2020 Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP)
Celebration – Completing Degree in 11 Months!
Friday, May 15, 1 p.m
Friday, May 15, 1 p.m
Leaders in ASAP wanted to get their students back together/but apart one last time since they have all successfully completed their associate degree, with the final 8 weeks done remotely.  So, a brief outdoor celebration is planned on Friday at 1 p.m., in the parking lot south of the main campus. Students and their families will remain in their cars, and the sound will be transmitted onto their radios! Leaders will be outdoors sharing memories and congratulations.  ASAP has 12 students who have completed the requirements for their associate degree, earned in just 11 months! The program is designed to be accelerated and students go to class 8 hours a day, five days a week, as a cohort. To date, all of the students who have graduated through the ASAP program over the years since it started, have been accepted into the 4-year college of their choice! The next cohort begins June 8, and there are still a few seats available. An information session is planned on Tuesday, May 19 at 2 p.m. on Ivy Tech’s Facebook page, @IvyTechEvansville.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the winners of the 30th Annual Administrator’s Small Business Program Awards for outstanding small business championship in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. The 20 award recipients include businesses, state and local entities, and EPA employees who demonstrated exemplary leadership in supporting the agency’s small business programs.
“In this time of unprecedented disruption for our nation’s small businesses, it is more important than ever to recognize our outstanding small business support.â€Â said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “I am proud of our effective staff efforts that will ensure our partnership with small businesses remains strong and vibrant.â€
For the past 30 years, EPA has hosted the Administrator’s Small Business Program Awards ceremony to celebrate EPA’s small business support and accomplishments. This year, in accordance with existing national guidance due to the global COVID-19 public health emergency, the agency is celebrating these awards virtually through this press release.
EPA is continuing to build on its record of excellence in furthering small business contracting opportunities, scoring an “A†over the past decade on the Small Business Procurement Scorecard that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers. In this current fiscal year, EPA has already awarded over 36 percent (approximately $260 million) of its contracting dollars to small businesses, almost twice as much as the 23 percent statutory small business contracting goal.
For example, EPA’s Office of Water awarded its first enterprise-wide small business contract. The Office of Water developed this inaugural strategic small business program contract to increase small business opportunities while helping maximize the efficiency of EPA operations. Contracts were awarded to four small businesses:  Avanti Corporation (Alexandria, Va.); Great Lakes Envrionmental Center, Inc. (Traverse City, Mich.); Horsely Witten Group, Inc. (Sandwich, Mass.); and SC&A, Inc. (Arlington, Va.). The total value of this contract is up to $16.7 million.
The agency is also continuing to provide a comprehensive suite of resources and networks to help strengthen small business environmental and compliance performance, while reducing regulatory burden. Information on those resources is available here. Based on the agency’s regulatory and compliance assistance efforts, EPA has earned a grade of “A†in the last 13 Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of the National Ombudsman Annual Reports to Congress.
Recipients of the Administrator’s 30th Annual Small Business Program Awards For Fiscal Year 2019
Administrator’s Small Business Program Awards
Award for Outstanding Direct Procurement Program Achievement
Office of Water Small Business Vehicle Workgroup
Jezebele Alicia
Vince Allen
Ifeyinwa Davis
Damon Highsmith
David Hincks
Angela Lower
Lisa Mitchell-Flinn
Matthew Growney
Joe Jackson
Marion Kelly
Steven Moore
Venus Weaver
Jefferey Herrema
Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Small Business Trade Association or State Small Business Environmental Assistance Provider in Providing Technical Assistance to the
Small Business Community
Wisconsin’s Small Business Environmental Assistance Program
Lisa Ashenbrenner Hunt and Renee Lesjak Bashel
Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Small Business
Lally Consulting, LLC
Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Woman Owned Small Business
Clawson Excavating, Inc.
Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
Veterans Worldwide Sales and Services, LLC
Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a HUBZone Contractor
A & M Engineering and Environmental Solutions, Inc.
OSDBU Director’s Awards
Office of Mission Support
For Exceeding the Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women Owned Small Business, HUBZone and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Goals
Office of the Administrator
For Exceeding the Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business,
Women Owned Small Business, and HUBZone Goals
Office of Research and Development
For Exceeding the Small Disadvantaged Business, Women Owned Small Business, HUBZone
and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Goals
Region 7
For Exceeding the Small Business, Service Disadvantaged Business, HUBZone
and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Goals
Friday, May 15th is Peace Officers Memorial Day, as originally designated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. Flags will be lowered across the country in order to honor the brave men and women of law enforcement who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an east side man for attacking his neighbor with a weed eater.
