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“For the past three years, we’ve shown how federal facility Superfund sites can be transformed into community assets,†said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “I’m proud of the work to address and redevelop these sites, which provides economic development and investment, and creates jobs in these communities.â€
The Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards cover four categories of federal facilities: (1) National Priorities List (NPL) sites, (2) NPL Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) sites, (3) non-NPL BRAC sites, and (4) non-NPL sites. This year’s award winners are:
NPL Award: Weldon Spring, Missouri (Lead Federal Agency – U.S. Department of Energy [DOE], Office of Legacy Management [LM])
The Weldon Spring DOE LM site, comprised of a former Chemical Plant and Quarry, has a complex history. It played a pivotal role in our nation’s history and success in World War II and the Cold War. The 228-acre site is located about 25 miles west of St. Louis and has been revitalized for beneficial reuse as a community educational center and recreational site. The Weldon Spring Interpretive Center features exhibits designed to fulfill DOE’s post closure responsibilities. The center informs and educates the public about long-term stewardship and the site’s historical legacy. An important educational focus is on risk communication, showing how cleanup activities made the site safe for public use. Other redevelopment highlights include community use facilities and a natural prairie habitat which promotes wildlife conservation.
NPL BRAC Award: Former Fort Ord, California (Lead Federal Agency – U.S. Army)
The former Fort Ord Army Base, which had been a training facility since WWI, closed in 1994 under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. The closure created an opportunity to repurpose the 28,000-acre base. Its many new uses include:
The diverse utilization of the large site has spurred new jobs, housing opportunities, and an overall regional economic recovery that has benefited more than 17,000 residents and 6,000 employees in the Monterey Bay region. From start to finish, the redevelopment at Fort Ord has been a model that will benefit other large redevelopment projects in the future.
Non-NPL BRAC Award: Former Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida (Lead Federal Agency – U.S. Navy)
The City of Orlando successfully partnered with federal, state and local stakeholders at the former Naval Training Center (NTC) Orlando. Having served as an Army and Navy air training facility since the 1940’s, this 2,000-acre site closed in 1999 under the BRAC program. The team’s efforts in promoting public and private investments resulted in a renewed area consisting of a mixed-use, master-planned community, industrial facility and recreational spaces. Due to the collaborative efforts, the former NTC Orlando site has become an economic asset to the City of Orlando.
Non-NPL Award: Valley Forge Asbestos Release Site, Pennsylvania (Lead Federal Agency – U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service)
The Valley Forge Asbestos Release Site is a 112-acre area located in the center of the Valley Forge National Historical Park. The area was contaminated by activities of an asbestos insulation manufacturing plant that formerly operated on the property. In 2017, the National Park Service completed a long-term remedial action to excavate contaminated soil and sediment so the site could be re-opened. Now, the park is back in business conserving and interpreting the land associated with the 1777-78 winter encampment of Gen. George Washington and the Continental Army. By making the investment in environmental cleanup, the National Park service has provided public access to a significant historical area in the center of the park’s forests, meadows and hiking trails.
Below are the felony cases to be filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office today.
Aaron Alan Gelhausen: Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Theft (Class A misdemeanor), Theft (Class A misdemeanor), Disobeying a declaration of disaster emergency (Class B misdemeanor)
Timothy Allen Collier: Auto theft (Level 6 Felony)
Jeremy Ryan Reed: Invasion of privacy (Level 6 Felony), Theft (Class A misdemeanor)
Tormarr Sam Bell: Criminal confinement (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Class A misdemeanor)
Elijah Hosea Akpan: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Kenny Caryl Connor Jr.: Strangulation (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Latorryeon Elijah Shammer Haywood: Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Resisting law enforcement (Class A misdemeanor)
Antoine Jerrico Mockobee: Domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Jaron Brady Stewart: Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Neglect of a dependent (Level 6 Felony)
Gabriel K. Wyatt: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Possession of paraphernalia (Class C misdemeanor)
Emmanuel Tashaje Crowe: Criminal confinement (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Criminal mischief (Class B misdemeanor)
Craig Allen Morris: Theft (Level 6 Felony)
Elijah Hosea Akpan: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Kenny Caryl Connor Jr.: Strangulation (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Latorryeon Elijah Shammer Haywood: Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Resisting law enforcement (Class A misdemeanor)
Antoine Jerrico Mockobee: Domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Jaron Brady Stewart: Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Intimidation (Level 6 Felony), Neglect of a dependent (Level 6 Felony)
Gabriel K. Wyatt: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Possession of paraphernalia (Class C misdemeanor)
Emmanuel Tashaje Crowe: Criminal confinement (Level 6 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Criminal mischief (Class B misdemeanor)
Craig Allen Morris: Theft (Level 6 Felony)
4 p.m., Saturday, May 2
ZOOM (see bottom of email for details)
Ivy Tech’s Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP) students will be cooking the same meal in each of their 12 homes, at the same time – together/but apart – with their instructor Associate Professor Scott O’Daniel and his family. ASAP is the accelerated program in which students are able to earn an associate degree in just 11 months at Ivy Tech Community College Evansville.
