
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Vivek Hebbar is a senior at Columbus North High School in Columbus. Vivek earned perfect scores on the SAT Math, SAT II Math, SAT II Physics, SAT II Chemistry, ACT Science, and ACT Math exams. He completed eight AP courses with scores of 5 on all of the corresponding exams. Vivek was a national finalist and scholarship winner in the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge, a qualifier to the American Invitational Math Examination for 5 consecutive years, and has successfully completed an upper level college course in Artificial Intelligence, among other college credits earned. He plans to study math or physics.
AG Curtis Hill supports state-federal partnership to hold China accountable for COVID-19 pandemic
Attorney General Curtis Hill is calling for a federal-state partnership to develop a comprehensive plan to hold the communist government of China responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
He and 13 other state attorneys general sent a letter to President Donald Trump proposing a partnership to explore legal avenues to holding China responsible for the public health and economic damage caused by its withholding of information — and dissemination of misinformation — as COVID-19 spread in China and beyond.
“Based on publicly available information, China may have failed to provide information or provided misinformation that contributed significantly to the spread of this virus,†the letter states. “It is incumbent upon the federal government and us as the chief legal officers of our States to pursue whether China failed to stop the spread of this virus.â€
Last week, Attorney General Hill called on Congress to investigate the Chinese government’s role in the pandemic.
It is well documented that the novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China. It is also widely reported that Chinese medical professionals attempted to warn the public of the highly contagious nature of COVID-19 but were silenced by the country’s communist regime.
Since COVID-19 entered the United States, more than 80,000 Americans — including more than 1,400 Hoosiers — have died from the disease.
In addition to the rising death toll, damage to the economy is also increasing. Domestic and international trade has been drastically curtailed in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. The national unemployment rate has skyrocketed from 3.5% in February to its current rate of 14.7%.
“The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been disastrous. We must investigate whether the communist Chinese government suppressed information about this deadly virus and whether the egregious harm this virus has caused could have been prevented,†Attorney General Hill said.
Arrested Samuel James Stark for Child Molesting
 On March 21, 2020, the Evansville Police Department arrested Samuel James Stark (20) for child molesting. The investigation into Stark uncovered more child molesting victims as well as many questionable images and videos from his electronic devices. The questionable images depicted several potential underage victims.Â
  Anyone with knowledge of this case is asked to call WeTip at 1-800-78-Crime.
The Year of the Nurse: Thank You to Nurses Leading the COVID-19 Response
To be a fellow worker with God is the highest aspiration of which we can conceive man capable. – ​Florence Nightingale, founder of the modern nursing profession (1820-1910) ________________________________________________________________________TThe Year of the Nurse: Thank You to Nurses Leading the COVID-19 Response
Florence Nightingale’s words echo the Mission, Vision, and Values of Ascension nurses across the nation as they answer the call to serve their communities with incredible strength of healing during these unprecedented times and nearly overwhelming conditions.
The World Health Organization and the American Nurses Association designated 2020 the Year of the Nurse, and nurses have never been more critically important to the healthcare industry. This year, these usually unsung caregivers are being widely recognized as healthcare heroes.
We have seen countless nurses leave their homes to bravely face the greatest global healthcare challenge of our time. We are grateful for and humbled by the unwavering dedication to patient care displayed daily by nurses nationwide as they lead with their fellow caregivers at the front line of this pandemic. It is no surprise that Gallup named nursing as the most trusted profession for the 18th year in a row.
At a time when many patients are alone and isolated from their families, nurses have gone beyond clinical care with simple acts of compassion to brighten long days of solitude and show patients how much they matter. Across Ascension St. Vincent hospitals, we’ve seen nurses sing to their patients, play games with patients in isolation from the other side of their glass room door, and help patients and families find new and safe ways to connect through windows, virtual visits and prayers.
We are also grateful for Indiana communities that have stepped up to help support and show appreciation to their local nurses. So many people, both young and old, have showered our nurses with meals, thoughtful gifts, encouraging chalk messages, children’s drawings, and signage around hospital entrances and walkways for our teams to see and appreciate as they start and finish their shifts.
Celebrating our nurses has never been more important to us than at this moment. Who could have predicted that during the designated Year of the Nurse our nurses would be leading the response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
While Ascension St. Vincent nurses continue to battle COVID-19 on the front lines, colleagues across Ascension are working behind the scenes to help empower them with innovative solutions to improve how they care for patients and each other. Last year, with the collaboration of our nursing professionals, we established the Nursing Center of Excellence. Our goal is for Ascension to become one of the best places to practice nursing by transforming our ability to care for ourselves and others, holistically. As an organization and as leaders, we must actively
remove obstacles and create conditions in which our nurses can experience joy and flourish while caring for those we are so privileged to serve. By acting and delivering on what we’re learning from our nurses, we are building a community — with tools and resources — where nurses can live and grow as leaders who are professional, caring, empowered, knowledgeable, innovative, and inspired.
As it turns out, 2020 is truly the Year of the Nurse. As we celebrate Nurses Week, we are reminded that, as throughout the 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale, the healthcare industry continues to rapidly change. What doesn’t change is the high level of compassion, strength, and dedication nurses provide to their patients every day. To our Ascension nurses, and all nurses living out the Nightingale pledge, we humbly say: Thank you.
Cindy Adams
Chief Nursing Officer Ascension St. Vincent
HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS
The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) today announced that 634 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 26,053 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. Nearly 41 percent of ICU beds and nearly 80 percent of ventilators were available as of Thursday.
A total of 1,508 Hoosiers have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, an increase of 26 over the previous day. Another 138 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, 160,239 tests have been reported to ISDH, up from 154,083 on Wednesday.
Johnson County had the most new cases, at 116. Other counties with more than 10 new cases were Allen (27), Bartholomew (12), Boone (14), Elkhart (48), Hamilton (10), Lake (98), Marion (103), Porter (11), St. Joseph (42) and Vigo (12). The Lake County totals include results from East Chicago and Gary, which have their own health departments. A complete list of cases by county is posted at www.coronavirus.in.gov, which is updated daily at noon. Cases are listed by county of residence.
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’s at greater risk for severe illness, also are encouraged to get tested.
ISDH is holding drive-thru clinics today through Sunday in Bluffton, Gary, Madison and Sullivan. Details of these clinics and additional state-sponsored sites can be found at the COVID-19 testing clinic link at www.coronavirus.in.gov. Individuals should bring proof of Indiana residency such as a state-issued ID, work ID or utility bill.