On Thursday, May 14, 2020Â at 11:59 AM deputies responded to 8010 Spry Road to investigate a report that a man had been assaulted with a weed eater. Upon arrival, sheriff’s deputies spoke with the victim, Mr. Russell Roth.
Roth advised that his neighbor, Mr. Gail Kammerer III, had been weed eating a ditch on the opposite side of the roadway. Roth indicated that he did not like the fact that the grass clippings were landing in the street. Roth admitted that he drove his riding mower into the street and then began blowing the grass clippings back towards Russell’s property.
Kammerer claimed Roth deliberately blew the grass clippings on him, which prompted him to attack Roth with his weed eater. Roth, who had his shirt off at the time of the attack, suffered multiple lacerations to his back. The injuries appeared consistent with the size of the plastic trimmer line used by Gail’s weed eater. Roth refused medical treatment.
Gail was arrested for Battery as a Level 5 Felony, while Roth was issued a citation for Provocation as a Class C Infraction.
Gail E. Kammerer IIIÂ (pictured above), 48, of Evansville. Battery as a Level 5 Felony
CITED:
Russell C. Roth, 57, of Evansville. Provocation as a Class C Infraction
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.
Preliminary results from a scientific study aimed at measuring the spread of the novel coronavirus in Indiana show a general population prevalence of about 2.8 percent of the state’s population.Â
 “What we knew through conventional detection methods — testing symptomatic people and those at high-risk for COVID-19 — was just the tip of the iceberg,” said Nir Menachemi, lead scientist on the study and a professor and Fairbanks Endowed Chair in the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. “Now we’re trying to figure out how big that iceberg actually is.”
 Paul Halverson, founding dean of the Fairbanks School of Public Health, said continued testing will answer this question and assist with fighting the spread of COVID-19.
 “Ideally, we would test every Hoosier,” Halverson said. “But the next best thing is random sample testing, a scientific approach that allows us to confidently assess how COVID-19 has spread in Indiana, without having to test everyone.”
 As part of the first phase of the study—a collaboration of the Indiana State Department of Health and the Fairbanks School of Public Health—researchers tested more than 4,600 Hoosiers between April 25 and May 1 for viral infections and antibodies of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This number includes more than 3,600 people who were randomly selected and an additional 900 volunteers recruited through outreach to the African American and Hispanic communities to more accurately represent state demographics.
 After analyzing these test results, IUPUI public health researchers determined that during the last week in April, 1.7 percent of participants tested positive for the novel coronavirus and an additional 1.1 percent tested positive for antibodies—bringing the estimated population prevalence of the virus in the state to 2.8 percent, or approximately 186,000 Hoosiers who were actively or previously infected as of May 1, Menachemi said.
 As of the same date, the state’s testing showed about 17,000 cumulative cases—not including deaths—suggesting that only about one out of every 11 true infections were identified by tests focused on symptomatic or high-risk people.
 Breaking down important findings
 Having a reliable estimate of the number of people infected also enables scientists to calculate much sought-after, but otherwise unknown, rates, like the infection-fatality rate, which represents the proportion of all those infected who have died, as opposed to the case-fatality rate, which focused mostly on symptomatic and high-risk cases, Menachemi said.
 IUPUI scientists estimate the infection-fatality rate for the novel coronavirus in Indiana to be 0.58 percent, making it almost six times more deadly than the seasonal flu, which has an infection-fatality rate of 0.1, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 Menachemi said the research team also found that almost 45 percent of people who tested positive for active viral infection reported no symptoms at all.
 The scientists also identified certain communities that have been more affected by COVID-19 than others. Analysis of the random sample suggests that Hispanics, African Americans and other races including those who identify as bi-racial have higher positive rates for the virus.
 “This was confirmed with data from the targeted outreach that allowed us to gain additional participants from these communities—further strengthening the evidence in support of this disparity,” Menachemi said.
 Additionally, the study found some differences across the state’s 10 Public Health PreparednessDistricts. District 9 on the southeast side of the state, which experienced an early facility-based outbreak, was observed to have the highest prevalence of the virus in the general population. The prevalence in districts 1, 5 and 10 was also slightly higher than in other districts.