Because one of the hallmarks of the program is that students often get very close because they attend class 8 hours a day during those 11 months, and all with each other in the same classroom, they develop a bond, a very close-knit relationship with each other. Most times they consider each other “family.†While this Stay at Home order has been tough on all students, it has been especially challenging for the ASAP students who had grown so attached to each other and were really missing their lack of interactivity.
Professor O’Daniel devised this as a way to bring back some of that feeling, and you are invited to join the Zoom “cooking.†  While the actual cooking part will begin at 4 p.m., we have the Zoom meeting opened up at 3 p.m. in case you would want to interview O’Daniel beforehand about why he is doing it, and what ASAP is about. (More info about this accelerated program can be found at ivytech.edu/asap
| Hi there, | |
| Marsha Jackson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. | |
| Join Zoom Meeting | |
| Phone one-tap: | US: +19294362866,,97061718169# or +13017158592,,97061718169# |
| Meeting URL: | https://ivytech.zoom.us/j/97061718169 |
| Meeting ID: | 970 6171 8169 |
| Join by Telephone | |
| For higher quality, dial a number based on your current location. | |
| Dial: | US: +1 929 436 2866 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 |
| Meeting ID: | 970 6171 8169 |
| International numbers | |
Through the State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement Program, EPA will provide funds to states, local governments, tribes and U.S. territories to work collaboratively with environmental justice communities to understand, promote and integrate approaches to provide meaningful and measurable improvements to public health and the environment.
“Environmental justice grants aim to support public education, training, and emergency planning for communities across the country impacted by COVID-19, regardless of their zip code,†said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “These grants are part of EPA’s effort to actively fight the COVID-19 pandemic that is having a disproportionate impact on low-income and minority communities.â€
The grant funding will be used to support public education, training, and emergency planning for communities impacted by COVID-19. Projects could include sharing information related to EPA-approved disinfectants to combat COVID-19; addressing increased exposure of residents to in-home pollutants and healthy housing issues; and training community health workers.
EPA anticipates awarding five grants of approximately $200,000 each for up to a two-year funding period. The agency encourages applicants to develop innovative plans and processes to conduct effective outreach to underserved communities, especially in places where Internet access may not be readily available to all residents.
Interested applicants must submit proposal packages on or before June 30, 2020 to be considered for the available funding.
WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY
Gavel Gamut By Jim Redwine
www.jamesmredwine.com
For about 200,000 years Homo sapiens did without air conditioning. Other than the opening or closing the animal hide, reed, or cloth flap covering their cave or hut openings our ancestors did not worry about the atmosphere, whether inside or out. Sitting beside a fire pit or chimney, people were happy to simply huddle together when it was cold, probably in groups of ten or less. When it came to keeping cool we just opened windows. This provided untold benefits that humanity appears to have now lost sight of.
Fresh air, reduced utility costs, and portals for tossing out dirty dishwater disappeared. We began to regurgitate air previously breathed by others and which sometimes contains mold spores and other unhealthy elements. Remember Legionnaires Disease that was traced to air conditioning units for large buildings such as hotels and convention centers and which was and still is particularly deadly for people fifty years of age, people with weak immune systems, those with lung problems and smokers. Sound familiar?
When combating COVID-19, fresh air and warmer weather make sense to me. And while I chose not to pursue a graduate degree in psychology, I can confidently assert that better mental health results from fresh air rather than social isolationism made even more isolated by closed windows. We used to be able to rent a hotel room and eat at restaurants while enjoying the ambiance of open windows. Then pencil pushers began to control every aspect of our days and nights by requiring windows that could not be raised. This may be good for corporate earnings but it is anathema for human health, physical and mental.
If governors and state legislators want to do some real good at no cost to taxpayers they can require that all windows be openable. They can still have locking devices available. Under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, these issues are the province of the states.
Should we be concerned that as people watch the economy continue to slide toward 1929 levels they might be tempted to jump out, a couple of bars on the outside of windows should discourage such impulses while still allowing for fresh air?
I know that simply opening windows suffers from the anti-governmental approach. It is inexpensive. It has proven effective for a couple of hundred thousand years. And it puts the control in the hands of the public, not bureaucrats. In spite of these political drawbacks, I still recommend it.
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