 The way forward
 “We’re so grateful for this work. It’s an important snapshot in time of what is happening in our state, and future testing phases will bolster our knowledge,†said State Health Commissioner Kris Box, M.D., FACOG. “These initial results will help guide us in our efforts to make decisions about how we move forward in Indiana and better position resources.â€
 Menachemi said preliminary results seem to suggest that the state’s physical distancing policies—also known as social distancing—have played a role in curbing the spread of the virus.
 Study participants who reported living with a person in their household who was positive for the virus were more than nine times more likely to test positive themselves. Coupled with the study’s relatively low 2.8 percent general population prevalence, this seems to imply that Indiana has been able to contain a large number of infections to within households, he said.
 “By slowing the spread of the virus, we now have bought some time to determine the best way forward,” Menachemi said. “However, it is important to stress that the vast majority of the people in Indiana have not been infected and represent the minimum pool of still susceptible individuals. Therefore, as we slowly phase back and open the economy, we need to be extra vigilant with any and all safety precautions so that we do not lose the ground that we gained by hunkering down.”
 The next phases of testing are planned for early June, October and April 2021.
 Select members of the public will again be asked to participate, by invitation only, to ensure that the sampling is representative of the population.
Coronavirus Hot Spot In Minnesota Connected To Surge Of Cases At Meatpacking Plant
“We are very worried about the pandemic. We want to work, but we have families. We are just human beings who want a better life,” one employee said.
By Phil McCausland, Jonathan Allen and Cyrus Farivar
OF NBC
Workers and residents in a small Minnesota town who protested outside a meatpacking plant this week are demanding that it be temporarily closed for cleaning and sanitizing to protect the 1,100 people who work there.
They also demand coronavirus testing for workers — a request that came after the plant said the 83 cases it reported on May 8 had ballooned to 194 cases by May 11.
The plant in Cold Spring, owned by Pilgrim’s Pride, is able to maintain its operations because of the Defense Production Act, which President Donald Trump invoked at the end of April. But now, St. Cloud, a neighboring small town northwest of Minneapolis, is experiencing a massive spike in COVID-19 cases, according to documents obtained by NBC News, probably because of the meatpacking plant itself.
Minnesota had nearly 4,000 new coronavirus cases over the first week of May, about a 95.5 percent increase, according to the White House documents, while cases in Stearns County — where St. Cloud and Cold Spring are located — jumped by 454 percent, to 809 new cases, during the same period.
Employees said in interviews that Pilgrim’s Pride does not follow safe social distancing standards and that it encouraged employees to continue working even if they felt sick. Video obtained by NBC News shows workers at the facility packed elbow to elbow in a break room at the end of April.
That led workers to protest Monday and worker representatives to meet with the Cold Spring City Council on Tuesday to request the shutdown of the plant.
“Things Pilgrim’s Pride has put in place in the past days or two weeks, when we knew they were needed eight weeks ago, is too little, too late,” said Natalie Ringsmuth, a co-founder of Unite Cloud, a progressive central Minnesota community organization representing employees at the plant. “That’s why the workers are asking for a shutdown.”
Ringsmuth and Ma Elena Gutierrez, whose immigration nonprofit Asamblea de Derechos Civiles is also organizing workers, emphasized that it is a concern not just for Pilgrim’s Pride employees, but also for the entire community.
Nevertheless, shortly after the meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to have Cold Spring Mayor Dave Heinen send a letter to pressure Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to reopen the economy. The mayor said he received “a couple of phone calls from a couple of bar owners in town, and they want to open up.”
The letter aims to tell the governor that “we support our local businesses and we’d like to try and figure out a way to get them opened up as soon as possible,” the mayor said at the meeting.
NBC News spoke to four employees at the plant on condition of anonymity who said that while their colleagues were getting sick, the plant was not following necessary safety procedures or informing them of the dangers. Pilgrim’s Pride, Heinen and Stearns County did not respond to requests for comment.
The employees said that some were given fever-reducing medication before the company nurse took their temperatures and that at least one employee was told that she was feverish and faint because she was wearing too many clothes and that she should get back to work.
An aerial view of the Pilgrim’s Pride packing plant in Cold Spring, Minn., on May 7, 2020.Aaron Lavinsky / Star Tribune via AP
“People know they have rights, but it’s like the company tells them what rights they actually have,” said an employee named Eme, who is quarantined and asked that her full name not be used.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office is working with other state agencies to “actively investigate” numerous plants across the state, especially regarding retaliation against employees. The attorney general’s office is “contemplating” taking action against them, he said.
“If I was operating these plants, I’d make sure I cleaned it up because we’re not going to let them put people at risk,” Ellison said.
A Pilgrim’s Pride representative said Tuesday at the Cold Spring City Council meeting that the company was following all necessary safety protocols.
“We are following all CDC and OSHA-issued guidance around safety and social distancing,” said the representative, Wesley Smith, the complex manager at the Cold Spring facility. “And we’re doing everything possible to provide a safe working environment for team members who are providing food for all of us during these unprecedented times.”
Smith said Pilgrim’s Pride began to undertake the changes on April 12, including providing additional protective equipment, temperature checks of employees and COVID-19 screening questions.
However, in the video obtained by NBC News, dozens of workers can be seen huddled closely together trying to talk over one another. Many were wearing various face coverings they appear to have brought from home.
Employees also said they often end up wearing plastic aprons that other workers have worn during their shifts — aprons they sweat in because of the heavy physical exertion required to cut animal carcasses apart along an assembly line.
“Everything is exactly the same, and I am very worried and concerned about my co-workers because three people came back today and they still feel sick,” said an employee who asked to be identified only as Maria. “The only thing that has changed is that we get a mask. Before, we just had a little piece of cloth. It was very tiny and thin.”
The workers also said that the company appeared to have undertaken a campaign to convince employees that they did not get sick at the plant and that it offered extra money for people to come back as quickly as possible.
“The company is trying to hide everything that is happening there,” an employee said. “They are convincing people to come back by offering extra money and saying they’ll pay more if they come back to work, but they are trying to hide that they got sick there.”
Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak
Ellison said workers had reached out to him regarding issues at meatpacking plants in Minnesota. That is what led him to sign a letter with 20 other state attorneys general Tuesday calling on Trump to take action to protect employees at factories that remain open because of the Defense Production Act.
“Essential workers are not disposable workers,” he said. “They’re not people who risk their lives so we can eat steak. They have as much to live for as anyone else, and they do a tough job in the best of times. The president needs to keep its best interests in mind.”
The employees all said that they want to work and do their part to maintain the supply chain but that they also want the company to do its part to protect them.
“We are very worried about the pandemic,” said Eme, the quarantined employee. “We want to work, but we have families. We are just human beings who want a better life.”
FOOTNOTE: Â Phil McCausland is an NBC News reporter focused on rural issues and the social safety net. Â Jonathan Allen is a senior political analyst for NBC News, based in Washington. Â Cyrus Farivar is a reporter on the tech investigations unit of NBC News in San Francisco.
Ivy Tech Plans Brief Outdoor Celebration TODAY At 1 p.m In Parking Lot
What: 2020 Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP)
Celebration – Completing Degree in 11 Months!
When: Friday, May 15, 1 p.m.
Where: Ivy Tech Community College south parking lot
3501 N. First Avenue, Evansville
Leaders in ASAP wanted to get their students back together/but apart one last time since they have all successfully completed their associate degree, with the final 8 weeks done remotely.
So, a brief outdoor celebration is planned for Friday at 1 p.m., in the parking lot south of the main campus. Students and their families will remain in their cars, and the sound will be transmitted onto their radios! Leaders will be outdoors sharing memories and congratulations.
ASAP has 12 students who have completed the requirements for their associate degree, earned in just 11 months! The program is designed to be accelerated and students go to class 8 hours a day, five days a week, as a cohort. To date, all of the students who have graduated through the ASAP program over the years since it started, have been accepted into the 4-year college of their choice! The next cohort begins on June 8, and there are still a few seats available.
An information session is planned on Tuesday, May 19 at 2 p.m. on Ivy Tech’s Facebook page, @IvyTechEvansville.
Vanderburgh County Democratic Party
Central Committee
Edie Hardcastle, Chair; ediehardcastle@gmail.com Nick Iaccarino, Vice Chair Alex Burton, Political Director Cheryl Schultz, Treasurer Melissa Moore, Secretary
Election Workers Needed(*You must be a registered voter)
1)Â One (1) person is needed to work in the Election Office during early voting, May 26 – May 29 from 8:00 am to 4:00pm. The position pays $10/hour.
2) Five (5) people are needed to open absentee ballots on Election Day, Tuesday, June 2 at the election office. It pays $50 and lunch is provided.
3) We need a number of people who are willing to be trained to work the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, June 2, and be on the standby list. They will be paid $30 for the training even if they are not called to work on Election Day, June 2. If they work on June 2, they would receive $195.00.
INDIANAPOLIS—Nearly 45% of individuals in Indiana infected with COVID-19 don’t know they have the virus, according to a study the state did in partnership with Indiana University.
The study, conducted by Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, tested 4,611 randomly-selected Indiana residents to get a better idea of how COVID-19 is impacting the state.
Of the 4,611 tested, 1.7% tested positive for the virus at the time of the test and 1.1% were found to have antibodies, signaling a past infection. Nir Menachemi, chairman of the health policy and management department of the Fairbanks school, said this means about 186,000 Hoosiers had COVID-19 during the time the tests were taken.
Nir Menachemi, the public policy chair for the Fairbanks School of Public Health, discussed he results of the study that found COVID-19 has a death rate six times higher than the flu. Photo by Janet Williams, TheStatehouseFile.com
“At the same time, the state was aware of only about 17,000 cumulative cases, not including deaths, suggesting that the true impact of the virus was almost 11 times greater than conventional testing had informed us,†he said at Gov. Eric Holcomb’s coronavirus briefing Wednesday.
Of the 2.8% that were found to have or previously have the virus, 44.8% had no symptoms.
Dr. Kristina Box, the state’s health commissioner, said this high percentage should encourage Hoosiers to continue safety precautions the state has put in place.
“It’s been a little heartbreaking for me to see some of the pictures that people have been sending in where people are standing in line, back to back, next to each other, they’re not social distancing, and people are not wearing masks,†Box said. “Of all the positives we had, 45% of people said they had no symptoms at the time they were tested. That should underscore the importance of why you need to wear that mask and social distance.â€
Because of the high percentage of asymptomatic individuals, Paul Halverson, professor and founding dean of the Fairbanks School of Public Health, said all Hoosiers should act as if they have the virus when venturing outside their homes.
While the death rate of the virus is only around 0.58% of individuals who contract it, Menachemi said that is six times deadlier than the flu.
“My recommendation is to really focus on taking social distancing seriously. It’s not just when you feel like wearing a mask, its not staying away and creating distance when it’s convenient, but it’s doing it every time, all the time, with the idea that you need to protect yourself and you need to protect others,†Halverson said.
The results reported Wednesday are from the first round of the study. A second round will be conducted in a few weeks to see the impact of lifting some of the state’s restrictions.
Dr. Kristina Box, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Health, introduced the first results from the COVID-19 study by the Fairbanks School of Public Health. Photo by Janet Williams, TheStatehouseFile.com
The virus continues to take its toll on Indiana. Wednesday, Box reported 409 more Hoosiers tested positive for the virus, bringing the state’s total to 25,473. There were 38 additional deaths reported, and 1,482 statewide, not counting 137 deaths that are believed to be from COVID-19 but which have no confirming test.
Menachemi said the study found individuals living with someone who is COVID-19 positive in their household were 12 times more likely to also have the virus.
“This finding, along with the relatively-low 2.8% prevalence, strongly suggests that our social distancing policies played a critical role in curbing the spread of the virus, and containing it to within household,†he said.
Still, Menachemi said Hoosiers need to be cautious when going about their days.
“The good news is that by slowing the spread of the virus, we have now bought some time to determine the best way forward,†he said. “As we slowly phase back and reopen the economy, we need to be extra vigilant with any and all safety precautions so that we do not lose the ground that we gained by hunkering down.â€
Marion County is one of three counties in the state that aren’t following Holcomb’s reopening plan because of a higher rates of infections. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Wednesday that the city will begin the second phase of Holcomb’s reopening plan — which the other 89 counties entered earlier — on Friday, but with a few modifications.
“I know these delays will be frustrating to some, but I assure you that these decisions are being made in an effort not just to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19 in our community now, but also reduce the likelihood that it returns in the future†Hogsett said.
This will include the city opening non-essential retail at 50% capacity, opening shopping malls with limited capacity, increasing social gatherings and religious services from the current 10 to 25 people and allowing libraries to reopen with curbside pickup of books.
The city will lower even more restrictions May 22, when restaurants can reopen in-person dining but only with outdoor seating and social distancing measures in place. Nail and hair salons will remain closed until at least June 1, when restaurants can reopen indoor dining at 50% capacity.
Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Health Department, said the city will use four benchmarks of data to monitor the spread of the virus in the county, and assess whether restrictions need to be tightened again or can continue to be loosened.
“We will closely monitor this data over the next two weeks to see whether were able to maintain no significant increase in our cases by looking at our benchmarks,†she said. “But of course, if our benchmarks show that we are seeing a significant increase in our cases, we will have to revert and move back to stage one.â€
Victoria Ratliff is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
